NGD - Brook Taw custom (left-handed)

GTC · October 2019

After 8 months and many spec changes on the way, the day finally arrived for me to travel down to the Brook workshops in Devon to pick up my new Taw - cedar top, English cherry back, sides and neck, 46mm wide fingerboard (at nut), 630mm scale length, sound port, "mystic Martin" fretboard markers, abalone purfling on the top and a howling wolf image on the headstock - the latter as a constant reminder of what appeared in my final school report for music i.e. "GTC tries hard and is enthusiastic - but is no singer".

It also has a K&K Pure Mini fitted and, of course, is left-handed. The tone and playability surpassed my expectations and I love the appearance and craftsmanship. The sound sits somewhere between the brightness of my newly acquired Brook Tamar (spruce/ koa) and the warmth of my custom Avalon S (sinker redwood / bog oak 12 fretter).

I've attached a few photos below - a great job by Andy, Simon and co. at Brook.

GTC · October 2019

Here's a couple of additional photos of yours truly playing the guitar - inside and outside of the Brook workshop

BigLicks67 · October 2019

Looks lovely. Happy NGD.

ToneControl · October 2019

looks great
how are you finding the soundport?

GTC · October 2019

ToneControl said:

looks great
how are you finding the soundport?

It works very well indeed and seems to add a new sound dimension for the player. Thanks for the inspiration to get one added.

mixolyd · October 2019

Looks awesome and I expect the soundport will make a real difference to your relationship with the guitar in the long term.

Im also a lefty but haven’t considered the custom route as I’m both not that flush and not sure what I’d want in an acoustic these days having spent the last decade playing only electric. Maybe the soundport idea could tempt me to look into overseas luthier options: the likes of Dowina seem very affordable.

ToneControl · October 2019

GTC said:

ToneControl said:

looks great
how are you finding the soundport?

It works very well indeed and seems to add a new sound dimension for the player. Thanks for the inspiration to get one added.

great, I am going to get more retro-fitted

what size is the hole?

GTC · October 2019

ToneControl said:

great, I am going to get more retro-fitted

what size is the hole?

It is approx. 75mm long and 30mm wide at the widest section of the ellipse

GTC · October 2019

mixolyd said:

Looks awesome and I expect the soundport will make a real difference to your relationship with the guitar in the long term.

Im also a lefty but haven’t considered the custom route as I’m both not that flush and not sure what I’d want in an acoustic these days having spent the last decade playing only electric. Maybe the soundport idea could tempt me to look into overseas luthier options: the likes of Dowina seem very affordable.

Thanks for your comments

The custom option could be an expensive experiment if you are unsure about what you want from an acoustic. A quality all-solid lefty could be found on, say, eBay or Reverb for much, much less - and, provided there were no obstructions preventing it (e.g. electrics), a standard sound port could later be added by most decent luthiers for under £200.

My sound port was installed by Brook as a late addition when the body was built but before it was lacquered - additional cost £100.

I've no experience of Dowina - but there are some good manufacturers in Eastern Europe. I have a fantastic BSG (Czech) A-Pro narrow-bodied lefty acoustic. Lakewood (Germany) are also good value - but be aware that costs can mount once you start considering the extras on top of the basic "starting from" price

mixolyd · October 2019

@GTC ;

Thanks for the input. I’m practicing a strummed fingerstyle approach that allows picking and strumming simultaneously a la Elliott Smith. Once I’ve got that down and have the chance to get out I’ll go and find a bunch of acoustics somewhere and see how it translates into the different body styles.

ToneControl · October 2019

mixolyd said:

Looks awesome and I expect the soundport will make a real difference to your relationship with the guitar in the long term.

Im also a lefty but haven’t considered the custom route as I’m both not that flush and not sure what I’d want in an acoustic these days having spent the last decade playing only electric. Maybe the soundport idea could tempt me to look into overseas luthier options: the likes of Dowina seem very affordable.

I think you should also phone Avalon to see how much they would charge
You can try their guitars or Lowdens (half of which they made) widely, but you would be buying blind with something like Dowina

GTC · October 2019

mixolyd said:

@GTC ;

Thanks for the input. I’m practicing a strummed fingerstyle approach that allows picking and strumming simultaneously a la Elliott Smith. Once I’ve got that down and have the chance to get out I’ll go and find a bunch of acoustics somewhere and see how it translates into the different body styles.

Going for a custom option at this stage could be an expensive risk - particularly if you are just discovering your own style, playing preferences - and even what suits your anatomy. Elliot Smith suggests a larger bodied guitar - dreadnaught, jumbo or grand auditorium. However things are rarely that simple so do try as much a you can before you take the plunge.

Avalon and Brook make terrific guitars - and when you compare them to overseas manufacturers on a like-to-like basis they are not much more expensive. They will also hold their value a lot better than lesser known overseas makes - important if you want to sell on later as things evolve.

I would recommend looking at quality guitars in a lower price bracket to start off with. There are a lot of very affordable recognised quality hand-built all-solid models around (Eastman, Alvarez (Masterworks), Blueridge (Historic Series) although you need to search harder for a lefty. Faith are also very good - but their standard 43mm fret width at nut is a bit narrow for me.

I hope this helps.

mixolyd · October 2019

Yes custom is really a long term potential option - the next acoustic I buy will likely be a used factory guitar, or a new one if I get tired of waiting for a used one to show up. Sellers on eBay are asking crazy prices for used Martins. I’ve gotten used to having an inspiring guitar since I finally got an 335 so Eastman is the lowest I’ll go for acoustic - but they are rare in lefty - it seems JerrysLeftyGuitars in Florida gets the lion’s share of the lefty production.

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NGD - Brook Taw custom (left-handed)

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