A trip to Guitar Gallery

[BlueBowman]

I'm not sure how much interest there will be for the guitars I'm gonna discuss, but I'm gonna share them all the same. I had a pretty amazing experience there yesterday.

Anyone here been to Guitar Gallery outside Nashville? If so, please share! Robin -- a no-nonsense, great lady -- told me 95% of her business is online, so I'm quite fortunate in being invited to play her insane collection of luthier-built guitars. From talking with her, I got the feeling it doesn't happen very often.

Caveat: Gonna try not to get bogged down in tonal descriptions for every guitar, because it would be easy to go really in-depth on some of them. So for sound, I'm just gonna discuss the qualities that stuck out to me for each guitar.

I was a nervous wreck playing the first guitar, a multi-scale Sexauer L-00. His super thin varnish finish is very delicate. Immaculately built (just assume this about every guitar I post). Clarity out the wazoo. That's what I remember. An honest clarity combined with a somewhat vintage tone. And it was so well-balanced all over the fretboard. Not the loudest guitar I played (that would either the Rye Bear or a Lowden), but I really liked it. Effortless to play.





Multiple Froggy Bottoms. I love their guitars, but some are extra special. My favorite was an H12 with a Venetian cutaway. Like with the Sexauer (like with so many well-made guitars), its vintage tone combined with X. With this particular H12, that X was sweetness in tone. Think of a great Santa Cruz plus another healthy dose of sweetness. Beautiful tone, particularly in the round trebles up the fingerboard (one of my main metrics for a great guitar). And this one was uber-responsive and lively ALL OVER the fingerboard. Robin saw my face as I played it. She explained to me that the elderly gentleman who consigned the FBs had been buying them for over twenty years, and this was his favorite. I almost bought it on the spot. More on this later.





Bashkin Placencia. I think his aesthetics are some of the best in the business. Again, beautiful tone. Kinda reminded me a little of the Olson SJ in the lower register but with less sustain and without the "singing" Olson trebles. Less overtones than the Olson. I played them back-to-back, so it feels natural to compare. Not that those are negatives. The Bashkin had kind of an honest clarity like the Sexauer.





Olson SJ (with Brazilian). This guitar cost $55,000! I didn't even know that until I looked it up today. Not sure I would've even played it, but Robin shoved it right into my hands. What a great guitar. Fingerpicker's dream. Ample sustain and overtones without either becoming problematic. Those high notes just SING. Worth it? Probably not, but I'd be lying to say it wasn't a great guitar.  But they were all great guitars. Just gotta decide what flavor of great you can't live without 





Rye Bear SJ with cutaway. This was different than anything else I played there. Maybe the heaviest guitar I've ever held in my hands. Sitka spruce over African Blackwood. The lower bout had the most insane convex curve to it (think vintage Martin dread with a belly), yet it's practically brand new. Robin said the belly is built-in, of course, and is due to the shape of the falcate bracing (reinforced with carbon fiber: lightweight and stiff is the game). I could see the curvature of the braces through the top. As for sound, it was probably the loudest guitar I played all day. Also one of the most responsive. The slightest touch of the strings elicited a VERY fast rise in the note. Zero to 60 in a millisecond. Quite an experience. The tone was very good, but it was far from my favorite on the day. All about preference. But it was an interesting guitar.





Lowden F50c in Lutz spruce over Bog Oak. I'll admit up front that I'm not the biggest Lowden fan. I've played many. While far from what I'd call bad, I've never played one I wanted to own. Can you guess what's coming next? For tone, this was one of my favorites of the day! Just killer for fingerstyle. It was more articulate than other Lowden's I've played, and on the brighter side. The amount of sound coming at me was considerable, and I ate it up. For feel and response, this guitar was my absolute favorite of the day: the sound would "bend in the direction" I wanted it to go. Hard to describe, but I've experienced the same in the best vintage guitars I've played. Awesome guitar, and now Lowden is a brand I will be looking to play more often. Crazy how one guitar can completely re-align your view of a brand.





