Classic pre-war Martin mojo lives again in the historic 000-30 A 1919
Colorful and responsive in looks, feel, and tone
Specs include: All-solid wood with hide glue construction throughout; Madagascar rosewood back and sides; Adirondack spruce top with Vintage Tone System torrefaction, high-color wooden marquetry top trim and back strip, torrefied period-correct scalloped 1/4” bracing and torrefied maple bridge plate; one-piece mahogany neck with shallow vintage V profile, slotted headstock with Martin brand at the back; ebony fingerboard with period correct snowflake fret markers, 1-7/8” width at nut, 2-5/16” at the 12th fret; ebony pyramid bridge with 2-3/8” string spacing; bone nut and saddle; StewMac Golden Age reproduction three-on-a side tuning machines with unique engraved plates and pearloid buttons, grained ivoroid binding, extra-thin Vintage Gloss nitrocellulose finish.
“The 000-30 A 1919 offers the kind of sound many luthiers and guitarists have sought to produce since the invention of steel strings.”
** Note: View the first video if you want to hear the comparison without knowing the IDs of the guitars.
The second video reveals which is which.
Close in construction and materials, but not as nearly identical as the comparison from 2-16-17.
Recorded in the same place on the same day with the same mics, etc.
What are your impressions of the tone, and how they differ or equate?
View in 1080p hi-def for best audio
Please use the comment form below to leave your feedback.
Try not to get caught up in guessing what brand, size, type of woods are involved. Focus on your impressions and interpretation of the tone of each instrument, and now they differ or equate’
The identity of the two guitars will be revealed here after allowing time for various people to respond here, on Youtube, and guitar forums where this is referenced.
Thank you.
HERE is the video showing what guitar is what.
Other comparison videos and audio of similar and divergent guitars will appear in the coming weeks.
Close in construction and materials, with a notable difference or two.
Recorded in the same place on the same day with the same mics, same type of strings, etc.
What are your impressions of the tone, and how they differ or equate?
View in 1080p hi-def for best audio
Please use the comment form below to leave your feedback.
The identity of the two guitars will be revealed here after allowing time for various people to respond here, on Youtube, and guitar forums where this is referenced.
Thank you.
Other comparison videos and audio of similar and divergent guitars will appear in the coming weeks.
Thanks to everyone who has commented thus far. It has been highly educational.
Perhaps I should have stressed not trying to guess what they are so much as requesting comments about personal preference and if you actually like the sound of either guitar, as well as how do they compare or equate. And maybe stressed not trying to guess what they are.
Having been through similar comparisons myself, I have learned how easy it is for one’s imagination to lead them astray, when it comes to things like specific models or sizes. Or even specific tonewoods when there is no reference provided to ground one’s perspective, like “this is what rosewood sounds like with these mics in this room…” etc.
And in this case things were a little more off the beaten track than usual.
It is a dreadnought shape with a 000 depth, made with Sitka spruce and sycamore back and sides, forward-shifted scalloped 5/16” braces, a neck of some sort of mahogany with their simple dovetail neck joint, ebony bridge and fingerboard, Tusq saddle and bone nut, and Fishman Matrix VT Enhance onboard pickup system.
It is essentially the exact same guitar with the same specs mentioned above, only without a cutaway or the slightly extra weight and possible damping of the electronics and undersaddle pickup.
It does raise the question, what if any of the tonal differences perceived are due to the cutaway body or lack thereof?
And, what differences are due to the specific organic materials used to make each very similar guitar?
I shall point out that I did not record them with the intention of comparing them in this manner.
They were recorded about two hours apart, during my annual trip to the Martin factory to collect audio and video of the Winter NAMM 2017 Martin models for eventual on-line reviews.
While the mics stands and recording gear were all set the same way, it is possible the mics would have moves slightly one way or another or the guitar wasn’t pointing in exactly the same orientation to the mics, etc.
