Acoustic JAMES TAYLOR On his stunning new album American Standard... GABRIELLE APLIN LINDA MANZER SNR ALE CHL San SH ee Dr iis ZZ Ky Jk a a ae VARsCie Nas Acoustic Wood Working... Welcome to the Spring edition of Guitarist Presents Acoustic. In this issue we take a close-up look at the art of the luthier from three very different perspectives, Firstly, Ihad the pleasure of travelling up to Penrith to look around Roger \ Bucknall's Fylde workshop and explore with him the effects that timber has on tone, taking the chance to play some of his remarkable guitars while I was there. Then I flew over to Donegal to Emerald Guitars to see how carbon fibre can be used as an alternative to wood in guitar making. We been sent one of Emeralds guitars to feature in Guitarist recently and I had the opportunity to put it through its paces before my visit. Whereas there might have been a litle bit of the shock of the new involved to begin with, I ame away convinced, They're beautiful instruments with a surprisingly ‘woody’ tone. Company founder Alistair Hay gives us some insight into the process and tells the story of making a very special instrument for Steve Vai. In our third look at the craft we focus on women in lutherie, from the revolutionary designs of Linda Manzer, who made the Pikasso guitar for Pat Metheny, to Rosie Heydenrych at Turnstone Guitar Company who is pioneering the use of woods native to the UK in her instruments. ‘All this and an insightful interview with James Taylor, guitars from ‘Takamine, Faith and Lowden, and a look at how your choice of string sets can affect acoustic tone. Enjoy! Dw —— David Meod Acting Editor Editor's Highlights James Taylor Stas us teaugh is ewalbum, American ‘Standara complete vik signatures and ‘cxpopostons ps Acoustasonic isfendersev Stat BSS shaped Acoustasonic andlectricgutar an aecusticoperaps, a Iiebit or bat? p60 Fylde Workshop \Netrael upto Roger Bucral'shieaway intheLakestotalk timbestoneand acaustomastery paGuitarist *PRESENTS: Acoustic EDITORIAL — David Mead __ Arena pea ole Revies Eo Graham Dalzell Dave Burrluek [email protected] Acrisa FeaTunes Warren daveeaveurckcom , Rod Brakes MaNncine Boron meted eae SentonMUsicEDm0 Lucy Rice Jason Sidwell beysieiturenatcor Coxrexr Dinecron.M iasonsebturenetcom Scott Rowley scott roneyaturene com [ican Banner, Ana Baevny JAM DicKsoN, RcHAKD Hoon, Gus KIMPTON, EDM Roce NeW, DAVINARUNGASANN, DARKE PHILLIPS, ENR YATIS Pun Banker, OuryCuRris, Ne. Goons esmncwnarcncres Sarno Srey cocronos Banca Ch neCONTENTS wea 006 an -Peter Green 012.......Gabrielle Aplin 026.0... Women Lahiers 038.1... Toby Hay 044 Fylde Guitars 054 Emerald Guitars 104....-Raising ‘The Tones Acoustic strings COVER 106.....Classie Gear: Gibson J-45, oF Mut Teen Dona Pie aa ELS COLE CED BSI Ue eT Tot album, track by track PSPIS8C TRS & TSPIT@AC SBB Show Report TECHNIQUES 110 son SbstitineIN THE PICTURE cn yer Ves een EL rete ee ete g els) Cee founder Peter Green did one a the most od Cee eet! corre seed their musical style, not to mention afew Cee eee een ere a Cee era eeu ae Green (sporting a Dobro) and Jeremy eee rns Poteet Caer a eee cs noe tretice et etter ee image below, captured during the acoustic See Pee en eee) eau ead Fairweather Low. The concert sto be releasedin selected cinemas during the Se eae oeACOUSTIC GUITA i YEAR It's case of more pluck for your buck and top tone in your zone as we look back at our pick of last year's steel-string stars, cottish luthier Billy Finlayson teamed up with the renowned Canadian manufacturer Godin to produce a new range of instruments, which includes this very neatly turned out triple-0. Instead of referring to the standard acoustic guitar cookbook, Billy decided that he to begin designing his ine of guitars from the ‘ground up, while adding some special ingredients all of his own Sangean FINLAYSON 000-100RS £ He was also determined to avoid some of what he regarded as being acoustic manufaecuring pitfalls that had resulted in some ofthe faults that have been constantly turning up on his repairs workbench, These included issues such as lifting bridges, humidity damage, problems with tuning stability and neck angle distortions, Not on Billy's watch. ‘The result charmed our socks off, ‘making the 000-100RS a clear winner in this category Exactly why itwon the laurel wreath is down to the sum of several parts, including its vintage vibes, plump but perfectly manageable old-school mahogany neck, slid woods (spruce top, Indian rosewood back and sides), its fingerpicking friendly feel, and little touches Tike the tuners. An 18:1 ratio for the basses and 26: for the trebles ‘makes fine-tuning a breeze. ‘Then there's the sound: with piano-like sustain in the basses ‘and a soft, toneful response from the trebles, the Finlayson's voice is every bits good as its looks wn finlaysonguitars.co.skEASTMAN AC at 619. Pitcing its wits against che giants in the acoustic ‘world, Eastman continues its inexorable rise to the premier league of guitar builders, We've fallen head lover heels for some ofits electric models, but this ‘ime it’s the turn of the acoustic range with this all-solid-wood grand auditorium cutaway model ‘The guitar's cedar top produces a warm tone, and a supporting east of mahogany for the back and sides provides power and midrange richness, while the Fishman Sonitone completes the deal with plug: in-and-play appeal. The bottom line here is price: at well below the £ik mark it's almost irresistible. ‘wreastmanguitars.com GIBSON G-45 STUDIO £869 According to Gibson, the G-Series range (currently comprising two models) marks a new entry point into its acoustic catalogue. Modesty priced, this guitar ~ and is stablemate, the slightly pricier Gas Standard - charmed us with its no-nonsense looks, all-solid-wood construction, build quality from the company’s renowned Bozeman facility and, most importantly, ts sound. Equipped with a Fishman Sonitone pickup for stage readiness, the G45 Studio comes with a Sitka spruce top matched with walnut ‘ack and sides, offering plenty of rich bass and mids ‘with shimmering trebles. Definitely bargain. ‘sewwrgbson.com COTTON eR NOM KOI Sr ey Aor tee eet eect my Epi Les Paul ike aBurst ll ood, Peer er ect ee ete ere ried Se rhe cea ea SE eee ered Cee ort Su ncn ee eee SE ee es ree enn eet od er ‘MARTIN MODERN DELUXE 000-28 £4,295 ‘Martin continues its commitment to rem: cetting edge of the acoustic market by reimagining one ofits most popular models ~ and it's certainly nota case of unnecessary interference or blinging up for the sake of there. We were impressed by new features including a titanium truss rod for ‘weight relief and increased durability, plus a laver of earbon fibre in the bridge place for additional structural strength and an increase in volume and sustain, Other flashes include gold coloured frets and a new green abalone company logo inlay on the headstock. It's classy and refined ~ and we love it. ww wamartinguitarcom attheTHE PRICE IS RIGHT What's the problem with expensive guitars, asks Dave Burrluck ~ you get what you pay for, after all_ Last year, like any pig before, we played some AQ astonishing guitars, amps and bits of kit. Pmno fan of the elitism that surrounds some lofty brands, but Lam a big fan of quality, usually born out of experience. But quality costs, right? In my experience, yes. “You guys were great” said a punter after a ively Sanda afternoon gig with my (amplified) acoustic trio. "You sounded so much better than the lot we had in last weekend," Itsparked a conversation with my bassist about quality of sound, See, he plays an ageing Wal ‘bass bought secondhand back in the 80s, When he recently went to have it overhauled after many years ofplayingithe was staggered t0 learn the price of a new one (not to mention the cost ofthe necessary repair to his od one! ‘My Yamaha NCX2000 isa ‘youngster in comparison to that ‘Walbass,butin the past decade ies notched up some 350-plus gigs Aside rom string changing and very | ‘occasional battery replacement, phisa litle TLC after I dropped it, maintenance costs have been 2er0, ‘The jack socket developed abit of a.cracke recently, which was easily fixed with a squirt of Servisol. lesan absolute road-hog and (Pm touching ‘wood as I write) has never let me _ se AeOUSTHE shiNe 2020 \ down. But checking the current retail price, i's trouser-dampening £4,634 ~ at launch it was closer to £3k, But per-gigit's cost just over 10 quid: acouple of London-priced beers. With a typical gigbeinga 90-minute two-setter (22 songs), that works out about S0p a song. Another personal staple is my LR Baggs Venue DI, hardly cheap at around £300, But it's the bra ‘of my minimal acoustic pedalboard ‘with tuner, EQ, feedback-busting “Ifyou, the musician, ‘are happy and your instrument is doing what it should then you're going to play better, aren't you? notch filter and phase switch, plus various outputs. Earlier this year Tmet LR Baggs forthe first time at + the Winter NAMM Show. I'm not ‘sure what impression I made as 1 shook his hand-and wouldsrt let go while uttering “thanks, thank you, you've saved my butt on so many ‘sigs thanks to your Venue DI". got rather moistin the eye department. | So, the ‘value’ of what many would ‘consider expensive gear is put into context by me and my bassist simply by the number of is and songs swe've used our instruments and outboard gear on over the collective decades. Notonly have these instruments paid for themselves bt we've had the pleasure of playing quality on all hose dates. My spare’ nylon-strng lectrois a Yamaha NCX9O0FM (£890) that sein Bs tuning fora couple of songs perg. Asde from is (aminated) ‘aple back and sides and rosewood fingerboard it looks the same asthe NCX2000R - sonically, however, worlds apart could use the much more alfordable NCX1200R (£1417, which certainly looks the Same with laminated backend sides and uses the same pickup preamp system Does it fel or sound the amet Nott me ‘We quite often think our audience won'thea a difference, but clearly they do. I don't think that's just down ta sonic quality ether Ifyou, the musician, are happy and your instrument is doing what t should then you're going to play beter aren'tyou? It's not the only way to look at value and just because something seems expensive doesn't mean i's going tobe better. But in today’s hugely competitive market, more than ever, you get whatyou pay for, Qualiey of materials, parts and lees not forget experience and craft sally costs.“My Yantaha NCX2c0¢ has notched up some 350-plus gigs Tee ee a Ne AM OR naa Cereal Ssacres pee ame ere ane scree energie (aoe AT ree et mn pieirreri ocr ea (oer tty ary ety DeSean [aL erheam ne tee 8 R os reenter kataiegarbeeantere Fie ecto meren ee ep rena areas etomern Tay eet cig ommermet cts agree roam Sie aieretpmraieer tame tees eee ee ae ee eee eee en eee pCO Pao on paler ieee Lice eerie era Recor eeeeintc a mea rrt reentrant Sere ee er eects eerste toute Toma nan met “iy then Thad eretedny Never Pade | gle durngthose our of ee pepe renee cries Ter reeeen Lenearennernieens fee teen ee ate pomenoerinmeceerinen iz rie Ae cemetery Se eign Siete ornenes ean enone eae ska ee Dee aneDNS oe) ff * D\oviatereeketoetet what I know ‘works for me and whatTenjoy. think the resuli have been Detter for it”‘commer and had to make an album that sounded a ertain way: I wanted to remove the stigma that pop isn'tclever, too, because ins really difficult! Tloveso many different typesof musicand Ireally wanted to explore all ofmy influences and not feel like Thad to fly one lag” Although the role ofthe guitarisnot immediately apparent when lsteningto the record, because ourbeloved instrument has such an important place in Gabrielle's ‘world, itisnever faraway, particularly when transferring the sound toalivesetting and especially considering the beginnings ‘ofarumour ofan acoustic version ofher newalbumin the works, aprojectthat certainly piques our interest. Playing For The Song The guitars are more ofa texture on this record” she nods, “There area lotof sounds ‘on there, so when itcomes to playing this albumlive,if we wanted tobringeverybody [who contributed] then there would be cightkeysplayersand five guitarists! But itsadifferent context playingliveand sometimes ll change the keys or tempos ‘ofthe songs ~somethingthat sounds fast “ontherecord soundsslowerlive~ so t'a hole different way ofthinking he actual band setup stil really simple. We'llrunalotof triggersand tracks, ‘butthe band willbe drums, bas, keys and me on guitar and some piano and addtional keys. My setup has stayed very similarand ike that consistency.” “Regardless of the songs’ moods, I wanted them to sound happy, so we used really ‘warm, uplifting sounds” Gabrielle has also played the new album inmany small record-shop gigs purely solo, accompanyingherselfon guitar significant fator for this songyviter: ‘isrealy important tome to know thae1 can play these songsanywhere, wwithouttrackor production oreven other ‘musicians, as much as! love them” she smiles. “Its eally good for meto beableto ‘sraba guitar and play the songs, becauseit’s stilla inger-songwriter album. Obviously I don't try to recreate the sound completely sola. Theresa songecalled Strange on there thachas thisreallystrongbass line, which Ymnot goingto try and play on the guitar, but Thave fingerpicking pattern that fits inthereanditworks. “Tdon'ttry tomatch the energy or rythmson the record when [ply ive, because alotofthem work with other rhythms and melodies and that's why they