Poling Sierra

[cotten]

Not THAT'S a beautiful guitar!

cotten

[riorider]

MOST lovely! That's what I like in Brock's and several other luthiers I "favor" - a balanced pallette of colors letting the wood do most of the speaking (all visual).

Just curious... what serial # is that one? (You can probably guess why I'm asking ... )

Thanks for sharing... very very nice guitar..

Phil

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by riorider

MOST lovely! That's what I like in Brock's and several other luthiers I "favor" - a balanced pallette of colors letting the wood do most of the speaking (all visual).

Just curious... what serial # is that one? (You can probably guess why I'm asking ... )

Thanks for sharing... very very nice guitar..

Phil

Hey Phil,
Thanks for the feedback. The label on mine says 81.

"The Tree" guitar you have commissioned should be very special. I like the sound clip for the Poling Tree/LS Redwood at Guitar Gallery.

[Simon Fay]

Now that is my idea of a great looking instrument. Absolutely beautiful!!!

[Ivob]

one of the most amazing piece i've seen so far, i would be affraid to touch it...

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Ivob

one of the most amazing piece i've seen so far, i would be affraid to touch it...

Thanks for the feedback. I am careful with my instruments. I'm not a gigging musician, my guitars only go out the house on occasion for open-mics, playing at other people's home, church, etc.

However, one of the things about this guitar is that is should be less fragile, and more easily maintained than many other guitars. It has a poly finish, mahogany is not prone to cracking like some other woods, it has double sides, the top is not as easily dented as cedar or other softer woods, the neck joint should allow reasonably easy neck reset if/when needed, it has a laminated neck, it has stainless steel frets, bracing was designed for the string gauge I like to use, and it's kept in a great case. I don't like to have to maintain things, and hopefully the maintenance on this will be low.

[cotten]

Afraid to touch it? Not me! It was created to make music, not just sit untouched in a museum or closet. Oh, I'd be very careful with it, but play it I would!

cotten

[Short Balding G]

This past weekend I got the special chance to play Chuck's Sierra. the guitar took me by suprise. It has some really special sound.

The guitars stunning appointments do not surpass the sound of the guitar one iota. From the first moment you got a treat in fat fundamentals that just jumped out of the soundhole. Oh and need you be reminded about the sound port everytime you pushed the sound the sound pushed back at you. Remarkably the sound port showed a balanced sound. I have played some sound ports that only show cased the mid and treble end of the guitar. Mr.Poling seems to have got things wired to be able to demo a full range of sound.

Fit and finish - exactly what I would expect from a custom guitar maker. The pics do and don't do the guitar justice. They do show the well put together woods, grain patterns and colors. The combo of the tuners, back head plate, bindings - they all make much more than each standing on it's own. All together it it "well put together." The pics do not show how the binding detail and joinery is just a treat. You put your eye close to the binding and you get treated to the hand craftsmanship that you can appreciate for years. The bottom of the guitar is a place were so many things come together. It is really hard to get a perfect marrige of these organic materials and yet Chuck's Sierra has it in spades. The pics do not show the exquisit detail of the soundhole binding. I was impressed at the clever wood "label." Custom guitars with gaudy, over the top labels that reminds us that a conflict with the feast for the senses and marketing exists are all too common in the marketplace. Chuck's Sierra has a classy wood label that works and compliments without crossing the (marketing)line for me.

The play ability - exactly what I would expect from a custom guitar maker and Chuck. Man it plays easily. I really like the stainless stell frets. The notes come quick and they worked really well for the acoustic blues ragg stuff that I played. The top is stiff, but sounds and works well today. As it "ages" I imagine that it will provide Chuck with a rich dynamic and tonal range. I see that the sound choices made and asked of Brock, he managed to hit.

I really appreciated the gracious offer to play the Sierra. It really is a special guitar. I hope that Chuck has the opportunity to play and show his guitar to others in the Twin Cities. Others need to see and listen to the incredible sounds that this guitar is capable of. Really quite an instrument.

I am tired this evening and as a result I am not sure that I have been descriptive and helpfull to readers. Despite my failing at describing the grand sound, I hope I am being clear that I think Chuck has gotten himself a terrific guitar. Congrats Chuck!

Good night folks, Eric -

[Dave R]

Thanks for the detailed review, Eric. It seems to be a great guitar, one that you really enjoyed.

