Slow guitar day (a custom build)

Tannin · October 2023

WafflesOnHorseback said:

Beautiful. Can't wait to hear it!

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057679568931 (Sorry for the Facebook link)

That's Paul playing it. It will improve over the next week or two as he does little tweaks and the timbers settle in.

I'm off to the other island shortly and I'm not going to take it over there with me on the ferry so Paul can hang onto it for a few weeks more. He won't mind that, he likes to have them around for a little while to show to people - partly just for fun and partly because it tends to bring in more commissions.

If I'd built that beautiful thing, starting from the bare slabs of timber and making every part myself except for strings, tuners, truss rod, bridge pins and fret wire, I'd want to hang on to it too. In fact I'd probably say "Sorry Mr Tannin, you can have your deposit back, I'm keeping it!"

WafflesOnHorseback · October 2023

Sounds lovely! Many congrats on commissioning such a wonderful thing.

guitarjack66 · October 2023

I am sure it will be a lovely guitar. Can't say I'm a fan of the lighter woods or 'skunk stripe' design on the likes of the Maton or Cole Clark guitars though. They probably play great but for looks I'd not be drawn towards them.

Tannin · October 2023

Cheers lads.

Yesterday I popped in to have a look at it on my way over here to the north island, when I am for the next couple of weeks. (I've brought the Messiah with me. Time enough to get to know the new one when I get back.)

It is a lovely thing to look at, of course. But I expected that.

It is also delightful to play. Not at all what I expected - um ... not really sure what I did expect actually; it was a leap in the dark using a King Billy top on such a large guitar. In person, it is very smooth, very deep, with a rich warm tone. In Paul's workshop (acoustically a very different place to the fairly bright environments I generally play in) I was battling a bit to bring out what I thought was enough definition, but revelling in the depth of sound.

Of all things, it rather reminded me of a Lowden. Not the same thing, not by any means, but that sense of hearing six different strings as if they were six different instruments, that sense of wanting to slow down and let the richness of the instrument shine, it was almost familiar.

The shorter neck - it's exactly the same scale length as the Thunderhawk but shorter because it's a 13-fret rather than a 15-fret) make a surprising difference to the left arm. It's just that little bit more relaxed and comfortable.

The bridge position on the other hand (like a 12-fretter) was a bit odd. It might take me a little while to get used to that. The neck felt wider than the Thunderhawk (it is actually slightly narrower) and a lot fatter (it really is deeper), which is what I asked for. My expectation is that, once I grow used to it, I'll be more accurate and more comfortable and play cleaner with the fatter-feeling neck.

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Slow guitar day (a custom build)

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