fit, Asmuchas I love playing with aband, feel very free when playingsolo-Tean dowhat want, ean change the key when like or add anextra chorus and really, interact with the crowd withoutlanding any surpriseson anybody.” Gabrielle Aplin | INTERVIEW Moving naturally onto gearchat, Gabrielle has many beautiful guitars ather fingertips, butthe fist she mentionsisabit ofasurprise. Well” she answers witha laugh, “one of my favourite ones for writingisthischeap litte disgusting butamazingnylon-string ‘guitar, ike one you would buy from Argosor froma charity shop fora fiver. But! do also have the most delicious guitarin the world, Which wasa gfe from Martin when Ifirst started working with them itis 00-188, John Mellencamp Signature Edition and it isjustamazing” ‘This model wasbased on Mellencamp's 12-fretparlour guitarand hasquilted mahogany back and sides witha Carpathian spruce top slotted headstock and Waverly tuners, demonstrating fine taste on the American's part, but the instruments ‘whereitstops for Gabrielle don't realy listen to his musiey'she admits, “but I picked this guitar up and was playingit for agesinthe shop in town and iewasthe one chose. Thad no dea it was John Mellencamp one at the time and Thaven'tbeen inspired by the music, but hedoes play agreat guitar” ‘Asa fanoftheall-mahogany Martin designs, Gabrielle has anumber six Seth Lakeman 5-1ST signature tenor athome, and when playinglive she'softenbeen seen ‘with her Martin 000-15M strapped toher, a series known forts reliable no-frills design and American build, Btshe has another ‘model thatis far more valuable~and whileRVIEW | Gabrielle Ap Never Fade Recor Cabri sown betas ier er auiree hecouereatve and Gabrielleisn’tone 100 percent sure of the exact model, itlookstouslikean old Martin 0.17 another all-mahogany box, highly soughtafter these days oh my God, itis amazing,” she gasps Tmprettysureit'sabout 0 yearsold and itisjustridiculous. My friend, the guitarist Luke Potashnick, soureeditforme,and because ofthat instrument Inow DI my ‘guitars, which T'm really enjoying. Ie'sgreat, because you getthis really erunchy noise fromit. love how Feistplays acoustic and hhow she also gets that crunchy sound: she has this Live In Parisvideo on YouTube and Tjustlove the sound she gets from her guitar ‘on that, even when it's played delicately “Luse LR Baggs pickups on my acoustics ‘onstage, because I love thems" she adds, "so Thaveone onmy vintage Martins well” InTune Gabrielle isalso notaverse to tampering with her strings often experimenting with tunings and delvinginto the unknown dorealy enjoy tunings" she smiles. “Tlike to put the wrongstrings onin the swrongplaces sometimes, butt normally I like to change one or two strings and play in the key that Pve tuned the stringsto, Soll tunetheGuptoand Aand playin, which issonice,although Ive snapped few Gs doing that. Open barre chords onitsound “What I love the most about using open tunings is I just play around and discover my own shapes. You're finding the songs instead of writing them” really dlicious,sothat'sbecome one of ‘my favourites, There salso this tuning that really ike andit's the same tuning as [Nick Drake track] Pink Moon [CGCFCE, capo 2nd fret), soit'sa Nick Drake tuning that really love to write songs with: ‘Asmuch asshe's keen to experiment ‘with guitartuningsand some bignames come up when wechat about influences, Gabrielle admits that her Iearningcomes firstly froma place ofcuriosity before one of inspirations or influences, “Well, Ido really ike Joni Mitchell"she says. "Iwas told bya producer that atone pointshe had aguitar forall ofher tunings ineverykey, which waskind ofcool! really love Nick Drake'sstyleofplayingas well, andthen Beckhasbeenabiginfluence, especialy through hs albums. Tove how hell play really aggressively on something thatshouldbe played delicately andhow hae alwayseinventinghimselt™ She pausesforamoment. “But doyou now what? When tcomesto guitar playing, ve reallyno dea where Fleamed any ofthis shit[laughs]! Pm nota taught phyerand twouldn'tbe bletogoand be somebody's uitarist but Thave practised lotoverthe years and Thave becomea suitarist.Butwhattlovethe mostabout ‘singopen tuningsisthat I don't really know whatt'm doing 0 Ijustmake somethingup and he play around and discovermy own shapes, What you're really doingis findingthe songs instead of ‘wrtingthem, and that's what really love about open tinings. les realy nice tohear thosenew sounds every now and again, and itchangesthe way youplay-itean really complicate itor really simplify dont think there isanything wrong with being simplethaes what ve beentryingtoleam and tostoptyingso hard” ear Happy out row on Never Fade Records, abril istouring the UK ard Exope through Marchand Api ‘win.gabrielleapinco.kGabrielle Aplin | INTERVIEW eee [ectedNa AVAXHOME?nee cd providing you various content: LC eC a Ee ee eS mea eas ces Unlimited satisfaction one low price Cheap constant access to piping hot media Protect your downloadings from Big brother Safer, than torrent-trackers 18 years of seamless operation and our users' satisfaction PRE Uys ETC emer ol Tei AvaxHome - Your End Place We have everything for all of your needs. Just open https://avxlive.icuBee oe oe ALY AMERICAN ned MW DAN Minette esbenicesM css Reese ub vntutecakseuocleel alien ses Oe see en tad mae) ge la eel ao RAL ROSES Conese MOI eun esi Ce eo eee eT es ree backings the pithy words and harmonically sophisticated arrangements of Paul Simon, or ernest always poetically sublime meanderings Baath es one Se ee ees oe cere et ‘Taylor's masterstroke wasin putting Ce een but often cryptic, ontoacountry-foll er et Le acoustic guitar picking atits core. eee ners the musie world. Abona-fide superstar Sone ee eee es Cer ee eee eer aera Sag ee ‘Taylor hasaself-effacing demeanour thatstillsends women swooningand Bor ee ns Hislatest release, American Standard, takesa formula first laid down by Willie Nelson with Somewhere Over The Rainbow in 1981, then Linda Ronstadt’s Gud ound When You're Winning, 2001) toRod Stewart,who'sbuilta second career out ofit, and ereated an album of Ameri Se Cauda ‘Taylor has gently but powerfully laid Toe eae tes Dave O'Donnel says, “When James coversasongit soundslikehe wrote it” James uses his tried-and-trusted chord ‘voicingsand fretboard moves, and weaves them around tunesthat could nee eet ee eee Seay ‘that eame two decades later, or his Nol | release Before This World in2015.INTERVIEW | James Taylor ran ‘eisaguitaralbum? states Jamesin ‘ypicallyctipped fashion. °T purposely didnterateitwith akeyboard. We were ‘ery carefiltokeep theguitarasthe centre ofeach arrangement, because these are arrangements ofmy own. ve hadsome ofthese since started playing the guitar Tearntto play playing these songs that Tew from childhood “ut interesting, When my generation stepped outand were making themselves Jenown, wedrew distinct ine between curselvesand what sounded tous ike Veg orin any way lounge slike folk music was okay and Celtie music wwasckay.but Sinatrawasnot. Wewere ‘unkind andunacceptingo that music We distanced ourselves omit. And, in fet, 2 eso fabulous. We did thema disservice Peoplelike Bobby Darin tried to change { hisstries andbecome Bob Darin and found himselfon the wrongside ofthe generational divide. But tht changed when Willie Nelson made his standards album. And Linda Ronstad, who actualy worked with Nelson Riddle. Thatchanged things 4 remade itpossble for Rod Stewart. And 2 now Natalie Cole ofcourse she's the real i “These were written as songs to be done by anyone... they are the high watermark of popular music” deal she actuallyisajazzsinger(Netalie passed away in 2015, ‘butoneach album [tend tohavea cover ofsomesort. recorded an album of covers [Covers, 2008] which had Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’on. So ve done ‘number ofthese tunes, what are thoughtof as American Songbook. They are songs of the 1920s, 30s and 40s, with acouple from the 50s. They are the previous generation's musi. Butthisisthe music that informed Lennon-MeCartney, Paul Simon, Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell The people of our generation listened tothisstuffwhen they were kids, and I thinkthatitreally informed theirharmonie sense. Ie'smuch more sophisticated than music has become. ‘The difierenceis that these were written assongstobe done by anyone, These days ‘what welisten to are performances. In other words, we aelisteningtoaspecific person, aspecifie woiee; you wouldn'think ofthembeingcovered by other people, generally speaking. Then, they didn't have procluction values that would dazzle us, and they didn’tknow who would be performing the song, so ithad to existasaset of changes, alyricand melody. Inmy opinion, they are the high watermark of popular music ‘Taylorand the brilliant jazz guitarist John Pizzarelliworked out the coreof the ‘guitar arrangements forthe album, which ‘musthavebeen an interestingchallenge. “Yes, we did work them out together” Taylor concurs. “I'm playing my Olson guitars and Pizzarellismostly playingsa seven-string Sothere's some bass notes that arecomingout of the guitars that are outside ofthe usual range. But they're my arrangements. With my limited guitar technique P've managed tointerpretthese ‘tunes tworks for John to augment hose Itdoesn’t work for John to give me changes and tohave me play them, He's much more suited accommodating me than am suited toaccommodating him, And, fortunately for me, I'm calling the shotsJames Taylor | INTERVIEW “When I doa cover I basically try toadapt my technique and my voice to the material. Treally wanted to keep that at the centre of it”PTA Conrad “The people of our generation listened to this stuff when Terao Chen nd I think that it Pocilsipivoesstel their harmonic sense. It's much more sophisticated thon music has fo ooel‘But, yes it wasa very interesting process. I thought we were doingdemosto stare with, Then the idea occurred tome, Let's ‘make thisintoa guitar project’ Because youean tend to have akind of cookie-cutter ‘experience when making thiskind of album. Youcan gta greatrhythmsection, and areallystrongarranger,butitean sound lke these songs often tend to sound. ‘When Idoacover Ibasicaly try to adapt ny technique and my voice tothe material, and when it works itdoes really wanted to keep thatatthe centre ofit. Ifwe'd asked a piano player to interpret these changes then had an arranger orchestrate them, it would have somehow obseured whats actually happening here, Which isthat'm running these songs through my process. There are some that itworks with and some thatit doesn’t these are the ones that work” ‘Tokeep anessentially acoustic album § fromsoundingsamey, Taylor and his team udded instruments from outside the main band, Things like saxophone, melodica, Dobro, violin, and harmony vocals lend -lour and interest. “After John and Icutthese basic tracks we rook them tomy musical community “Tt is a guitar album ‘We were very careful to keep the guitar as the centre of each cmrangement. I learnt to play [guitar] playing these songs that I knew from childhood" and that’sbasically the guys thet tour with and record with [James'sband comprises ‘immy Jonson, bass; Steve Gadd, drums; Larry Goldings, keys; and Lou Marini, clarinet, sax) also have arelationship with Jerry Douglas [Dobro] and Stuart Duncan [violin], and forthe firsttimeT worked with Viktor Krauss upright bass}. ‘We worked foranawfully longtime, getting the arrangementsdown. And I tookit tomy vocalists [Arnold MeCuller, Kate Markovitz, Dorian Holley, Andrea Zon) and we found parts for them on three of the songs to sing So, yes, sortoftookit through the garden.” When two guitarists arrangesongson acoustiesone imagines caposat various positions oneach instrument, witheach player adopting different inversions of the ‘chords, Notsoin this ease, apparently. “ohn isa proper guitar player? Taylor states, modestly. “He very seldomly uses acapo, Heis ree on the neck with ll of the inversions. 