The unknown sleeper: Branzell "Top Tone" all-koa, 00-12 fret. An unknown builder to me before yesterday, but it turned out to be one of my favorites. I would've never picked it up, but thankfully Robin handed it to me. Super light and super articulate. Not a bad note on the fretboard, it was pure joy playing chords up around the 10th, 11th, and 12th frets. I love the name of this model: "Top Tone," which is the name the builder gives to all his 00-12 fret guitars. Man, it's a suitable name. Here, again, we see vintage tone plus X, in this case clarity. I would own this guitar and be very happy to have it.





Wrapping up: There were many others I played as well, but these were the ones I really enjoyed. So, did I end up buying one? I didn't. I came close, though. I narrowed everything down to one of the Froggy Bottom's, at which point I uncased a favorite a guitar I brought with me: my best Collings 000-12. I wanted to compare it to the 000-12 Froggy (NOT the one pictured above; all other pics are of the actual guitars I played). Same body size, same woods. As I was going back and forth, I thought, "These two guitars could not be more different, but I love them both...for different reasons." Robin listened attentively, and she was even quite complimentary of my guitar's tone (she's a Collings fan). Relatively speaking, the Collings was a loud hammer with lots of sustain and meaty notes; the Froggy was agile and quick, more responsive and lively - a katana (? ). The Froggy responded better to a light touch, the Collings loved a heavy hand and would respond back no matter how hard it was pushed.

No wonder I love my guitar, I have a very heavy hand. But I've been adapting my style to softer playing for a while now, hence the desire for a guitar that prefers a lighter touch. Froggy's are a great option, especially that one H12.

Anyway, I told myself I wouldn't purchase the first guitar I fell in love with this time. I'm in research mode only, and boy is it fun! I hope to get over to Dream Guitar next month.

Lagniappe: I also played my first Baranik, a JX, at Carter Vintage yesterday. What an awesome guitar. Love the soundport, which is used to great effect on that guitar, and love the tone/response.


 

[William2]

What a great post. And excellent pics also.

[BlueBowman]

What a great post. And excellent pics also.

Thanks, William. It was an amazing day. Thank Robin for the pics, not me!

Here's another sweet guitar I played at Carter Vintage. I love their privacy rooms. Hotter than h$ll! But worth it to actually hear the guitar (everything sounds great in those rooms, you've been warned; caveat emptor). Froggy 0000-12 fret.

[Queequeg]

What a great post. And excellent pics also.

Took the words right out of my keyboard.
 
BlueBowman, report back after your visit to Dream Guitars in NC.
I used to visit their website fairly regularly, if for no other reason than to hear/watch Al Petteway play these gorgeous guitars.
They always have an astonishing inventory, not unlike Robin's.

[BlueBowman]

Thanks, Queequeg. It took me nearly a month to get in to visit Robin, as she just doesn't open her door to anyone. Her address is private. But I was lucky in that she liked the kind of fingerstyle playing I do. It was a great visit with her. I've never been in a place, a quiet place, where I got to compare so many illustrious builders. It was very instructive, and, boy, it really helped narrow down what I want most in a guitar. Perhaps what's most interesting to me is, not that all the guitars differed tonally (they did), but how different they all responded. Some were different as night and day in response, yet either would make for a fine guitar. Very educational.

I just read through my post again, some might get the idea that I didn't like the Bashkin. I loved it! Every guitar I played there had something interesting to offer. They were all great. 

I also enjoy listening to Al's playing. Dream, which is even closer to me than Guitar Gal, is one I'm pumped for.

[B0WIE]

 Great post, fun subject. That Branzell looks amazing. Two of my favorite guitars are koa-topped. They both have a haunting, reverb -like quality.

I agree that the biggest difference, at the high-end, is response. That's why I emphasize to people that youtube clips don't really give you an accurate representation of how a guitar sounds because a guitar's response has a large influence on HOW we play and how WE make the guitar sound. When other people pick up my guitars, it's amazing to me how the guitars seem to change depending on the person who plays them.

 I have such a fascination and respect for fingerstyle-oriented high-end luthier builds, but I've found that more isn't always better (for me). Maybe it's limitations in my playing but I don't always want my guitars to feel like driving a Ferrari. Some of the more sensitive acoustics are like a high-gain amp where every little thing causes a sound and that sound wants to sustain endlessly. When you compare acoustics there's almost an arms race of acoustic being MORE sensitive and MORE sustaining. The dealers that make the video clips often play to that and we can be lulled into thinking we need more and more. And, when you're in a shop, the tendency is to pick the guitar that stands out and does MORE. The older I get the more I find myself saying, "Sometimes, less is more." My best guitars aren't necessarily my favorites.

