Morgan Kelsey 2024

[morgankelsey]

Hey there folks, I wanted to get my 2024 thread going, starting with what I'll be showing at the Artisan Guitar Show this April 19-21 in Harrisburg, PA.

First up is one of my 15" models built with Sitka Spruce, East Indian Rosewood back and sides, and Koa binding.

It's a crazy good piece of Spruce:






The rosette is Cocobolo with inlaid brass:



Spanish Cedar neck, with brass position markers:







More Cocobolo on the headstock, and Schertler tuners:



It's an awesome sounding and playing guitar, and will be very reasonably priced. Be sure to stop by, check it out, and say hello if you are going to be at the show!

[srick]

I love the classic appearance between the light and dark woods. Did you use an oil finish on the back of the headstock and neck?

[Carpinteria]

Beautiful workmanship and, wow, what a soundboard!

[canuck7]

Now, that's a beauty!!!

[morgankelsey]

Originally Posted by srick

I love the classic appearance between the light and dark woods. Did you use an oil finish on the back of the headstock and neck?

Thanks, srick! It's a matte finish on the back of the neck and headstock. Not oil, but feels very nice under the hand.

Originally Posted by Carpinteria

Beautiful workmanship and, wow, what a soundboard!

Thanks, Dave, the soundboard is a mastergrade from Alaska Specialty Woods.

Originally Posted by canuck7

Now, that's a beauty!!!

Thanks, Jeff, I recorded a demo last night which I will post soon.

[BrunoBlack]

Wow, that’s beautiful Morgan! Can’t wait to hear the clips.

[Guitars44me]

Mighty appealing

Bet is sells FAST

Paul

[morgankelsey]

Originally Posted by BrunoBlack

Wow, that’s beautiful Morgan! Can’t wait to hear the clips.

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Mighty appealing

Bet is sells FAST

Paul

Thanks so much!

Here is a demo I recorded of this guitar yesterday. I did no audio editing, this is straight off the mics, which are a pair of Lauten LA120s. It's maybe a little boomy, moving the mics away an inch would have helped probably, but I think the overall character of the guitar is captured well. It's very even across the fingerboard and up and down the neck, the highs are very clear, and you can really hear the sustain and harmonics. I think someone is going to be very happy with this guitar!

[Steve Kinnaird]

Morgan, that is really nice! And the rosette—beautiful.
Well done, sir.

Steve

[Treenewt]

Morgan, that is a stunning instrument! Well done! I love the warmth of all the components together, and the tone is lovely! I also really dig that AI demo artists you had in studio! Hahaha

[morgankelsey]

Originally Posted by Steve Kinnaird

Morgan, that is really nice! And the rosette—beautiful.
Well done, sir.

Steve

Thanks, Steve! Looking forward to seeing you and Ryan at the show.

Originally Posted by Treenewt

Morgan, that is a stunning instrument! Well done! I love the warmth of all the components together, and the tone is lovely! I also really dig that AI demo artists you had in studio! Hahaha

Thanks for the kind words, Treenewt. Those are just some random pics from around town!


The second guitar I'll have with me is a little different. It began with several weeks of this:



Making a new thing involves lots of failures, what you see here are mostly failures with a couple of successes sprinkled in. I did finally arrive at a design that worked, and figured out a simple way to mount it in the guitar. This is a tunable, 2 octave chromatic kalimba. It has it's own pickup which is a a set of piezos that I integrated with a Schatten preamp. The guitar also has a Schatten pickup under the saddle. Two separate outputs, both active, with their own volume and tone controls.



Here's a front view of the guitar. It is a 16" model, with a Lutz spruce top, Koa back and sides, and Bolivian Rosewood (otherwise known as Pao Ferro) bindings. It's a 25/25.75 fan fret, with a full 24 frets for maximum shred.



There is also a side sound port as the resonant frequency was too low without it once the kalimba was mounted in the soundhole.



There is an access panel as well on the lower bout, because you'd need little baby arms to fit in that port.

It's certainly not the first time a kalimba has been combined with a guitar, but I believe it's the first time they have been this tightly integrated, and possibly the first time a chromatic one has been used. If you've ever tried to play a kalimba most of them are in G major, and the notes ascend from the middle outward which is really very confusing (for me anyway)

The kalimba is also removable if it ever needs to be worked on. It's not simple to take it out, but it is bolted into the head block so it can be removed if necessary.

This one is currently in the spray booth, and starting to look mighty fine!

[Chelko]

Lovely guitar and it sounds amazing! What song were you playing?

That kalimba guitar is a stunner! I would love to hear it in action

[morgankelsey]

Originally Posted by Chelko

Lovely guitar and it sounds amazing! What song were you playing?

That kalimba guitar is a stunner! I would love to hear it in action

Thanks, Chelko! I played Ragamuffin by Michael Hedges. I figured it would be allowed on YouTube as there are a lot of videos of people playing it out there. They flagged it as a copyright claim, but said the copyright holder allows its use. I've come across this before when I uploaded a John Fahey piece on one of my guitars. I believe in these cases the copyright holder has opted to collect any ad revenue the video generates. Strangely though, YouTube identifies Ragamuffin as being written by Andy McKee. I love Andy's music and playing, but I would hope the Hedges family are the ones collecting (and I imagine Andy would too).

I will get a video up of the kalimba guitar before the Artisan show. The finish is currently curing, ready for sanding and buffing in a few days.

[Matt Macheski]

Wow Morgan those guitars look fantastic. New member here, building mandos for now and starting some guitars over the next coming months. I'll be at the show as a visitor and can't wait to see the kalimba guitar magic in action. I've been looping my acoustic and two handmade kalimbas for the last few days having a blast. So fitting to find this post. Holla. See you at the show. All the best

[morgankelsey]

Originally Posted by Matt Macheski

Wow Morgan those guitars look fantastic. New member here, building mandos for now and starting some guitars over the next coming months. I'll be at the show as a visitor and can't wait to see the kalimba guitar magic in action. I've been looping my acoustic and two handmade kalimbas for the last few days having a blast. So fitting to find this post. Holla. See you at the show. All the best

Thanks, Matt! Stop by and introduce yourself!