Sobell guitars?

Sticky_fingers · #1 06-08-2009, 04:09 PM

Hello.

After surfing around on the net a few months ago, I discovered the luthier Stefan Sobell. I then watched and listened to Martin Simpson play on his guitars, and I was completely blown away by the tone and "neverendingsustain"

Does any of you have any experience with sobell guitars, or maybe there is someone who actually own one?

Bryan T · #2 06-08-2009, 04:40 PM

I've played a friend's Sobell a few times. It is a very nice instrument, but isn't for me.

Dogsnax · #3 06-08-2009, 06:56 PM

I had the opportunity to play a Sobell a couple of years ago in New Orleans. Beautiful guitar, solid as a tank, massive tone and sustain. I did find it challenging to play - for want of a better descriptor, it was a bit on the "taught" side.

wa3jpg · #4 06-08-2009, 08:52 PM

I have one of Stefan's first Irish Bouzouki's and it is a truly wonderful instrument. His shop and his work was featured in Fretboard Journal last year in one of the issues, he is a very interesting fellow. Worth checking on that article if you're interested (let me know and I can get you the volume number.)

Clark

min7b5 · #5 06-08-2009, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan T

I've played a friend's Sobell a few times. It is a very nice instrument, but isn't for me.

.....Ditto

Billy Boy · #6 06-09-2009, 12:28 AM

I also played a friend's Sobell...I found the non-radiused/flat fretboard a bit to get used to, but it didn't take too long...the sound was wonderful...

handers · #7 06-09-2009, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogsnax

I had the opportunity to play a Sobell a couple of years ago in New Orleans. Beautiful guitar, solid as a tank, massive tone and sustain. I did find it challenging to play - for want of a better descriptor, it was a bit on the "taught" side.

Hi Dogsnax,
I am in NOLA and played an acquaintance's Sobell a fw years ago .... a guy named Frazer. Is this the one you played or was it Martin's? He lived here for several years, as you prob know in the 90s. I think the politics of Bush ran him off.

I have only played that one Sobell. It was a long scale 15-1/2" to 16" top. A big guitar but Sobells are built thinner at the edges as Sobell builds his guitars. They usually have a strong arched top and back, tho' less than typical archtop jazz guitars. This guitar was very comfortable and very powerful. It was essentially new and had spruce over brz RW. A lovely guitar to play but a somewhat stiff guitar if you are used to a short scale 12fret type. I loved it and would love to play the New World model he has since designed.

hans

Michael Watts · #8 06-09-2009, 07:20 AM

Stefan Sobell is arguably the best luthier the UK has ever produced. He has certainly established a reputation for excellence both here and in the USA.

His guitars have their own particular voice and will not necessarily suit everybody (just like every guitar ever made!) but there is no denying his class. Playing a Sobell concentrates the mind wonderfully, I could not describe them as the most forgiving instruments, but there is no reason why they should be. A Sobell guitar will push you to play better as you discover the capabilities of the instrument.

I like them a lot!

devellis · #9 06-09-2009, 09:19 AM

I have a coupe of his mandolins -- one, a flat-back, cedar-on-rosewood, large body and the other, a spruce-on-maple, carved back, small-body. They're amazingly good instruments, the small-body being my favorite mandolin of the hundreds I've ever played. They're different from other styles of mandolin like Gibsons (of which I've owned three) but just sing, and are more comfortable for playing melodies because of their generous 1 1/2 inch nut width. They are not the mandolins a bluegrass musician would prefer.

I haven't played a Sobell guitar but I'd suspect from what I've heard that, like his mandolins, they're outstanding instruments for the music they were designed to play, but not necessarily for other styles.

Sticky_fingers · #10 06-09-2009, 03:11 PM

Very kind of you to take time to answer

I have not spoken to anyone on this forum who own a Sobell yet. Is there anyone?
I have never had the opportunity to play a Sobell guitar myself, but it´s one of the most desirable brands to put my hands on, maybe one day.

ianLP59 · #11 06-18-2009, 03:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sticky_fingers

Very kind of you to take time to answer

I have not spoken to anyone on this forum who own a Sobell yet. Is there anyone?
I have never had the opportunity to play a Sobell guitar myself, but it´s one of the most desirable brands to put my hands on, maybe one day.

I happen to own two Sobell guitars, a Model 0 12 fret guitar made in 2003 and a very very new Martin Simpson Signature Model MK II finished in April this year.

