New Edwinson 000 Consort Venetian!

[theEdwinson]

Are YOU the person I built this guitar for?

Here is a really exceptional guitar, one of my all-time favorites. This ECC-V Consort 000 Venetian has had strings on for about a month now. I built this guitar on my dime, so I've had the luxury of keeping it around for awhile. It sounded grand and majestic since the first day, and I've been playing it every day since then. It's irresistible! I can't walk past it, sitting there on the stand in my bedroom, and not pick it up. This guitar has reignited my passion for playing all over again.





The initial setup is still pretty close to ideal, and even though the first set of strings is way past due for replacement, it still sounds lush and big and colorful. There are still a few little details to attend to before this guitar is truly finished; but it plays and sounds so good right now, I keep procrastinating.

I've decided to offer this guitar for sale on the AGF first, at a good discount. This guitar specs out to $6325, but for a private sale, you can have it for $5600. So that's $725 off. Brand new guitar, full warranty! Feel free to make an offer- it never hurts to ask.
The case included is a Guardian CG-044-000 Vintage style hardshell case, which is a decent off-the-shelf case. But I can also have custom-fitted Ameritage or Karura carbon fiber cases built for this guitar model. I would have already had a custom case made, but the extra expense, you know...

Here are the details:
Edwinson ECC-V Consort 000 Venetian cutaway, DOB 10/5/2015 This is my 000-size guitar, 15 1/8" wide in the lower bout.
Flamed Claro Walnut back and sides; Flamed Sinker Redwood top. Both the Walnut and the Redwood have a shimmery, 3-D chatoyance that doesn't fully come across in the photos. Beautiful woods!
The neck is African Khaya with flamed Maple and flamed Claro Walnut center lam- a seven piece construction. LMI TRSD two-way adjustable truss rod, access through the sound hole.
Fingerboard, front headstock plate, bevel trim, and bindings are all Ziricote; back headstock plate and heel cap are Walnut burl; flamed Maple purfling throughout. The bridge is marbled Gabon ebony, with a fully intonated, unbleached bone saddle.
The finish is Seagrave gloss nitrocellulose lacquer. I applied a subtle shaded effect to the top, sides and back.

More photos...



The scale length is 25.5"
Nut width: 1 13/16" String spread @ saddle: 2 1/4" Fingerboard radius: 16"
Thirteen frets-to-body, twenty frets total; Evo Gold frets, medium/medium.
Pogoda style slotted headstock, with Swiss-made Schertler tuners, black with Ebony buttons.
Ryan style arm bevel, trimmed in Ziricote.
Wave-style rosette, Ziricote, rosewood end-grain, and Maple burl.

Double-side construction, with Black Walnut inner sides.

The neck is a medium/slim C-carve, sleek and fast; The current setup is low and fast for fingerstyle- .070" above the 13 fret, low E, and .050" on the high E. I have it strung with D'Addario Mediums, .013- .056, and it plays like butter!

The top is Flamed Sinker Redwood from a tree that was harvested sometime around 1890. I braced it with a new version of my X/Fan pattern, using Adirondack Spruce for the X and upper cross braces, and Sinker Redwood (straight grain, split) for the fan braces and "lucky 7" braces.
I think I struck gold with the wood combos and top bracing because this guitar sounds magnificent.

It puts out plenty of volume, and has a wide dynamic range, from hummingbird kiss to junkyard dog. Sustain till the cows come home, and complex, echoing overtones, all the way up the neck. Walnut and Redwood are a splendid wood combo for complex, colorful, spacious, airy sound; and this guitar has all of that.
The overall response is very even from lowest bass to highest treble. That's something I always strive for; on this guitar, playing in five different tunings, I haven't found any dull notes or wolf tones.

This Consort responds beautifully in Standard at A 440; but I also tuned it to A 432 and I think I like that better... not sure why. I have been mainly playing it in DADGAD, DADF#AD, DADAAD, CGCGCD, CGCGCEb, and CGCGCE tunings. The 25.5" scale length, with medium strings, gives this guitar a lot of power and excellent, even response in those open tunings. When you tune down to C, it sounds like a cello!

I've been playing it lately with a thumb pick and my fingernails, and I've been delighted with the broad palette of sounds I can get, playing down near the bridge and up north of the sound hole.

What can I say, I'm thrilled with this guitar, and very proud of it. I wish I could afford to keep it for myself; but I console myself with the thought that it will make someone VERY happy, and I can always build another... and another...
I'm going to try to add a sound clip or two to this listing, although I'm still struggling with all the tech-y details. I'm trying to figure out how to integrate a Zoom H4n recorder with Garage Band, and then post online. We'll see...

Of course, if you are really intrigued by all this, I'd be happy to send it to you on an approval basis, if you are willing to pay the shipping cost. You can have a few days to try it out and see if it's a good fit. I will shut up and let the guitar do all the talking.