 I really loved the Froggy H12s I owned because they have a traditional sound, with next level response and dynamics. I thought that was my sound. Then, I tried a SCGC H13 and it was all over. That model feels like being home. They require very little effort for me to get the sound I have in my head.

 Thanks again for taking the time to post all your impressions. I like that, even though this is a brand forum, there's a general passion for guitars and music that brings us together.

[BlueBowman]

Great post, fun subject. That Branzell looks amazing. Two of my favorite guitars are koa-topped. They both have a haunting, reverb -like quality.

Yeah, that Branzell was something. Just unbelievably light, like a small SCGC. It packed all the goodness of small guitars into that little koa body. Hard to explain. People need to play these things. The written word falls short.

I agree that the biggest difference, at the high-end, is response. That's why I emphasize to people that youtube clips don't really give you an accurate representation of how a guitar sounds because a guitar's response has a large influence on HOW we play and how WE make the guitar sound. When other people pick up my guitars, it's amazing to me how the guitars seem to change depending on the person who plays them.

YT is insufficient, yes. I was advised by a knowledgable high-end buyer to listen through the clips at Guitar Gal prior to my visit. Find the ones you really wanna play. I knew it was a fool's errand, but I did it anyway, because I figured this buyer's experience outranked my own. Long story short: my favorite Froggy H12 sounded nothing like its YT video sample. Nothing. In fact, compared to that great guitar in person, I'd say the clip is highly misleading. A shame!

The way we play. Man, it's 90% of the game, isn't it? The way we attack those strings....the tone can either be downright ugly or unfailingly beautiful. Rest stroke FTW. I think why a player ends up choosing a certain guitar is in large part how the guitar handles their "attack." Forums don't seem to discuss this enough.

I have such a fascination and respect for fingerstyle-oriented high-end luthier builds, but I've found that more isn't always better (for me). Maybe it's limitations in my playing but I don't always want my guitars to feel like driving a Ferrari. Some of the more sensitive acoustics are like a high-gain amp where every little thing causes a sound and that sound wants to sustain endlessly. When you compare acoustics there's almost an arms race of acoustic being MORE sensitive and MORE sustaining. The dealers that make the video clips often play to that and we can be lulled into thinking we need more and more. And, when you're in a shop, the tendency is to pick the guitar that stands out and does MORE. The older I get the more I find myself saying, "Sometimes, less is more." My best guitars aren't necessarily my favorites.

I'm glad you mentioned this. Some of those guitars I played required extreme control. The Rye Bear? I mean, it was difficult to play quietly. I remember thinking this would be a wonderful guitar for a VERY light-handed player. It was a Ferrari. I wonder if that's why I gravitated towards the more traditional guitars, like the Froggy's (that one particular H12 might be half-Ferrari ) and the Branzell and Sexauer's. Their response and tone being more familiar to me based on my own guitar experience. I get what you're saying about "less is more." The Branzell had that in spades: simple, beautiful, and honest all over the fretboard. 

I also own a guitar from a luthier that falls into the "less is more" category. While not lacking in response or volume, neither are selling features: it's the sweetness of tone that lures the ear on that guitar. Not a concert hall performer, but a better writing companion might not be found.

I really loved the Froggy H12s I owned because they have a traditional sound, with next level response and dynamics. I thought that was my sound. Then, I tried a SCGC H13 and it was all over. That model feels like being home. They require very little effort for me to get the sound I have in my head.

I loved the one SC H13 I played. Cool guitar, but definitely different to the Froggy's. That particular Froggy was rambunctious, but not overly so. I'm glad I now have the experience to walk away. It was not easy. 

Thanks again for taking the time to post all your impressions. I like that, even though this is a brand forum, there's a general passion for guitars and music that brings us together.

My pleasure. I'm just learning as I go. I just hope there people who find value in this thread and conversation. People, please feel free to offer any comments. And thanks for your interesting post, Bowie. I always enjoy reading what you have to say.