Stefan's waiting list is over two years, so you have to want one. About 18 months into my two year wait I managed to acquire the Model 0, a guitar which I already knew and one that I simply could not pass over. So that's how I eventually came to own two of them.

Stefan's guitars are like no other and they won't necessarily appeal to everyone. People can get beguiled towards them after seeing/hearing Martin Simpson play one and assume that its the guitar that's doing all the work ! It isn't just the guitar, Martin is a fantastic player with great touch and feel as well as being an outstanding musician, the guitar is but a part of the complete picture.

That said, Stefan does make really great instruments and I would endorse the previous comment from Michael at TAMCO that Stefan is arguably the finest builder the UK has ever produced, he is also a really nice person too and a real pleasure to talk to.

From a materials perspective both my guitars are similar. European spruce for the sounding board, best old growth Brazilian rosewood for the sides and back, ebony for the fingerboard and bridge and 100 year old Cuban mahogany for the neck.

The Model 0 is a smaller guitar than the MS model, it is essentially a precursor to Stefan's latest design, the New World model, currently the most popular guitar he is making right now. Unusually, it is also a 12 fret guitar. Stefan does not make a lot of these. It is a truly great instrument with a phenomenal sound and great projection and superb balance.

The MS model is a lot different. It is a larger bodied guitar and feels really very stiff by comparison to the Model 0, probably on account of its relative youth. it is also a great deal heavier than the Model 0. I often refer to my Model 0 as my "pre-war" Sobell. It feels as light as a feather compared to the larger MS guitar. I am playing the MS guitar a LOT at the moment because it needs to be woken up. The sound continues to improve and I am sure that it will blossom into a really great guitar. It is already louder than the Model 0 and will only become more so as time progresses. I feel that it will ultimately have a grander sound than the Model 0 too, although time will tell on that one.

All Stefan's guitars are characterised by a very pronounced arch in both the back and the top. This came about because the first guitar be built was an archtop and he decided to retain some of the arching when he turned to building flat top guitars, although, it could be argued, Stefan does not really build flat top guitars, more like curved top guitars.

I played quite a few of Stefan's guitars before ordering one. I was fortunate since they are few and far between. You can't just go down to the road to the guitar store and try one. One thing I will say though, in Stefan's case Brazilian makes a massive difference. I've played a few of his Model 1 guitars, some with EIR and some with Brazilian. Night and day, simply no comparison. The Brazilian guitars are in a totally different league,. This, I happen to believe, is a real testament to Stefan's genius. He really does get the most out of the materials he chooses to work with. Not that the EIR guitars were bad, far from it.

Someone mentioned an article in the Fretboard Journal. It's in issue number 5, Spring 2007 and is a very interesting article.

Here's a pic of my two Sobell guitars

The one on the left is the MS MK II and on the right is the Model 0. Note the difference in color of the sounding boards.

Here's a side shot of the MS guitar - not the curves

Here's a clip of MS playing my Model 0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uq4f0...eature=related

and another of him playing the new MS guitar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYVD...eature=related

and here's a New World guitar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NseS...eature=related

I think I'll stop there and get back to playing !

Cheers,

Ian

pakhan · #12 06-18-2009, 09:08 AM

I've had quite a few because I find they work well for my hybrid flatpicking style - from the model O to the model 2 but eventually I've moved onto bare fingers and the previous models are too high on tension and too low on responsiveness for me.

I've been told the newer ones are better in those respects.

gitplyr · #13 10-27-2011, 03:09 PM

I have a Sobell New World model made with African Blackwood. It is one of the best guitars I've ever owned including a number of pre war Martins. The neck is much like a pre war OM. It is fantastic in standard tuning but really finds itself in open tunings. The African Blackwood throws a tone similar to old growth Brazilian but with a more haunting/mysterious quality. The sustain is unbelievable. The action on this model is not at all stiff.

murrmac123 · #14 10-27-2011, 03:15 PM

There is no question that Stefan Sobell makes some of the best sounding guitars on the planet.

But it also has to be said that he would probably never get hired by anybody as a set-up tech.

steveh · #15 10-29-2011, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrmac123

But it also has to be said that he would probably never get hired by anybody as a set-up tech.

My Sobell Model 1 is the easiest playing guitar I've ever laid hands on (made for MS so has a low profile neck), and that includes plenty of very high end guitars indeed, including Traugotts, Somogyis, Ryans and Greenfields.

So what gives with the comment?

Cheers,
Steve