Froggy Bottom Owners Club!

[tommieboy]

Welp, here we are in 2023 with a little follow-up to this thread.

I did indeed commission a new EIR/Adi Model M Deluxe, but only after researching similar products from other luthiers/manufacturers. At the end of the day, the proportions of the Model M are still the best fit for my frame. The photo below shows my new 2022 Model M on the left side; my 2003 is on the right. The ergonomic upgrades on the 2022 consist of a custom-carved neck, 16" radius EVOgold Frets, 2 5/16" string spacing at the bridge, and 21:1 Gold Waverly Tuners. Aesthetic upgrades include a Pyramid Bridge and the #5 fleur-de-lis fretboard inlays. I have always thought of the #5 fleur-de-lis set of inlays as FB's signature inlay. I am delighted with the quality of the tonewood selection as delivered. With new strings on both guitars, you would be hard-pressed to discern the difference between the two. At times, I still think I'm playing my 2003, and this is a good place to be. The 2003 has been gifted away but is just a phone call away should I ever feel the need for an additional A vs. B between the two.

Next up for 2023 is a better camera. My current cell phone camera and the attached photos leave a lot to be desired.

Tommy

[BrunoBlack]

Congratulations. Very familiar! It’s beautiful guitar and hope it brings you many happy years of music.

I got my last custom Froggy 3 years ago. It’s also an Adi/EIR M and it might be the most powerful and interesting guitar I’ve played, and it keeps on getting better. It has such an immediate and punchy output that it almost sets me back after playing other guitars. However, it has a pretty unusual ability to respond to the softest finger touch or heavy pick attack equally well. It does so with deep bass, full mids and thick ringing highs — beautifully balanced instrument like all the Froggy Bottom guitars I’ve owned and played.

[SuperB23]

Great looking new M there Tommieboy congrats!! I recently picked up a Mahogany K that I've been digging!! Super fun and fast, it can handle anything I can throw at it and it does it all with great tone to boot!

[mattcran]

Originally Posted by SuperB23

Great looking new M there Tommieboy congrats!! I recently picked up a Mahogany K that I've been digging!! Super fun and fast, it can handle anything I can throw at it and it does it all with great tone to boot!

Did you get the one from Paul on mandolin Cafe? Or the older one on reverb? Still have my Koa. Went from considering selling to considering another, lol.

[SuperB23]

Yup I bought it from Paul on Mandolin Cafe, I’m enjoying it!!

Originally Posted by mattcran

Did you get the one from Paul on mandolin Cafe? Or the older one on reverb? Still have my Koa. Went from considering selling to considering another, lol.

[Racerbob]

I recently spend an afternoon with a high end single person shop builder who's guitars are sold a the finest shops. We were talking about building one last guitar, a small jumbo he specializes in and I had brought another builders SJ along with my recent received customized H12 which I called my "Swiss army knife" guitar as examples of what I was looking for in a guitar.

Playing both guitars through out the afternoon and just after I played the H12 at the end of the visit he just leaned back and said "I like that guitar". High praise indeed.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Haasome

It has such an immediate and punchy output that it almost sets me back after playing other guitars. However, it has a pretty unusual ability to respond to the softest finger touch or heavy pick attack equally well.

That "immediate and punchy" still sets me back. I haven't quite adjusted to it yet. Almost like my other guitars are comfortably "sloppy" in comparison. But the energetic clarity of Froggies keeps bringing me back.

[lfarhadi]

Originally Posted by zmf

That "immediate and punchy" still sets me back. I haven't quite adjusted to it yet. Almost like my other guitars are comfortably "sloppy" in comparison. But the energetic clarity of Froggies keeps bringing me back.

Its a quality that lies on a spectrum. My Froggy is much more forgiving than my vintage guitars, where any sloppiness is much more apparent. But my CEO-7 is still more forgiving...And I guess on the extreme end is electric guitars (whatever those are) played with distortion.

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by zmf

That "immediate and punchy" still sets me back. I haven't quite adjusted to it yet. Almost like my other guitars are comfortably "sloppy" in comparison. But the energetic clarity of Froggies keeps bringing me back.

Watch around the 7:10 mark and I think Brian picks up on what I experience - and again at 9:50.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Haasome

I think Brian picks up on what I experience...

It does capture the issue. Which is perhaps the issue of a mismatch between finger input and expected guitar output. I'm not a gentle guitar player. Froggy demands that I reach a compromise with it.