'm pretty much stuekcin the first postion, so Luseacapo alot My ‘guitar tech, Jon Prince, wrote down allof the eapo positions, so that tells you what the fingeringis. Often it's either G [shape], many of them are, there'sacouple in E andanumberin D. And there are actually some where I change capo positon for the bridge. getP to send them toyou. James kindly did soand the key and capo position arelisted beside each songin the track-by-trackinterview that follows. cy James Taylor aaiableRVIEW | James Taylor SINGING THE SONGBOOK James talks us through the album, track by track 1 My Blue Heaven KEY C, CAPO 3" FR This opening trackon American Standardbegns witha separate verse, atypical songwriting device ‘ofthat ime that we seem tohaveos. twas he way the song wasintroduced ito the _action of amusica.oralite way of setingitup. Abitofconversation that snot yetthe body af the Song, They're great: some of them are relly smart Inbascalysetsthestage alte it Anumbe of thesongstha pay, g from thesuungthingtoa strajghteiht thing andits the straight eight that sours Latin. We actualy brought in Luis Conte ‘onpereussiontomake thatcler Moon River (KEY Bi, CAPO 1" FRET) James has texaclyreharmonised tis but there _aresome intresting things goingonhe seems to have twistditaitie bit There'sa Steve Wonder ‘esque slo that sounds ke aharmonica, butisn. Thisparticlarrackis just the wo guitars, ‘theresa ryt. Sotheanly other tingasie frommy wiceisasixsting guitar, aseve sting ‘ula; andasoothat Larry Goldings playing It sounds aharmonic, but actualy isamelodica Actual, many cases wrote these soos gave theplayerstine play and Larry startswitheny ‘melody anlthen goesoff ons ownanthat's when irises upand breaks fee oft ft sounds ke Steve Wionde tinkits probably more ely that Steve andi have the same sour, hichis ay Charles. Thatnforms Steve's music at as thnkit does ». Teach Me Tonight (KEY B, CAPO 25° FRET) Ths songhasljresy the incomparable army Cahn, vithmusety Gee De Pau and wa pubshadin 1953 Fecifrent versions chartedn1954and 1955 lve "Yes, Samy Cahn and Gene DePaul We've cast thiswith something of Latin feel ae again. got Luis Conte to play maracas andcongasnit Wat Fever plas some beautiful trumpet onto. tsa simplepece adits essentially simple album 4A Easy As Rolling Off A Log KEY A, CAPO 2% FRET ‘There's analmos Django esque swingto this song, uhich James frst heardon the cartoon Katnip olege The ast guia are also James, but hetasaconfsson ply thatitroductoninto the carinet onthe uta Butitsastuso artefact. coud playin realtimejumpedinandconstrctedit tei together realy Tis songcame omacartonthatl remember rm hen! was aki, When told Kootch {oldtend andcolaborator Dany Kortehmar| that Tout that song, he sad, Yes youwere always going ‘naboutthat song 5 Almost Like Being In Love KEY G, CAPO 38 FRET Hece the harmony vocals comen iting boththe songandthe abun. Typical JT chords suchas tmaor thsand #Sths show that songs this clealyintometis omit, “es, they deftly did Nat ng Cal's version ofthis song was ny favourite, but knewitfromthe ‘musical Brigadoon Itwas one af those ones that earn early onandtasialy taught methe chords thatareint ee eee vend and bande ae pee are 4 t= ioe ’ aad 6.Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat CHORUS: KEY B, CAPO 1°" FRET; INTRO: KEY Aim, CAPO 2° FRET Readers may remember Stubby Kaye'sbrilant ‘iia ftom Guys An Dol. The fabulous ery Douglas guests on Dobrohere which works teat. This oes thavethe energy that Stubby Kaye's version had, and thats because tat sacast aur vesin it's iveanthe tempo s way upand hessinging tke e's got trumpet nis throat Soour approach wasto getintcatewithtandthe harmonies and wespent tof time writing these harmony pasts thatarein there twasalotoffun, thattune”= Nearness Of You KEY E, CAPO 2" FRE: ‘There's akindof Her Alpert fettothis, with ames favourite chord moves the perfect bed or ‘some succinct trumpet soo anil. “Thats Walt Fol who tours ith me. He popped into doubletimeande ditt i resto ‘oni. Thesame thingwith Lou Marnion Almost Like BeinginLovetha'saline tat askedhimtopay a line ve heard fr yearsas something ve wantedto hearinthat place That real opensitup, toa I's a songthat I aready recorded wth PatMtheny and Michael Brecker. i's Hoagy Carmichael soitwas probably writen onthe uta My favourite chore changes dofllrightintoit twas pat of ny ONA andpartot my vocabulary oo §. You've Got To Be Carefully Taught YD, NO CAPO ‘Thissong rom he 1958 musical Sout Pacis powerfully ant-racist. Coming fromtattimelt must have been an incredibly brave sang to wrt thinksoThelyricisangry.’scyical and takingabout making chidrenfate teaching them when theyre young andinnocentSoitisaprety brutathing whenyoupetright downto. That's soe that John Pazareli bought the projec. esa Youknow this one! Isai Youbet Ida‘and playeditimmediatey on the guitar fori” 9. God Bless The Child KEY C, CAPO 3*° FRET; NO CAPO ON SECOND HALF OF BRIDG ThisBile Holiday casi realy a sophisticated blues Andshemadea fantastic version fit ‘Absolutely gt tis. played the songwth Kootch an Jel O'Brien nc Zach Wiesner incur bandThe lyingMachinein 1966, Thiswaspartof ‘our rept velvet the tune fe along ime, sols been alongtime coming 1c, Pennies From Heaven KEY A, CAPO 2" FRET ThecrganscundonthissreminiscentotNaKing Cok’ soloon Let's Face The MusicAnd Dare. 'stheonly keyboard thealbum thats actually comping plying along withthe chords Larry Goldings playsasort of asloin that tune, and ‘then comes backinthecodainthe fad, andpays thechanges withus a, My Heart Stood Still (KEY E, CAPO 2%” FRET) Thechordstructureonthissong, sung Frank Sinatra and mary oer, ndsitsef perfectly toTeylor’s ical syle and isone of hosethat deftly sounds ke he might have writen "es tis one fl ight int place yes by Lorenz Hart thinkthat Hart wasa closeted gay guy. lat aisles have this kindoteartceaketind them akindofa furtiveness anda’ dare not speak itsnam ind of thing that youcanfel This song expt isnot etintelyhomesexal ve, but you cantelthat doomed energy tot. hat sort this willneverhappen’ Because the musal theatre was sotokerantof gay peopleithas suchastrong energy toitbecauseof ts denial 2. OF Man River (KEY By, CAPO 1°" FRET) This Jerome Kem and Oscar Hammerstein song, from Show Boat was ade tamoushy legendary singer PaulRobeson. That's the definitive version of andhas connected toitalothat poltical ener. tsa very Alay thing fora white guy to sighs song and Ssomeof te yrs This sanabbrevatedversion of wats actually very ong song, but ve played itforsomary yeasandlovedtsomuch tsalso amazingly range solineverbeableta dite Itstartswith anf becauseitsinB And ofcourse atte endofit.it goes uptwo anda half octaves I's aver ifeultsongtosing, Also twalksaline for Someone suchas meto sing t bu lve thesongso ‘much justcouldntleavet alone Ne put very te ontop ofthis tune: tives thm guar and voice James Taylor | INTERVIEW 13. ts Only: A Paper Moon (KEY A, CAPO 2° FRET) ‘Those who krow Taylor's197 albu, Hours, willecogrise some ofthechordmoves ere, particulary inthe track Line Em Up. id eut Paper Mon before with Don Grlick foramovecaled ALeague OF Their Owns had becomefamiliar withthe tune Keotch rdlusedto {alkabout doing thesonginkindotastaght eight ‘ues kindof way. Butts ono those things that el into the Latinlearng side of my stuf Andis very mmuchte ame place as Line Up” 14, The Surrey With The Fringe On Top (KEY G TUNED DOWN A HALF-STEP, CAPO 1"" FRET) ‘This Rodgers andHammersensorg tomthehit rusia Oahomal (1943) ean serrate trowanay. butharmonialyts surprisingly sophisticated "es. iteanbe The person who eal opened ‘these American Songbook songs up chordal and armenicly, was il Evans. Billusthadthat ouch cof gold Helookedat tings and sawharmeonies andchordchangesinthemthathave become the Standardvetsons of alto songs The Surey With TheFringe On Tepis ancl fashioned song 'snat beat thathas beeninpop musisine It'sgtthat {oxtotkindfrhythmthatsnotacurent song And ‘actually founitver ificuittosing because it's satin any way moderne contemporary”Tene ence ieee Pram Meee art isi ae Pee eee eee Bere cece emer allown guitars made by the same pair of Pec eeee ee Per ea nee ce Pema eet Apioncer and inspiration to generations of other guitar makers, ~ she creates instruments that command ardent fans, deceit ‘money and the occasional museum plinth. Convention-defying ee ee ee eee Perera, ere error a nehtenceetr ie eeeee tent voutconsider she's done what she's doneina business that might attimes appear tohave operated a‘nogirls'rule. Fert es cote ee een eae) Pee en eet ee ee eee and Europe reveal theirinspirations, signature models, choice of Perera That ee ee eer eed stillout-numbered, though not outdonote Oo roe NALRVIEW | Women In Lutherie LINDA MANZER Manzer Guitars tall started when, “Twentto the Mariposa Folk Festival, late 605, and saw Joni Mitchell playinga dulcimerand went to buy oneat the local folklore centrein Toronto anditwas 00 expensive. The fellow there suggested. 1 buyakt for half the price and make one myself, which did. That's when the bug bit Leontinued to art collegein Halifax, Nova Scotia, where kept findingmyself makingduleimers. realized that making ‘musical instruments, specifically guitars, combined my love of art, woodworkingand ‘music. heard about Jean-Claude Larrivée in Toronto. After spendinga couple of ‘months tryingto persuade him tohire me, heeventually did. “Ileamed how to make steel-stringand classical guitars with Larrivée from 197400 1978, Duringmy apprenticeship we made over 1300 guitars As hissmall company _grew, [realised I preferred to workina ‘more solo environment. Ifeltitserved the resultingguitarbetterasitwould have oneset of hands guidingits path studied th James DAquist in 1983 084 in his ‘shop in Long sland, New York; learned how to build archtop guitars from him, He had studied with John DrAngelico,so Iwas Jmmersed ina workshop rich in history and tradition, rwasa huge honourto work alongside him. From him learned totrust ‘my intuition: ‘What do you think other guitar makers will learn fromyou? “Thavebeen told that people like my design sensibilities and, moreimportantly, the sound and feel ofthe guitars make. The secret sauceis the passion you putinto it “Think those who get’ my guitars sense a ‘feel Terytogetinto each guitar. Each ‘guitar has alitle bitof me init. Technically, Tmatch the woodsasbest ean so they ‘works team. Forme, the mostimportant aspectsare: how the instrumentsounds, “What was spectacularly unusual when I started out in 1974 is almost normal now, There's still plenty of room for improvement - generally speaking, white men still rule the world. But the men I worked with knew that inviting women into the game improved the game for everyone. A rising tide lifts all boats. It also helps if you're a little feisty. how feels to play, and finally how itlooks ~ inthatorder.Ie'salsoreally importantto listen tothe person you are building for, Ultimately ie’ their guitar so ty tolisten and bring their musical dream to life” How did you work out how to make extraordinary instruments suchas the Pikasso youmade for Pat Metheny? “Through experimentation and boldly going where noguitar maker had gone before laughs] Luckily, T wasabitnaive about the complexity of what Iwas ‘undertakingand therefore undaunted, Thad an incredibly willing partnerto work ‘with in Pat Metheny. [am forever grate for hisinspiration and support” What are your main considerations when choosing tonewoods? “Ilistentoeach piece of wood with my ceyesclosed -tappingit. 'm looking for sensitivity and responsiveness. And stability know the woods are going tobe ‘thinned and then havebraces added, You have tointuie whatitcan and willbecome. Tread that Michelangelo said he was just chippingaway stone to reveal thestatue inside, and I sometimes feel T'm doing something similar withthe wood, “When Ibegan building guitars there ‘were no endangered wood species. have enough aged wood tolasta lifetime, but Tam very concerned about what the future holds for next generations ofbuilders. Tam glad for CITES [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) designations of woods. And it’s great to see people using locally sourced wood, recycled materials and windfall But think there will have tobe controlled forestation ‘ofmusical-instrument wood. And the timeCGnadsondeommates alton Manz pata Interna andmorte, thebulte hswteate Ironternehumdty” The Sabot? ‘oensie the nods do ratgetion dy Linas estom mas, suchaethis Spe apse eatanay snus wa ene eee ued at tostart that would be right now.as the best ‘woods are 100-plus years old” ‘What challenges. if any. have you faced as ‘awomanin utherie? “When Tbegan building guitars there ‘wereno women in the field tall omy Jnowledge. Beingthe only one meant was theicebreaker atthe frontofthe ship. Itwas exhilarating and tring. cutmy own path in avery weleoming field “Tstlloceasionally have to prove myself ‘when [go into an unknown hardwarestore and have toconvince them Tknow what Ymtalkingabout. Butatthelast hardware store I went into there were more women ‘workingthere than men, Thatkind of blew ‘my mind ina good way. “The challenges canbe subtle, though. ‘When [started out there were many bumps inthe road and they potentially added up tosay:"You'renot welcome: Luckily, Thad ‘wo older brothers. The bigeye-opener ‘was when Iwas about eight and [wasn't allowed in the tee fort because my brothers hhadaa‘no gir rule. fought my way up theladder and once Iwasinthetree fort realised they actually liked having me there, That's when Trealised rls’ could doanything Yes, there would be issuesin front ofme —forinstance, I don’thave the strength most men have, but work smart I discoveredathingealled ‘leverage’. Very hhandy for lifting heavy shit Problems usually have solutions. “There are definitly ewer women than ‘men in this field, but the numbers of women row each year. thinkit'slessintimidating than when I started. For years Lwas the only woman workingat Larrivée. But the ‘men worked within the mid-70snever ‘madean issue of my gender and, in fact, probably became slightly protective about ‘me, because they saw some ofthe stuff ‘was experiencing These same fellows, the original sic apprentices of Jean-Claude Larrivée and Larrivée himself are my dearest friends and inspiration. “Weare better ifeveryonecanenter the field they excel ator have passion in ‘This worksboth ways, Society should also sweleome men doing traditional female jobs. We areall stronger ifthese artificial walls come down: eps//mansercom Women In Lutherie | INIRVIEW | Women In Lutherie KATHY WINGERT Wingert Guitars Itallstarted when. “Inceded alife change and a career direction, Ioved playing guitar, but I was terrible performer. few lifeevents tended with mestandingin the midalle of the library wondering what I was going todo, Somesoul-searchinganda card catalogue lead tobookson guitar making and repair. The book was pretty awful, butitplanteda good seed “The journey to my frst guitar ‘meandered through the search for suppliers and tools, aclassatajunior college and ajob at