Dave

[Fliss]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Thanks for the detailed review, Eric. It seems to be a great guitar, one that you really enjoyed.

Dave

+1. It's great to see photos of such a beautiful guitar, but it's even better to have a detailed report of how it sounds and plays. I really enjoyed reading that, it does sound as though Chuck's got a winner there!

Fliss

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by Short Balding G

This past weekend I got the special chance to play Chuck's Sierra. ...
Eric -

Hey Eric,
It was my pleasure. I really appreciated that you took the time to come over, and I enjoyed your playing and our conversation. That was the first time I was able to hear the Sierra from the listeners chair. Your style of playing was a good test, and a good fit, for the guitar. It's also nice that an unbiased (at least mostly unbiased) player, who has a deep appreciation for guitars and the music, took the time to share thoughts on the guitar.

I started a review today, even though the tonal part won't really be definitive for some time into the future. Hope to get it posted soon.

[JohnRII]

Originally Posted by Short Balding G

The pics do not show how the binding detail and joinery is just a treat. -

Exactly so. The pictures I posted of my Sierra last year absolutely do NOT do justice to the simple beauty and craftsmanship of this guitar. And I predict by this time next year, Chuck will be even more pleased. Man that is one gorgeous piece of mahogany.

[ChuckS]

Here’s the 1 week review. I realize it is a biased review, I’m in the honeymoon phase, and things like tone and responsiveness will most likely change quite a bit. But, I was in the writing mood.

PLAYABILITY

The string height at the nut seems perfect; it allows fretting 1st position as easily as possible without buzzing when open strings are played. Relief is minimal, but enough. The string height at the 12th fret is toward the lower range of where I specified it. The setup seems to be really dialed in.

This is the first guitar that I’ve had with a compound (conical) fretboard radius. It’s got a 12” radius at the nut, and 20” radius at the saddle. When I got the guitar the radius just felt right. Going from my guitar with a constant 16” radius to this compound radius feels very natural; going from the compound radius back to the guitar with the constant 16” radius is very noticeable at first.

I specified the neck depth along the length of the fretboard. I also provided the desired neck contour. This came in right on. Compared to Brock’s ‘standard’ neck, it is a little thicker in the lower frets, and has a bit more wood on the cheeks, while still being a C shape. It isn’t carved to be symmetrical on each side of the neck, it’s carved to fit your hand well, and it does.

I specified the nut width, string spacing at the nut, distance from outside strings to edge of fretboard, and string spacing at the saddle. All this came in just as specified, with the exception of the nut width, which was a bit wider than specified. The nut width is working just fine, as the string spacing was adjusted accordingly and the distance from outside strings to fretboard edge is as I specified. I was aware of this slight increase in nut width early on; the neck with fretboard was sent to me before it was finished and I approved it. So, the finished guitar did meet this change to my original spec. Getting the neck sent to me after it was shaped was also a great way to make sure the depth and contour, as well as the fretboard radius, would work well for me.

I specified stainless steel frets, and the fret height I wanted. This came in right on. The fret ends are rounded and smooth, but don’t taper off until almost at the edge of the fretboard. The stainless frets are polished extremely smooth.

The combination of the neck, fretboard, and string locations make chord fretting down low easier than I’m used to, even when wrapping the thumb around. The string spacing is providing ample room for fingerstyle playing. It’s very easy playing, even with medium gauge strings. Notes stay stronger on slides than I’ve been able to achieve before.

I set the guitar on my left leg for playing, with the neck angled upward. Even though it’s a 14 fret neck with a 25.5” scale, the lower fret positions are well within reach. It’s not a shallow box (4.5”) but there is no right arm fatigue. The body shape and size is right for how I position the guitar.

The guitar is responsive, especially for a new guitar. I’ve tried it with light and medium gauge strings.

AESTHETICS

At the time I ordered the guitar, pretty much anything I wanted for binding, purfling, etc, was included in the base price (except abalone borders). So, the aesthetic choices weren’t being constrained by the cost of options.

All the aesthetic choices were made by Brock (except I wanted that particular set of Cuban Mahogany). He proposed what to use, and I went along with all the suggestions. I think a lot of thought and effort went into the selection of every component. I guess I’ll just say I really like it, and don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it, or be less than amazed with its looks.

