Bigfoot Mod D German Spruce - Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood

[doodahdoug]

I acquired a 2022 Bigfoot Mod D earlier this month that I would like to share with the AGF community. I was introduced to Karan Singh’s Bigfoot Guitars from Eric Song’s informative 2018 Bigfoot Mod D build thread which can be found here.

Bigfoot Guitars is based in Goa, India and in addition to steel string acoustic guitars, Karan also builds classical guitars as well as innovative electric guitars and basses which can be seen at the Bigfootguitars.com website.

After meeting Karan at the Holy Grail guitar show Jason Kostal invited Karan to spend a month at his home and workshop to share his knowledge with Karan to help him raise his craft to an elite level. An in-depth interview (seen below) with Jason Kostal and Karan Singh from their time together was one of the things that really sparked my interest in learning more about Bigfoot Guitars.






This Bigfoot MD has my favorite tone wood combination of a German Spruce top paired with Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood back and sides and is Karan’s #75 build. The Bigfoot MD is a 12-fret model and is smaller than a Kostal MD. It more closely follows the lines of the smaller 12-fret Kostal MDW, which Jason developed in collaboration with Michael Watts.

Bigfoot MD #75 Specifications:

Top - German Spruce
Back & Sides: Old Growth Brazilian Rosewood
Body Length - 19 3/8"
Upper bout - 11 1/4"
Waist - 10"
Lower bout - 15 1/4"
Depth at heel - 3.75"
Depth at tail - 4.25"
Scale - 25"
12th fret body join,
18 frets total
1 3/4" bone nut width
2 1/4" string spacing at bone saddle
Reconstituted stone rosette and inlays
EVO Frets
Polyurethane Gloss Finish


This Bigfoot MD #75 was a commission for The North American Guitar (TNAG), now part of Carter Vintage Guitars. So let's cut to the chase and hear Carl Miner's demo to give you an idea of this guitar's sound.





I'll share some build pictures as well as those of the completed guitar in the next post. Thanks for having a look and listen!

[nootis]

Looks like a super nice guitar Doug. Congratulations! If I ever visit the Dallas area, I know where I'm going!

[K20C]

Congrats on another amazing guitar build. That guitar does sound phenomenal.

And, another Carl Miner piece of ear candy I’ll drive myself crazy trying to approximate.

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by nootis

Looks like a super nice guitar Doug. Congratulations! If I ever visit the Dallas area, I know where I'm going!

Thanks Dan, I've been enjoying playing this guitar for the past 3 weeks or so and it is a special one. I would love to see your new Wilborn when it's completed too. Ben was just in the DFW area last Saturday conducting a Master Class for Luthiers Interactive of North Texas. That was followed up with a Frog and Toad concert that evening.

Originally Posted by K20C

Congrats on another amazing guitar build. That guitar does sound phenomenal.
And, another Carl Miner piece of ear candy I’ll drive myself crazy trying to approximate.

Thank you Gary. I put a new set of D'Addario XS PB Light strings on the guitar after 6 Days of ToneRite treatment and it sounds even better now, although the current player's skill level is a noticeable drop off from the Carl Miner demo.



Below are a few pictures of this guitar during the build process:






I asked Karan if he had a picture of this guitar's top bracing pattern.

He replied: "I deliberately don’t take photos of the top bracing as my mentor Jason wouldn’t be too pleased. But the bracing layout is very similar to a Somogyi, if that helps."


Another question I posed to Karan was a request for information about the set of Brazilian Rosewood back and sides used in this guitar.

Here is what he shared: "The BRW comes from a 250 year old shipwreck, or so the story goes! The supplier is a reliable guy who has been around for several years and only recently retired from the business, so I have no real reason to doubt him. He has a great reputation and is used by a lot of the top builders. For me, more important than the story is that the set is old growth Brazilian, very straight grained and beautifully resonant."

A short reel that Karan made of this Mod D just prior to taking it to the spray booth can be seen here.

[doodahdoug]

Here are the TNAG (Carter Vintage) glamour shots of this Bigfoot Mod D -

[Nemoman]

Sounds and looks amazing, Doug--congrats!

