Tom Sands new build and just saying hello

[Killick]

hi Guys, I'm new to the forum but have been lurking around over a considerable number of months to read up on where you are with respect to guitars and luthiers. I was absolutely smitten by some of the photos of the guitars you own but the stand out for me was the Tom Sands guitars and so took the plunge. I got in touch with Tom and we had a great conversation about what I was looking for in a guitar. I've played and owned mainly electric guitars, strats, Gibson ES175 etc and I had a half decent Takamine acoustic. Whilst they all played well I felt there was something missing and I couldn't get away from the idea that something mass produced couldn't really reflect what I wanted. I was fitting in to the straitjacket of what the big manufacturers decided we could/should be playing. I'm not a super axe hero so the chances of Fender calling me up to offer me a signature strat of my choosing was none, nil and nada but having spent a few hours on this site I began to realise that getting the right luthier and having the right conversation could get you the guitar you've always dreamt of having.

If anyone's interested I'll post up the story of how my journey played out and how utterly gorgeous the guitar Tom made for me is, its not just a stunning looker but its one that also plays and sounds amazing. If I can figure out the IT challenge I'll post some pictures! Cheers

[Bruce Sexauer]

Speaking for the group (I have no right to, of course we're interested!

The trick to pics is that they must be hosted elsewhere on a server, and then invoked by enclosing their complete address in tags, for instance:

[img]completeaddress[/img]

A complete address for one of my pics which is hosted on my own website might be:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP16/265/SB/BJWalsh.jpg

which is the photo of the new owner of the guitar I gave away at last months SBAIC event. People often stumble over this process, but it is actually simple, though it must be EXACTLY right. NO spaces whatsoever.

[Erithon]

Yes, definitely interested! Please post pictures and tell us about the build.

[Joel Teel]

I, for one, am definitely interested. 😋

BTW...if you have an iPad, you can download the AGF app and upload pictures straight from your photo library.

[steveh]

Originally Posted by Killick

If anyone's interested I'll post up the story of how my journey played out and how utterly gorgeous the guitar Tom made for me is, its not just a stunning looker but its one that also plays and sounds amazing

Of course we would be interested.

You've gone straight to the top, getting a Sands. I think that's a great idea: Life is too short to waste it playing crappy guitars. My own guitar playing took off only once I had a guitar that made me want to play and put the hours in.

I've been tremendously impressed with Tom's guitars, especially their sound and response. I was unable to resist and have one on order myself.

Get those pics up and tell us what you have!

Cheers,
Steve

[borborygmus]

Please share! What number is your Sands?

[ianLP59]

Bring on the pics ! I have a Sands OM (Sands #5) in fiddleback mahogany with an Engelmann spruce top and I'm very impressed with it.

Cheers,

Ian

[Killick]

To continue the story, I had many conversations with Tom about the guitar I had in my mind, how it would sound, what size it would be and the wood we would use. Tom is very good at picking up up on the essence of your vision. I'm as creative as whoever wrote the lyrics to the Spice Girls music so for me to get across what it I was after must have taxed Tom's understanding but...... He got it and we started working together on the design. It's actually brilliant to say "working together" on a project like this because when you open that lovely Hoffee case for the first time and see that guitar you feel an immediate connection. Having spent hours looking at guitars and playing them in various guitar emporiums I can tell you guy's there is nothing like the feeling you get when you pick up a guitar as beautiful as the one you commision.

Once we got over the intial conversations we got on to the topic of wood. I have preference for the body of the guitar to be made from the more traditional end of the spectrum although I was absolutely knocked out by some of the pictures of Toms previous builds which some of you have had built using some really georgeous woods. I was also keen to use wood that was either from sustainable sources or re-purposed. The start point was Indian Rosewood and Sitka Spruce. I recalled Tom talking about a trade he had made with a fellow luthier and about some rosewood and a bottle of fancy pants whiskey, it turns out this wood came from a recently deceased luthier and this wood was in his shed covered in crap and it was chalk marked 1962 and due to the innate the power of the whiskey, a trade was done.

The spruce came from railway sleepers recovered from a railway line in Vancouver BC. The line was built to transport spruce from Alaska to support the post war building bom in North America. Here's a shot of the wood.



The neck is Honduran mahogany and the bridge and bindings are African ebony.

The shape of the guitar can be seen here



I now have to depart to listen to somebody doing a powerpoint at work. Naturally I'll have my guitar in mind and be ruminating on my next post.

Someone asked what number my guitar is and it is 07 although I noticed Tom resisted the temptaion to put 007 on the signature label. When I escape the powerpoint brigade I'll come back and show you some more pics of the build. Cheers

[borborygmus]

The spruce came from railway sleepers recovered from a railway line in Vancouver BC. The line was built to transport spruce from Alaska to support the post war building bom in North America.

Ah, I think the soundboard on my Sands OO is also made from this. Nice!

[Adamski]

Looking forward to seeing the finished result. I love Tom’s guitars...so elegant...so much care in the detail.