One thing that pleasantly surprised me was the range of colors used in the appointments. I knew BRW was being used for the peghead top and back veneer, the fretboard binding, the body bindings, the rosette, the tail wedge, the bridge, and the neck heel cap; the fretboard used Madagascar RW. I assumed all this BRW would look pretty much the same; not. The peghead back veneer and the rosette BRW are very near black. The body binding BRW is very dark with some brown visible. The fretboard binding is dark with a fair amount of brown to match the fretboard. The peghead top veneer is dark and high figured, the fretboard is a bit lighter colored and lesser figured with dark streaks, and the bridge is yet lighter colored and fits well with the top. The figure and color seems to flow through the guitar. The gold tuners stand out against the black BRW on the back of the peghead. The snakewood tuner buttons look right next to the figured BRW top peghead veneer. The color and figure of the bridge compliments the FWI and soundboard coloration.

FIT and FINISH

I haven’t seen anything less than right on for fit. There’s a lot of fine detail, and a lot of fine work. The attention to detail and clean work is everywhere, including inside the box.

It has a polyester finish, and is very clear and smooth. It looks great, and should be very durable.

TONE

This is a new guitar. It will change a lot in the next few weeks, months, and years. So this is just an initial impression.

First off, I group builders into two categories as far as matching their guitar’s tone to customers wants. The first category are builders who make guitars that deliver the tone the builder is trying to achieve; and that’s fine as long as that matches what the buyer wants. The other category I think of as service builders. They will alter their designs in an attempt to deliver what the customer wants. Brock presented himself as the service builder type, at least to the extent of materials, bracing, methods, and soundboard considerations. So, I gave him a few pages of information about what I wanted, and didn’t want. There were also emails and phone conversations. I did express my desire for a Cuban Mahogany/Lutz Sierra but only if that could be made to deliver the tone I wanted. So, what I describe as the sound of my Poling guitar is not meant to be taken as the Poling signature sound. It’s what I’m hearing, and I’m judging it against what I asked for.

What I hear is coming from the sound hole and the sound port. I’ve never played a guitar with a port before, and I was a bit nervous about it. I’d rather not have it if the sound wasn’t balanced, and representative of what’s coming out front. It is balanced, and I’m glad I got it. Since I no longer have the need to lean over to hear my guitar I’ll hopefully reduce that habit.

I play fingerstyle, and wanted great clarity, note separation, and balance in a mahogany/spruce type of tone; it’s got all that.

I’ve never had a Lutz top before. I’ve owned Sitka and Adirondack, and played other spruces. I’m happy with the choice. The trebles are strong, fat, and very quick to jump off the soundboard. The overtones seem more plentiful with light strings, or when played softly with the medium strings. I assume there may be quite a change in this area over time. The mids are full and in balance with the bass and treble. The bass is as I wanted for level of resonance, focus, punch, openness, etc. The bass has great depth and definition for a mahogany guitar. There is a surprisingly (pleasantly) well developed tone for the bass and mids, especially for a new mahogany guitar (I assume this is the contribution from this old, dense, Cuban Mahogany back and side set).

So, it seems Brock hit the mark for the tone I wanted.

[ChuckS]

Originally Posted by JohnRII

Exactly so. The pictures I posted of my Sierra last year absolutely do NOT do justice to the simple beauty and craftsmanship of this guitar. And I predict by this time next year, Chuck will be even more pleased. Man that is one gorgeous piece of mahogany.

Hey John,
Nice to hear from you, especially since you are the only other Poling Sierra owner I know of. Glad to hear your guitar continues to improve and please you. I consider your guitar to be at the extreme of elegance; that dark amazon rosewood and clear light colored top, with the tasteful binding all around. I still check out your post on occasion.

[fingerpickerguy]

Hey Chuck - Thanks for pointing me to this thread. I never look in this area. I look forward to checking this guitar out more closely. I can't see the pictures from here, so I will have to wait until I get home. It sounds like you are happy as a clam and that is what matters the most.

I have two questions/comments:

Eric had mentioned once that guitars that have a sophisticated tone tend to get in the way when you are playing blues. Considering that you are a blues guy and that this guitar has a sophisticated tone, is that going to be a problem for you?

I have stainless steel frets on two electric guitars, but no acoustics. Many people who have them think they add brightness to the tone. Do you think they add any undesirable treble to your tone? I am thinking of putting them on my next build.