A few weeks ago, I posted a show & tell thread on this guitar in the Custom Shop. If you're curious, here's the link: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=403470
Thank you very much for looking, and if you have any questions or thoughts to share, send me a PM or email, and maybe it will turn out to be KISMET.
Cheers,
Steve

[theEdwinson]

Here are a couple of detail shots of the headstock. The backstrap (rear headstock plate) is bookmatched Claro Walnut burl. The front plate is Ziricote, with Ziricote bindings and flamed Pyinma purfling, carry the theme from the fingerboard. The tuners are very smooth, accurate Schertlers (Swiss made).

[theEdwinson]

When this lovely Consort goes out to some lucky new owner, I feel certain it will inspire a lot of music, and become a treasured musical companion to that person, for many years.
But for now, I am really enjoying having it all to myself. I have a nightly ritual of taking it into the quiet room downstairs, and playing for awhile, just before dream-time. I have a brand new tune starting to emerge- using CGCGCE (C major) tuning. I hope I can put it all together. There's just something inimitable and special about the sound of Claro Walnut and Sinker Redwood together. This guitar inspires me like no other.
Please- if you are thinking about making an offer on this guitar, can you hold off for a couple days, until my Muse delivers the rest of the composition? Thanks!

[steveb2223]

Originally Posted by theEdwinson

I'm trying to figure out how to integrate a Zoom H4n recorder with Garage Band, and then post online. We'll see...

Steve,

Power up H4n.
Connect H4n to your Mac by USB cable.
Activate menu on H4n and select "USB", then "Storage".
The recorder should now show up in Finder as a hard drive.
Drag and drop .WAV or .MP3 file on to a new Garage Band audio track. Done.

If you need assistance, please PM me and I'll be happy to walk you through it over the phone.

And that is one seriously beautiful and distinctive guitar!

-- Steve

[theEdwinson]

Steve- thanks a million for the tech tips. I'll be exploring the ins and outs of Garage Band as time permits, and I will gladly take you up on your offer of further assistance if I paint myself into a corner. Every time I pick this guitar up, I just marvel at how rich the sound is. I wish I was a better player- I don't deserve this one!

[theEdwinson]

To everyone who visits here at the AGF- Happy New Year to you and yours, and best wishes for a prosperous, successful, creative, interesting 2016. May all your best wishes come to joyous fruition...

Including your wish to bring home that beautiful new guitar you've had your eye on for the last few months! Whether it's one that I made, or one by any of the other richly talented luthiers who participate in this Forum, I sincerely hope you get that guitar!

If it feels right and good to you, just imagine the glad, exciting feeling of owning that guitar, and holding and playing it. Meditate on it for ten minutes a day, and just watch everything line up perfectly to make it happen.
What is yours will come to you, if you let it!
Cheers,
Steve

[lizzard]

This is a visual STUNNER.

GLWTS

Chris

[theEdwinson]

Thank you Lizzard! There's something about the combination of Walnut and Redwood that is really special, both visually and tonally. You know, like the way Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack spruce have legendary charisma for their tone... Same with Claro Walnut and Redwood. Not the same sound as BRW/Adi by any stretch, but an identifiable kind of tonal response and complexity. I'm going to be making lots of Walnut/Redwood guitars, because this particular one got me hooked on that vibe!

[theEdwinson]

I still have the very first set of strings on this guitar; they are WAY overdue for a change, but this Consort sounds so amazing, I just haven't bothered. Maybe this weekend I'll put on a new set.
Another cool thing about this guitar is, it has inspired me to really delve deeply into DADF#AD tuning. I think I'm channeling John Fahey!
This instrument is going to make some lucky person deliriously happy! For a LONG time!

[theEdwinson]

I finally got around to definitively FINISHING this guitar. Took off those old, tarnished strings, did the final detailing, and I decided to finish the fretboard inlay by adding some "constellation" inlays in copper and various types of shell. This type of inlay is sort of a trademark of mine, usually used to embellish headstocks. But I like it for the fingerboard here. A friend described this design as "lyrical".
When I put those new strings on, I was blown away by how big and lush and colorful this guitar sounds. It's opened up nicely, and will continue to do so for a good while yet. I'm very proud of this one.
Here are some phone photos of the newly embellished fingerboard.

[nacluth]

I like that a lot Steve! Inlays look fantastic.

[theEdwinson]

Update, February 27: I sent this Consort Venetian out on approval earlier this week, and it is now officially SOLD! And the new owner has also signed up for another one- a Multiscale EPC Performance model.
Thanks a million to Tim, the owner! I love it when my guitars find happy homes!

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by theEdwinson

Update, February 27: I sent this Consort Venetian out on approval earlier this week, and it is now officially SOLD! And the new owner has also signed up for another one- a Multiscale EPC Performance model.
Thanks a million to Tim, the owner! I love it when my guitars find happy homes!

Congrats Steve and Tim, what a beautiful guitar that is. I hope it makes Tim very happy! The top is just stunning, as is the whole guitar.