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Old 09-21-2020, 12:23 PM
D. Churchland D. Churchland is offline
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Default Churchland Grand no. 202 Adirondack/Fiddleback Maple Jumbo

I had a really difficult time deciding to list this guitar. It's one that I genuinely love and enjoy playing.

But as it goes you can't hang onto everything forever so I'm listing this guitar to help clear up some space in my little apartment. And also to make room for the next build that I'm starting.

The idea for this guitar came from my love for the larger guitars from the likes of the Larson Brothers and the guitars of Jimmy D'aquisto. Tony Klassen of New Era guitars also makes some wonderful instruments that are truly inspiring to me.

The issue I always ran into with large guitars like a J200 is that the 17" width in addition to the 22" length and the almost 5" depth makes alot of players feel like they're wrestling a whale as opposed to playing a nice acoustic. Regardless of the size limitations for some players I think one of the many reasons I love larger guitars is the power and "Width" that the tone gives you in so many ways. Occasionally they have a bit of lag with the tone so fingerstyle or softer players sometimes get turned away.

So I set about to design a jumbo that retains the breadth and power of a jumbo but plays and responds like a smaller guitar more similar to an OM and the like.

The result is this model which I have named the Grand. It retains the width of a full jumbo but is much shorter in length and also thinner in depth. The combination of these changes gives you a jumbo that has the power, depth, and width of tone that I love but is much more manageable for the average player in size and response.

Some notes on the build. The fingerboard and bridge material both came from a single piece of Brazilian that I rescued from a broken upright bass fingerboard. There was *exactly* enough width to get the fingerboard out of the piece and the bridge came from the extension portion. The board was easily over 60 years old when it came to me. I guess you could say it was "reclaimed" but I don't quite know if it fits that definition.
The Adirondack for the top came from a luthier friend who had had it for over 30 years and graciously let me purchase it from him.

The asymetry in the upper bout is intentional. I personally dislike the look of big garish cutaways on acoustics. So in designing this I wanted to incorporate a more subtle way to give some extra access to the upper frets. The result is what I call a "fadeaway" instead of removing a section of the upper bout I simply angled the treble side upper bout to taper into the top so it meets it at roughly the 15th fret. The result is that you can access the upper frets easily without the need to have a section of the top or back removed. It's difficult to see in the photos I have currently but if you want a detailed picture of this feature I'd be happy to oblige.













Specs:

Nut width: 1 11/16"
String spacing @ Saddle: 2 1/8"
Fretboard radius: 16
Scale length: 25.4"
Upper bout width: 12"
Waist: 10 1/4"
Lower bout width: 17.5"
Body Depth @ lower bout: 4"
Body Depth @ waist: 4 1/4"
Body Depth @ upper bout: 4"
Top: Old growth Adirondack spruce
Back/Sides: Fiddleback maple
Fingerboard: Brazilian Rosewood
Bridge: Brazilian Rosewood
Nut/Saddle: Bone
Frets: Dunlop 6150
Bracing: Old growth Adirondack spruce
Bracing Pattern: Forward shifted heavily scalloped X
Finish: Hand rubbed shellac
Tuners: Gotoh Open back nickel
Neck Profile: Vintage profile similar to the slim taper necks found on mid 60s Epiphones. The taper flattens out as you get closer to the body to give you space to move around and get leverage, similar to a classical guitar but very subtle and not nearly as thick.

Tonewise, this guitar has tremendously quick reponse with lots of power behind every note. To date I've let multiple highly talented players try it and not a single person has had a negative thing to say about the tone.

Fingerstyle it has balance with both the lows and highs. The low end has tremendous power and the maple adds some lovely compression and the bass isn't woofy or muddy in the least, just punchy and powerful. The midrange is neither scooped nor overly accented but remains concise and balanced.

With a pick and a strong right hand the guitar is rewardingly loud but never gets brash or tinny. I let one of my good bluegrasser/old timey friends give it a try and he proclaimed "this thing is wonderful!".
It easily keeps up in a group volume wise with single notes having thick and powerful response without becoming picky or thin. The bass is strong enough to support several singers.

Tuned down to Open C or other alternate tunings this guitar loses none of the definition in the bass. The treble side of things remains thick and powerful and the bass remains punchy yet the definition stays strong and individual notes ring clearly even when strummed hard.

Since this is an early build and there are some things about it that are not perfect. When making the fingerboard I was severely limited by how much wood was available to make the taper on the extension and so I had to employ the wabi sabi concept and make it work. As a result it is a little narrower on the extension and only has 18 frets in order to maximize the material I had available.

If you have questions feel free to PM me or ask them on here. I am the new guy on the block with all this so ask anything you want to know. I won't be listing this at my base price since it is not perfect and this is an early build.

Asking SOLD shipping I'll include in the price to your locale.

Here is a soundclip of me running through some various things. My camera is not the best but it is what I have.


Last edited by D. Churchland; 12-11-2020 at 10:18 PM.
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Old 10-06-2020, 07:40 AM
D. Churchland D. Churchland is offline
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Jumbo is still available
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Formerly known as, "Will Kirk"
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Old 12-11-2020, 10:18 PM
D. Churchland D. Churchland is offline
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Posts: 2,442
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Jumbo is sold
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