Tom Sands OM

[ianLP59]

Ah...Leo - yep he makes great instruments...And there is a Mod D in Brighton at The Acoustic Music Company. In fact Leo e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago to see whether I would go and play it and let him know my impressions. I played a Mod D by Leo with maple sides and back at the same shop about 18 months ago. It was fantastic and I know this new one will be too...

Cheers,

Ian

[steveh]

Originally Posted by Adamski

As I said, everyone who has played one of my Sands' has either ordered from Tom on the spot or is thinking about how they can afford to order one (having recently spent loads on other guitars), and that is the greatest recommendation for his talents that we can see.

As things stand the quality/performance/price balance is just right because there is no other builder of whom I am aware that has such a high strike rate of converting demos in to purchases

Given the amount of nylon I play these days, I need a steel-string like a hole in the head but...

Oh go on then - I'm in!

Cheers,
Steve

[Adamski]

Prey do tell...

:-)

[JamesO]

I'm absolutely in love with the rosette. I love fiber arts, and to see it mixed into a guitar is a breath of fresh air. Really something special.

Is the headstock inlay recessed?

[amyFB]

Originally Posted by Adamski

...that we have a passion for guitars.

You are right, clearly we need to be very impressed to part with our hard-earned cash for something which is, for pretty much everyone on hear, a discretionary purchase.

When all is said and done, we are talking about whether Rembrandt is better/worse than Constable (or whatever other analogy you care to make) and I think we can all pretty much agree that every one of us would be pretty happy with any of the guitars that we are pontificating about.

I can honestly say that each Sands has been exceptional, and whilst ExpoTom & gitarro have played a few of them, they have only played them when they've been newly strung up in the workshop and consequently have not perhaps heard what they are really capable of.

I have had two of mine for nearly a year, and one for a couple of months and I would defy any person to find me a (significantly) better guitar from any builder at any price. As I said, everyone who has played one of my Sands' has either ordered from Tom on the spot or is thinking about how they can afford to order one (having recently spent loads on other guitars), and that is the greatest recommendation for his talents that we can see.

As things stand the quality/performance/price balance is just right because there is no other builder of whom I am aware that has such a high strike rate of converting demos in to purchases.

I am incredibly happy with mine, and everyone else is incredibly happy with theirs...

Your enthusiasm for the output of this luthier is clear as a bell and is justly earned from your own experiences.

I am not inclined to agree with your conclusions about what "most of us " or "all of them " know or do , because , it just isn't credible to me that your experiences could be that broad in scope and exposure.

Please leave some room for what you don't know or that has not yet happened.

[John K]

Originally Posted by ianLP59

Guys...The purpose of my original post was a pretty simple one and can be summed up thus. I have a new guitar made by Tom Sands that was delivered to me personally last weekend - here are some pictures of it...

The Sands OM lives in a room with :

Sobell Martin Simpson Signature MK II - European spruce / Brazilian rosewood
Sobell Model 0 12 fret - European spruce / Brazilian rosewood
Ralph Bown OM - Sitka spruce / Brazilian rosewood
Fischer Concerto - European spruce / African blackwood
Åstrand Å-OM - Swiss spruce / Madagascan rosewood
Collings 0001-ASB - Adirondack / mahogany
Collings 001H - Sitka / Indian rosewood

Of all the above, the only one I would be willing to part with is the Collings 001H, not because it's a bad guitar but it simply doesn't really get played enough (offers..?). The Collings 0001-ASB is outstanding, a real one-off totally nailed-it guitar from a boutique maker. The rest are all world-class luthier built instruments. The Sands OM sits in there just fine. It's a great guitar and I'm very happy with it.

A young pal of mine who is a phenomenal fingerstyle player was over last night to see and play the Sands. I got an e-mail from him this morning of which the most relevant part reads

"Another really great guitar you have there".

So there we have it. I'm basically very happy with my new Sands OM.

Tom was fascinated by the above collection and took his time examining them in detail. Unsurprisingly, he was thrown a little sideways by the Sobells as they are built very differently from just about anything else. The Bown OM he admired particularly, both from a workmanship point of view (Ralph is a very tidy wood worker) but also from a materials perspective. The Bown's back and sides are of perfectly quartersawn Brazilian of a quality that is largely unobtainable now. The guitar was originally built for fingerstyle virtuoso Clive Carroll which is why he used some of his best wood stash for it.

The question that remains is...what do I get next ?

Take it easy,

Cheers,

Ian

Impressive collection indeed! Would love some pictures and sound clips of the Bown in the future. :-)