A couple weeks back, a friend and fellow forum member (13th fret), Dick Sanders, asked me to check out his custom Jim Worland and provide some feedback for a good setup. Then the guitar was taken to local luthier/setup guru, Richard Starkey (yep, like Ringo, but not…). Richard does great work and does a lot of traveling clinics for Martin guitars, and even designed some of their guitars…
Dick’s goal for this guitar was a vintage Gibson vibe and I think Jim really nailed that. The top has a sunburst finish on Italian Spruce and the back and sides are Honduran Rosewood. The fit and finish is well done and very clean. Jim used cool kerfling/lining, very similar to the new Ryan “A4” design. The woods are beautiful and the details like the inlays, Ivoroid binding, etc really contribute to the overall vintage vibe. I also really dug the unslotted bridge pins.
This is the only Worland guitar I’ve had the chance to play, so I’m not sure how his other guitars sound but this one has a very beautiful and traditional voice. (Or how I think of a “traditional voice,” if there is such a thing…) Very strong fundamental, and lots of sustain but not as many complex overtones. It’s a punchy little guitar with sweet trebles and robust mids and lower mids and with a strong bass. It is very loud and projects well too. Overall, a very cool guitar that excels as a fingerstyle guitar and I’m sure Dick will enjoy playing for years to come.
Thanks again Dick for sending it!
On a non-guitar related note, Dick is a fantastic photographer and will be receiving a very prestigious award for one of his pictures in April. If you haven’t checked out his work, you should:
www.dicksanders.com.
Kindly,
Danny
Here are a couple photos he took and a youtube video of me playing it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYmb8LBWnag
