I was lucky enough to be only the second person to see/hear/play this guitar. So, here are my impressions.
First, you simply cannot get around the visual impact of this guitar. It is literally stunning. Now, I know there are always guys on forums like this who say that they don't give a hoot about a guitar's appearance, but, you simply cannot help but be affected by the sheer beauty of this guitar.
The impact actually starts with the BAM case cover and case. It is kinda like a fine brooch where the surrounding setting is beautiful gold and jewels that are designed to set off the precious jewel in the middle. First the remarkable case cover came off, then, the the impressive looking case was opened, and, finally, there was this just stunning guitar glinting like a 10 carat ruby. And, at the risk of pushing the metaphore, when I was allowed to take it out for a close inspection, like a 10 carat ruby, every angle reveals yet another beautiful facet of detail. It is going to take a lot of pictures to fully capture all the fine features and details of this guitar. And the closer you look, the more impressed you are with the flawless workmanship. Of course "The Tree" hog b&s is hypnotic, but it is the sum of all the parts of this guitar that exceeds the whole.
Ok, so, how did it sound? Well, with a guitar this stunning, your expectations of how it is going to sound are already pretty darn high, so, I was surprised when the first open Emaj chord knocked me back on my butt. The amount of tone coming out of this thing is amazing. And I, like Phil, am finding that I am more of a cedar/redwood guy than a spruce guy. So, the sweetness is just what I want to hear in a guitar. The tone is both huge and sweet. The bass response is 100% complete and satisfying and the trebles very sweet, clear, and ringing. The string separation is amazing, no cross talk at all, and the balance accross all strings is just superb. It is ideal for the fingerstyle stuff I play. I could get lost in this guitar just playing an open chord every few minutes and listening to the response.
Ok, how does it play? As usual for a Baranik, it plays much smaller than it looks. By that I mean that, while it is certainly larger than an OM, it plays like one. Mike has figured out how to design these things so that they are just more comfortable than they should be. Think butter, not margarine, real butter.
Other than that, I didn't like it.
LC