Morgan OM

Bob-Dubery

Hi all. Some snaps of my Morgan OM acoustic. I bought this second-hand. I mailed the factory the serial number and they confirmed it's age. Can't remember but it was no earlier than 2002, no later than 2003. The guitar is similar in dimensions to the 30s Martin OMs, but not identical. I believe the lower bout is a little wider, and the neck is much slimmer. OMs are usually intended to be finger pickers guitars. This one has a slightly longer scale length (25.5, about the same as a strat) and is a little wider at the nut than, say, your average dreadnought. The bracing is NOT a copy of the Martin. Luthier David Iannone was apprenticed to Larrivee, and his bracing is along those lines. Tapered bracing, and more symmetrical than Martin do it. Top is Sitka spruce. Back and sides are Indian rosewood. Neck is mahogany - one piece. Fingerboard is also rosewood. I got this for R13k - 3k of which was the trade in for a Takamine that I had. It had an LR Baggs active element already fitted. These are now about $2700 in the USA. Note that the body binding is solid wood. I always wonder why Martin don't do that, given the price you pay for them. Larrivee also do wood bindings. Looks a whole lot better. On this one the bindings are cocobolo. One of the trademark Morgan touches is the blue and white purfling. I like that little touch. The inlays on the headstock and round the soundhole are very nicely done. Killer tone. And it's got better since I bought it. I might say it's a sort of old-fashioned tone, more out of the Martin/Gibson school (though not a copy of either) than Ovation or Taylor. I like this guitar a lot. It does seem to be sensitive to low humidity and can buzz a little in the winter. And in-case humidifier takes care of that. If it gets really bad then I put a wet bath sponge in a zip-loc bag, leave one corner of that bag open and shove that in the case. Problem solved. It's never started cracking or anything like that, just buzzes when it gets dry.

FatBoy

She's a beaut!

This may sound weird but I kinda like the idea that you have to take care of her a bit more in terms of humidity. It makes me think that the instrument is more in touch with it's environment somehow, and when treated well is an absolute joy to play! Go ahead, call me odd!

Bob-Dubery

Fritz Brand wrote: She's a beaut!

This may sound weird but I kinda like the idea that you have to take care of her a bit more in terms of humidity. It makes me think that the instrument is more in touch with it's environment somehow, and when treated well is an absolute joy to play! Go ahead, call me odd!

Well I haven't thought about it that way. It's pragmatic! The instrument buzzes a little if I don't humidify. The buzz, in fact, reminds me to start humidifying.

I believe it's been unusually dry on the Highveld of late. Certainly my Morgan started buzzing quite significantly in early September. For a couple of days I had three humidifiers in the case. I think this is overdoing things if it's done all the time, but it did correct the problem. Once the guitar was back to it's usual self I reverted to a more conservative humidifying regime.

I think it's a good practice. Too-low humidity can cause permanent damage (doesn't always, but CAN) and certainly can have the effect of changing the instrument's setup. In my case I was going to be playing at an open mike night, and one song I very much wanted to play ("Who Knows Where Time Goes" by Sandy Denny) the buzz was going to be obtrusive. I play it capoed at 2nd fret, and on the entry into the chorus I go for a B chord at the 7th Fret. As I hit that it would buzz like crazy. However see above - after two days of extra humidifying the guitar was fine again.

I should have woken up to the actual problem earlier. I'd had a buzz the previous August and then, on advice from Hugh Cumming of Hugh's Fine Guitars, got a couple of damp bath sponges into the case. Presto Nobuzzo!

There's an interesting document on the Taylor web site: http://www.taylorguitars.com/global/pdfs/dry_guitar.pdf

Interestingly they mention Spruce as being particularly sensitive to humidity changes. Different combinations of woods may well be different effected by humidity changes. I know that guitars with laminate tops are fairly immune - that doesn't mean you can take them into a turkish bath!

AlanRatcliffe

Beautiful guitar - I like Parlour and OM steel-string sizes. Yours has a little of an "Auditorium" to the shape too.

