Talk to me about Cole Clark guitars

deefstes

OK, I am seriously impressed. I can't say that I know an awful lot about these guitars yet but I've fiddled around with a few and I am gobsmacked. Could this modern upstart be the one to give the Martins, Larrivees, Breedloves et al a run for their money?

There is almost nothing normal about this guitar. The shaped soundboards, revolutionary pickups, Spanish heel, unusual tonewoods, etc. etc. etc. all seem very interesting. I'd be curious to know your opinions on it but I'll be keeping an eye on this brand. Maybe now is the time to buy one, while they're still cheap.

Tokai-SA

I'm betting you were at TOMS Sandton and Grant showed you their new huge stock of Cole Clarks, then you plugged it into the QSC K10 that's sitting there, and you were blown away by the pickup system & tone?

Am I close? ?

MikeM

What's the pricing like?

guitarboy2828

Deestes, do a search on the forum, we've spoken about them several times before.

They really aren't a new guitar. Jack Johnson has been using them for several years now. Some other big names use them too.

Mike, their cheapest entry level goes at R16k if I remember correctly. They are not cheap guitars.

My assessment. Unplugged they are very average, in fact, I didn't really like their upper models. I liked their Fatlady 1 (or whatever the cheap one is called) because it was very responsive. Plugged in, they're great. That is the reason many are going for them. After playing on several for quite a while, I was quite happy to come home to my breedlove, plugged through LR baggs paraDI... I found it much more to my tastes.

deefstes

Tokai SA wrote: I'm betting you were at TOMS Sandton and Grant showed you their new huge stock of Cole Clarks, then you plugged it into the QSC K10 that's sitting there, and you were blown away by the pickup system & tone?

Am I close? ?

Haha, yes, very close. I was actually shown some Cole Clark guitars by one of the other salesmen when I was there some months ago. Since then I've been paying closer attention and noticed that many respectable guitarists play Cole Clark.

So today I took my Martin in for a service and setup and, indeed, Grant was waxing lyrical about these guitars. I had the opportunity to compare my Martin side-by-side with some Cole Clarks and, as Paul E said, unplugged they were somewhat uninspiring and I prefer my Martin - no contest. But plugged in it blew mine out of the water. Not only was the pickups of exceptional quality but the way you can tweak your tone by blending the different pickups is in my opinion fantastic.