Monteleone 2022 Midnight Special 12-String #320
We are grateful to offer an extraordinary and historically-significant instrument: the 2022 Monteleone Midnight Special, the final guitar in John Monteleone’s celebrated Train Guitar series.
A MONTELEONE UNLIKE ANY OTHER
Handcrafted by John in his one-man workshop in Islip, New York, this super rare 12-string archtop stands alone as both a masterwork of contemporary lutherie and a deeply personal homage to some of John's biggest inspirations. Designed to be tuned a whole step below standard pitch, the Midnight Special delivers piano-like depth with shimmering harmonic complexity.
Monteleone’s innovations, including his refined bracing concepts and acoustic responsiveness, give the instrument remarkable clarity, projection, and tonal balance across all twelve strings.
THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
The Midnight Special was showcased in the 2024 Long Island Museum exhibition celebrating Monteleone’s life’s work, Musical Masterworks — a testament to its artistic and cultural importance. Monteleone’s instruments are widely regarded as fine art with examples residing in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and multi-year wait lists for new commissions.
Rich, orchestral, and deeply evocative, this 12-string produces a rolling low-end bloom paired with pristine upper harmonics. Tuned down a whole step, it captures the haunting, locomotive pulse that inspired its name — a sonic landscape that feels at once vintage and timeless. It is a rare instrument that carries both the weight of tradition and the forward vision of a living master. Straight from the builder's mouth:
"I prefer most 12-string guitars at this lowered tuning. They have more of that deep husky growl on the lowbasses. There is already lots of sparkle with those octave strings to make it jangle like it should. And the lower tuning is easier on the hands and the tension on the guitar. I’ve always loved a good 12string box. Now go play some Lead Belly on it. Goodnight Irene works good." ~ John Monteleone
SPECS
- Body - 18"
- Top - Italian spruce
- Back & Sides - Italian Red maple
- Neck - Domestic Red maple
- Fingerboard - Madagascar ebony
- Inlays: Mother of Pearl
- Bridge - Gabon ebony
- Pickguard & tailpiece - Macassar ebony, flame maple
- Binding, body & neck - Flame maple
- Configuration - 12-String, Archtop
- Tuning - Whole-step down (D standard)
Serial #320. Comes with a deluxe, custom hardshell case.
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Check out the fascinating 2021 documentary on the luthier called "John Monteleone: The Chisels Are Calling" available from various sources online. Rudy appears in the film, too, along with a star-studded list of guitarists including Mark Knopfler, Ben Harper, David Grisman, Mike Marshall, Julian Lage, Anthony Wilson, Woody Mann, and others.