Yip! The Smoothtalker.
Buying a handmade guitar is a different business from walking into a store. The guitar is actually not finished yet! This is deliberate. I take it, I play it for two weeks, I give it back to Mervyn with a snag list. He then makes the last adjustments, applies one more layer of finish (more on that a little later), applies the label and signs the guitar.
So... some photos taken with my cell phone. I'll get better quality pics up in a few days time (more on that a little later)
Here's the Smoothtalker next to the Morgan
This is not a big guitar. Note that this is the regular, "concert" size body. There is a smaller body for classicals, and a bigger body for bass guitars (but not baritones - they get the same size body as this).
Here's the sides.
Look at how the colour in the wood has been brought out. And note the construction now has four "layers", whereas originally there were two. The finish is not the usual nitro-cellulose. Mervyn uses a product rich in beeswax. It is applied by hand - no spraying. It's matt but quite rich.
I must say that I like the aesthetics of this guitar in as much as Mervyn hasn't tried to make it like a conventional guitar where he could. So it is harmonious as a whole.
Here's the top
I need to get a really good photo of this because it is a lovely piece of spruce. Hopefully you can see some of the figuring here. I chose the top from several sets that Mervyn had in stock. Something in it caught my eye. The tops with no finish applied are almost pure white - much paler than this.
He told me that as he started applying the finish and the figuring came out he wished he'd never shown me that top (he said this in the nicest possible way ? ). He is taking some guitars to Healdsburg to show and hopefully sell, and would have liked to have used this top for a guitar on display at such a prestigious festival.
Look at this...
20 frets - and absolutely unfettered access to all 20. And it's not my fault that y'all have guitars with a hole in the middle.
Now... the neck may have to be changed. Mervyn usually puts 12's (lights) or 11's on his guitars. I asked for 13s, and I asked for the skinny neck profile. He said he hasn't put 13s on a guitar for many years, and never worried about the tension on the neck. He strung this one up this morning and was knocked out by the bigger sound that the heavier strings imparted. But will the neck hold up to his satisfaction? He is making another neck with the same dimensions (mine is slightly wider at the nut than his standard neck) but for a couple of millimeters more wood at the thickest point - just in case. If mine shows any signs of bowing then he swops the necks out when I take it back in a fortnight.
Some notes on the guitar. The top is Engelmann Spruce. After that most of the woods are unconventional - Kiaat for the back, sides, bridge and neck. Rosewood for the facing on the head stock. Leadwood for the fingerboard and saddle.
Mine has a warthog tusk nut - courtesy of the excellent and generous Mr Chris Mason who gave Mervyn a tusk for use on his own instrument and then told him to use some on mine as well.
There is a clear, flamenco-style, scratch guard applied to the top. This is recommended by Mervyn but not mandatory.
I had a Baggs Active Element fitted. Mervyn offers these as an option. I have one fitted in the Morgan, I think it works well and sounds great and so I was happy to have Mervyn fit one when he was building this guitar.
By co-incidence, not planning, the Wife and I are taking a long weekend to go and chill in the Eastern Free State. So I am going to end up with not very much to do other than play the new guitar ?
So I need to go and start packing. I have, of course, put the first few miles on it already. It doesn't sound much like the Morgan - but that's fine, I wanted another sound. The basic sound has a very strong fundamental. The bottom end is well defined and the strings are well defined from each other when you play with fingers. It has good sustain and surprising volume for it's size.
Ergonomically it's excellent. It sits well across the right knee and balances nicely. In this position the back is pretty free - not pressed against the body as much as with a more conventional guitar. There is very little impediment to the left hand and arm. Although it has a conventional scale length it feels very compact. It's very comfortable to play.
Later...