workshop that specialised in high-level instrument restoration and repair. The owner was anexpertin violin family instruments. He didn'tteach me methods but how to see and how tolisten, how todo areally good setup, and a handful of things in construetion. And how tobe really, really snooty about wood, “Ifyou count the first instrument that built, though twas in high school. you countall the years I bough, fixed land lipped guitars, that was all through ‘my 20s. As for when Thungashingle and started selling guitars asacareer choice? ‘That was 1996" What sets your guitars apart? “It’s hard to stand out for ft, finish, aestheties and originality because there areso many truly fine builders doing perfect work. There arealot of uswho stand shoulder to shoulder about the ‘things that mean the buyer will geta guitar that is worth what they pay. “What sets mine apart, [believe isthe ‘ime [take to voice the tops,and the voice Tmgoing for -asdark as possible while being fully articulate. ve been accused of getting cello-ike tones. My necks and setupsare very good.” Why so few women in utherie? Women with children usually do most of he care. Guitar making takes. ‘tremendous amount of time: there aren't {enough hoursin the day for one ofthose things, certainly not both. Family oles are changing and there isa better division of childeare.1 don'tknow ifthacisplayingout yetin guitar world, butie will. “Lsuppose you were expectingme to say girlsare less likely to hangout with theirdadsatthe workbench, but most of the great guitar makers Iknow were more drivenby music, gutarand ar¢than by exposure to woodworking. And guitar has tended tobe more popular with men than with women, Atthe dawn ofthe guitar, “There are so many truly fine builders doing perfect work. There are a lot of us who stand shoulder to shoulder about the things that mean the buyer will get a guitar that is worth what they pay” after it began to supplant the Tute, it was very much a woman's instrument. Over time, guitars got bigger ~ whether because ‘men got interested, orifthe fashion for Targer instruments made tess appealing, towomen,Tdon'tknow” Will more women in lutherie change the norm of designed by men for men"? “Lassumeso, But there's funny thing bout girls with guitars, Have you ever noticed that when a woman takes the stage witha guitar, i's likely tobe big and well worn? I think women often feel thatifthey show up with a girly-looking’ suitar, they have just increased the barrier tocredibilty, “For years I would go to concerts and search the backup band fora woman ‘sideman’. Women could be stars,or they could be anall-gel band, butoutside of orchestras it appeared awoman couldn’ Justhave a job playing guitar. Then T chained myselfto the workbench and didn'teome up forair. When I finally did, found the world had finally changed” woeworingertguitars.comROSIE HEYDENRYCH Turnstone Guitar Company Finding out about Linda Manzer,among, ‘other female luthiers, encouraged Rosie Heydenrych, in her mid-20s, sign up foraguitar-making lassat London Metropolitan University. She followed up with atwo-yearinternship with alocal maker, and volunteered with repairer Celine Camerlynck in London's Denmark Street, before starting the Turnstone Guitar Company in2015, ‘What sets your guitars apart? ‘like to say tone and playability, but hat is for the player toidentify.I'sexcitingto use new woods, fel their dfferencesin mmyhandsand anticipate the contribution they will maketo finished instrument. like touse different woods for bracing toemphasise tonal characteristics that species excels at- walnut for warmth, padauk for clear treble, mahogany for crispness. have become very interested intheuse of English timbers [see more inthe Winter 2019; Presents Acoustic" Ral Heyeyeh petiredn her orshop feu ererageret 6 puree acoreer neuter bury esearch female whoo ‘omelets Nance and Wngat 2.Thesmatbased TS (2b et mol ae ‘Sandrine beat wihot 5mm 2. Rose hand eras ale gutars er vesshnpinsurey “I want my work to speak for itself. Maybe there are some people who think I'm not going to order a guitar from you because you're a woman - but there's nothing I can do about that except continually strive to improve my work" Does it matter that there are so few women in lutherie? “Lackof diversity in any industryisashame. ‘Thingsare changing, but when Twasat school I was the only girl in my year totake ‘woodworking thinkto thisdayitsillbreeds anundercurrentof insecurity: worried about what friendsand family might think ‘when Itold them Iwasinterestedin working ‘with hand tools, machines and glues. One ofthe frst things [did was research ifthere ‘were any female gutarmakers,and I found ‘outabout Kathy Wingert, Linda Manzer and Judy Threet.Itgaveme the courage to ‘walk through the door of thateveningclass. “Lseeso many small women who are swamped by a dreadnought-size guitar {Idon'tthink women [guitar players] want anything that's aesthetically different, but they do sometimeshave different physical requirements. Itcomes dawn to wanting. better playingexperience, so for women I thinkin terms of smaller guitar bodies, less weightin the instrumentand easy playabilityon the neck “Beingacustom maker Teanhelp speea guitar thatcaters physically toa person's requirements, That goes for menand women” swturnstoneguitarcoukWomen In Lutherie | INTERVIEW ANGELA W. ALTNER Waltner Guitars “When I started, Iwas very exotic as woman building guitars” Angela ‘Waltner, whose classical instruments sell ‘worldwide, ells us from her base in Berlin, “Today itis more common, The classical guitar world isstill dominated by men, but ‘there are signs that future generations will befemale. The instrument will benefit. But ‘when tcomesto the soul of an instrument, ‘of music, itdoesn't matter whether Lama “Tcan'tlistall thegreat people who taught orsupported me and I'm very sateful. Toname one: from the late Benno Streu, arestorer of ld Spanish guitars, earned sound adjustment on the finished instrument, which s my specialism besides building guitars Sonorty clarity ‘and sound colours are attributes that characterise my instruments. “Sustainability is very importantto me. ssial guitarists are often conservative and expectrosewood in their guitar. Nowadays, several suppliers offer beautiful local woods that work very well” ‘apy/Avalenerguitarscom Angela Waterstudes 5 Viner casa ‘radtoralisturent —gutarsconbne toh rmakgetore opening Spishand Geman herownstdoinZ002 making ractan The sence! sour Steainstopreseve _haeusesercusne ‘heherlageot iron ods sniend ‘hee her ver FriseINTERVIEW | Women In Lutherie Pagelli Guitars Claudia Pagel designs guitarsand husband Claudio builds them. Together, the Pagells have been described asnotso much top oftheirleague butinaleague of their own, Asymmetrical acoustics, open hheadstocks,even a stone soundboard ~ the wife-and-husband team longago threw the rulebook out of the window “My apprenticeship asa decorative designer and graphic artst,my timeatart school, and my various obs in the creative field were anadvantage when itcame to guitar design," says Claudia, aco-founderof the Luthiers Beyond Limits group. “wasn’t committed toguitar history, and I didn't now how aguitar was constructed, SoT have nolimits when drawingor thinking of the end product. There isreally whyawomanean'tworkasa luthier “Their work has tobe good and authentic, ofcourse. Our experience is that women are ery welcome in utherie.A new male Iuthier asa harder time gaining foothold” Iep/jpagelicom Designer aa Pagel alte guts Fame shh calnge both payngand traces are renforest fia'siowerd ‘Thos Quarta atop abound Elm ckstone op fouredtem the er tral stone Quary instr nd ita commissionedJOSHIA DE JONGE Joshia de Jonge Guitars (quenee, caNapa “When Ifirststarted, think Tknew less than five female builders. ‘Thats beginning to change, but we're stil in the minority. People ‘would assume my father was the builder, and later my husband” Celebrated classical guitar maker Joshia de Jonge hasbeen steeped in luther since childhood. Her father, and teacher, isthe luthier Sergei de Jonge, and sibling rivalry spurred her on, aged 13: “My younger brother started building a guitar and wasjealous and wanted tobuild oneas well, oi ‘She cites Linda Manzer and Grit Laskin amongher inspirations, and credits renowned American luthier Erie Sahin forthe subtle ‘svistshe likes to planeint the neck for a comfortable paying position. “Allinall the guitar making-world hasbeen really positive atmosphere for me," says de Jonge. Her handmade instruments, also notable fr her mosaic rosette top bracing pattern and French polish attract international starssuch as (Otto Tolonen from Finland and Welsh composer Stephen Goss. ep joshiadejongecom Jeshagewspinatanty ‘tar makers a Istateenoge tense bute et te Jecia's stangad eds entre sprce rent tops within rosoreod banded Ops ince Rreantlchvond Ime eteed tore Women In Lutherie | INTERVIEW SHELLEY D PARK Shelley D Park Guitars guitars as“a thoughtful modern interpretation of aclassi design. Itismy intention to provide the ft and finish expected by today’s acoustic player while respecting the work of Selmer-Maccaferi I think my instruments offer playability and a sweet, nuanced ‘one while maintaining the responsiveness and projection these suitarsare expected to have in a Hot Club swinggcontext.” ark worked at Larivée then for fellow Canadian David ‘Webber before settingup on her own’shop in Vancouver, British Columbia, “a province where Ihave accesso local materials, both sofewoods for soundboards and hardwoods forbacks and sides. amalways glad to work with local spruce, mapleand walnut.I'm excited about some of the composite replacements for ebony and rosewood components and suspect they'll startto show up inthe instruments Ibuild” She says:"T've never attributed my successes nd disappointmentsin the guitar-making world to my sex.” woew:parkguicarscom Shaley Pak shown atone workshop ben bulgur sce 191 Shouse bath gant woes hat ‘elo thepevnce ‘ten Colon The Mode cre et) as alongs nth ot {ron 26.78iche) dalek fergeateracessbly Notte pete dot ‘ude nds he ‘Semec crater seINTERVIEW | Women In Lutherie Dowina “My grandad was a carpenter and as. kid I spent alot of time in his workshop, s0 1 always liked manual work, being creative ‘and making something of great utility says Martina Bartkova who has worked binding, sanding frets, dovetails and laser-cutting for Dowina in Slovakia, “This s dirty work. There is alot of gue, wood dust. ike my work, but I think nota lot of women are inclined to do this. Guys didn’t believe in me; I needed to show them each day I was capable” Currently working on necks and backplate design, Martina’ colleague Zuzana Jarjabkova aims to move on todesign complete guitars. “Guitar rmakingis still considered a man’s work, 1 don't know if that is changing. But my colleagues changed, for sure.” Would more women in guitar making have an impact on design? Jarjabkova is sceptical: "I don’t think design depends on gender” But Bartkova thinks so “Women have a different aesthetic sense” she offers wwmdowina.com sana snort deen Sinai Ding teeves that there ipedater nora nents she was rata dawnt the ‘ature a ior bing ‘Tre Donna Bona i Bpaourshe gut, ylostngvesns, meres andRotosound's long-life Nexus strings keep Runkle Rom oleae iC Uy always ready when inspiration strikesen sO nN Nene eur] Eeeerenn careers WoRurescaurea neces Dee ech a chueo Ea ma RUC MO aed acollaboration that resulted TER eso ra ae Cee errs oa enna re Peery ey Pe een) explained the opportunity,and although I wasn'ton that ist my fiend Ni eee ee et ee Pere u ett terete ee eee eer ereAsthealbumeitl: guitar that wasbuile for Toby sa 12-string, ‘the musician's preferred instrument, and he thinks the slightly more unusual style may have worked inhis favour ‘I thinkeboth Roger and the label eleehat Twasdoing something abit different” he nods. “Th built tohandleall ofthe unique tunings 1 use, which wasa bit more ofan interesting challenge forall of those involved all the way through the process. Once we'd cided on that ital happened real ‘quickly. Me and the label went up to Roger's ‘workshopin Penrith in the Lake District, which was the frst time Thad metany of them, and we spent the day together. He showed usthe workshop and the hug ‘oftonewoods.Itwas relly citing, because Thad never come close tohavingaguitar made forme, and he obviously really knows whathe's doing” Ofcourse, Fyldeisoneof the most regarded guitar producers in the country and has been making for decades, so this interesting project wasn safe hands. Thebasicbrief was a12-string? R tells us, “Toby likes low tunings, “The Fylde [added] a whole new set of colours on my palette. I feel like I'm just scratching the surfac alongstringlength was useful and, because stringsean be thin and jangly sounding, aabighody helped tofatten the sound up, ‘The 12-fretneck isalso important, because itmakes the guitar shorter, so with th paceman Tonger headstock and double tuners the Sinemet instrument isbetter balanced, andthe horter neck helps hugely with neck wth and stiffne As Roger notes, the 12-fretjoiniskey to the design butitalso became an important aspectof the guitar for “Ithink tpatseverythingin the right on'tplay th oftenabove the 2th fret” he tellsus.