The Kostal MDW - A Modified Dreadnought with a twist!

[nootis]

What a unique and fascinating set of maple! I'll be watching for sure.

[Michael Watts]

Originally Posted by K Trespass

Genuinely exciting Michael. Jason's guitars are so special and great to see innovation and something different. 12 fretter...... You know I am a believer. Will be great to see this one develop.

Greg

Thank you! It's true, Jason's work is superb and as he knows my playing better than anybody it has always been a joy to work with him.

Originally Posted by nashmore

I'll be watching this closely. I love figured maple! You are one lucky/ hard working man Michael and so deserving.

Nathan

Thank you Nathan, I am humbled by your kind words. I hope to do this guitar justice in the years to come.

Originally Posted by JoeCharter

Congrats, Michael.

This guitar will definitely stand out from the rest of the crowd. It has such distinctive specs that it might become even more closely associated with you than your Tree MD? It will be interesting to find out which one is your #1 in a few years from now.

I can't wait to see what Jason comes up with for the rosette...

Thank you Mau, great to hear from you!

I look forward to making music on this guitar, I have been writing a lot of new material with it in mind and can't wait to hear it in real life rather than just in my head! As for the rosette...

Originally Posted by fountainhead

Wow-wow-and WOW!!!!!
So happy for you Michael!!!!!!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by nootis

What a unique and fascinating set of maple! I'll be watching for sure.

Good to have you along for the thread!

[Michael Watts]

Let's talk Maple for a moment.

This wonderful wood has divided opinion over the years, a fact that I believe can be summed up with this recent quote from Taylor guitars' Andy Powers:

"As guitar makers we haven't been fair. We look at a Rosewood guitar and if you take the Rosewood off and put Maple on, that same design, same bracing, same everything and expect it to be the same as Rosewood, you're mistaken. But that's what we've done! ... That was something I wanted to change"

I like the cut of Andy Powers' jib. The man speaks sense. In particular when he highlights the truly exceptional, historically important guitars that have been made with Maple in the past. I've recently had the chance to play some more Maple instruments that really brought home what a superb tone wood it is when dealt with correctly.

Monteleone Radio Flyer



Froggy Bottom L Limited



and listening over the headphones as Clive Carroll performed this piece in a recent TNAG session you can't help but be awed by the huge tonal spectrum of this Froggy Bottom G Limited...



I know for a fact that my own touch (and nail care approach) often works better with a more fundamental guitar tone and Maple has proved to me time and time again that it delivers exactly what I am looking for in this guitar when approached by the builder in a manner that brings out its inherently musical nature.

Now, there will be another factor at work in this particular guitar, a feature that began with 32 and one that Jason has used to great effect since. Ebony inner sides.



Jason was looking to use something out of the ordinary for the inner sides of 32 and remembered that Michi Matsuda had used Ebony on the inner sides of one of his guitars. He called Michi to ask for permission to use this technique and Michi said "I don't know what you're talking about, I've never done that!"

I have no doubt Jason will chime in at some point with his views as to what this does tonally. I know for a fact it adds stiffness to the rim and no doubt contributes a kiss of reverb to the sound of the instrument...

But I digress... Here's some Maple with some Ebony in the middle!



Add a little naphtha and we get a hint of the chatoyance to come...



I can almost feel that back purring already...

[drplayer]

Just fantastic! Michael's current Kostal is my favorite of any I've yet to see (on the web) and hear (on video). As someone of average height, I have always loved the wedge idea on the MD design, and of course "The Tree". When I listen to Michael's videos of him playing this Kostal, I can sense the connection between man & guitar, and it certainly translates to the beautiful music Michael composes.

This will be an incredible project that I will follow with greart anticipation. Congrats to you both...to Michael on a new Kostal, and to Jason on the introduction of a new design!

[racman]

Awesome Michael and Jason, this is going to be so cool!

[Andy Howell]

I'm fascinated by this rehabilitation of maple. I recently played one of the Collings Waterloo guitars in maple - great fun!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Beau Hannam]

Well, this is the 2nd of Jason's build threads i've got book marked.

Lovely Maple guys.

[IndianaGeo]

Congratulations Michael! This is going to be one fantastic and special guitar.

Cheers,
IG

[jdelin86]

Just...WOW.

This is gonna be special! I'm no expert, but I imagine the brightness of maple would really compliment Jason's voicing?

Congrats dude, can't wait to see this develop. Debut at Mosimann's next year?

Joel

[Larry Pattis]

Michael/Jason,

Did anyone ask (or have you explained) what the W stands for in MDW...?

Maybe I missed this...?

[jkostal]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

Michael/Jason,

Did anyone ask (or have you explained) what the W stands for in MDW...?

Maybe I missed this...?

Larry,

This guitar, for now, is pretty much a "one off" that Michael and I are playing with. It's possible that it may shift into a "prototype" mode and become an actual model that I offer. I don't really know if there is demand for what we are doing, but it is something Michael wanted to do, so in the beginning, as we were talking about it, I started calling it the MD-W for Modified Dreadnought - Watts. Unbeknownst to me, it seems that Michael's initials are actually MDW for Michael David Watts, so it pretty much worked out. Since Michael has a way of making me shake my head and cry when he comes up with some of his ideas, there is a very good chance that, by the end of this whole journey, I will be calling this guitar the MDWTF!

