GREAT thread. Rory's guitars have always had fabulous trebles, which is a characteristic of that type of design. The bottom-end, as you've found out, can be a bit "taught" though (which suits hard playing in sessions). Ultimately, that was one of the issues that caused me to abandon Sobells. My eureka moment was playing one of Rory's type II Mhors a couple of years ago, where those amazing trebles were indeed coupled with a full bottom end; a Holy Grail guitar.
That guitar was Malaysian blackwood but I think IRW is a great choice for your instrument. IMHO it's ignored far too often by those of us who, having a custom-build, aim for something more unusual and "exotic" (I'm guilty as charged). The IRW that Rory and luthiers like him have access to is of superb quality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by joeld
Wow, you got to play TWO of Martin Simpson's guitars, what a treat! I've heard he likes high action and a stiffer set-up due to his strong hands. What did you think?
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I can't speak for Matin's current preferences but I did buy from him the Sobell that he used for a couple of years around "Kind Letters". At that time he was using 13-56 (D'Addario EJ17), sometimes with a 15 on top if he was playing slide. Action, if anything, was low. Very easy to play indeed.
The most noticeable feature was that the neck was wide (46mm at the nut, and wide all the way up) and with a very shallow depth - a "shredders" acoustic! It was extremely comfortable if you play with your thumb 'round the back. I don't know if that's still his current practice.
Cheers,
Steve