Let me introduce the AGF to Morrissey Guitars!!!!
 

Part of the Woodstock experience for me is the unexpected things that happen. When I ran into fellow AGFer Roberts, one of the things he said to me was hey you should check out this guy's guitars, they are great. I asked who and he replied Morrissey guitars. I said, never heard of him and although his guitars were beautiful, his booth was crowded and I did not go over. That haunted me, like what did I miss. So when I went back Sunday, one of my goals was to talk to him and try out his guitars. He had a Koa , his Grand Auditorium size that was stunning. Master grade German Spruce top and the Koa back and sides, but done with a dark burst which made the Koa magical, working with the dark streaks of the Koa.

At that point, I did not pull the trigger, but we continued to talk. After a few days, I decided to add this guitar to the rest as it was too good not to. I drove out to his shop on Sunday, in MA. and did a shop visit and picked up the guitar.

I will post some pictures in the following few minutes and I think you will see that I had no choice, this guitar is too good to leave behind. I will let you go to Patrick's website to learn more, but basically he has been building for 15 years, but only the last 4 full time. He had a career in graphic design prior to taking the plunged after going to study guitar building.

I have some very nice instruments, more than I deserve and I know that. I only say that as a point of reference when I say, Patrick has what it takes and this guitar is one of the most beautifully crafted I have ever seen and the sound rivals everything I own and have played. I feel like I have stumbled into someone who has a limitless future ahead of him.

Please enjoy the pictures as I get them downloaded. If you like what you see, go to his site and look around, you may want to consider a build yourself or one of his woodstock guitars as I have a feeling this guy will fill his build list pretty darn quickly once word is out. And BTW, this is a nice guy, beautiful wife and children and very down to earth!

Tom

First some shop pictures, very neat, Patrick may have a little problem in that he is too organized and neat hahaha!

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More shop pictures, cleaner than my family room!!!!

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You won't be similarly impressed if and when you visit my shop, Tom.

Here is a beautiful set of Cocobolo that is destined to become a guitar....

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Now for some real EYE CANDY:

In the raw:

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With a little finish:

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ANYONE GETTING INTERESTED YET????

Now for the best stuff, finished product:

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More, I know you guys hate to see more pictures: NOT!!!!

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Walnut Burl on back of headstock!


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Thank you Tom - that is quite a nice introduction. It was a pleasure having you out to the shop.

PS - you forgot Henry the dog - HA

Rosette is made with Purflex from Petros with abalone ring:

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Now a couple of very handsome fellows with a very handsome guitar!!!

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For the detailed people: It has BRW bindings and bridge. 5 piece laminated neck with Mahogany, maple, curly mahogany. Macassar ebony head plate and really awesome fossilized Walrus Bridge Pins.Finger board has a 16 inch radius, 25.5 inch scale, 1 3/4 inch nut.

At Woodstock the action was a little high, which is normal for the first set-up, I mentioned that to Patrick, he agreed and when I picked it up he had lowered the action and it plays like butter, a perfect set up.

Any questions please ask, otherwise enjoy. This is a fantastic instrument.

Thanks Roberts for sending me that way! I owe it all to you or I can blame it all on you hahaha!

Oh yes, forgive me Henry...a beautiful blonde Golden Ret. who is very well mannered although he does enjoy attention!!!!

HAHAHA, well give this youngster 40 years and we will see what it looks like!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom, if you want to blame it on me it's a long walk to the back of the line....Very nice and accurate endorsement for Patrick and his absolutely KILLER guitars. When you pick one up and strum the first chord it all comes together in a way you hope for but rarely experience. Deep, dark, rolling sound that you feel in your ears and hands. And gorgeous beyond belief, as is evident in Tom's pix. Welcome, Patrick and thanks, Tom for the really great update....Robert

One of my favourite moments of the show was the singer-songwriter duo Open Book performing with Morrissey guitars on Saturday. I took home their CD.

Congratulations on the purchase!

Congratulations Tom!! If Robert has been involved with a guitar, that's a fine endorsement indeed. This is a gorgeous instrument and I love how Robert described how it plays! So cool!

beth

Congrats, Tom!

I'm not normally a burst guy, but that back burst with the Koa is absolutely gorgeous!

Time for soundclips? :D

Well, I am more likely to give you credit as I owe this new one to you and you were NOT wrong! Thanks again for sending me down the row. It was well worth it!!!

Thank you, that performance was set up last minute or so I heard through the grapevine as Patrick was filling a late cancellation in the exhibit hall. He said those folks did a great job, I wish I would have seen it and heard it!!!

Thanks Beth, you must tell me how you enjoy your new friend when you can. Yes Robert did not steer me wrong I can promise you that.

Tom

Wow - gorgeous instrument!

Nice website too....

http://morrisseyguitars.com/

Same here! In fact I never liked them, now I walked away with two from this years Woodstock and absolutely love them both. I agree 100%, I don't think this burst could have been done any better. It is transparent even in its darkest areas so the grain still shows through and it works so well with the natural black stripes in the Koa.

I did do some sound clips today for a fellow AGFer just with my phone and they came out pretty well actually. Give me a couple of days and I can at least post some noodling to let you get an idea of the sound which is the point of hearing it anyway. It is about the guitar, not me.

Highlight for me as well. That was Michelle and Rick Gedney (Open Book) They were great. I was so fortunate to get them to perform. Great vocals, awesome musicians, and really good people.

Beautiful guitar...
 

What a beautiful guitar! And what,a,couple of heavy hitter endorsers!!

Way to go Tom.

And may Mr. Morrisy's herds increase... so many guitars, so little time.

Thanks for sharing

Cheers

Paul

I tried to post a video clip so you could all see the guitar, but I think the file size was too large. So here is some noodling. This was just done on my Samsung cell phone. If you use headphones it sounds pretty good. Even though the recording doesn't sound too bad, it is nothing compared to the real sound of this guitar. Thanks.

Thanks Paul, she's pretty sweet!

I did indeed strap on the headphones........killer sound!! Wonderful purchase....congrats............I enjoyed his web site as well.
Fred

Thank you Fred. Just listened to your recording there, absolutely beautiful!

WOW Tom...Oh my goodness!! Awesome looking guitar! Sounds great also.

Congrats!! All that hard work you've done has offered you some sweet rewards. Did I count right...THREE new guitars?? Awesome!! Happy for you!

Thank you for taking a listen Tom! Original in DADGAD played on the Doerr Legacy from my CD with the same title.
Enjoy your guitar (s)! Enjoyed getting to know this "new" builder (who has been at it for 15 years)!

HIGH praise indeed Tom.

OK Michael, do you reeeeaaaalllly want to get into a guitar counting competition here hahahaha...Counting is for sissies...:roll:

I enjoyed it very much. I am going to listen again, I did not get that typical DADGAD feel from it, which is good as sometimes those all sound similar!
I was wondering which of your guitars you used.

Well, the "new" is a little hard to put a handle on. I think, and Patrick can correct me if I am wrong...number 1 was 15 years ago, took a while to build and then there were classes etc., tooling up the shop, building a bit more, so that 4 years ago, full time. This guitar is number 17 and I believe he is over 20. I consider that new on the "luthier" scale and new to us on the AGF as oppose to other guys I know well who have built over 100.

Yes, indeed, and I do try to withhold that for when it is really true so that my opinion holds some weight. You and I both have guitars from someone that is at the top of the game so I feel like I have something very high to compare it to.

That burst is pretty sweet.