[Guitars44me]

Way to go Doug!

What a nice guitar!!!

Enjoy in fine health and spirits….

Cheers

Paul

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Sounds and looks amazing, Doug--congrats!

Originally Posted by Guitars44me

Way to go Doug!

What a nice guitar!!!

Enjoy in fine health and spirits….

Cheers

Paul

Thank you Kevin and Paul...I hope to see you both again at this year's B.I.G. event.


Some thoughts on this Bigfoot Mod D:


The build quality as well as the fit and finish on this guitar are on a par with some of the best that I have seen. I especially love the look of the reconstituted stone “teardrop” inlay work by Karan. The German Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood tone woods are beautiful and deliver the sound I was hoping for.

There is something special about having the neck join at the octave and the bridge situated lower on the body that produces a sweet sound. The 25” scale feels comfortable with this body size and allows me to fret certain spread chords with less effort. I love the rich sound and the range of expression with differing playing dynamics. It is designed and excels as a fingerstyle instrument but also does well with a pick and light to moderate strumming. It doesn’t possess a massive low end like a few of my larger instruments. The voicing highlights the mids and upper registers while keeping the bass nicely balanced.

I would love to have a Kostal MDW to compare the sound with this protege model from Karan Singh if I only had that luxury. I have had the opportunity to play very nice guitars from Brian Applegate and Drew Heinonen alongside my Olson SJ. Each of those protege builds sounded excellent to me on their own and exhibited a very similar tonal palette to my Olson. Still there was just a little something more complete in my satisfaction with the Olson.

I suspect that the same might be true with a prospective comparison of a Kostal MDW and the Bigfoot Mod D. Still, sharing a familiar voicing and sonic landscape with that of his mentor is something that Karan can be very proud of.

Here are some final pictures of the Bigfoot Mod D at home:





Thanks for letting me share my Bigfoot Mod D with you!

[dcn]

Wonderful story, pics, and guitar! Congrats, Doug.

[Flat5]

Karan is a gem! His woodworking skills are bonkers, and he experiments vastly with different woods.


That is a beautiful instrument, congratulations!

[Carpinteria]

Congratulations on another great guitar, and thanks for the detailed comments about it. Really beautiful. Dave

[doodahdoug]

Originally Posted by dcn

Wonderful story, pics, and guitar! Congrats, Doug.

Originally Posted by Carpinteria

Congratulations on another great guitar, and thanks for the detailed comments about it. Really beautiful. Dave

Thank you Dave and Diogo, I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

Originally Posted by Flat5

Karan is a gem! His woodworking skills are bonkers, and he experiments vastly with different woods.
That is a beautiful instrument, congratulations!

Thanks Flat5. Even though my Mod D was made with German Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood, Karan has built some stunning steel string guitars utilizing an variety of beautiful wood sets that I've not often seen used by North American builders. To illustrate Karan's woodworking skills check out this carved electric guitar body that he shared with me:





A local AGF friend stopped by my house last weekend. I was really pleased to hear how this Bigfoot Mod D sounds from out in front while he was playing and he was also favorably impressed with it's sound and responsiveness. I was also able to try out his newest bespoke guitar which was really fun. One of the great things about the AGF community is sharing your joy of music in person with members you've met or communicating through shared stories on the Forum. Thanks again for looking in.

[vpolineni]

Originally Posted by doodahdoug

A local AGF friend stopped by my house last weekend. I was really pleased to hear how this Bigfoot Mod D sounds from out in front while he was playing and he was also favorably impressed with it's sound and responsiveness. I was also able to try out his newest bespoke guitar which was really fun. One of the great things about the AGF community is sharing your joy of music in person with members you've met or communicating through shared stories on the Forum. Thanks again for looking in.

I'm the grateful to be called friend Doug speaks of, and I'll just say he undersold my thoughts about his guitar. He picked a winner. The guitar is incredibly balanced with thick, strong trebles. I really like the size as well. The shape lends the power of a dreadnought but with the clarity and articulation that the OM sized shapes are known for.

I was pleased to show my Itzkin crossover to Doug and delighted that he approved!