Isn't she lovely?? (Another one) - part 3

zohn · 2010-03-30T11:32:28+00:00

This has to be one of the most beautiful 00's around patterned after the famous '37 Gibson L-00. It is a Heshtone L-00 with AAA-grade Lutz Spruce top, Tiger Myrtle back, sides and rosette. It is braced with Adirondack spruce for added stiffness.

zohn

Those photos are mixed up - some appear to be mirror-images, making it to look like a left-handed model. The side port actually sits on the top. (it is a right handed model as can be seen in the 2nd photo) The guy who owns it had the whole story of the build with photos on the Larrivee forum, but he has now removed the photos. These shots are from Joel's web-site

AlanRatcliffe

Nice. Looks more like a rosewood top, rather than redwood. "Sinker" redwood - must research that a bit...

I like the olive back and sides, but I don't like the look of it as a fingerboard.

TomCat

Squonk wrote What happens with the Leaf shaped soundhole at the bottom?

That is so you can get your plectrum out when it falls into the sound hole..... ???

[deleted]

TomCat wrote
Squonk wrote What happens with the Leaf shaped soundhole at the bottom?
That is so you can get your plectrum out when it halls into the sound hole..... ???

LOL. Good thinking, Tom!

Ray

That is beautiful. But please believe me when I say that I am not trying to be critical when I ask if the okes that build these guitars intend them as tools and instruments or as display pieces? Becasue for all it's beauty I cant imagine someone giving the thing a good tonk.

racman

Ray wrote That is beautiful. But please believe me when I say that I am not trying to be critical when I ask if the okes that build these guitars intend them as tools and instruments or as display pieces? Becasue for all it's beauty I cant imagine someone giving the thing a good tonk.

You don't have to destroy a guitar when playing it hard. My old 97 Talyor Koa K14ce was played almost everyday and thrashed on Thursdays and Sundays for 10 years (no pickguard) and was sold in 2007 still in mint condition. Not even plectrum scrapes! ?

Even a beautiful guitar should be built to be played!

zohn

racman wrote
Even a beautiful guitar should be built to be played!

Couldn't agree more!!
Joel's guitars are the ultimate finger-style guitars by design - the choice of wood to the scale length to the 13-ftret design speaks tone, playability and rapid response. Finger-stylists guitars rarely display plectrum-rash.
And if it can be beautiful at the same token, why not?

Bob-Dubery

Ray wrote That is beautiful. But please believe me when I say that I am not trying to be critical when I ask if the okes that build these guitars intend them as tools and instruments or as display pieces? Becasue for all it's beauty I cant imagine someone giving the thing a good tonk.

I think that there are builders who build coffee table guitars. There are also builders who aim to deliver great playability, great tone and great looks.

There's a school of thought that in the high-end acoustic guitar market you must have a very high quality finish or else nobody will pony up. I've heard that George Gruhn says that this is the biggest problem for SA luthiers - the finish lets the guitar down.

But Marc Maingard is selling guitars for 5 and 6 thousand dollars a pop in the USA. And Lowden do OK and they are very plain guitars with, for most models, a satin finish.

Ray

Ja, very beautiful and my comment was more of a question really. On another forum there are people who jsut buy guitars and display them. A few years ago before I was interested in playing guitar, I played golf with a guy who bought expensive collectors electric guitars and he couldnt play guitar. Or golf for that matter.

[deleted]

I know what you mean, Ray - when I was a youngster and got my first (mix 'n' match) few golf clubs, I only had those plastic practice balls to hit around the garden. The first time I came to use a real golf ball, I figured there was no way the club could hit that thing and survive - it was too fragile. As it turns out, I've discovered that golf clubs can be used to clear paths, dismember trees, part lakes and shift pebbles - all within the space of one round. (They just don't make very good boomerangs.)

It's exactly the same with guitars - though all these shots are of gorgeously crafted instruments, they're not worth a cent if they can't live up to their purpose, as far as I'm concerned. And as zohn and racman have pointed out, some of them will still look beautiful after all the abuse. Bonus.

racman

Ray wrote Ja, very beautiful and my comment was more of a question really. On another forum there are people who jsut buy guitars and display them. A few years ago before I was interested in playing guitar, I played golf with a guy who bought expensive collectors electric guitars and he couldnt play guitar. Or golf for that matter.

Sounds a lot like you played golf with me !!!! ? ?

vic

Ray wrote That is beautiful. But please believe me when I say that I am not trying to be critical when I ask if the okes that build these guitars intend them as tools and instruments or as display pieces? Becasue for all it's beauty I cant imagine someone giving the thing a good tonk.

Good idea ....if one can mount these beautiful instruments against a wall with a nice frame around it , wouldn't it be nicer than an oil painting or a tapestry ?
...then these will have a double purpose ?
Does anybody here display guitars against a wall.....? ???

Ray

vic wrote Does anybody here display guitars against a wall.....? ???

Nooit ek se! Then they cover up the girly pics. But serious, when I was young I played the cello and the other day well about 4 years back I was helping my old man pack one of his store rooms and there were bits and pices of I think the first cello I had. Quite a small one so I assumed it was when I was a pup. And it is a bit vrot so I w3as thinking of making some kind of display or something with it.

zohn

Then there's always the plain Jane (no makeup)
This is a Paul Chambers built 13 Fretter in plain European Spruce and South American Mahogany, modeled after Gibson's Nick Lucas model, a guitar made famous by Bob Dylan. It is a deep-body version of the L-00.
Link with more photos: http://www.paulchambersguitars.com/HTML/Model-NLS13/NLS13-Gallery-1.html

Ray

I like that very much, how much do you want for it? What appeals to me as well is the slotted headstock. Not tha I know what diference that would make but it appeals to me.

Squonk

I had a look on the Acoustic Guitar website and came accross Martin Tallstrom www.tallstrom.com
He has a lovely gentle picking style. See if you can get to hear his arrangement of "A Whiter shade of pale"

He uses besides others a Loef guitar, which is pretty plain looking but it sounds good
www.loefguitars.fi

Bob-Dubery

Ray wrote I like that very much, how much do you want for it? What appeals to me as well is the slotted headstock. Not tha I know what diference that would make but it appeals to me.

It means that there is a more consistent angle at which the strings break across the nut. Also there can be a weight saving and thus a change in balance. You usually pay extra for a slot head as there is more work involved.

zohn

Ray wrote I like that very much, how much do you want for it? What appeals to me as well is the slotted headstock. Not tha I know what diference that would make but it appeals to me.

Ray
I wish it was mine!!! - that pic is from the builder's website. He is based in the UK.
The advantage of a slotted headstock is more string pressure on the nut because of a relatively greater break angle of the strings to the (lower) string posts. I believe it is only really prevalent with open chords and especially when playing in alternate tunings though.
I'm having a similar one like that built locally, but a slightly larger (OM) body and with a paddle head.
I love slotted head stocks too - I think they look very cool.
That is incidentally the way steel string guitars were originally built. Then someone decided to use banjo-tuners on a paddle head, which looks very odd to me, and only later were the vertical machine heads developed as we are used to today.

These photos are of a Martin OM-18GE (1930 re-issue)

Ordinary Paddle head - this one is a 000-18 Marquis:

Slotted head stock as found on the 000-28VS:

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