[rogthefrog]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

Speaking for the group (I have no right to, of course we're interested!

The trick to pics is that they must be hosted elsewhere on a server, and then invoked by enclosing their complete address in tags, for instance:

[img]completeaddress[/img]

A complete address for one of my pics which is hosted on my own website might be:

http://mojoluthier.com/LP16/265/SB/BJWalsh.jpg

which is the photo of the new owner of the guitar I gave away at last months SBAIC event. People often stumble over this process, but it is actually simple, though it must be EXACTLY right. NO spaces whatsoever.

^^ that photo 404s

[J.R. Rogers]

Congrats on the new build and thanks for sharing a Sands build. Interesting stories about the wood background. After so many years of vibration from the train I wonder if it will be sort of "opened up" already?

JR

[nobo]

As someone else who's in Tom's queue, I'm really looking forward to following this build! He's up there with the best. Can't wait for mine!

[Killick]

Ok, sorry about the delay folks but the powerpoint went on for ever and I've also been away on business. We left off at the build stage and the question is why have a guitar made when you can go in to a shop and pick one up for a couple of grand? I guess those of us in the know have taken the step and crossed the line and now own something very special but you might be where we were; should I or shouldn't I?

Here's why I crossed the line, yes I could and did go into the shop and I paid a shed load of money out for something i thought would be special, hey the manufacturer had said their "top craftsmen" assembled the guitar using the "old school techniques" in the custom shop. I bought one it cost £3.5K it sounds ok, the set up was awful, the finish was ok. However, comparing that guitar to the Tom Sands is like comparing Billy the Bookcase (see Ikea) with something made by Thomas Chippendale. I cant explain how good the craftsmanship is on Toms guitar but it is a huge leap over the 'custom" job. I think Tom was making high end furniture before he started his apprenticeship so he was already a master woodworker before he started building guitars and it shows in the attention to detail. Take a look at the pictures and you'll see what I mean but its only when you get one of these guitars in your hands that you can really appreciate the hours of work that went into crafting this instrument.

I know others have commented on the sonic characteristics that Tom builds into the guitar but the sound is sublime, whatever you play seems to really take on a presence and again I find it difficult to put into words how the sound projects from around the guitar. You need to get one and play it to hear what real quality sounds like. It obvious Toms inspiration has been driven by his mentor Ervin Somogyi and in the pictures below you can see my guitar next to a an old classical guitar built by Ervin in the 70’s (I wonder if he was then at the same point in his career as Tom?). Its fantastic to see how his craftsmanship and experience is influencing and being passed on down to the next generation of Luthiers. It just has a really nice feeling of continuity and history and I’m convinced you can see, hear and feel it in the guitars.

When your guitar is ready Tom actually delivers it by hand! He rocked up at my place having just got off the flight and following the obligatory cup of tea we got down to opening the case. I swear I heard a chorus of angels when I first clapped eyes on my guitar (it could have been on the radio of course). Tom goes through all the set up and explains how the build came together. Oh! The case, Nice! Its the sort of thing you could lay down and drive a Chieftain (Abrahams for my American cousins) tank over without worrying unduly about the guitar inside. Its made by an outfit called Hoffee who must have a side line in building lightweight carbon fibre nuclear bunkers. The case is a custom job and is the perfect place to store your pride and joy.

What else? I've already waxed lyrical about the process of working with Tom but I think I would add that in the beginning I had a nagging doubt at the back of my mind about the potential cost and maybe thats whats holding you back too. I talked at length to Tom about this and we got to a place that worked for me based on the woods we were going to use and so on. I know some of the guys on here have been able to really push the boat out and thats the great thing about building your guitar but if you want cheap just go and buy a big name, me too, custom guitar off the shelf. i realised that there is far greater and lasting value in helping to create something unique so I just went for it. You really are creating something unique and something that can transcend the transactional cost value equation you utilise every time you buy mass produced stuff. I'm an ageing geezer and I now know stuff that I didn't know or realise when I was younger namely, that in buying mass produced, big name label crap, was that you are only perpetuating the myth of the big brand and the man. Break out, do something different, these guitars will outlast us and imagine how great it will be when someone picks your old guitar up in the future and goes "wow, its a Tom Sands, I wonder who had it made?"!

Here's some pictures.

Attention to detail


More detail. Pre finish. Forgot to say you get a constant stream of updates from Tom


Number 07. Check out the detail, amazing.


Here's the finished article. Am I glad I did it? Do bears poop in the woods?


Brace yourselves lad's. Here's my guitar next to the 70's classical built by Ervin. Here is craftsmanship being handed on to the next generation, this is the continuation of the story.


That's it folk's.I hope this helps, I've enjoyed reading the comments and thank you for reading the posts.
Cheers

[steveh]

Indeed I was at Tom's shop this very day and, IIRC, I saw a video of this very guitar being played by a great musician that Tom hopes to post on his website: It sounded sublime.

You're a very lucky guy, but I guess you know that?

Cheers,
Steve