Cole Clark knocked it out of the park!!
 

I've owned a Cole Clark Angel for a couple months now. However, I've only heard it at the store where I traded and at my home. I don't have a "great" acoustic amp so playing it here at home I just wasn't feeling it. But, last night I went to an outside concert and played during the bands break. They had a great and very large sound system. I plugged in, adjusted the blend knob and HOLY COW!!....AMAZING!!!...
Cole Clark rules with amplified sound!!!!!!!jmho!!!!

wonder if I shuld get a Cole Clark JUST to plug in...

I recommend it. Although my Angel is really pretty good acoustically. That's why I went with that instead of a dred.

Songwriter - I heard Adam Rafferty playing his Cole Clark at the Chet Atkins (CAAS) convention in Nashville the week before last. He sounded incredible! Can you tell us more about the pickup/electronics in the Cole Clark...are they similar to what Maton uses in their acoustics?

Cole Clarks
 

they are similar to the matons. the guys who started cole clark came from maton. i have owned a dozen or so cole clarks and i can say without much doubt there is nothing and i mean nothing better plugged directly in. i have tried almost all pickups in guitars costing 8 times as much and its not even close. i have sold some of my cole clarks to guys using pendulum preamps with 9k guitars and they told me that plugged in the 1200 dollar cole clark that i sold them was better. i traded one to a forum member for his cocobolo 814ce with a full guarantee. if he didnt agree that the cole clark sounded hands down better he could return it. he still has it and has raved about it here on the forum. i know there are some people who just dont believe it can sound that good. believe me it is better than you can imagine. pickups i have compared it directly to in very nice goodall, beneteau, eichelbaum, etc guitars.
AER, headway, lrbaggs element, imix, ibeam, fishman infinity, taylor expression, bband, etc etc etc. nothing is close. i have spent thousands trying to find better setup. there is none. the only thing i havent heard side by side is the maton ap5. my good friend that i play with (shaun hopper) is getting one this week so we shall see side by side. get a cole clark. all of the feedback, quackiness, stage problems are over. try to play one in a store because some are even better than others. dont forget to check out their site and also you tube lloyd spiegel at davis wheeler guitars. the guy is amazing. my friend shaun hopper is pretty good too. you tube him.

A agree with all of that. I haven't compared it to that many pickups but I have compared it to alot. Also, there is a very different "acoustic" sound between models and even guitars so you really should go and play a bunch of them. I was gonna get a dred that didn't blow me away acousticlly but when I played the Angel it was amazing. The biggest difference in the pick-up system. The way I understand it the front brace sensor is the key. The Cole Clarks are braced a totally different way. One of the pick-ups is on the lower brace that runs almost the entire lenght of the guitar. So you're not getting sound from one specific spot of the the guitar. Then it's blended with an under saddle pick-up. It works!!!!:D

the thing i'd worry about it. (even more than the less than stellar review of the unplugged performance)..is what happens when the pickup spoils.. or specifically the facebrace...and it's out of warranty.

anyone knows?

I'd assurme I would ship it back to Australia to have it fixed. Or, maybe by then they will have some service centers here in the states. But, man you can't live life like that. If I didn't buy things because I worried about them
breaking then I guess I'd never buy anything. And, I'm really don't think they can give as much trouble as the ES. That one bit me over and over!!!!!

ha well... the K&K systems were definitely a plus for me cos of the reduced electronics in the guitar...

but yeah if the plugged in sound was overwhelming i'd consider it too!

mmm but how wud it work for someone who wasn't impressed with it acoustically but loved it plugged in..

how would you act s-writer? just curious heh

cole clark
 

some of the cole clarks sound really good unplugged as well. i happen to have one right now that sounds incredible. i wish i had a little more talent to make it really sound good but that is a different thread. i have had about a dozen or so cole clarks and have spilled beers in them, banged them, dropped them in sand, let everyone under the sun play them and have never had one problem with the pickup system. if you look at the list of artist that are using them now on the cole clark website its pretty clear they are stage worthy. get one. you are going to be shocked. the unplugged sound is very nice just not goodall or collings or etc etc. it sounds better than most gibsons ive heard unplugged and as good as a lot of others. dont forget the cole clark is 1200.00 new. it sounds as good as any 1200 guitar i suppose. plugged in its better than anything ive ever heard.

I'd say get one!..Plus, the un-plugged sound of my Cole Clark is good. It's not a collings but it's good. And, I see nothing wrong with having a guitar that you play out and one that you play at home. I'd say alot of the Takamine people have other guitars that they play at home. And, my Cole Clark sounds alot better acoustically than any Takamine I've ever played. Including the new Tak Bluegrass model. (no offense to the Takamine owners on here...they're just not for me!....)