CIRCA OM-18 #98
It’s with great pleasure that I finally report to you all on this amazing OM built by John Slobod in 2013. It happened my way back in October 2019, courtesy of TAMCO in the UK.
Straight up Adirondack spruce over Honduran mahogany, this stripped-down thoroughbred oozes poise and class. The top has a bit of bearclaw and the mahogany shimmers with deep ribbon figuring. Lovely stuff.
John’s credentials as a craftsman are well established, so I’ll not belabor the point. This thing is as neat as a pin, clean as a whistle.
I’ve never had a guitar with a red spruce top, and beyond a mid-sixties Gibson all-hog B15 I traded away over 25 years ago, I have no real experience with a mahogany body. So what I expected from this classic tonewood combo was based on secondhand information alone: online recordings and the many opinions I’ve read over the years. What I expected more specifically from a Circa was based on two brief sessions I’d spent with a maple 000 and a rosewood OM. I remembered those two guitars fondly, lightweight, great playability, full tone.
Almost immediately, it was clear that this guitar met those expectations, and then some. The red spruce/mahogany box projects with an extremely clear voice, while coating the notes with a warm woody halo. The sound is dry, with far fewer overtones than most of the guitars I’ve had, but there’s a lot of depth and sustain underneath the fundamental. Thanks to Mr. Slobod's ultra-thin nitro finish, it's a very lively instrument that renders all sorts of subtle nuances.
The mids have a solid presence without sounding too forward. The highs are full, and rounder than they are airy. The bass is taut and firm, not low and loose. Response across the strings and up the fretboard is nicely balanced and organic; the energy you put in is what the guitar gives back.
The guitar is very punchy, with bags of headroom. Everything remains balanced even under the most severe pummeling with a flatpick. And boy, can it can get loud!! At the same time, delicate fingerstyle passages offer a truly rewarding experience, for its more nuanced side is a thing of great beauty, too. Since there’s so much power and sustain on tap, long notes hold true and clear. With faster material, the mahogany’s dry resonance delivers runs of quick notes that remain distinct instead turning into harmonic mist.
The real show-stopper for me, however, is
the thoroughly musical timbre of this guitar. It moves me in a way that inspires me to keep playing, on and on.
The only thing I wish I could change on this guitar is the neck profile. It’s not uncomfortable, and I can play all day without getting sore hands. But it is a bit of a handful and requires a little more effort than I’m used to.