Hatcher High Figure Koa Penelope Sisters - Steel String and a Nylon Crossover

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

I love the shape of the neck at the sound hole and that rosette looks great!! As others have noted, the Koa is simply gorgeous!

Thanks Mike

I shipped it out today so it will soon be in the hands of a great musician.

Thanks again!
Mark

[drcmusic7]

The arrived yesterday and it's remarkable and Mark exceeded my expectations in everyday.

I'll have much more info about it soon. We've had a wild 24 hours - the guitar arrived which was great, then someone broke into our home (thankfully everyone is OK and no guitars were taken), and my car broke down. So, I have to get some things settled here first before a more detailed review.

Kindly,
Danny

[woa_horsey]

That's about the prettiest guitar I've ever seen! Can't wait to hear how it sounds.

Mark,

Have you used koa much in the past? I'm wondering about the strength of the wood. It seems like a lot of used guitars I see on Ebay with cracks are made of koa. Do you think it's just a coincidence or is koa especially sensitive to humidy compared to other woods or something?

Danny,

Glad you're family is safe at least!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by woa_horsey

That's about the prettiest guitar I've ever seen! Can't wait to hear how it sounds.

Mark,

Have you used koa much in the past? I'm wondering about the strength of the wood. It seems like a lot of used guitars I see on Ebay with cracks are made of koa. Do you think it's just a coincidence or is koa especially sensitive to humidy compared to other woods or something?

Thanks woa_horsey,

Yes, I have used Koa before and I don't see it as particularly prone to cracking.
Is it more prone to be played in challenging conditions? Well, I think any guitar being played at your local beach Luau is more prone to cracking

Mark

[woa_horsey]

Oh yeah; somebody's got to serinade the girls at the ole clambake. Might even be worth a crack or two in the end!

[Billy Boy]

I'm looking forward to Danny's review of his guitar, and just wanted to note to Danny that I'm glad no one was hurt and have really been sending positive thoughts your way about the break-in and the break-down. I think it's a good title for your next song. Take care and know that others are thinking of you.

[drcmusic7]

Thanks, Bill, Woa_Horesy and those of you that emailed me privately. We appreciate those warm thoughts and prayers. We're grateful they didn't take more and it was very eye opening...

I have been absolutely loving this guitar and I plan on having a good detailed review and some sound clips soon! Mark knocked it out of the park.

Kindly,
Danny

[drcmusic7]

The Hatcher crossover has been with me in it’s new home for almost two weeks now and I wanted to share some thoughts and reflections about it at this early stage in it’s life. I’ve purposely waited a couple weeks because I wanted to let it settle in a bit and also, as mentioned above, our home was robbed and we’ve been dealing with all the things that come with that…

First, let me say that Mark was awesome during the whole build process and took the absolute best photos I’ve ever seen of the build process. He was also great with communication and wanted to make sure I was happy every step of the way. He even contacted Tom Doerr to talk about the type of neck profiles that I like and made it similar to the guitar Tom made for me. I appreciated that.

When the guitar arrived my wife and I opened the box together and the first thing that caught our attention was amazing smell coming from the case. Wow, it just smelt amazing. I know that’s probably a weird thing to say, but it’s true. We then pulled the soft velvet cloth off the French polished top and both sat there looking at how beautiful it is. As good as Marks photos are they don’t do it justice. I’ve never owned a French polished top guitar before and it’s lovely looking. The torched Koa rosette is so elegant and natural looking under the finish.

When I picked it up I couldn’t believe I was holding a guitar. It’s so light. I mean, seriously, it’s exceptionally light. Lighter than any other guitar I’ve ever played before with the exception of my 100-year-old Stetson parlor.

I quickly turned it over took the inlays he put on the back of the headstock for me. They’re the initials of my two children. Mark did them wonderfully. I like that they’re on the back of the headstock where I can see them as I play. Hidden from the audience. I plan on passing this guitar to them one day. Mark is clearly a very talented craftsman and I always love it when luthiers add subtle details that are only visible up close. The Koa on this guitar is just outstanding. It genuinely looks 3D. The back is perfectly book matched and so is the headstock faceplate. The headstock shape is so balanced with the guitar. I know Mark wanted to somewhat mirror the body shape and he’s done so in such an elegant way. The tuners work so well and I love the look. I’ve only played one other classical with these tuners and it was a Batson crossover.

As to the most important part of a guitar, the sound. The more guitars I play the more difficult I find it to articulate what I’m hearing as I’m fairly certain I’m able to hear more than I used to. Perhaps it also makes me a bit pickier. So when it comes to putting sound and tone into words, words seem to fail me. Maybe that’s why I write instrumental guitar music… I’ll simply say it exceeds my every expectation and has a wonderful thick full round warm tone. I’m very happy. I plan on using this guitar on many future recordings and performances. More to come….

Thank you again, Mark!

Kindly,
Danny

[Mark Hatcher]

Thanks for the kind words Danny! It was an honor to build this guitar for you. I really admire your playing and look forward to hearing what you can do with this guitar. I also want to thank the forum members who have commented along the way. This was a whole new style of guitar for me and everyone's comments have been very supportive and encouraging.
This guitar has a steel string sister. When Danny decided to take the crossover I concentrated on completing his first. The steel string has the body ready for finish. The neck is only roughed out so I need to decide on the nut width and saddle string spacing. Danny's crossover is 1 7/8ths nut 2 5/16ths saddle string spacing. I really liked the feel of that and am inclined to go with it on this one. However, if anyone is interested in this guitar, this would be a good time to tell me your preference. I have a number of orders I'm working on so it will be a little while before I start back up.

Thanks Again!
Mark

[Berf]

Nice one Danny and Mark... congratulations to the two of you.

[drcmusic7]

Thanks, Berf!

Kindly,
Danny

[Mark Hatcher]

Hello,

Danny Combs was nice enough to send some sound clips from the Penelope Nylon crossover. He recorded three different clips of different styles of music to give a good idea of how the guitar performs. There are no added effects. Danny says they are, "as honest a recording as you can get". I strung them together on a you tube and added pictures from the build. I hope you enjoy!
http://youtu.be/gLo31zoW03s

Thanks,
Mark

[Billy Boy]

Beautiful! Thanks for the clips, Danny, and thanks for posting this on YouTube, Mark, so each of us could enjoy it!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Billy Boy

Beautiful! Thanks for the clips, Danny, and thanks for posting this on YouTube, Mark, so each of us could enjoy it!

Thanks Billy

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I now have a video on how to build a guitar in 3 minutes and 42 seconds!

Thanks Again
Mark

[Berf]

Sounds great Danny and Mark... and it's a beautiful guitar to look at which is an added bonus. Danny, it's such a different playing style to what I've heard on your two albums... except for that little outro. Great stuff.