Custom Shop and main line models to ogle and admire
I got an email this morning with the following link, leading to some wonderful photography of wonderful guitars, made by the Santa Cruz Guitar Company.
These were some of the instruments they had on display at Winter NAMM 2017, and they include the re-introduction of the FTC as a regular model.
After renovating a 1980s FTC for Eric Clapton, Richard Hoover decided to use the FTC carved back, flattop, cutaway design was chosen for Santa Cruz’s 40th Anniversary Limited Edition, of just 12 instruments, each with its own aesthetics and tonewood combination.
Number 12 of 12 pictured here is made of mahogany and bearclaw Sitka spruce. It was shipped to our friends at Willcutt Guitars, in Lexington, KY.
And the response to the 40th Anniversary guitars was so great, he decided to start making FTCs again for the general public. Good news indeed!
Check out the photos and descriptions of Santa Cruz’s 2017 NAMM Guitars HERE
The 2017 Winter NAMM Show opens for the press and provisioners
Musicians and music lovers rejoice
Acoustic guitars make up but one tributary of the mighty NAMM river feeding the sea of music-oriented retailers. And I am focusing on acoustic guitar news from NAMM over the next few days before my first hand reviews can begin to flow from my own fonts.
The economic downturn finally caught up with the acoustic guitar market over the past couple of years, with mixed results. And this year’s NAMM has some guitarmakers focusing less on new models to add to crowded catalogs, and more on exhibiting models they already have in production, or limited editions like artist signature models, and showing off just what their custom shops can do for customers who will pay cash on the barrel head before an instrument is built.
One company that has put out an array of new models is, of course, C . F. Martin & Co.. Martin has at least one model entering every instrument series not scheduled to be phased out of production.
Bourgeois Guitars always offers an entertaining NAMM experience. This year singer Courtney Hartman stopped by to play some guitars. She is also appearing in the promotional video for a very special 2017 offering from Dana Bourgeois.
Bourgeois Guitars is celebrating 30 years of the Schoenberg Soloist cutaway OM with a 30th anniversary collaboration with Eric Schoenberg.
Santa Cruz Guitar Company is an exhibitor focusing on amazing one-off custom guitars is the Their custom shop gets its own display area as large or lager than the one exhibiting standard models and artist signature instruments.
Taylor Guitars has partnered with Guitar Center to offer a limited edition John Petrucci Artist Choice 916CE model. New guitars appeared in the new Academy Series of affordably priced instruments, as well as the new 800 Deluxe Series, and the super cool GS Mini Bass head up the latest in Taylor Guitars innovation.
Pete Huttlinger Signature Model Returns at Collings
Limited edition model to feature custom inlay reflecting Huttlinger’s love of fly fishing
According to Collings, “the first 15 will feature his handwritten signature on the label and a portion of the proceeds of each guitar will benefit the Pete Huttlinger Fund for Adult Congenital Cardiac Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.”
Pete Huttlinger is the only artist ever honored with a Collings artist signature model. Like his original OM-1A cutaway from 2011, this 2017 limited edition guitar features South American mahogany back, sides, and neck with 1-3/4″ width at nut, African ebony fingerboard and bridge, and Adirondack spruce top.
Pete Huttlinger played Collings guitars from 1997 until his untimely death in 2016. A true friend of many at the small-shop luthiery outfit in Austin, Texas, this Collings model is truly an affectionate commemoration of a much loved and sincerely missed artist of the highest character and caliber.
Dana Bourgeois is celebrating 30 years of the Schoenberg Soloist cutaway OM with a very special model for 2017
Limited to just 12 instruments
The Soloist 30th Commemorative LE is made with premium cocobolo back and sides and a bearclaw German spruce top. According to Bourgeois, “Both are the finest examples of their species and rare in this grade! The elegant “Soloist” triangle inlay not only adorns the heel as it has traditionally, but it has also been added to both sides of the pyramid bridge as a finishing touch.”
photo: Bourgeois Guitars
And it has a label signed by Dana Bourgeois and Eric Schoenberg.
