Soundport question

ToneControl · February 2023

If you don't want the pickup, Thomann are selling this model for £1075 new

GTC · February 2023

ToneControl said:

If you don't want the pickup, Thomann are selling this model for £1075 new

That's a very good price. It will. most probably come with the Furch padded gig bag that mine came in but it is a pretty good one. There should be no additional import charges.

GTC · February 2023

This topic has a lot to answer for. I realised how much I missed the one I used to have and spotted a 2020 left-handed GNc4-SR on Reverb.

I just bought it!

Shadow · February 2023

Thanks for all the responses, very much appreciated.

The seller has now added mention of the port to the title but no more detail in the listing. Despite the great price I've decided to give this one a miss. Something just doesn't feel right about it. Along with no mention of the port, the description is minimal. It may well be above board, but I think I'd prefer to get one that's intact and decided for myself if I want a port (not likely). The other consideration is, although I don't buy guitars with an eye to selling them on, I don't know if I'd get on with the guitar and the port won't help if it needs to go. Buying new with the option to return seems the sensible way to go, and there seem to be some good prices out there (thanks @ToneControl ).

I'd love to try one in advance, but in spite of @Tannin entreating us all to get out there, the nearest one I can find is close on a 3 hour drive away so that's not happening any time soon.

@GTC I don't know whether to apologise or expect undying gratitude

Enjoy your new old guitar!

ToneControl · February 2023

Shadow said:

Thanks for all the responses, very much appreciated.

The seller has now added mention of the port to the title but no more detail in the listing. Despite the great price I've decided to give this one a miss. Something just doesn't feel right about it. Along with no mention of the port, the description is minimal. It may well be above board, but I think I'd prefer to get one that's intact and decided for myself if I want a port (not likely). The other consideration is, although I don't buy guitars with an eye to selling them on, I don't know if I'd get on with the guitar and the port won't help if it needs to go. Buying new with the option to return seems the sensible way to go, and there seem to be some good prices out there (thanks @ToneControl ).

I'd love to try one in advance, but in spite of @Tannin entreating us all to get out there, the nearest one I can find is close on a 3 hour drive away so that's not happening any time soon.

@GTC I don't know whether to apologise or expect undying gratitude Enjoy your new old guitar!

Thomann now use a UK company to distribute to UK customers.
Delivery takes about a week, no duty or VAT to pay, all covered in the price on the website.
Returns are easy, but take longer to complete, you still get 30 days trial.
I'm guessing £20 return fee if you don't like it, free if there is a fault

Shadow · February 2023

Useful info, thanks.

GTC · February 2023

Shadow said:

@GTC I don't know whether to apologise or expect undying gratitude Enjoy your new old guitar!

An act of madness on my part. The last thing I need at the moment is another guitar. However, I'm still rather pleased about it. The GNc4 has a higher spec with a better finish than the GNc2 but is basically the same guitar. The one I'm getting is also spruce / rosewood rather than cedar / walnut.

I guess the one you were looking at (three hours away) was at Project Music, Exeter - which has an LR Baggs pickup fitted.

I'm not averse to taking an eBay gamble as long as the price is right, it feels OK and I've done my homework - and I can afford to take the hit. I've only once been disappointed - and that was easily rectified. Remember that many eBay listers are very lazy with their descriptions and it doesn't necessarily indicate a rogue seller or item. If you need more details than are in the listing then ask through eBay's "contact seller" on the listing. That way the answer becomes part of the description as far as eBay buyer protection is concerned - and the dialogue will inform you more about the seller.

It is up to you to trust your own instincts, but I saw nothing on the listing that raised any immediate alarm bells with me apart from the soundport issue. The seller is open to offers, too.

Anyway, good luck in your search. BTW - I've had two guitars with soundports and I don't like them.

Tannin · March 2023

GTC said:

An act of madness on my part. The last thing I need at the moment is another guitar. However, I'm still rather pleased about it.

Story of my life

Shadow · March 2023

@GTC It's actually at Richard's Guitars. Project Music is over 5 hours away from me, as much as I'd love to visit that's never going to happen!

Interesting re your dislike of sound ports. I've yet to try a guitar with one, but presumably if they added a lot they'd be much more common than they seem to be.

GTC · March 2023

Shadow said:
Interesting re your dislike of sound ports. I've yet to try a guitar with one, but presumably if they added a lot they'd be much more common than they seem to be.

I've had one on a Chinese-made lattice-braced classical and a custom Brook Taw. For the former it came as standard - for the latter, I specified it at a late stage in the build. What I didn't like was that the overall sound was confused by it coming from two different places - and I don't really think it added much to the sound from the player's point of view..

I'm sure there are those who love them though.

Tannin · March 2023

I posted in another thread a while back, but to reprise, my Mineur is a single local luthier concert-size guitar, Engelmann Spruce over Myrtle Beech ("tiger myrtle") with a Blackwood neck and rosewood fingerboard. The next guitar Paul built after mine was very similar - same shape, same top, side back, and fingerboard woods, the only two differences are the neck (the other one is Myrtle Beech instead of Blackwood) and a soundport.

It was interesting to play the two side-by-side when I happened to drop into Paul's workshop one day before he shipped the new one off to Hong Kong. Very similar (as you would expect) but subtly different, I think mostly because mine had had more time to open up. But the soundport clearly made a difference. I liked it.

Would I buy a guitar with a soundport? Sure. (A properly done one, obviously.) Will I specify a soundport in any new guitars I order? Probably not. Not out of the question for the current baritone build, but probably not necessary.

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