+1 on wood binding. Done properly, it's a fairly subtle, but classy look. But it's more difficult to get right in a production environment. So it tends to be something you only see with the smaller builders' instruments. It's unusual to see cocobolo being used as most builders complain of allergic reactions. It's probably the most beautiful rosewood species though. One of my favourite combinations is flame koa binding on rosewood with black pinstriping, like this Eichelbaum:

http://www.eichelbaumguitars.com/

Bob-Dubery

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Beautiful guitar - I like Parlour and OM steel-string sizes. Yours has a little of an "Auditorium" to the shape too.

+1 on wood binding. Done properly, it's a fairly subtle, but classy look. But it's more difficult to get right in a production environment. So it tends to be something you only see with the smaller builders' instruments. It's unusual to see cocobolo being used as most builders complain of allergic reactions.

I see more of it lately. Usually on guitars from boutique builders. It's a Rosewood, and with the price of Brazilian Rosewood now through the roof, and the price of Indian going up I guess builders and buyers are considering alternatives. Plus from an aesthetic point of view it's a lovely wood.

I wonder about the allergy thing. Ian Corr down in the E Cape often uses Sneezewood, and that wood has it's common name from the fact that it induces allergic reactions in most people who have to work with it. It may be that some makers are prepared to suffer for their art, or perhaps protective face gear is cheaper and more effective now.

If I were to have a conventional 6-string built I'd probably specify Cocobolo or Ziricote for the back and sides.

Bob-Dubery

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Beautiful guitar - I like Parlour and OM steel-string sizes. Yours has a little of an "Auditorium" to the shape too.

+1 on wood binding. Done properly, it's a fairly subtle, but classy look. But it's more difficult to get right in a production environment. So it tends to be something you only see with the smaller builders' instruments.

How small is "smaller". Larrivee seem to be making a fair number of instruments these days, and EVERY Larrivee acoustic has wood bindings.

AlanRatcliffe

If you are into the rosewood family check out Madagascar rosewood - it's the next best thing to Brazilian, almost indistinguishable tonally and very similar looks-wise. It hasn't been "discovered" by many yet, but will be sometime soon, and is already getting more difficult to find (I suspect some are quietly stockpiling). Otherwise, there are many proponents of African blackwood, cocobolo, ziricote, East Indian rosewood and Honduran rosewood as worthy substitutes.

Cocobolo is used by some, but many avoid it as the reactions to it can be very severe - there are known cases of hospitalisation for anaphylactic shock. Reactions also tend to get worse with repeated exposure.

How small is "smaller". Larrivee seem to be making a fair number of instruments these days, and EVERY Larrivee acoustic has wood bindings.

Bob-Dubery

How small is "smaller". Larrivee seem to be making a fair number of instruments these days, and EVERY Larrivee acoustic has wood bindings.

That's a good question and a tough call - does it relate to building methods or does it relate to the numbers produced? I tend to think of the "smaller" builders as those who have less of a production-line manufacturing process and are still doing the majority of the building by hand (although another question would be "just what is hand-bulding?").
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Larrivee don't strike me as being that small an outfit. They're not Taylor in terms of volume, but they're not Lowden either. They do use quite a lot of automated processes. There are still "hand built" (whatever that actually is) Larrivees, but these are mostly custom orders and limited editions.

A friend of mine recently acquired a "30th anniversary" limited edition Larrivee. These, we are assured, are hand built by the man himself. It's not a visually spectacular instrument, but the SOUND certainly is special.

AlanRatcliffe

I fixed one of the originals for Sue Lawson about ten years ago and was blown away by the quality of the build. Even though the one I saw had been badly abused (it was being used as a "braai guitar" when she found it), it just screamed quality and class. I've never seen anything else close to the quality, before or since.

Bob-Dubery

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Beautiful guitar - I like Parlour and OM steel-string sizes. Yours has a little of an "Auditorium" to the shape too.

I've been mulling this over. The shape is pretty much the same as the Larrivee OM. However I hadn't realised that it's as different as it is from the Martin. The Martin looks to me to be more square at the shoulders and possibly to have a greater difference in width between upper and lower bouts. The interesting thing would be to measure and to find out if the Morgan is broader at the top or thinner at the bottom.

I do know that the bracing is different from that on the Martins. I don't know the exact details, but I know that it is more like Larrivee bracing than Martin, and that Larrivee tend to a more symmetrical layout than Martin do.