This weekend I travelled up from Dorset to Yorkshire to visit my good friend Tom. And waiting for me when I arrived was something really rather special indeed.
I've called the guitar Jupiter (because the sides really remind me of the swirling gas clouds of the planet!), and here it very much is.
First impressions? Well, as I walked into the workshop with the guitar proudly placed atop Tom's workbench, its sheer beauty was the first thing to hit me. The redwood with the copper rosettes and detailing, how it catches the light, and then of course the black limba. Just stunning. Up close, the detailing is just next-level.
I love the material combinations, and the rosette and copper detailing we couldn't not be happier with. Such a fun collaboration with beautiful results.
Then, of course, I couldn't stop playing the thing! I kept calling Tom over to say: "Oh man, listen to this"... "oh and how about THIS".
Tonally, the plan came together beautifully. The essence of the first Model S I fell in love with was very much there, the feel, the comfort, the fizzy excited-to-make-music feeling, but the Redwood has had an effect to round off the trebles beautifully and the Black Limba gives it real punch and clarities across the board. The solidity of the Wenge neck gives it a weight that I love, but feels appropriately balanced and entirely effortless to play. Amazingly, the mids have really taken off as well, not something I remembered but I was effortlessly voicing chords with mid-string melodies which just rung out perfectly, and sustained for days.
Recordings I hear you say? Well, we spent a good amount of time in some beautiful locations at a wonderful country estate called Broughton Hall doing precisely that! When it's all been put together of course I'll get sharing the results. One thing I'll remember is the first notes I played in their enormous and stunningly beautiful conservatory. The sound amongst the natural reverb was something else, and as the light shone through, and the birds tweeted in the background - I thought to myself.... what am incredibly lucky chap I am to be here with dear friends playing this wonderful instrument. Humbling in the true sense of that word.
What everyone commented was how much the guitar was opening up even just after a couple of days playing. And as I continuously play new ideas are coming to me all the time. Which, as a composer, is wonderful and precisely the idea!
I'm excited for where this guitar is going to take me, truly. And I've already had a tremendous amount of fun experimenting with the LR Baggs Dual Source pickup system - getting ready for upcoming gigs. It's sounding enormous in all the right ways!
There will be more coming soon - I'll keep you posted as things develop and recordings become available. And enormous tanks to everyone who's commented and messaged about this build - it's been a real joy sharing it all with you - my humble thanks for your support.
I think all my silly grins in the photos above tell the true story better than words can!
Tom's done something magic here, and I'm so grateful to be a part of that journey.