If we build this and there is some demand for it, this could very well get added to my model list as a small bodied, short scaled, cutaway. One of the biggest issues, for me, with the OO is that I just cannot come up with a cutaway that I like. The larger upper bout on this one gave me more room for a curve that looked appealing to me, and the size fits it nicely between the OO and OM as you pointed out.

There is a ton of work going on right now into creating all of the templates and jigs for this, so I would like to think that I will use them again. When you create a new model, one forgets how much goes into the design aspect of it...what will it look like, where does the sound hole go, how will I bend and laminate the sides, what will the cutaway look like, etc. I am waiting until this is complete and we see how it turns out to make the decision as to keep this as a one off or add it to the build list. Also, while Michael has a certain flair about him, he was the first person to say that he doesn't feel comfortable, or at a place in life, where he should have a signature model. I personally disagree with that statement, as for my own building, no one has been more influential or provided more feedback over the last 7 years than Michael. HE is a huge part of why my guitars sound the way that they do, and while it may make him feel uncomfortable, I am personally very comfortable having one of my guitar models paying tribute to this relationship and the path he has walked along with me.

[jkostal]

Originally Posted by Michael Watts

I have no doubt Jason will chime in at some point with his views as to what this does tonally. I know for a fact it adds stiffness to the rim and no doubt contributes a kiss of reverb to the sound of the instrument...

Laminating the sides with a different wood than the exterior has some affect on tone, as does everything that we do to the guitar, but it is also decorative. I like the way that the ebony looks, especially in contrast to the plain canvas that woods like mahogany and maple create. I have been using ebony inner laminates for years on woods that are less hard than rosewoods...mostly on mahogany and koa, and I use it on maple as well, although for mostly a decorative, black/white look. Using ebony, or in some cases african blackwood, provides a harder, stiffer wood to the backing of the laminate, which adds more rigidity to the final rim. The ebony also seems to be more reflective in nature as opposed to a wood like koa which can be somewhat absorptive of the sound waves. This result, while small in comparison to the total guitar, is one little way in which I can begin to color the sound of the guitar and create a voice that I am looking for. Maple is usually somewhat dry and using the ebony, in my opinion, creates a bit of reverb through this reflection of sound against a stiff rim. It's possible I could be completely full of it, but this is what I believe, and to my ears, has been true with the guitars that I have used this concept on compared to the guitars where I have not. It's important to note that I use different woods on my rosewood guitars as well. In the past, I used BRW, but I had a hard time sourcing BRW sides, so I was buying sets and removing the sides for inner laminates. Now I have a ton of backs with no sides, which doesn't work very well. About three years ago I started using wedge and madagascar rosewood as the inner laminates for my rosewood guitars. These woods have BRW-like qualities, and are much easier for me to source as sides, and so this has been the case for a while. It is not a visually striking, the results are what I am after. With non-rosewood woods, I like the stark contrast that the ebony adds, and the way it ties the inside and outside of the guitar together.

[Jobe]

Good luck with the project! Just think, in twenty years people will be discussing this model on AGF. "What does the W indicate?" And you and Michael can have a wink.

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by jkostal

Larry,

This guitar, for now, is pretty much a "one off" that Michael and I are playing with. It's possible that it may shift into a "prototype" mode and become an actual model that I offer. I don't really know if there is demand for what we are doing, but it is something Michael wanted to do, so in the beginning, as we were talking about it, I started calling it the MD-W for Modified Dreadnought - Watts. Unbeknownst to me, it seems that Michael's initials are actually MDW for Michael David Watts, so it pretty much worked out. Since Michael has a way of making me shake my head and cry when he comes up with some of his ideas, there is a very good chance that, by the end of this whole journey, I will be calling this guitar the MDWTF!

If we build this and there is some demand for it, this could very well get added to my model list as a small bodied, short scaled, cutaway. One of the biggest issues, for me, with the OO is that I just cannot come up with a cutaway that I like. The larger upper bout on this one gave me more room for a curve that looked appealing to me, and the size fits it nicely between the OO and OM as you pointed out.

There is a ton of work going on right now into creating all of the templates and jigs for this, so I would like to think that I will use them again. When you create a new model, one forgets how much goes into the design aspect of it...what will it look like, where does the sound hole go, how will I bend and laminate the sides, what will the cutaway look like, etc. I am waiting until this is complete and we see how it turns out to make the decision as to keep this as a one off or add it to the build list. Also, while Michael has a certain flair about him, he was the first person to say that he doesn't feel comfortable, or at a place in life, where he should have a signature model. I personally disagree with that statement, as for my own building, no one has been more influential or provided more feedback over the last 7 years than Michael. HE is a huge part of why my guitars sound the way that they do, and while it may make him feel uncomfortable, I am personally very comfortable having one of my guitar models paying tribute to this relationship and the path he has walked along with me.

Now that is some good stuff to read, and (for me) a hugely important part of what is going on here!

Fabulous. Simply fabulous.

[Scallywag]

Really curious to see & hear the outcome of this one. A number of the best sounding guitars I've ever heard were/are maple-bodied. As a tonewood it's right up there with the giants, IMO (also affordable and sustainable - both wonderful things!)