“Ido driftup there,but itsustallysingle-string Tines,somy hand strength doesn’t need to be sogreat and I didn't want a cutaway ase I didn’t want anythingto affect the potentialoftheinstrument” “The second part ofthe project was the writingand recording of the album with the guitar, but first Toby had tolive with the Fylde fora while to fly gett know it. ‘Itisjust amazing,” he says, holding the nstrument-abeauty whose soundBis Babel) pce terts Smog nto ls ee es . Peconic . eu | Sd Piet Or ery pare Ce eed colour tothe sound, ry Ny, andasthare pred ee ers) ee fener ore a coerced ts aot Sa bea ee eis eteto ta Soe (Cmajr tuning with anadded 6thand eee Sees THELast enna similar tothe oder ted corto rine See change can give ety eet ent Cs Hapanese playing erent oy Peete Toby Hay | INTERVIEW issweet loud and perfectlybalanced when Toby demonstrates some tuneson i “Ittookme awhile tofeellike itwas scause at firstitjust fetlikea very precious objectthat Thad to almost earn the rightto have. Now its very much t andie’smine, and i’smy number one instrument that feel really comfortable playing. F've written the masicand made the record and played gigs, so think that aurahas faded abit is aguitarand it needs tobe played, But think twill always feel special: TToby’sprevious number one guia Taylor isa great piece, so there were some rofl pinion, the Fyldeismuch better fora few main reasons; hetellsus.“The Taylor pushed me in certain directions when Iwas composing would drift towards what sounded good onitand stay way from what didn’t. With the Fylde, it waslike Thada whole new set of colours ‘onmy palette; itcan do whatever I wantit to, Ithasmusicin itandittakes time to find it feel ike 'm just scratching the surface. 1esalmostlikeithas an EQ builtin, because nothings to high or too low it'sjust the “One tuning represents the landscapes of Radnorshire and the Cambrian Mountains vhere I live" For Toby's firsttwo albums, he enlisted several musicians to ereate the sound he was after but with New Musi For The ring Guitar it was very muchasolo effort. ‘The label were interested in making sure this was an album that really showed offche guitar” Toby explains.“Thetheme was‘aguitarina room which meantitwas the firstrecord Imade that was purely solo instrumental guitar music. That has alway beenat the core ofeverything ve done, but 'dembellish itwith arrangements or ‘overdubbing,buthere it wasall aboutthe There was nowhere tohide that what Twas playingathome while writing would be there atthe end, and iewas quite alotofpressure,Itwas justme and my brother Tim in the Wood Room at Real World Studios andi wasall done live with no overdubs.I probably recorded clos 020 tracks, and the idea wasto choose the record from the best Insome waysitwas the easiest thing 've ever done, because icwasall me. Butin some ways itwas the hardest, because there wereno distractions 1nd I don’tenjoy listening to myself play!”STA “The theme [of the album] wos ‘a guitar in aroom’, which meant it was the first record I made that was purely solo instrumental... There ‘was nowhere to hide” Cee ets eres Se See Rae cee nerer pire ae eC rey er erate ‘uningthe high pairs, notin unison butto ee eee ey Sere ae SUT aca ittogether, or when fretted they become ‘swornote chords, Itmassvely restricts the amount of fretting you ean do, because if Sr eee) eae et eed eee ee etl Se ree eee te ead Cees rent! ye nee Ot ere eer ‘way. For me, when [stumbled intothis by Pececna en ser Cot ae and some ofthe restrictions were the most Pete thee teats te een er cnet ‘work within tattle sound world” ‘New Musi or The 12 String Cima ee meraserity Co eeu Tee errata) Perret erect eed por eer tate) ecil eva Mats THE TD IMAI MLS TLR Ue rile lL ERTS a eRe hee COS Ce uC LT sets you free to truly express yourself - time and time again. Vole CG) Bn) ENGINEERED FOR GREAT TONE AND LONG LIFE oe ee a a ee ee ee ee eeeYorks a FYLDE GUITARS If Roger Bucknall were a chef he'd have two Michelin stars possibly three. After all, in nearly 60 years of guitar making he’s served up bespoke tonewood recipes to some of the world’s principal gourmets of acoustic guitar tone... ger Bucknall bezan building guitars professionallyn 1973 on the Fylde coast of Lancashire, although he actually builthis firstinstrumentin his father's garage attheage ofnine. Withadegreein engineering —he insists guitar building issimply engineering with wood - and an nterestin the works of William akespeare all Fylde models bear the name of one ofthe Bard's characters) combined with alove of guitar and music ingeneral he set up shop. Relocating to Fylde currentlocation in Penrith in the mid-90s, Roger has made ‘guitars for follclegends including Martin Simpson, Martin Carthy, Davey Graham and Nic Jones, and jazz players Al Di “Meola, Pat Metheny and Biréi Lagréne,as ell as artists lke Sting, Pete Townshend and Paul McCartney. In 2016 he was awarded an MBE for services to tar making, music and heritage crafts’. "I did wonder ift ‘would be granted an annual stipend, but apparentiynot,and Idon'teven get my own castle” he said atthetime, We visited Rogerand hissmall team. ofbuildersonarainy December morning lastyear and founda hive of activity After aquick tour, we asked himaboutthe instruments currently making their way through his workshop. “Alotofthe time I've got artists’ guitars going through, andit’s really what keeps Words David Mead Photography Olly Curtis ime going. Atthe moment, we're just finishingoffanother guitar for Chris Difford, quite an unusual one, i's quite highly inlaid and exotic woods. We're also sendingoutaguitar for Adam Holmes who is one of Martin Simpson's Magpie Areband. Ita five-string high-strung, abit ike Nashville tuning, butonly five strings onit. It's specially built for this tuning, itsnota modified sixstring The bracinginsie isbuilefor the tension and neck width, and string spacing isbuilt for the tension. 'mhopingthathe kes it. It soundsabitlikea musical bos. “We're also uststarting anotherbatch ofguitarsthat includes another guitar for Gordon Giltrap, another for Adam Palma itwillbe the third identical guitar, ashallow-bodied Falstaff. He lives halfin Poland and halfin England, so heneeds guitars everywhere. Then there's Falstaff for John Doyle, which he ordered shortly after he made the Fylde album. Wetend to alternate: get a small batch of artist guitars through and then relax and makesome ‘more straightforward instruments.” “A lot of the time I've got artist's guitars going through, and it's really what keeps me going...” ‘What's the process behind the development of artist guitars? “The firs thingistodiseuss the concept ofthe guitar -howbigit shouldbe, string [scale] length, neck join and timbers~to try tosupply acertain tone It's nothing exotic, normally;1 don't getinvolved very often in special inlays and things ike that. ‘Theones ve made for Martin Simpson recently have taken alot of discussion, ‘The irs guitar was very successful, and then we though, ‘Okay, what's it ‘goingto sound like made with Brazilian rosewood?" And weneeded tofind out, because the fist guitar was sosuccessfl sacle with mahogany, we needed to know ifitwas goingto work with different timber,andithas. Ieseven beter; slightly different buebetter, “The frstone wasa 12-fretbody join inorder to putthe bridge in really efficient place on the body. twas short scale because Martin didn’t want alge tension on the strings. Butthismeant there wasn't alot of access to higher frets, particularly with acapoon.Sowe thought, Okay, this time it's got to have cutaway! So we made that cutaway, Brazilian rosewood, very successful, lovely guitar and beautiful to look, “The next was, ‘Okay, this is lovely, but 1eanttake it abroad; And then, because knew that the change in CITES was comingup, Isaid,'Okay, we'lltry Indian rosewood; and, agai, itscome out verywellindeed and he justoves playing Ie’salovely piece of Indian rosewood. ‘Thetoneisalittebitdifferentand, in theory, Martin could travel tothe States usingit He still playshis Stefan Sobel ‘guitar primarily, as well as his PRS, which s fine by me How does that differ from a customer ‘who has seen an artist in concert, for ‘example, and thinks, That sounds nice, want one of those"? “e's much more dificult Particularly iesby email, because they don'talways have the same understandingof the wonds we use and they'll say tome, “Twanta guitar thats this, thatand the other’ and because wedon'tuse exactly the same words, Ineed tobe very. very sare what they re looking for: [eS important, and I won'tjustsay,"Yes, we can do that and take the money. Ihave alotofexperience, and Thave togetthat across. That's how I get my professional ‘customers, andit'sthose customers who have helped mebuild my knowledge base. 'mvery proud ofmy client ist.1d0 he RATED si 2 i E\posth 568. have abit of reputation, butonly because Iwon'tallow an untruth to pass. It'sso ‘important thatthe customer gets what they want, and itdoesn’thelpto let them believe something that isn't true. Ipointout thatifthey read somethingon the internet, italmost certainly isn’t completely rue People come tomebecause they need my experience and my input. [tend tobe abit direct, but like to think that Imakeanew friend every time makeaguitar” What would you say are the popular misconceptions that people have when ordering a custom-built guitar? “Thepopular conception with American playersisthat mahogany isbrightand rosewood ismellow. That's the opposite “I tend to be a bit direct, but I like to think that I make anew friend every time I make a guitar” ec tatbegisa malsctonot yes emprisesateomet Paul Ferestapesa foundboads bac progress wath tur ne werbereh Avastprentagect ‘hewarkoneery Fe Insvument carpeted phar Here lr Reay ‘ough shapes nee (onagutaraeck tomy experience And most people inthe suitar-making business would agree~not everybody, because people get used toa certain sound and they associate it with certain words Ie'slike ff show you piece ofpaper and say, “That's blue! you'll set toknow ita blue, but somebody else ‘night have been coldit’s green Iessound blindness, really: Words don't work “Bright isa relly inteestingone. To sng, itmeansa preponderance of higher overtones butforsome people itmeansa personality abilike Bonnie Langford a ‘massive outpatfromasmall source. Tat’ notbrightnessto me that's personality, Joucinessor cheerfulness. And youget thatfromalight imber like cedar. but cedarisasoftvimberand tencourages bass overtones, lower overtones Heavier timbersarestfferand they encourage higher overtones. And tha’sjust physics, really. Ieisn'-quitea simple as tha, particularly when you getino discussions boutthedifferencesberween various Similar timbers, anda otof people useloss of diffrent words thinkingthey know what they mean, butthey dontrealy”Do you have any favourite timbers to ‘work with? ‘mallergic to some of my favourites, which ean be very hard, cannot touch rosewoods literally an'ttouch them [hence the protective gloves you see Roger \wearingin the pictures here), But still like them: itIooks lovely its wery pleasant towork with it's astructurally sound timber, and comesin fairly bigpieces,so don't get much wild grain, ‘love walnut, particularly the claro walnut. keptavvay from itforalongtime becauseithad been used by afew other makersasa characteristic oftheir guitars and [didn’t want that characteristic. wanted to dothings the Fylde way, the way Talwayshave done. But ove the look. oft, and once I started usingit, I thought it was adorable Iebends like buter, finishes really easilyand you can contrastitwith other timbers. I've gotquitea lot of walnut thaewascutin Oregon - virally whole Jog~and I've gotsome claro walnut that was grown in this country. and Fve got some of the same timber thatwasgrown in Kew Gardens and allegedly planted by Queen Victoria. It'll thesamespecies, the same botanie name, slight differences, andall glorious tuft” You've recently started using bog oak, hhaven't you?’ “Ljust got one set and absolutely adored, soT've bought quite bit more since then, Isa different timber altogether to what you think ofas oak. just grew foralong, longtime, chen it fell over and got buried, "Nothingelse has happened to ituntil somebody came longand chopped itup and dried it Itlooks glorious, t's veryblack, which isabicofashame, buti'sblack in nice way. Glorious fits quarter sawn, slorious filigree across the grain, bends ike ‘adream, easy tofinish as well unlike most ‘aks thatyou get, which are far too deep rained and coarse.So,so ar Tove tand Twilluse again.” What about top woods? “Iesbeen ajourney for me. When started ‘there wasn't anything available, and even ‘Im allergic to some of my favourites, which con be very hard. I literally cannot touch rosewoods” Treworshop pate rack elspa ade (eke and seundbosres reset seem Rogen nape ‘agutarreckatthe wonberch ange meade ram knte Engst inne ‘oar storie Ibuter and inhes that disappeared. There wasone desler {nBirmingham who could supply decent duality spruce and then everybody got {interested in guitars and the supplies of allthisstuff dried up, the quality we downhill The good scuff went to Japan. Sol started lookingsideways and I used a Ttofhemlock fra while, which isa very fine-qualty joinery timber, but wasn’t used in guitar making. Even now itis’, buti'safine timber, equivalentto the best Sitka spruces. And [used alotof German spruce until the quality started to disappear Sol started using cedar, and that was bigsuccess. “Then, because most of my customers are fingerpickers rather than flarpickers, Sitka spruce was toohard, mostly; you need somethingsofter tobe able to get therange oftone and power out from just your fingers. So I started using Engelmann, spruce and i's readily available, butithas some technicalissues. I's very easy toget this twistingeffectcalled ‘runout, where you getacolouration inthe centre and theshade changes,so Tdon'tuse that so ‘much now, Forthe higher-quality guitars, I've gone backto European spruce, Italian spruce quite lot, and forthe higher-level guitars use alotof Swiss pine”What would be a thumbnail sketch of the difference in tone between spruce, cedar and other top woods? “Well, that's fairly easy. The most important thingabouta guitarisitsbasiestructure, its design, how bigitis, what scale length itis, how deep, how heavily i'sbuilt. you change any of those, the sound changes a. ae Burrain’s Foux & ACOUSTIC SPECIAUSTS Call or visit us today for Mandolins, Banjos, Guitars and all kinds of Acoustic F BANJOS © instruments, Spares and Accessories! Ashbury blue MOON Continuing vapatee ff ne” Federation E> scr parece = Sponsorships an . record eeasoe (em: Viton gor Te da ante gto Bea Edinburgh ee vonon Manchester Saharan www.hobgoblin.com PRESS Ph PAUSE Tofino mae et res Pa it oe co.uk PUT A PAUSE IN YOUR DAY ¢ Bs‘FAITH NEPTUNE "BLUE MOON 7 WHATS 128 aby jumbo electro cutaway made from figured indonesian mango Faith’s latest Neptune model has its back and sides made from mango, a relative newcomer to the instrument wood arcana, and sports a clas deep-blue hue ~ cue otherworldly tones? Words David Mead Photogra ith 18 years’ experience behind icanda respectable number of awardstoitseredit, Faith has builta reputation asabuilder ofmedium priced quality acoustis that sembedded inthe psyche of players worldwide. The ‘mastermind behind the design of the instruments is Patrick James Fg ~a luthier who knows athingor vo about guitars, both eletric and acoustic, afterall Inthe past Fath has brought usseries such asthe PIE Legacy, lood Moon, Nomad. and Eclipse and sprouted body shapes that are named after celestial bois like Venus, Saturn, Mercury and Mars. The Blue Moon, Seriesisthe company’s latesttheme and themodel we have here isa Neptune, planet from the outer reaches ofthe solar system and, coincidentally, blue ncolour ‘when viewed from Barth, Welikea well ‘thought-out plan. Inrecent years guitar builders big and small havebeen experimenting ‘with alternative timbers in order tobe environmentally aware nd circumvent restrictions on the exportation of traditional timbers such as rosewood and mahogany Soweare becoming sed toseeing unusual body-wood formulae appearingin the spec Wy Neil Goinrinse pay | FAITH NEPTUNE BLUE MOON Wehaveto tonwwvod but ishighy -known timbers wedandsonicaly ci easback and sides, Feninscenottes, | oreverinecks and fingerboards, butfor the ‘company ed mango for both ba sides and top woo leap) pe ‘ introduction and mango is pre Hawaiian, although there variety, which is what we find he “Mango can be highly f thnatural colouring that includes da swith eaks oflighter wood and sometimes vsand greens. Oceasional spalting o the orate figuring within the wood, will ave plenty ofswirlsand curls ofits own. Asfarastonal expectations are laim iteoshare many ‘qualities with kos, witha brighttone and plenty ofbass present, Naturally, the quality ‘ofthe wood will vary enormously and so careful selection isnecessary when using itfor musical instruments, Faith ells thae“tonally mango hasan inte character. Itisnot asloud and pane! rosewood nor asstraightforwandly asmahogany, yetitbearsits own distinctive‘warmth, With frequency prominence startnga lite below that of mahogany and dropping offa litle earlier inthe midrange, the overall tone could bedeseribed as dark and moody"” We're not averse to ‘dark and ‘moody’ and so we'relooking forward to bashingouta few tunesinalitele while, Wemay even tryalitte blues, As we'veestablished, the motifwith the Neptuneisheading towards themauve tend ofthe spectrum and sothe figuring inthe mango presentin abundances faras we can see—is something youhave toview atclose range. Youdon'thaveto betoo faraway before it becomes pretty ‘much invisible, although stage lighting could prove tobe agood friend inthis respect Flamed maple binding contrasts the Neptune's dark side,asdoes the abalone rosette -it'sagood-lookinginstrument, even ifsome ofits charms are obscured from general view. Faith’sbody size designation hereisa “Baby Jumbo, but a 405mm (5.9 inches) atits widest pointand l16mm (4Sinches) deep atthe endpin, itsabigbaby.Iesall inproportion, though, withthe graceful ‘cutaway adding toits general bonniness. ‘Once wereach the Neptune's neck we're bbackin traditional territory with satin- FAITH NEPTUNE BLUE MOON | + finished mahogany and a fingerboard of ebony, itsadius clockingin at 406mm. (inches). The only board omamentation isthe Fath mother-of-pearl erescent atthe Lath ret,andat the otherend the Tusq nut measures the standard 43mm. Other hardware includesaset of Grover Rotomatietuners,aTusqsaddle anda “Macassan ebony bridge with matching abalone dotted stringpins. Feel & Sounds Interested tohear what mango was going tobringtothe table, we plunged into the Neptune's alleged ‘dark and moody atmosphere with afew exploratory chords, Now, we've said often in the pastthat sound isvery diffcultcodescribe in words. IF you're not too careful you skid immediately into the more pretentious end ofthe fine wine market and begin making some fairly ridiculous comparisons, What we were expecting was something really quite somibre-dark and moody, remember? but instead we found abrightness nthe treble thae was accentuated when usingapick, bbutmore mellowed down when adopting fingerstyle. There’ plenty ofbass too. fact it's almost asifthe Blue Moon wants tobe drop-tuned - andso,of course, we ‘TheFath Neptune's xe be Feishal butecspesthe mango ood ine tia! teak amang Fishman’scompact lnk preamp features fusrnountartares feevoann bass mie ‘We were expecting something sombre but instead found a brightness in the treble, accentuated when using a pick obliged. With the bass string dropped to Dithe party really started although, ifwe were beingoverly critical, weds the Neptune mightbe litle lackingin the midrange. Itseemsthat rebleand bass are both available in ample supply, but maybea little more oomph inthe centre audio field ‘would liven things up even more. ‘Wewere abitconcerned thatthe 43mm nut might mean that fingerstyle wasabit ‘ofacramped affarfor the fingers, but ‘everyone inthe office who picked up the instrument was surprised when we offered upthe statin this respeet, Wecameto the conclusion thatthe depth of he neck atthenut (which ison the slender side) and the generous C profile combine to make the nut feel wider inthe hand than itactuallys, Whether thisisdowntorinse vay | FAITH NEPTUNE BLUE MOON cunningluthiery on behalf of Mr ge or sheer happenstance is open for debate but \wedidn'texperience any crampingin that region when switching between campfire chords and deft phickery. ‘The Neptune sequipped witha Fishman Ink3 preampandaSonicoreunder-saddle pickup. The advantages here are the low-profile design ~no knobsto spol the ‘guitar’selegantlooks or getin the way of, the happy strummer'srightarm -andits simplicity in operation. lush controls here includeacombined push-button tuner and display, plus four rotariesfor volume, treble, middle and bass. The good thingis that Fishman has chosen the range ofthe EQvery wisely;there smore chan ample ‘bassist nt so much toallow things t0 become boomy, and both trebleand middle Fishman has chosen the range of the EQ. very wisely; there is ample bass, and both treble and middle are similarly refined are similarly refined, Itmeans that any apprehension we had withthe Neptune's ‘midrange couldbe easily dispelled -we found thattamingthe trebleasmidge, boostingthe bass alittle and bringingthe ‘mids fully into play made abig difference ‘You certainly wouldn't haveany worries plugginginatagigor open-mic evening. Verdict ‘There’sno doubt hat the Blue Moon has shelf-load of virtues all ofits own. I'sashame thatthe figuring of the mango wood isnot ‘more prominent, especially onthe frontof theinstrumentasit could raise the guitars ‘game litle froma kerb appeal point of view. Mango bringsitsown characteristies tothe picture inthe sound stakes, too, We wonder if ke koa, the instrument's brightness might ‘mellow down given the passage of imeand offer the midrange the opportunity o show through. Afterall, icusually takes afew years before an acoustic guitar indsits true voice and we uuspect this mightbe the case here. And itmightjust help the Neptune travel fromjust'moody’tomagnificent. FAITH NEPTUNE BLUE MOON PRICE: $979 hard case) ORIGIN: inonesia ‘TYPE: Baty jumbo cutanay electro TOP: Figured Javamango BACK/SIDES:Figued Javamango [MAX RIM DEPTHE 16mm [MAX BOARD DEPTH: 405mm [NECK:Mahogany ‘SCALE LENGTH: 650mm 256") [NUT/WIDTHETusa/43ram FINGERBOARD: Macassan ebony, mother-of peat Fat 2th fe 406mm (16) ras FRETS:20, [BRIDGE/SPACING: Macassan ebony/S5mm ELECTRICS: Fiehmanink Preamp with unde sade pckup WEIGHT hg: 2.4/5.2 OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: The Faith Neptune Range ncdes the FNCE natural (£808), FACET Tembes! Neptune ($849), Hilo Neptune FNCEHG (£968) and HiGloss Bartone Neptune FNECEHG (£099) LEFT HANDERS: Not this, Natural Neptune eft handed ‘model theFNCEL costs $829, FINISH Goss body wthsatin neck (@srevewed) FINISHES: ue Burs (a reviewed), Ash Green Burst (wthimaple fingerboard) ‘Barnes & Mulins 1681652449 nefithgitars.com PROS Anintresting voyage Int the aural charms fa tle known tonenod {CONS Aver) sight ack of presence inthe midrangewe UEMOON a Rta ant 1, cs 15> Award-Winning, All-Solid Acoustic Guitars,‘TAKAMINE TSP138C TES ‘1.199 WHAT IS IT? thine dectro-acustiwith good sounds upts sleeve ‘TAKAMINE TSP17BAC SEB 21999) WHATIS 72 Anatrace arched back and top thine with considerable charm Slim Pickin’ Two contrasting models from Takamine’s new Thinline range tell tales of superb player comfort and excellent onstage performance. Let’s see how they measure up... Words: David Mead Photography: Phi Barker he ideaofthinline acousti guitars ishardly new: Infact, when we first opened the cases and saw this pair ofsuper-slender Takamines we were ‘reminded of Yamaha's excellent APX range froma few yearsback. Only these areeven ‘thinner. Takamine proclaimsthat the cconcepthere sto provide“comfortand pperformanceto guitarists seekingamore slenderbody, uncompromised sound, and ‘excellence on stage”, Sounds like agood ideatous. Afterall, noceveryone wantsto ‘wrestle with ajumbo or adreadnought on stage. Guitarists whoare predominantly ‘trator Les Paul inclined might want something that feelsalittle more familiar intheirhands forthe one or two acoustic ‘numbers in cheirband’s set, for instance. Ourtwomodels here, drawn froman extensive range of varyingtimber combos and hues, might look extremely similar, but ‘therealinteretlies in where they differ For stat, the TSPI78AC SBB (which welleall “The Blue One’toavoid confusion) is £800 more expensive than the TSP138C TBS (aka “The Sunburst One? and sportsan arched| TAKAMINE TSP138C TES & TSP178AC SEB The beat endred he rst extondsto maple top and back, So, are we lookingata ‘ross between afl acoustic and something Fotedhestanc 4S ikea Gibson ES-3serieshere? Wed beter - zoomin and get busy. TeTsrvecsee se” Yourfirsequesion might be, ust how (a The Bu ne) thin are these guitars? The Sunburstisa ene J verytrim omm butte Blueisthereal supermodel atonly somm ~but, ofcourse wehave totake into account thatitbellies ‘outowingtothe arched top and back Both are particulary light,too, checkingin at only 19kg (4b) butfromhere on in, the specbegins to differ even more. Takingone model atime and staring with The Sunburst One, we find aspruce top. Takamine doesn'tspecify which type ‘of spruce, butthe timber visible through the finish looks like a nice piece of wood, nevertheless. Back and sides aresapele, wood we're finding more and more on acoustics these days asitsurfaces from alongstandingand totally wrongful designation asbeing a cheaper alternative tomahogany. Inany case, the guitar's back and sides look very attractive, set offby white and blackbindingall round, The neck is mahogany with Gotoh gold plated - and Talamine-stamped —tuners ‘onthe headstock, abone nut and rosewood fingerboard completing the picture. I'sa pretty traditional recipe, you have co adi swe'llsee what the reduced body dimensions Dringto the sound picturealittelateron, “Meanwhile, we'lllookat The Blue One and find out what makesittick from a wood point of view. The body, back, sides and If the bodies are slight, the necks are almost the opposite. . both feel chunky in the palm even theneck are maple and soit should providea tonal contrast to the Sunburst ‘And that'sbefore we even begin to consider the presence ofthe arched top and back. ‘Outside ofthe eletrie semis ~ Gibson S.