Bourgeois did the majority of the work on the very first Soloists, which were made for joint venture between C. F. Martin & Co. and Schoenberg’s shop. At that time Martin was focused on contemporary acoustic guitars, and was neither trained or tooled up to do vintage features like hand-carved pyramid bridges, hand-planed and “voiced” back and soundboard, and the special neck shaping Schoenberg required. So Bourgeois handled the detailed work and then the guitars were sent to Martin for assembly and finishing.
Both Schoenberg and Bourgeois have offered world-class cutaway OM fingerstyle instruments ever since.
The Schoenberg Soloists were the first Martin flattop acoustic guitars to have a cutaway. I used to own the first Soloist made with pearl top trim, which is now in Chris Martin’s private collection. It has outrageous bearclaw waterfalls in the Sitka top, reminiscent of the stuff being used on this wonderful and historic new Soloist.
Schoenberg guitars have had the Soloist model built by a succession of small-shop luthiers. And now it comes full circle, as Dana Bourgeois brings his own personal interpretation after decades of evolving exclusive methods and philosophy of guitarmaking.
Courtney Hartman made an appearance at the Bourgeois NAMM booth to play some guitars. And here she is in a promotional video for this amazing limited edition.
New offerings from Taylor Guitars at NAMM 2017 have style and comfort in mind
New beveled armrests are found in new affordable and deluxe models, and of all things a comfortable couch bass guitar appears.
NAMM Booth 213
Apeaking of beveled armrests, one can be found on Dream John Petrucci Artist Choice 916cee limited edition. The Dream Theater guitarist was on hand at the Taylor booth to play #1 of the edition.
This Grand Symphony size guitar has the same top-shelf Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce, and opulent inlays of the 916ce acoustic-electric model, along with a special label signed by Petrucci and Bob Taylor.
Just 50 instruments will be for sale, exclusively through Guitar Center , with another 20 sold in the overseas markets. And it comes with Petrurcci’s preferred Ernie Ball Earthwood strings, a custom DiMarzio JP guitar strap, a boxed set of 4 vinyl LPs entitled ‘The Astonishing.”
While cool, perhaps their coolest newbie is the little GS Mini Bass.
It has layered sapele veneer for the back and sides, and a Sitka spruce top, along with an ES-B pickup and preamp system, that have volume and tone controls and a built-in tuner.
A bass guitar that exists beyond the parameters of what a bass normally has to offer, Master Guitar Designer Andy Powers spent years developing the concept, design, and execution of this instrument, and the special strings that allow it perform as it does. With a 23-1/4” scale, it has a very short string length, nearly 10” shorter than a standard bass guitar. And the small body appears to be derived from Taylor’s Grand Symphony shape.
Taylor Guitars collaborated with D’Addario to invent the unique coated phosphor bronze strings, which have a nylon core, similar to classical guitar strings. And the strings are pinned into the bridge via Taylor’s newly patented “dual-prong bridge pin design,” which allows each string to pass through the bridge pin, so that the ball end anchors securely behind the pin, while the string bends more gradually over the saddle, resulting in a “slinky feel.”
Taylor Guitars conceived GS Mini Bass concept with a guitar player in mind, but quickly realized “this is a bass for a bass player… that’s portable and can go places” or anyone wants to try their hand at playing bass guitar, on an easy to fret neck, in a body size suitable as a sofa instrument or travel instrument.
And if that is not cool enough for you, Taylor also has a new affordable Academy Series of guitars designed with the student musician in mind, or anyone wanting an inexpensive guitar that is actually comfortable to play. And they are coming out with 800 Deluxe versions of their recently revamped 800 Series, with the addition of Adirondack spruce bracing, and Gotoh 510 turners with 21:1 gear ratios. Both the Academy Series and 800 Deluxe models feature instruments with a bass side beveled “arm rest” built in, similar but not exactly the same as the one found in their top of the line 900 Series.
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