[Wade Hampton]

This morning my wife and I got off our cruise ship in Hobart, capital of Tasmania, the island state south of the Australian mainland. Unlike every other place we’ve stopped up to this point, the dock in Hobart is right in the city center, instead of being off in an industrial district miles away somewhere.

So after a walking tour of the historical highlights of old Hobart (“This is where the convicts first came ashore.” “This where the convicts were flogged.” “This is where the convicts were hanged...”) I decided to walk around downtown Hobart on my own.

The first music store I found was Modern Musician. Nice store, good inventory of acoustic guitars, and a pleasant, helpful staff. They’re the Hobart dealers for Martin, Taylor, Gibson and Cole Clark guitars. They mostly had electric Gibsons with only one acoustic that I saw, a good-sounding J-35. But they had a good selection of Martins and an even better selection of Taylors. But the guitars I spent the most time playing were the Cole Clarks, which was because I had never seen so many in one spot before - there were at least nine or ten there, most with bunya pine tops and Queensland maple backs and sides. There were three with American western red cedar tops, including a short scale mini guitar, and they all sounded very good.

If I lived in Australia I would own at least one or two Cole Clarks. There were only a couple of them there that didn’t stir me: the others were great.

After I left Modern Musician I walked over to Elizabeth Street and started walking downhill toward the docks. The next music store was only a block or so away, a crammed little shop stuffed literally to the rafters called Solda’s Music. Used records and used guitars, with a few other instruments added for good measure, one of which was a maple Tacoma mandolin with a sunburst finish and built-in electronics.

I played it. That mandolin needs a setup and a fresh set of strings, but is actually a good value for anyone who wants to double on mandolin in a band setting: they’re asking $500 Australian for it, which is around $350 USD.

While I did play it and can vouch for its acoustic tone, I didn’t plug it in, so I can’t vouch for its electronics.

After leaving Solda’s Music I walked downhill another half block and went into McCann’s Music, which is the Maton dealer in Hobart. There were at least a dozen of them on the wall, which is by far and away the most Maton guitars I’ve ever seen in real life.

I played five: two dreadnoughts, a couple of OM-sized guitars and a jumbo.

The one I liked the best was an all-Tasmanian blackwood OM. It was quiet but had a nice, even tone. I also liked the jumbo, and if I had to pick one to use as a gigging guitar, the jumbo is the one I’d choose.

But I didn’t like ANY of the Matons as well as the Cole Clarks. I just found the Cole Clarks to be better-sounding all the way around: every Cole Clark that I tried was more musical-sounding than every Maton I tried.

So there’s no contest between them, so far as I’m concerned: of the two brands, I definitely prefer the Cole Clarks.

Anyway, now we’re back on the ship and under way for New Zealand. Goodbye, Tasmania! So long, Australia - it was fun!


Wade Hampton Miller