I was also at Toms this morning. I'm pretty sure I recognised you from your photo as I walked in, you were about to leave. Anyway, I also had a long fondle of the FatLady, but the 2 series without the cutaway. Man oh man, what an impressive instrument. The top was a solid aussie wood which I can't for the life of me remember, and the back and sides were maple. This particular one cost a handsome R19.5K.

Very impressed, but I have not had much experience with the more expensive acoustic brands, so I can't really compare. My ears were very happy though ?

Garth, was that seriously you? I honestly thought you were someone from the forum, but I didn't wana seem cultish by asking as I left. Pity we didn't at least say howsit! You were looking smart, straight from work?

The problem is easily solved. GFSA members should wear crocs when venturing outdoors. A clear signal to other initiates.

Now I know what you're saying... but other people wear crocs.

No problem. If we're all in agreement I will take it upon myself to draw up a "colour of the week" schedule so that you have an even better visual clue. This will omit all the common drab colours that the hoi polloi are fond of. You will need no more than five pairs.

X-rated Bob wrote: The problem is easily solved. GFSA members should wear crocs when venturing outdoors. A clear signal to other initiates.

Now I know what you're saying... but other people wear crocs.

No problem. If we're all in agreement I will take it upon myself to draw up a "colour of the week" schedule so that you have an even better visual clue. This will omit all the common drab colours that the hoi polloi are fond of. You will need no more than five pairs.

I'm not the biggest croc fan, but I'm in! ?

X-rated Bob wrote: The problem is easily solved. GFSA members should wear crocs when venturing outdoors. A clear signal to other initiates.

Now I know what you're saying... but other people wear crocs.

No problem. If we're all in agreement I will take it upon myself to draw up a "colour of the week" schedule so that you have an even better visual clue. This will omit all the common drab colours that the hoi polloi are fond of. You will need no more than five pairs.

of course there is still the very high statistical odds that many many non GFSA members will also be out that week in the particular "Colour Of The Week" that you may choose - so I am afraid your idea is no more of a sure thing than the idea of simply wearing crocs out of the house.

However, you inadvertently stumble upon the answer in that you said 'You will need no more than five pairs'.

So...............

seeing as the mere contemplation by anyone to wear their crocs outside of the house is a sure indicator that they do not care what the general public thinks of thier fashion and dress sense, and are secure enough in their own masculinity to be able to pull it off..

I recommend that GFSA's wear two different colour crocs out of the house as an indicator they are true GFSA'ers...

so each week XRBob can decide which colour to wear on which foot, and that way, if we stumble upon any other individual outdoors wearing odd coloured crocs, like ourselves, we can heartedly shake hands and introduce ourselves, whilst being escorted from the building by security.

X-rated Bob wrote: The problem is easily solved. GFSA members should wear crocs when venturing outdoors. A clear signal to other initiates.

Now I know what you're saying... but other people wear crocs.

No problem. If we're all in agreement I will take it upon myself to draw up a "colour of the week" schedule so that you have an even better visual clue. This will omit all the common drab colours that the hoi polloi are fond of. You will need no more than five pairs.

What about getting GFSA logo printed onto crocks?

You know what. It's not going to work. All that will happen is that GFSA will start a new fashion that the herd will embrace.

Before we know it every Thomasina, Dick and and Harry will be wearing odd pairs of crocs and we will once again be unable to distinguish ourselves from .... those who seek other avenues of fellowship and pleasure.

Back to them guitars. I had a dekko at the web site. There's some points of interest there. The soundboards are very interesting with an unusual bracing pattern and a graduated thicknessing or patterning in the inside. This also suggests a high degree of machine work in the factory, so don't get too excited about "hand made". I am not saying that they're no good - just that "hand made" doesn't necessarily amount to having a craftsman chip and saw and glue the wood all by himself.

The woods are unusual too. They address environmental issues by using woods that are not threatened.

I agree with their assertion on their web site that woods are not necessarily good or bad, just different and should be judged for what they deliver.

The electronics.... I doubt it's a unique system. They'd have gone to B-Band or Fishman or somebody and got something from them. It would be interesting to find out if TOMs have models without electronics and what the price difference is.

I'd like to try one. However not this weekend. I have some jobs to do around the house and that's going to keep me out of music shops. Sigh....

X-rated Bob wrote: Back to them guitars. I had a dekko at the web site. There's some points of interest there. The soundboards are very interesting with an unusual bracing pattern and a graduated thicknessing or patterning in the inside. This also suggests a high degree of machine work in the factory, so don't get too excited about "hand made". I am not saying that they're no good - just that "hand made" doesn't necessarily amount to having a craftsman chip and saw and glue the wood all by himself.

The woods are unusual too. They address environmental issues by using woods that are not threatened.

I agree with their assertion on their web site that woods are not necessarily good or bad, just different and should be judged for what they deliver.

The electronics.... I doubt it's a unique system. They'd have gone to B-Band or Fishman or somebody and got something from them. It would be interesting to find out if TOMs have models without electronics and what the price difference is.

I'd like to try one. However not this weekend. I have some jobs to do around the house and that's going to keep me out of music shops. Sigh....

I look forward to your thoughts when you've played them.

I know Toms here didn't have any without pickups, they all had pickups. He was explaining how they work. Instead of one UST they have individual pickups under each string AND an element of some kind attached somewhere. So, you can choose where you want your treble to come from. So, kinda like a dual source system, but with their own touch.

The woods looked cool, i'll give it that. As for the sound, yeah, they were responsive and bright, not sure I'd fork out R32k for the FL-3.

Ja. I told a porkie ? It looks like it is their own system.

See http://www.coleclarkguitars.com/products_innovations.asp

guitarboy2828 wrote: Garth, was that seriously you? I honestly thought you were someone from the forum, but I didn't wana seem cultish by asking as I left. Pity we didn't at least say howsit! You were looking smart, straight from work?

That was me ? . I know the feeling, I didn't want to ask for the same reason.

Ha ha, I just came back from there now. Very nice guitars.

I'm saving myself for an AFD100....

I played a few the other day and while the plugged in sound is great (I preferred it to the Takamine Cool Tube which is a great system) but the unplugged sound is thin, compressed and just "tinny" to my ears. I let someone else play and I found that this was still my perception but now noticed an even smaller guitar lurking in the body of a Dreadnought as it just lacked projection as well and really sounded tiny as well!!

So, compared to a similarly priced Takamine (the Cole Clark was the lowest priced in the range - about R10k after discount) I thought the Cole Clark had a nicer plugged in sound while the Takamine had better build quality and was a better "acoustic" guitar by far. Just my opinion.

Also the Cole Clark soundboard pick up system (the Face Brace) can never be switched off which is not a bad thing as it sounds wonderful. However, it is very sensitive to right arm and hand movement on the lower bout. This would be great if you played in the style of Andy Mckee etc but I found it a little too senstive.

All of the above is just my opinion according to my ears and my playing preferences.

Best thing to do is play it yourself and compare to other guitars - that's half the fun!

Toms in Bloem has a few on display. But you're not allowed to play them if you don't want to buy one, o no sir. 'so how the hell do I know if I want to buy one if I can't play it?', I asked. No reply. Reckon I should have worn some chinos and a pastel sweater rather than a beanie and an oversized jersey. So, ja my mistake hey.