Quote:
Originally Posted by tdq
Very interested in that emerald archtop and how it sounds, especially acoustically) - I was a CF guitar owner for a period (composite acoustics gx)
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Lage's playing seems almost effortless. I know that he's put years to get to the level he is today, so I keep plugging away an hour or two at a time.
I was interested in the Kestrel too. I was in Ireland last year and dropped by Alistair's factory (3 times). I almost bought a guitar they had in stock before I left, but after some soul searching I decided to go for a custom. I played almost the entire range of guitars they had available in their showroom and found the ones I most wanted to take with me were in no particular order the X20-12, Synergy and Kestrel. I suck at Jazz chording and knew that could keep me busy for a while, so after negotiating with Alistair for close to half a year we went with the Kestrel that you see linked.
I come from a horn background and my primary instrument is trumpet. I can somewhat play another dozen instruments and got an X20 (6 string) back in 2013. I have been enamored with CF guitars ever since.
The Kestrel has two distinct acoustic sounds that I like. One is light jazz chording shapes with fingers and enough fingerpicking of a melody in between to get to the next chord. The other is moderate to hard strumming to keep the rhythm going in a small ensemble. I tried to take the melody in that small ensemble too with the Kestrel. It was OK - actually better than the X20, but I have to work on my technique a bit more.
I doubt I'll be bringing it by to see you anytime soon since you live some 9,000+ miles away (15,000 km). You might want to talk to lat18 about the Kestrel. I believe he has a Loar 700 too and played the Kestrel for a few days this past summer. I still need to work more on set up and will be telling why at some point (just cosmetic reasons), but it's definitely not the same as an older L-7. I can't say whether it's better or worse. If I had to choose between the two as I was running away from a fire, I'd be more likely to grab the Kestrel. I'll have to compare side by side to be more sure and may have an Epiphone I can borrow instead if I play my cards right.
If you are interested enough, I would do what lat18 did and order a stock one. Try it for a while and then send it back if you don't want to keep it. I had the advantage that I played the two that were sitting in Ireland, so I knew the sound was good enough. Is it the sound I'm chasing? I don't know, but the vote's still out.