Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolfram Slides
Congratulations Dan!
I'd be very interested in what you have chosen with Jason for the top, back and sides.
Cheers,
David
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Hi David,
Good to hear from you. Ask and ye shall receive …
WOOD SELECTION
Purpose
In the MD, I was looking for something that would be a bit of an all-rounder – not so much in terms of musical style, but in that it’ll be used for recording, playing live (amplified, the vast majority of the time) and entertaining myself, etc. So not quite as clear cut as Michael Watt’s preference to prioritise projection, or Steve H’s preference to focus on the player’s experience and so a more diffuse sound that hangs around.
Top wood
I figured best to start with the top, since that’s the major tonal driver.
The two guitars of mine that see probably 95% of the action – when I’m not playing the baritone – are both cedar topped: a McIlroy A25c custom (cedar/Kew black walnut with 47mm nut width and 60mm string spacing at the bridge) and a Lowden O35cx (cedar/EIR with fingerstyle neck – to 45mm nut, 60mm string spacing).
So, were we going to see (rather unusually) a cedar topped Kostal MD?
As someone with a very light right (picking) hand, and who likes a warm sound, I’d always assumed cedar was right for me. In those guitars, it may well be. But I find that cedar can sometimes be (very much depending on the builder) a little dark, even mushy. It also seems not quite to have the dynamic complexity that good spruce have: it’s not necessarily (or just) a lack of headroom, it’s that there may be less tonal variation and nuance (even when you're just working the lower volume end of the instrument); it also seems to offer better clarity and separation.
I’m pretty certain that all the Kostals I’ve played have German spruce tops. And they all sounded fantastic. Whilst I’m sure Jason could make a great sounding guitar out of almost anything, I figured I was on safe ground with German, which – to my ears - offer some of the overtone/harmonic complexity of cedar with all the best sonic (and structural) qualities of spruce.
Jason’s also big fan, and it features on many (perhaps even the majority) of his builds – so he knows it well. So that made the decision quite straightforward.
Back and sides
A more complex question.
I thought it’d be best to get some hands-on experience and talk to the master. Steve H (who at that stage I’d never met) very kindly allowed me to impose myself not only on his house but on his OM and MD to compare body sizes and back and sides woods. I was also very fortunate to get the opportunity to compare Michael Watts’ The Tree MD with another MD in wenge at The North American Guitar’s HQ – and Skype Jason from there about my thought. It’s got to be a pretty rare to be able play two Kostals in the same room (though it seems owners of one find it hard to resist the temptation of a second, so that’s increasingly common!). I’m very grateful to Steve and Michael for giving me that very special opportunity.
Mahogany
I do love the sound of a mahogany guitar. It records easily and takes reverb well. It sounds “woody” (for what that’s worth!). Lovely mid-range, but with some growl and bark. But it’s quite a specific sound, quite “dry” (i.e. not much built-in reverb), and perhaps a bit inflexible for the “one guitar to rule them all”. It can also be a bit plane in the looks department.
The Tree would be great – not least because it addresses much of those issues. I wouldn’t have any hesitation with that – particularly given my experience with Michael Watts’ beautiful, and beautiful sounding, #32 – but for the huge uplift it’d inevitably entail.
I was to afraid to even ask…!
Vitreous woods
That huge, reverby, overtone-laden, rich, crystalline sound with sustain that goes on for days on the Kostal’s I’ve played with vitreous woods (two wenge MDs, two rosewood OMs) was beguiling. It’s a bit different to what I’d normally go for – which is a little “woodier” (by which I guess I mean a bit warmer and less glassy/metallic, with slightly more prominent mid) and with perhaps a touch more clarity. Some of the Brazillian guitars I’ve played seem have more of that woodiness and warmth - but at a huge price, and with additional headaches getting across the pond to the UK. Wenge and some of the rosewoods (Jason has some stunning EIR in his stash) were still contenders, but I think maybe I was looking at something in the middle.
Split the difference?
So, what’s the half-way house? And might that be worth thinking about?
Having had the same dilemma with other guitars, I’ve ended up with walnut: I’ve somehow managed to end up with 2 McIlroys A25c - one in claro, and a custom one in black walnut from Kew in England) and a Lowden baritone (Bastogne/Sitka).
Koa or antipodean blackwood might also have fitted the bill.
Walnut can look stunning, seems fairly neutral is well-balanced across the spectrum tonally: a good compromise between the rosewood and hog characteristics, keeping some woodiness and balance, without being as growly in the lower mids and dry as mahogany and without the extreme complexity, wetness, mid-scooped glassiness of some rosewoods. It also seems to be good value, project well, and to have a pretty quick response (more so, to my ears, than rosewood) and great clarity.
So what’s not to like?
I guess my hesitation was that it might be a bit of a compromise, and that whilst walnut can be very clear, it can sometimes be a bit characterless (dare I say insipid?). I didn’t think that’d be much of a risk on a Kostal: Jason’s building style never fails to produce a gorgeous, deep bass and a complex, overtone rich sound with its own in-built reverb. I can imagine walnut working brilliantly here – in much the same way that I found Jason’s sonic signature really worked with mahogany on #32.
But I'd never played a walnut Kostal (though there is one in France), so didn't have any means of confirming my suspicions.
In the end, I thought it’d be best to get Jason's input, as he's the one in the know – so promptly deluged his inbox with my rambling missives on the subject, and then spoke to him via Skype.
He said he had something in mind. And would email me in a bit...
Argh, the suspense …!