Some years ago, James said he’d like to build me a guitar. I asked if we should discuss details, and he said no, he would surprise me. Some months later, he delivered me a beautiful dreadnought guitar with palo escrito (Mexican) rosewood back and sides. A year later, a bunch of guitar players were hanging out at a friend’s house after a concert at the Mendocino Music Festival and James had brought along some of his most recent guitars for us to check out. I picked up one of his concert jumbos with a cedar top and koa back and sides, and instantly fell in love. James gave me a slightly worried look and said, “Maybe I built you the wrong guitar.” Well, all his guitars are wonderful, but truth be told, that concert jumbo was really more my style.
So, I visited his shop, traded in the dreadnought, and we proceeded to pick out some choice western red cedar for a top and the back and sides from his special reserve stash of curly koa, and we discussed some custom specs for a new guitar. The result you see here is a guitar with a slightly wider (1 7/8” at the nut) and flatter fingerboard, and a custom neck profile to fit my hand. What can I say about the koa—it’s truly stunning—and while I had always thought that koa was a little bit stiff and dull sounding, once again, I had to put my previous experiences and my preconceptions aside and conclude that it’s all in the hands of the individual luthier. Having lived and worked in Hawaii for many years in the past, there’s no doubt James has a special affinity for this wood.
This guitar has a huge, open sound with lots of overtones, and yet, in my opinion, the cedar top adds a sweetness that yields a seemingly contradictory big-yet-soft quality I’ve not heard in many guitars. Powerful, yet somehow cuddly, kind of like a Teddy Bear. I used it on three tracks—Past Perfect, But What? and Sí Bheg Sí Móhr--on my most recent solo recording, The Bridge.
BASIC SPECS:
Back & Sides: Special Reserve Curly Koa
Soundboard: Master Western Red Cedar
Bridge: Ebony
Fingerboard: Ebony
Tuners: Gotoh Gold/Ebony 510
To learn more about Goodall Guitars, visit http://goodallguitars.com
THE LOWDEN ALEX DE GRASSI
SIGNATURE MODEL
I love this guitar! I’ve loved the prototype from the moment I pulled it out of the case when it arrived from Ireland via UPS some 20 years ago. It has great volume and projection, but it can also be played softly and still maintain the excellent balance and clarity that makes this model special. Many fingerstyle players, including myself, are drawn to the darker tone woods like rosewood, cocobolo, and intermediate ones like koa and mahogany. That’s understandable because those woods often do produce more overtones that give an acoustic guitar sparkle and depth. Often maple guitars are dismissed as being all about mid-range, suitable for classic archtop jazz guitars. Ah, but I have found it’s all in the hands of the designer and the maker, and, of course, the player. This maple guitar can work the range from dry to highly resonant and responds to the touch like a sports car—all the while producing a solid fundamental on the low end that keeps it punchy and clean at all volumes.
Luthiers develop an affinity for certain woods that work for their designs, and perhaps, in turn, those woods influence the dimensions and other details of their designs. So, I’ve learned not to make judgements about which woods are best for an acoustic guitar—it truly depends on the guitar. I spent three days in the Lowden factory some years ago and tried all their F models—some really fine instruments—then I picked up an F made with maple back and sides, and it was love at the first touch. I played it at the Belfast International Festival concert that same evening and it blew people away—especially when they heard it had only been played for an hour prior to its very first concert. From there George Lowden and I discussed some minor changes to be used for the signature model—a slightly wider, flatter fingerboard, a few tweaks to the bracing, etc. The result is possibly the most dynamic, balanced and versatile guitar I’ve ever played.
BASIC SPECS:
Back & Sides: AAAA Quilted Maple
Soundboard: AAAA Sitka Spruce
Bridge: Rosewood
Fingerboard: Ebony
Fingerboard Width: 46mm at nut
Tuners: Gotoh Gold/Ebony 510
For full details and orders, visit www.lowdenguitars.com/guitar-spec-degrassi
Click the image to see both the front and back of the guitar