The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Custom Shop

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 09-19-2017, 11:53 PM
JJI's Avatar
JJI JJI is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 914
Default Datlen OM-C Swiss/ABW Build Thread

If you’ve seen in the classifieds the nearly new Datlen I have up for sale then you may of seen this thread coming. The only reason it is being sold is because I am a VERY gentle player and this is a HOG/Adi guitar. I know I won't be able to open it up...but somebody who plays harder will and it is going to be a truly special instrument. After a few chats and John watching me play he saw that while the guitar sounds great in my hands, one with softer woods would really be wonderful for me.
Johns work is continually impressive (his work sounds so freakin good) and I’m really fired up about this.

We managed to get one of the nicest African Blackwood sets either of us has ever seen (!!!), Koa for the purfling, ebony binding, and John hand selected a gorgeous Swiss top for this guitar. It’s going to be his OM shape and it should begin any day now.



Last edited by JJI; 09-21-2017 at 04:22 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 09-20-2017, 06:46 AM
TomB'sox's Avatar
TomB'sox TomB'sox is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: The Lone Star State
Posts: 13,445
Default

Excuse my ignorance here please, but is an ABW with a Swiss spruce top "softer" woods than the Hog/adirondack? ABW is very hard and a close substitute for BRW I thought and I was expecting you to say you were going to have a Cedar or Redwood top? Isn't Swiss Spruce still pretty close to Sitka or Adirondack or am I just an idiot???
__________________
PS. I love guitars!
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 09-20-2017, 08:16 AM
CE Sobel CE Sobel is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Ridgefield, WA
Posts: 105
Default

Hi Tom,

Most Swiss spruce coming out of Austria/Switzerland/Fiemne is relatively low density compared to Sitka. Every piece of wood is different, so there is overlap, but the samples I've tested ranged from .32 to .41 sg, whereas I find most Sitka is more in the .37 to .48 range. People may have different numbers but that's mostly to say that the Swiss stuff is lighter by 15% or more. Adirondak is very similar to some of the European spruces in structure although I get the sense that it's all over the place in its density right now due to availability issues. I typically think of Adi as heavier than Swiss spruce as well.

The thing I like about Swiss spruce is that it's pretty low damping for a spruce. I tend to get a more "crystalline" sound from it, as opposed to woody.

Chris
__________________
Christopher Sobel
Sobel Guitars
www.sobelguitars.com
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 09-21-2017, 01:34 PM
JDatlen JDatlen is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: American Canyon,Ca
Posts: 99
Default

I'm excited to get started on this build for Josh. He's been interested in an African Blackwood guitar for some time now. He does have a very gentle playing style so he wants a guitar that responds well to a light touch and has nice overtones.

Since he already has a Cedar topped Ryan with Brazilian back and sides, we decided to go for a spruce top. I selected an "Alpine/Italian" top from a big stack of AAA tops up at LMII. I am approaching this guitar with a more intimate knowledge of Josh's style of play and will build the guitar accordingly.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-05-2017, 11:20 PM
JJI's Avatar
JJI JJI is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 914
Default

John is off to Hawaii for a little relaxin but before he left he sent me these pics. Looks like he will be getting after my guitar when he gets home!
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-06-2017, 08:55 AM
islandguitar's Avatar
islandguitar islandguitar is online now
Moderator
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Rhode Island
Posts: 6,284
Default

Congrats Josh! What a beautiful set of wood! The ABW is amazing......looking forward to following this build.
Fred
__________________
1993 Bourgeois JOM
1967 Martin D12-20
2007 Vines Artisan
2014 Doerr Legacy
2013 Bamburg FSC-
2002 Flammang 000 12 fret
2000 McCollum Grand Auditorium



______________________________
Soundcloud
Spotify
Mike McKee/Fred Bartlett Spotify playlist
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-06-2017, 09:18 PM
CoolerKing's Avatar
CoolerKing CoolerKing is offline
FKA matthewpartrick :)
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: North Havana
Posts: 5,344
Default

Cool! Looking forward to following along.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-08-2017, 07:31 PM
stuartb stuartb is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Southern Ontario
Posts: 1,575
Default

Great wood choice. Look forward to seeing this guitar built!

Stuart
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-08-2017, 09:27 PM
JJI's Avatar
JJI JJI is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 914
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by islandguitar View Post
Congrats Josh! What a beautiful set of wood! The ABW is amazing......looking forward to following this build.
Fred
Thank you Fred!

Quote:
Originally Posted by matthewpartrick View Post
Cool! Looking forward to following along.
Ya buddy

Quote:
Originally Posted by stuartb View Post
Great wood choice. Look forward to seeing this guitar built!

Stuart
Thank you, Stuart! ABW is my absolute favorite and this set is crazy straight/quartered.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11-08-2017, 10:09 PM
CE Sobel CE Sobel is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Ridgefield, WA
Posts: 105
Default

JJ,

Funny... I think at one point I had that set in my cart at Hibdon. Or maybe a sister cut.

Chris
__________________
Christopher Sobel
Sobel Guitars
www.sobelguitars.com
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 11-09-2017, 06:16 PM
JJI's Avatar
JJI JJI is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 914
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by CE Sobel View Post
JJ,

Funny... I think at one point I had that set in my cart at Hibdon. Or maybe a sister cut.

Chris
Well then thank you for not buying it
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 11-16-2017, 12:14 AM
Marcus Wong Marcus Wong is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Singapore
Posts: 1,649
Default

Such amazing materials in the hands of an equally skilled builder. Can't wait to see this one progress!
__________________
.
THE GOLDEN ERA GUITAR
FOR SALE | VIDEOS

AUTHORISED DEALER OF:
Astrand | Bowerman | Brondel | Buendia | Casimi | Datlen | Doerr | Fujii | Gerber | GR Bear | Heinonen | Isaac Jang
Keith | Keystone | Matsuda | Michaud Made | Ogino | Pellerin | Petros | Poljakoff | Strahm | Tom Sands | Wingert

...and more

www.TheGoldenEraGuitar.com
[email protected]
+65 8666 0420
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 11-17-2017, 11:13 AM
JJI's Avatar
JJI JJI is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 914
Default

Getting to the good stuff...
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 11-17-2017, 01:13 PM
BBWW BBWW is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posts: 3,070
Default

So you are finally getting your African Blackwood Guitar. "What a long strange trip it's been." This looks fantastic.
Reply With Quote
  #15  
Old 11-26-2017, 09:34 AM
JJI's Avatar
JJI JJI is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 914
Default

The headstock is ABW bound with ebony and the continued koa perfling from the body.

Last edited by JJI; 11-26-2017 at 09:48 AM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > Custom Shop

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=