View Single Post
  #27  
Old 05-22-2022, 08:23 AM
steveh steveh is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,748
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by steveh View Post
Can't wait to try it.
So I found some time to get to Dennis yesterday. He has accumulated a ton of very interesting stuff recently and I was keen to get my hands on all of it, with the Marchwood was at the top of the list by a long way: A comment by Tom Sands turned me onto Oliver and it’s obvious from looking at his work on his website and Instagram that he has all of the woodworking and design skills necessary to build a guitar of the highest order.

Well I can confirm that in person the guitar is every bit as impressive as you might imagine from Instagram-world. Very, very well made. The Australian blackwood is exquisite – very beautiful. Crisp work and obviously top-class fit-and-finish. Clearly “handmade” not “homemade” (something you can’t always say about new “next gen” luthiers, to coin Dennis’ terminology). Setup was also great – a very lovely Fenland-oak fretboard with immaculate fretwork, and low action. And when I say low, I mean LOW. Dennis had asked for this and Oliver delivered a great playing experience with the strings hovering over the frets. Very comfortable neck profile as well; I felt immediately at home. I had ZERO idea it was 48mm until Dennis told me. Felt really comfortable.

Did it sound good? Yes, indeedy! I’m probably not as picky as Dennis (no one is!), but, like any guy who cares enough to commission guitars, I’m pretty obsessed by tone and Oliver has definitely got this most important aspect down. It’s absolutely a “modern” sound, with great clarity, sustain, and plenty of overtones to keep the interest going. I brought my Taran Tirga Mhor along and we agreed the Marchwood lived in that company (in all aspects) without any embarrassment, which says an awful lot.

The whole way home I was struggling with whether I should also commission one. I hope common sense prevails because I have great guitars and absolutely don’t need another, but if I was in the market for a new guitar then I wouldn’t hesitate; IMHO Marchwood is competing with some of the best guitars at least twice its price.

Cheers,
Steve
Reply With Quote