Took delivery of my new axe today.

Bob-Dubery · 2009-05-14T21:13:55+00:00

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...

Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote hello BOB you must be so excited to finally have it in your mits..... it looks awesome and i do love that top ....
you know i love the sound of your morgan it sounds awesome amplified.... how does this smoothtalker compare amplified..... i realise it is a different instrument but it must have the same fundamentals.... unplugged i'm sure it's a totally different sound but plugged might be a different kettle of fish.... have you tested it through an amp yet ??? very keen to hear it plugged in.....

but yeah final words are just yeah lovely piece of wood on the top...awesome

It sounds different from the Morgan - which is fine. I have 3 axes now. One is my "take to braai" Taylor Big Baby. That leaves me with two "serious" guitars. With that number of guitars I don't want two that do the same things.

The Morgan has a lot of overtones - sometimes gives tuners a hard time. The Smoothtalker has more emphasis on the fundamental.

I haven't plugged it in yet, other than into my PCs sound card just to see if the pickup is working (it is).

It took me a while to really understand what was going on with the Morgan, and I suspect this will be the same. It's a very different instrument. It may be that it gets played more for the next while, because it's smaller and has good ergonomics and will be handier for noodling whilst watching TV.

But you've heard a plugged-in Smoothtalker, courtesy of Tony Cox. His has the same pickup and pre-amp that mine has, though mine has the new style body with a smaller .... err... whatever you call the slot on the Smoothtalker at the top of the ellipse. Mervyn believes this will make the newer instruments a little tighter in the bottom end.

I am of course mindful that the player makes a difference to the tone as well. I have not bought a Smoothtalker as a way to instantly sound like Tony Cox.

You're playing at TJs on Thursday. So is Mike Burger. Mike has a Smoothtalker from the same batch as mine. Took delivery on Saturday. His is a baritone, but you may get some idea of the plugged in sound if you're around for his set.

Same woods as mine.... mostly kiaat with an Engelmann spruce top.

Riaan-Combrink

Bob Dubery wrote I am of course mindful that the player makes a difference to the tone as well. I have not bought a Smoothtalker as a way to instantly sound like Tony Cox.

Good, then you won't be disappointed, then!!! ?

Keira-WitherKay

yeah Bob i've actually heard quite a few smoothtalkers.... syd kitchen , greg geogordias has one too and albert meintjes.... (his sounds very like a normal acoustic...also has LR baggs pickup.... ) and tony's of course which to me sounds brighter than ussual acoustic.... but maybe just his style....

so yeah well the baritone one will definitely sound different ,, and yeah of course i will stick around on thurs at TJ's and listen .....

yeah i'm keeping an eye on mervyns guitars heheh considering approaching him for that custom guitar i want ... a while back he contacted me and offered to sell me a nylon smoothtalker for half price.... (R10 000) but they not suited to my style at all... i like traditional bodies that i can bang on percussively..and also he pointed out the smoothtalker was far heavier than a standard flamenco/classical guitar which would not do me good..... i light light guitars.... but he is one of the luthiers along with marc maingard that i have my eye on ....

so yeah Bob awesome you got yours now... and yeah you part of quite an elite club now

peace and light
Keira

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Bob-Dubery

Keira WitherKay wrote yeah Bob i've actually heard quite a few smoothtalkers.... syd kitchen , greg geogordias has one too and albert meintjes.... (his sounds very like a normal acoustic...also has LR baggs pickup.... ) and tony's of course which to me sounds brighter than ussual acoustic.... but maybe just his style....

First of all a word about the Morgan. It does sound pretty good plugged in, but it sounds even better "unplugged".

I think you're right about the Smoothtalker sounding bright. It sounds brighter than the Morgan (which is actually a pretty dark sounding guitar). Also I remember the first time I saw one in action. Was at TJs a couple of years ago. They ended up with some kind of jam - way too many guitars on stage. But somebody had a Smoothtalker up there and it just cut right through everything else that was going on.

Keira WitherKay wrote yeah i'm keeping an eye on mervyns guitars heheh considering approaching him for that custom guitar i want ... a while back he contacted me and offered to sell me a nylon smoothtalker for half price.... (R10 000) but they not suited to my style at all... i like traditional bodies that i can bang on percussively..and also he pointed out the smoothtalker was far heavier than a standard flamenco/classical guitar which would not do me good..... i light light guitars.... but he is one of the luthiers along with marc maingard that i have my eye on ....

I don't think they'd suit the percussive stuff that you do - though I have yet to give mine a good moering. I don't think they're THAT heavy now. He has changed the design and the weight has come down - though for sure it would be heavier than that small nylon-string that you play. I'll take mine along to TJs so you can get an idea of the weight. He does offer a smaller body option. and a shorter neck might shave some weight off too.

From what I hear you'll need to have a lot of money to get into Marc Maingard's order book. You might also consider Ian Corr (Tony Cox & Syd Kitchen both own Corr guitars) or, if you can track him down, Rodney Steadall in Pretoria. There's also another guy in Pretoria, can't recall the name right now but there's one of his nylon-string guitars for sale at McGibbons and they have all his contact details.

Keira WitherKay wrote so yeah Bob awesome you got yours now... and yeah you part of quite an elite club now

Yep. Guys who play handmade guitars and wear handmade socks.

Mervyn does build more orthodox nylon-string guitars. He's busy with a batch right now. I have no idea about prices.

Bob-Dubery

Lawrence wrote *drrooooooooollllll*

No, Dude. No! Wipe that up Dude!

Bob-Dubery

Riaan C wrote
Bob Dubery wrote I am of course mindful that the player makes a difference to the tone as well. I have not bought a Smoothtalker as a way to instantly sound like Tony Cox.
Good, then you won't be disappointed, then!!! ?

Not at all. Next on my list is the Richard Thompson signature Lowden. Once I have proven to the world that I don't sound like Richard Thompson I'll then buy one of these to drive home the point that I don't sound much like Martin Carthy either.

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