Hey, man! Great to see you chime in here on Thomas' build thread, with the announcement that you're in line for a Sands Model S, to boot! As if the guitar you're currently building weren't proof enough that you have exquisite taste :up:.

My Baranik Retreux Parlor has a Spanish cedar neck. I seem to recall that Mike favored it on this pint-sized beauty for its light weight compared to mahogany in order to keep the center of gravity from shifting too heavily towards the headstock. It plays and sounds wonderful after 7 years of regular use.

Sorry, Thomas, didn't want to hijack your thread. But as you've rightly pointed out, I have a hard time resisting a conversation about guitars ;)!

Hi Tom.
The obvious is that the Sands has more low end clout because it is bigger, but is less comfortable to hold as a result (but nowhere near as much as a handful as the full-fat Somogyi MD).
The Sands definitely has a very modern voice, with loads of sustain and overtones etc. Very alive.
The Claxton is a more traditional voice, perhaps a little more fundamental, but still very responsive and extremely articulate.

I guess the Claxton, being an OM, is the more "vanilla" of the two: It's tremendously versatile and there is nothing it can't really do. The ultimate guitar for the man / woman who wants only one instrument.

What I do know is that they are both stellar instruments and I would pitch either against anything else I have played. I don't really prefer one to the other. If someone had more than one guitar the choice would pivot around how each contrasts with the other instruments, rather than one being "better" than the other.

Cheers,
Steve

Hi Tom,

Congratulations! This is shaping up to be a fabulous build, which I look forward to following. I know it's been in the offing for a little while now!

FWIW, my approach with custom builds has probably been the polar opposite to SteveHs, no doubt due to some unhealthy control-freakery on my part as to the aesthetics, since I usually have a clear vision of what I'm after in terms of the look of the instrument (within the scope of the builder's palette), and know what I'm not so keen on. Tom was very generous and gracious in being accommodating on that front. But tonally, beyond a few broad brush steers (e.g. I told Tom I preferred tasto sounds / neck pickups over bridges on electrics), there's little common language - and probably little sense - trying to be overly prescriptive. I guess it's more that you chose a builder your drawn to - in terms of their sound, their aesthetics, and your relationship with them - which is more the selection procedure. And you've - IHMO - selected well with Tom.

I'm still very much in the honeymoon phase, nearly a year on, with my Sands baritone, and looking forward to another from Tom at some point (happy to delay that gratification!).

Best,

Dan

Hello Dan!

It's great to hear from you, I think it's been over a year that we first connected through your thread. Glad to hear you're quite please with your barritone, and I would love to hear some recordings in due time!

I read somewhere that you are torn between the M and the S. No bad choice really... Wood wise, have you set your mind on a specific tonal direction?

Thanks for tagging along. I am happy to have another Sands alumni joining the party.

Cheers,

Hi everyone,

Despite the current circumstances, Tom has been working really hard. I am impressed by Tom's passion and commitment, and more broadly the work ethics shared by most luthiers. They are clearly not counting the hours...

You might have seen from previous threads that Tom and Daisy make outstanding build pictures, and they should start coming next week. But I can't resist sharing a few phone shots he sent over the past few days.

First, the back. Straight grained, nice grain, and some interesting color shading. Looks a lot like a great rosewood, which floats my boat. I like the understated elegance.
Attachment 37897

Then a quick shot of the sides. Interestingly, a lot more is going on. I personally like the dark veins and the continuous sapwood going all around the rim. I think it will make a nice transition to the spruce top.
Attachment 37899

And finally the top with the rosette. Tom works a lot with copper, and here you can see his patinated design. I read the copper is immersed with chemical products for a few days before getting to this dramatic coloring. This will be the main decorative element of the build, with a matching inlay in the headstock (which has maybe become Tom's most recognizable feature).
I am really happy about the result, and the color scheme match the whole package quite nicely. While the hints of red really stands out, the brown/gold colors should work really well with he stripped ebony bridge, fingerboard and headplate.
Attachment 37898

Quick sanity check, is it normal to go back to look at the pictures every hour? How bad am I doing Doc? :)

Enough ranting for now, I will share more photos as they come in.

Until next time,
Tom

Realizing the picture's quality does not do justice to the rosette. Will upload more soon. Thanks for looking!

Congratulations the build, it looks very promising and I love what I've seen and heard of Mr Sands' work. As far as looking at pictures every hour, I think that's showing remarkable restraint!

Thanks! It's great to connect again - and to see your guitar coming to life! The woods and rosette look fabulous!

Quite pleased with Beverly would definitely be an understatement - it's a delight. Very much still in love! I'm pleased to say they'll be some more recordings coming - I did a few the day after it arrived, just need to find time to finalise them.

Yes, currently torn between an M and an S (well, unless I were to part with my Kostal MD, then an L is back on the table too!). I originally had in mind mahogany and either cedar or redwood, and ended up buying a rather nice set of figured mahogany I came across ...! ;) That said ... I do love the sound of koa... And for an S I might be more inclined for something more vitreous ... even Braz. So all a bit up in the air really! Clearly the right answer is a cedar/hog (or koa) M (with similar specs to Beverly - fan frets, bevels, wedge, monstrous 50/60 neck) AND a Brazillian/spruce (or redwood) S. Pretty sure my bank manager wouldn't be very happy about that though!

Hi,

I presume from your username that you might be Mark Thomson. If that is the case it's great to have you tagging along. Interestingly the wood choice was inspired by a previous guitar from Tom, and demo'ed by Jonny Moss on one of your tunes ("The ringing tune"). I am a big fan of your arrangements.

Cheers,

Hi everyone,

Tom sent me some pictures today. Again, not the most knowledgeable about all of the steps so please forgive me not to be able to give you the full run down.

First, another shot of that back. Straight, simple, but great looking grain:

Attachment 38273

Top braces being glued on:

Attachment 38274

Tom reading the newspaper while the sides are being bent and laminated.

Attachment 38275

Luckily, Tom documents his builds really well so I can temper the wait and live through the pictures. I would also recommend his Youtube channel (link in my first post) for everyone loving guitars. You'll find guitar demos, shop sessions and other tips and workshop updates - a real goldmine!

Back to the build, not sure what exactly is going on but it looks cool. Please shout out if you do! :)

Attachment 38276

Applying glue to the rim.

Attachment 38277

Gluing the top

Attachment 38278

With the batch buddies - 2 model S (Euro/Madi and Euro/Ebony).

Attachment 38282

I'm the far less talented Martin Thomson. Hope you don't mind me tagging along anyway.

Ahah, it was worth the try! Glad to have you onboard.

Valliant--I'd guess that that is a vacuum bag used to hold and clamp the laminated sides together.

Looking good, and enjoying your build!