-335, 330,345, and soon wecan'tthink ‘ofthat many contemporary acoustic guitars thathave ached tops and backs. Obviously ‘thismeans that there's more ofacapacity inside, which may result in slightly larger pair oflungsthan its stablemate, butthis remains tobeseen, ‘Other than that, Blue sportsan bony ngerboard with amore ornate set of Position markers~a combo of abalone and mother-of-pearl, a faras we ean tell Bindingand rosette are similar on both instruments and tuners are,once again, “Takamine-badged Gotoh. Both guitars share Takamine'snew (CT-3N pickup/preamp system, developed ecilially for the Thinline series that features a tuner, controls for volume, treble, midrange and bass, plusanotchfilterto fine-tune everythingand give the player fighting chance to see off the howling feedback beaston stayGotoh treet tap 2 mahogany neck on te TSP Tas The fnshonboth eventing we vcore {expect am kane natin sane touch ote Takamine CT reap was specaly fewoed fortron ‘TAKAMINE TSP138C TBS & TSP178AC SBB | Overall, the build quality onbothguitarsis Be ocrplarysomethingthiswriterhascome toexpect from Takaminesince the brand firstcrossed his path during the mid 70s. We're stil fascinated by the idea of being ableto squeeze out some workmanlike tone fromsuch small soundboxes, And the time hascometofindout. Feel & Sounds the bodies here arestight and dainty, then the necks are almost the opposite, ‘because both feel chunky’in the palm. Don'tgetus wrong. it's good chunky asopposed tocarly sosbaseball-bat territory. ne other thingthatsupports ourtheory this model's home market will beelectric players who want to whip out afew acoustic licks here and thereisthe nut width. At 42mm, instead of the more conventional 43mm and fingersyle- friendly 4smmand upwards, the feel here isvery electric andthe latsh radius of 304mm (12inches) puts ‘modern Fender spectrum, Pickingup The Sunburst One firstand playinga flurry of eampfire chords, we listened for any boxiness that sometimes accompanies small-bodied acoustics. You're not going togetthe cavernous bass and hearty midrange ofa dread outofabody thissize,and while there isasmidge ofa nasal midrange, i's really notanything that ‘would bother ustoo much, Aftera while, you don'trealy notice itand just geton with the jobin hand, The:electric’ feel helps ~ with single-note playing, too, the cutaway offering access to your wildest melodic imaginings. And the weightis very good forthose moments when spotlight posing ‘ecomesan absolutenecessity. ‘Overto The Blue Oneandaquickside- by-side comparison provesthat the arching ‘ofthe top and back means we have slightly more volume and, ifwe'renot mistaken, a smoother mix of treble and bass, with an improved midrange. It'ssubtl, but after lots ‘ofswappingabout between the two, we're sure t's there. Thereis more ofan openness tothesound;it'smorebreathy. Anall-maple body could quite feasibly have the edge ona more traditional spruce and sapele combo inthis respect, afterall, ‘But what about that “excellence on stage” we were promised? Tha'salldown totherinst pray | TAKAMINE TSP138C TBS & TSP178AC SEB, SN pickup/preampand,firingitup, we | 6.tmight ok andsound foundthatwhilealldhepreampcontros | shana tte tadaneffectonthesound.themidrange | Miottintehadea offeredthemostmileagetowards geting | Seeley bass willadd weight, but fiddling withthe midrange will give you additional girth Basically every stage sound situations here, save fora fingerstyle soloist who might want the natural roundness offered by, say, an OM or 000 acoustie. For everyone else, iespartytime, Verdict We like what we've heard from Takamine’s ‘Thinline acoustics, despite aslight worry thacthe Blueismaybe priced because ofa ‘more complex buil-process rather than its ability to deliver £800 morein terms of tone or playability. Having said that, what's there froma pure acoustic pointof view isastepup from what The Sunburst One hastooffer..butata cost. Itsounds ike we're griping and we're these guitarsare fun to play everyone who picked one up duting the course of thisreview said as much ~and their appeal grows asyouspend more time with them, Asonstage guitars, these models \would deliver stiff competition for other electro-aconstcs out there on the market, and their homely feel for electric players lifts them clearly into an altogether different league of usefulness. We're convinced - and we think you willbe, too. TAKAMINE TSP138C TBS PRICE: £1199 ine smi hardcas) ORIGIN: pan ‘TPE: Thinline electro-acoustic TOP:Spcuce BACK/SIDES: Sspele MAXRIM DEPTH: 60mm MAXBODY WIOTH: 377m NECK: Mahogany ‘SCALE LENGTH: 630mm ‘TUNERS: Takamine badged Gotoh NUT/WTH: Bone/42mm FINGERBOARD: Rsencod FRETS: 21 BRIDGE/SPACING: Rosenaod/S3m ELECTRICS: Takamine CT2N WEIGHT (o/eg): 44719 ‘OPTIONS: None RANGE OPTIONS: TSPISECSBL, (£1749) with sprcetop arched mmapleback, see through blak loss TSPI58C STR (81.49) with spruce top arched maple back, see-through redfinish 12-stringversionsof both sreavalable at £1,949 FINISH Tobacco Sunburst (as ‘evened, Natura ad Tea Bust Korguk Ltd ‘01908 304600 wwnntakamine.com PROS instant fairy for electric players; reat exit of amp'd-up sound (CONS That sight nasal midrange would put of acoustic purists TAKAMINE TSP178AC SBB PRICE: $1999 (ine semitard case) ORIGIN: apan ‘TPE: Thinline electro-acoustic “TOP: Arched maple BACK/SIDES: ape MAXIM DEPTH: 50mm MAX BODY WIDTH: 377m NECK: Mane SCALELENGTH: 630m ‘TUNERS: Takamine badged Gotoh NUT/WDTH:Gone/42m FINGERBOARD: bor FRETS:21 BRIDGE/SPACING: Ebony /S2mm ELECTRICS: Takamine CT3N WEIGHT (lo/eg): 44/13 OPTIONS: TheTSPI7BACKN ($1999) features akoatop back and sides RANGE OPTIONS: See TSPITBAC SBB et) LEFTHANDERS: No FINISH: Blue Burst (asreviowed) PROS A bright, sparky ride with slightly more volume and presence thats stabiemate ‘CONS The price tag may deter casual acoustic playersour Perfect Tone ie 2 Mba, on TMC Tat ns é era aT CT i UT SR ROALD pa ye ae best gear, feat ESI OLE ri COT ae for guitar ' if ne! Pon anan ror Ste Aa rw a Pas ANS rand odNE NAMM Show Report / GEA aftr or oter ce uch worbconederng Fender’ coutsone tne Tecatermods! that bre new poi AR FOR 2 corr, APT With a well-established reputation for electric guitars, not least for PRS, Manson and ahost of others, Corthas us rather taken with its own-brand acoustics. ‘The “thoroughly modern” Cut Craft ‘bundles in just about every boutique-style ‘concept fan frets, body contours, plus an LR Baggs M-80 soundhole pickup - on an all-solid European spruce/Myrtlewood small jumbo-size ata very tidy price, which includes ahard ease. The boutique-ke eraft with Cores other Limited Edition models such asthe Roselyn LE, with its offset soundhole on the top and a soundport onthe side, bevel ccuton body arm rest, and Art Nouveau- style soundhole inlay, and The Puzzle LE, ‘which will retail around £1,899, wonwcortguitars.com FENDER AMERICAN ACOUSTASONIC STRATOCASTER: Last year’s introduction ofthe radical Acoustasonic Telecaster is joined this year by a Stratocaster version. The patented ‘donut’ soundhole was redesigned tomaximise the guitars acoustic resonance Itssingle magnet pickup is placed exactly inthe same position asaconventional Stratocaster, and the ‘sound engine’ has been redesigned in conjunction with Fishman to offer new acoustic and electric sounds, the later with alittle more onboard erunch than you'll find on the Telecaster version, worwfendercom1D GIBSON MONTANA row si709 More evidence of Gibson's renaissance is inits acoustie Montana division: later this year the factory is expanding to effectively double ts output. And demand is only ‘gpingto increase with the many new additions forthe start ofthis yea. Like ibson USA, and from this year Epiphone, ‘Montana now groups its guitars into Original and Modern series, so the small- bodied L-00 Original £2,349) obviously Sitsin the former eamp, the L-00 Studio ‘Walnut (from £1749) inthe later with its walnut back and sides. There are plenty of corkersin the Original series where you ‘ean compare 50s and 60s versions ofthe 3-45 (£2,349 and £2,199 respectively), too, for example. But ifyou hanker ater those older styles, the Acoustic Custom Shop now has a whole Historic Collection from £3699 for the 1942 L.G-2), which are virtually twice the price of the Original models as you'd expect. The 1942 Banner J-45, for instance, stopped us in our tracks. ww wgibson.com 2. GieonMenans's 45st) and ine Ronse estore Ccecton lo) tari 6-098 Te Custom Tory Erma veto rmaal ms fr ney ‘ome odessa DQ LARRIVEE C-038-TE CUSTOM TOMMY EMMANUEL e209 While oneof the world’s finest acoustic players is known for his association with ‘Maton, he's also seen with aC-10 12ret ccustom guitar with angel headstock inlay, which goes by the name of ‘The Boss rade for him by Jean Larrivée some two decades ago, While a replica ofthat guitar ‘would be prohibitively expensive, with the blessing of Maton, this 03-level version with Sitka spruce/East Indian rosewood construction, a Florentine cutaway and 12 frets to the body is now available, I's not signature guitars such, but the special label is hand-signed by Tommy, Join the queue to order one here. THELONG ROAD Yamaha's new NX guitars are more thana refresh When youhavearange state-of-the-art instruments redesigning them sn quick foc"Thefirst thing we did was redesign the tops fan bracing using the Yamaha Acoustic ‘Simulation technology’ explains designer ‘esi Yosh Tabara "We wanted to Increase the acoustic volume ofthe orginal NXuitars and witha warmer sound but also tokeep the longterm stability ofthe ita sothe top wont move over the years” ‘Another changes that the new guitars use walnut instead of rosewood." was nemvironmental decision” says Yoshi, {and one also influenced bythe CITES restritions on rosewood whl the guitars wereindevelopment,"Sowe chose walnut, \ichismore sustainable t's aitle ‘more focused-sounding compared with rosewood, alte ess ow frequency tsa lite lighterin weight too, whichis good for the nylor-string. The stringshavealower tension than stel strings, butthe wood stil neods to vibrate” But the new Atmosfee pickup system (hich italy appeared last yar onthe FG Red Top) is were most ofthe development time resides Ithas three elements: an nder-sadl piezo. a newly developed cantact sensor that we calla C-Sensor— its very thin andlightweightanditeapturs the ‘ensitty and high equency range ~and, thirdly there's tiny microphone onthe preamp PCBitsel The preamp is digital ‘peach model has individual voicing "We havea diferent EQ voicing design foreach ‘model even the NCK3 withits cedar top” The top level NTXS and NOXShavebeen fine tuned respectively by NXusers Rodrigo y Gabriela. “Working wth them ascovdesignersrather than signature artists was actually more meaningful adds Yamaha’ Julian Ward, "They rent ust patting ther nameon something they have ‘actually worked withusonthe NX~ infact, through the whoelifof thine ~ and they certainly didlo of workon these new models [D8]rrarune | NAMM Show Report 1B LOWDEN ADDITIONS rom a5 Now inits 46th year, Lowden continues to ‘expand its line-up. For 2020, the company hasadded a tind body shape to its 12-fret series, which was introduced back in 2018, the Wee Lovrden. The WI.-3512-fret (£4,335) has a driftwood cedar top with ‘walnut back and sides. Lowden has also introduced a beautifully striped ebony as aback and sides tonewood on its 35 series. ‘The new F-35 (£8,035) combines this with sinker redwood top and soundbox bevel. Another guitar taking pride of place was the Dali-esque fan-ret F-5OFF (£8,035), again with striped (Macassar) ebony back and sides, a sinker redwood top and ssoundbox bevel. Does guitar making get any better than this? worwlowdenguitars.com S Londen WL36324et ‘tors ody stage whee Lowen 6 Marta'snew SC ‘ages a young: ore ‘Senate demographic Snctetresa else eckn(altred) 7Patotan acute ‘ang theNorman ST30 Saeibdthmogs wt Snewtothe brand dy nape MARTIN SC-13E ‘With nearly two years of development and over 30 unique prototypes, Martin's new SC-13R is aimed notatthebrand’s| traditional players but an alternative, younger and less brand-specific audience. ‘This s reflected in its new eutaway body shape, asymmetric neck shape, heel-less neck joint (a dovetail press fit secured with, ‘wo bolts means itcan removed ina matter ‘of minutes), and an X-brace on the guitar's back. Ie’ powered with a Fishman MX system, with tuner. The 13-rets-to-the- body model will be shipped with a more clectric-ike low action. The design “leans forward”, said Martin atts launch, “We ‘moving forward, but it’s nt too modern.” Despite the considerable development, ithasa price of around £1,600:"A lotof technology ata price-point we dont think canbe matched, says Martin, @ SEAGULL 6 CLASSIC BLACK A/E [otal the acoustics we stumbled across atthe show had four-fgure price tags ‘The Godin-made Seagull range had a new version of one ofits best-selling electros in semi-gloss black colour over its cedar top with white pearloid pickguard. The neck issilver leaf maple and the back and sides are wild cherry. Powering comes from Fishman Sonitone with its soundhole- mounted preamp, and rotary controls for volume and tone, ‘The original Godin-made acoustic brand, Norman, is makingabitofa comeback in the UK with a more compact all-electro range. The ST30 (£959, pictured) features a new-for-Norman body shape~ that’s based on a Gibson 4.180, we're told ~ which comesin Havanan Burst with spl parallelogram style aged pearloid inlays. The 12-fret BIS parlour (£599) comes in Cherry Burst with {op-mounted volume and tone controls for the under-saddle Q-Diserete system, style we've already seen on both Seagull and Art & Lutherie. Choice is good! worwseagullguitarscom8 Taming 2020 70 Proce etre 2 an eed dre ard the branchmat ny, Sow bon ih (DTAKAMINE 2020 LTD PEACE e200 Originally started back in 1987 t0 celebrate the company’s 25th Anniversary, ‘Takamine’s 2020 LTD isa concert-size clectro that celebrates the new decade ‘with “a wonderful message of peace”, says Takamine. The spruce/ovangkol ‘model, of which only 20 will be available {or the UK and Ireland, features an “olive branch and dove motif inlaid entirely by hhand into the ebony fingerboard using ‘multi-coloured stone and shell”."The guitars Sitka spruce top hasaGreen Tea loss finish to further differentiate it from the mainstream, Powering comes from “Takamine's CT4-DX preamp. ‘worvetakamine.com raylor’s 324ce us Urban Ash for its bac and sides. “Sonica! hasé nleasing musicality fonduran mahogany,” says TAYLOR BUILDERS EDITION BRACE 20 Along with various updates from the EICajon, California-based makers, ‘Taylor's Andy Powers unveiled four new Builder's Edition models: the first Grand Concert 912ce (£6,479), which is aimed at electric players; the frst V-Class Grand Symphony 816ce (£4799) with unique top-shoulder soundport; the (652ce(£4,319),a 12-fet reverse strung 12-string; and the most affordable 324ce Grand Auditorium (£3,239), which utilises Urban Ash for ies back and sides. ‘This wood is “sourced from trees that ‘required removal from municipal a in Southern California due to age, safety ‘concerns or other factors determined by cities, Sonically, Urban Ash hasa pleasing musicality similar to Honduran ‘mahogany?’ says Taylor All four new of these Builder's Edition ‘guitars use the Taylor V-Class bracing, ‘of course, which has been added to the new 618e and 818e Grand Orchestra ‘models, as well as the K26ce all-koa Grand Symphony for this year. wonrtaylonguitars.com 9.The Ter Bulls ton 2tce mga the ‘pany pasion or Sstansbletorenends whe wae of bane 0. Te Yanaha NOS Sratesalenstes hvebeenvogadedto thebands meta pickups YAMAHA NX rnowsi22 ‘The NX range was launched a decade back offering two distinet flavours ofthe nylon- string electro: the more ‘electri'-like fret NTX, with eambered fingerboard and thinner width neck, and the more ‘lassi-style NCX 12-fret with full width rneck and flat fingerboard, Both styles featured afull-spec electro system, t00. area that has been upgraded to a more stealth-like Atmosfeel system, which ‘combines afilm-type top sensor, an under- saddle transducer and a microphone all, ‘controlled by three low-profile rotaries ‘There isjust one model in each style inthe 5 series (£1,785), then the NIX3 (£939) comesin two colours, Natural and Brown Sunburst, while the NTX1 (£422) is available Natural with laminate flamed ‘maple back and sides, and either Brown, Sunburst or Black with laminate nato or ‘okume back and sides, The NCX3 comes ‘with ether Sitka spruce ofred cedar tops; likewise, che NCX1, which is also available inspruce/laminate flame maple (£516). Rodrigo y Gabriela also had a hand in these designs (see box on previous page) ‘nep/ak.yamaha.comSO YOU WANT TO Ua ACOUSTIC? INFORMATION IN THIS GUIDE 1Anoteon prices 4Nut widths Deron ior 0) Wane How we chose these guitars aucdoee whan oo en suggestedretal prices, playability: below are conectatthetimeo! someconmonvidths foingtopress Some You"lbeamazed haw oficial SRPswilhave —diferetamilimetre oneupslghty.whle ortwoacrasstherut ‘many aavertsed/wed canal prices rom reales Nut width wilbelower. Common Every guitar inthis guide has been reviewed in Guttaristand has gained a9/10 rating (or equivalent) 10/10rating achievingether 8 Guitarist Choice or Guitarist Gold Awa, ‘orhas otherwise been highly commended, That means we feel their bul quality, sound, playability and value for money are nat in question at their relative price points, nut widths 21ype 15/Bincbes 4.2mm Theguta’sbasc ——165inches 42mm su andshape, 11A6inches 428mm Scale length 169 inches 43mm 3 Woods 12/4inches 445m The principe 17Tinches A5mm tonewoods usedinthe 113/l6inches 46mm futarsoonstuction, —17/8inches 676mm Scalelengthisimportant because thas Grecteffecton the tension ofthe strings andtherefore how theinstrument feels to play: the longer the scale length the higher the tension ofthe strings for agen pte, ‘There can bea tonal effec, oo, Common longer’ scale lengths are around 645 to650mm (25.4 to 25.6inches): most reacinoughts and jumbos, for example. Common’shorter'scale lengths tend tobe 628 10632mm (2475ta249 inches): mary Gibsons and 000 Martins. Parlours and travel ‘uitars can be shorter stil play some and compare their feel and sound differences. Your scale length is this distance x2“s Guide A WORD ON SPRUCE wost acoustic guitar tops are made of spruce. But what kind? SITKASPRUCE Cea ad wz rey i eee ea et c cee is meee Ceo ced See oee Ls Pi eu ee Sigma GMC-STE+ $315 Reviewed:ssue 434 Type:Grandout cutaway electro Top: Sold Sitaspruce Back/sides: Laminated mahogany Nut/seale:44.5/545, on Alvarez Artist Series ABT60E § ‘Baritone £479 Reviewed: 3°, Winter2016, Tipe: unto sie bantoneslectro| Top: Solid Atha spruce Back/sides:Laminate mahogany Nut/scale:44.45/704 . ee Eastman E20M. $529 Emme Type: OMsizeacoustic Top: Ceciar Back/sides:Sopele Nut/seae:45.5/6325 Guitarist says: ‘everything youneed Cerne ert Se ete eer) a ea ‘lis nd, penta ets Vintage Viator Paul Brett l2-string £419 Reviewed: GPA Winter 2016 Types Sinallboay tretelecto-acoustc string Top: Solid Sthaspruce Back/sides: Laminated sapete Nut/seale: 478/545 Vintage Gemini Paul Brett i £499 .Z ie ern Aria 505 £539 == aan Guitarist says andafraabiy Prd Set) ee ther than better eee aes ot POs YW ee ee eastern North Amer fee or fives ear eet oe oo ees Type: Dreadnought size scoustiol2sting Top: Solispruce Back/sides: Lamintedrosewood 45/650 Martin LX1E Little Martin £499 ; = Summer 2015 Type: NocifiedO14 Fret electro-acoustic ‘Top: Solita spruce ‘Back/sides:NWahogany ighpressurelaminate Nut/scale: 4286/5842 « foe Entourage Folk Burnt Umber Q1Tt £579 Reviewed: Ps Soring2016 Type: Fokeectro atousie Top: Sold cedar Back/sides:|2minate wldeherry Nut/scae:43.62/630, AeGuide TRAVEL LIGHT three small but serious guitars for players on the move ie Creer) roe ey SS ee ee ee rLeic Leer ee ete Takamine GN75CE-TBK £585 en ‘Type: NEX (scaled: ownjumbo) flectro acoustic Top: Sola spruce Back/sides:uited laminated maple Nut/scale:2 5/644 Reviewed: GPA Winter 2016 Type: Dreadnought cutaway electro Tope Soba spruce Back/sides Vid chery threedayer laminate Nut/scale:43,68/631 Guitarist says: Reviewed: GPA ‘Summer 2016 Type: Cutanayelectro Top: Solindonesin ‘mahogany ‘Back/sides: Sot Indonesian mahogany Nut/scale: 423/645 en Cc ee) Sone ay Cr eer ey een ered etal Dee eee et Art & Lutherie Legacy ' ‘cwalT £599 Reviewed: Ph Winter2016, Type:ConcertHall cutaway electro acoustic Top: Sali spruce Back/sides: Vid chery three ayer laminate Nut/scale:3.7/631 Reviewed: PA Winter 2015 Type: TeipleOsze lect acoustic Top: Sala ita sproce Back/sides: Sot mahogany Nut/sale: 4drin/683mm Guitarist says: Eastman AC 122-2CE £619 Reviewed: ssu0 452 Type: Grand Auitorum cutaway electro Top: Cedar Back/sides:Sapcle Nut/seale: 45/645 Guitarist says Us Crean ey etn Ci ca ee eo Cente oe er ee eet ey TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT Be ens aad Creu er cn Pete cratic} car eer ett vparedBuyer’s Guide ALL IN ONE a foot-friendly solution for singing players eC me rn Seen et ee Cy eee ere eel eaten | Peerieaaenpnanecnainaevtnte ys mm eer enna mean Te pence nent ee ma henna Ss Se Cr) ee ee ey eee tea | Pet ee a I eae or Devers nee bree esate Se ee ec etet a ra Deon er a ae Yamaha CSF3M Yamaha FSX830C Yamaha LJ6 ARE £670 £696 £696 ee a a Types CSF compact ok Winter2016, Type: limbo ecto acute. TypesFolesizes ‘Top: SoidSthaspruce “Top: SoidSikaspruce cutaway electro Back/sides: Back/sides: Soi “Top: Soldspruce Lainatedrosewood mahogany Back/sides: : Nutiseale 425/650 Nutscale: 43/600 Laminatedrosewood < Nut/scale:42.48/635, Guitarist says oe ee Pe re r Rec, a nt Sr ere Taylor Academy Series 10E Taylor Academy Series 12E £719 £719 er Reviewed mew Types Fob/OM-see 7 Soring2017 Spring2017 ectro-acoustc. “TyperDreadhovght Type: Grand concert, “Top: Soid AA Siva slectro acoustic electro acustic. spruce Top: Saléithaspruce ‘Top: SoidSthaspruce Back/sides: oid Back/sides:Layerec Back/sidesayered ‘nan mahogany sapele sapele a Nutseale:44.45/630, Nut/scae:42.86/632 Nut/seale: 429/632 en Guitarist says: ee ee PICKUPS & SOURCES ets transduce, baby Per Gy rs Biecoecy Rerun rir ener een] eee eet ee er ene Pees cote eee ees era to Peet 7 ee ees Ce ee ee ca ee ee eter) Ee ae net ene ee ere enc Poaceae pape teresBuyer's Guide BAG IT UP three gigbags to help keep your pride and joy safe oe oo pees Bs = s PRS SE TSOE Gretsch G9241 Alligator Taylor Academy 12E-N £749 ‘£759 £779 5 a a oe a ine eee pee ae oer errr eee ay a ae eas cee Ms Yamaha SLG200S Yamaha SLG200N Martin Road Series 000-10E £806 £806 £839 wemcicow Reet Sm Type: Full-size, “Type: Fullsize, solid- ‘Type: 000-size electro- ae PRS SE A60E Vintage VE2000DLX Gordon £869 £879 Giltrap £899 Ea ae ee ‘Type: Round shoulder ‘Type: Angelus Cutaway: ‘Type:Folk/OM-sized dreadnought electro electro-acoustic ‘Top: Sitkaspruce ‘Tope Solid Sitka spruce ‘Top: Solid cedar Pet i ee Nutseale:46.5/642Cates) eect ey Sa ce a Perce tenner | Ce cae ACOUSTIC STRING BASICS Dee taka) Resta a res ted eee tod ‘whieh means slfer sting tension. Broadly nen Gone tes rene! eon oe a rethik ae oe ee idgauge mies tosut ieee] anetet ooh oe ring MATERIALS. evereirery ce eee veo stan hoc that eee coy eee) peer rere ee pasphor bronae when neath loses brightness Sines articulation more eed Se eee forexamplethe at land Retro CU) pee eer that peotecs the met cetera eas ent et eer ei rr Peed ee een ce egos eee secre Cee ane eea e Faith Venus Blood Moon £929 Reviewed: °8 Summer 2016 “ype: Cutaway etectro-acoustic ‘Top: Soi ndonesian Trembes! Back/sies: Sod Indonesian Temes! Nutscae:43.5/645 ee Pro Series X15SDTE £949 y Reviewed: Spxing2017 “Type: Siopeshoulder dreadhought electro-acoustic ‘Top:Sold AAA Terteiedsoid spruce Back/sides: Sod mabogany Nut/ecale:42.4/850 ee ‘TyperParloursize ecto “op: Soidcedar Back/sides: Soa sapeleback laminate sapelesides Nutscale:42.9/629 eee Pear ee een) ett eee ‘Tanglewood Sundance Performance Pro Series X70TE £949 Reviewed: 3° Spxing2017 ‘Type Orchestra /000 stylelectro-acoustic ‘Tope Sold AAA Tertefiedspruce Back/sides: Sod mabogany Nut/ecae:43.3/850 — E— “Typerliestem shape electroacoustic “Tope SoldSthasonuce Back/sides:Soic rosewood Nut/scae: 42/650 ee Reviewed: ssue 451 ‘Type Grand Autorium cutawayelecro Top: AA grade western redeeder Back/sides:AX-grade ‘Acanmabogany, a Nut/seale: 45/650 eeBuyer's Guid THREE FOR PRE Preamp pedals to go live with Ss a Penn esc Tay Dean ansry eee ny Pr ety ee ee eco atthe Sess abso) | Veh inp tevenwrta eee | erat pleierb alveoli Ce ee er are eee es eer eee cee eet ca! eee ea re eee cs Yamaha LL16D ARE Martin Road Series D-12E | Yamaha LS-TA Transacoustic £1,159 £1,179 £1,182 a ee ( ) = tral: 44/650 Brera | —-_\ Pew Takamine TSP138C TBS Faith PJE Leg Mars Faith PJE Legacy Earth £1,199 ey 29 £1,259 Type: Thilineelectro Type: Non-cutaway ¥ Types Cutaway OM/ Top: Spruce Drop Shoulder Autorumeletro Back/sides:Sapele reacnought electro Tops Soll aged Nut/scale: 42/630 idkin-aged Sta spruce Sitkaspruce ‘Back/sides: Sot Back/sides ‘cankhaya Arcan kaya ‘mahogany mahogany my —_Nut/sale: 05/650 een ‘ Nut/seale: 45/650 § i Guitarist says Instant fara pan Guitarist says: f anedelty of — ae Auden Austin ‘Auden Artist Mahogany Sorrel Guild M-20 £1,299 Austin Spruce £1,2‘ £1,365 oe a aca Type: Grand Austrian Types Het OMstyle ‘Autumn 2016 stringelectro acoustic Types Concerted Tops AAA Stkaspruce Top: Spruce acoustic Back/sides can ‘Back/sides: ica Top: Sotamahogary ‘mahogany mahogary Back/sides: Sod Nut/seale: 48/655 Nut/seale: 43/655 ‘mahogany Nut/scale: 5/629 Guitarist says Guitarist says“s Guide NEW AGE torrefaction: the science of making new wood sound older ee yeu! eet eT uk tuneua te fein apes tee Cee eee eee thers, andimolves heating acoustic tar tate teen en end Se Martin D-15M £1,389 Reviewed:ssue 328, Type: readnought seoustle Top: ald mahogany Back/sides| aero sapete Nut/scae:43/645 ores ‘Martin DCRSG £1,450 Reviewed: ssu0 429 Type: Dreadnought cutaway electro Top: Sal Sitka spruce Back/sides:Soic muterye Nut/scale: 45/645 ee ey eae rand Auditorium cutaway electro secustie Top: ald ita spruce Back/sides:aerec copatera Nut/scale: 43/6877 ee See ee eee nt ee ee Cote ea tee se See eet ee Pres een er edgeto ts sound but after arsitcanbe enhanced wth warmer vintage See eS Finlayson 000-100RS $1,399 Reviewed:ssue 447 “Type: 000 size electro Top: Pressuretested solid spruce Back/sides:Soi Indian rosewood Nut/seale:43 6/648 ee Reviewed: PA Autumn 2016 “ype: Dreadnought size electroacoustic “op: Solid mahogany Back/sides:Soic mahogany Nut/scale:43.29/65), ‘Martin 00-15E Retro £1,649 Reviewed: PA Winter2015, “Type: 00-sizeelecto seaustie ‘Top: Solid mahogany Back/sides: Sele hard Nut/scale: 4448/6325 Guitarist says stheteand pce or ee es eet intimin We've pl See Se een eee eee poten center in ee einer ree eee stots os Yamaha A5 $1,444 Review sue 423 Type: Westernshape lectroacauste Top: Sola Sha sproce with ARE Back/sides: Sod rosewood Nut/scale: 43/680 Cutan says Sine eee ( e . X ain ‘Auden Artist Rosewood Emily Rose Cedar £1, 6 Typeelzteprour Top: Atprade cedar Back/sides:Rosenood Nut/seale: 4/635 Guitarist says Coe oe Takamine EF740FS-IT £1,669 t eviewed GPA Samer 2017 Type: Mesium bod cutaway. rylonstng electro-acoustic. Top: Solthermal treated toeted) sore Back/sides: Sot sapee Nut/ecale: 425/648 Guitarist says aeBuyer’s Guide ELECTRO ENHANCEMENT three pedals that could give your onstage sound new life TCELECTRONIC XVIVE MIKE 269 Bossap2-su4 BODYREZ- £78 The Mketakesa Bossmighteallthisa ‘This min pedal-szed ferent approachto preamp but there's ‘couse pickup enhancement with )_Wational€Q settings in enhancer founder rine presets that sightnsteadyouhave sacle pickups els to seektoreproduce theResonanc eture

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