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2018 Goodall Concert Jumbo Cutaway Italian / Brazillian
Sometime in November 2017, I had the privilege of driving up the beautiful northern coast to spend two days with the Goodall family in Fort Bragg, CA.
I have always been a big Goodall fan, and count myself fortunate enough to have owned 28 Goodalls over the last decade in nearly every wood combination possible. Despite playing many top-name boutique guitars over the years, the Goodall Guitar still impresses me as being more than exceptional. There are many great builders in my opinion, but a rare few build a guitar as good as James and Luke. Still, nothing quite prepared me for the just-completed instruments i had the pleasure to try while at the Goodall workshop. Impeccable fit, finish and tone certainly come standard on these instruments. James and Luke were also generous with their time and took a couple of hours to show me around their workshop, explaining how and why certain wood types, sizes of braces and bridge plates were chosen for different models with tone in mind. The Goodall shop was as clean and well thought out as a workshop could be. There were jigs and fixtures designed and constructed by James for each building step and operation, and an impressive collection of tone woods especially koa sets, that would be the envy of any builder today. While at the workshop, James showed me a beautiful set of brazillian rosewood they had saved since the late 80s; and while i wasn't expecting to make a brazillian order, it just called out to me. I decided to go with James' classic Concert Jumbo Cutaway model with an Italian Top, which Luke helped to pick out for suitability on a CJ model amongst their master sets. The build was paired with extra curly koa bindings. We decided to go simple on this one, without any fretboard markers or fancy fingerboard inlays so the wood could speak for itself. There's an understated elegance to the Goodall design which does not need very much else to look beautiful. I took delivery of the instrument a week ago, and oh my, its a work of art! The flawless details tie in together with an unbelievably clean build, inside and out, and makes for a beautiful rich tone with remarkable clarity. Above all, James, Jean and Luke are among the nicest human beings you will ever meet. They have a wealth of experience, deep faith, humility, joy and an absolute commitment to perfection. If you ever meet them, be prepared to be treated like family. Here are some specs and build pics: - Concert Jumbo Cutaway - Master Italian Spruce - AAA Brazillian Rosewood - Mahogany Neck with Braz Headplate - Extra Curly Koa Bindings - Ebony Fretboard & Bridge - Premium Green Abalone Rosette Back & Sides: Neck & Headplates: Green Abalone: Choosing Bindings, hand-cut by Luke: Some nice koa, one of about 30 tonewood species in stock:
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz Last edited by swiftz07; 06-12-2018 at 07:27 AM. Reason: added more pictures. |
#2
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Luke was kind enough to compile a couple of build pictures following my departure:
Routing the headplate for logo Routing out binding channels Cutting out the concentric ring which will later accent the rosette Inlaying the rosette:
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz |
#3
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Cutting out the sound hole perfectly on the converted fly cutter:
The back is joined, and mahogany braces put in: Fine mitering work begins on the headstock bindings and purflings. The Wing-G logo is in place Top braces are glued in: Sides are bent: And in goes the mahogany kerflings, also hand-cut in the shop:
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz |
#4
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Mahogany End and Neck Blocks, Side braces are put in
The top and back are glued to the sides, to form a closed box Starting to look like a guitar
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz Last edited by swiftz07; 06-12-2018 at 07:21 AM. |
#5
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You’ve owned 28!!! Great guitars and this one sounds like it’s terrific. Do you have any pictures of your completed guitar?
Edit — I see more pictures are coming. Very nice! |
#6
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Work begins on the bent cutaway
The top is marked out to provide a visual aid as the top is graduated Love the koa backstrip
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz |
#7
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Work begins on routing the channel for the end graft
Bindings and purflings are carefully incorporated Stroke sanding the top and back The completed box and neck Levelling and test fitting the neck to the body Fingerboard goes on
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz |
#8
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A few more shots of the closed box
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz |
#9
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A few quick completed shots:
I'll try to get a few good photos of the back and other details, when daylight permits!
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Collings OM2H Adi / Braz Doerr Legacy Swiss / Braz Franklin OM German / Braz Franklin OM Carpathian / Braz Goodall GC Italian / Honduran Goodall GC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Braz Goodall CJC Italian / Afr. Blackwood McPherson 5.0 Full Koa McPherson 5.0XP Adi / Braz Martin D-28GE Adi / Braz |
#10
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Gorgeous Goodall Build. I really like how the koa looks with that BRW. Enjoy it in good health.
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#11
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Awesome photos, amazing guitar from a great family!!! Thanks for sharing, I can only imagine how great that guitar sounds. I played an Italian Spruce topped GC a while back that blew my mind and I totally prefer the CJ size over the GC size.
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Crazy guitar nut in search of the best sounding guitars built today and yesterday. High End Guitar Review Videos. www.youtube.com/user/rockinb23 |
#12
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Congratulations! That guitar looks absolutely incredible!
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Stumbling as I fall from grace... |
#13
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Wow man, late seeing this but what a dream build that is. At Dusty strings in seattle I got to play 6 goodalls, most of which were Engelmann or Sitka, but the one that really blew my dress up was the Sitka/Coco CJ...I cant imagine how good an Italian topped CJ would sound, no less with Brazilian. I bet each chord is like sonic heaven. Congrats
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Dustin Furlow -Award-winning songwriter/guitarist, Visual storyteller -D’Addario, G7th and K&K Sound Artist -Music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube: www.youtube.com/dustinfurlow -New album "Serene" (Oct '23) and tablature available at www.dustinfurlow.com |
#14
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Thats an amazing Goodall, congrats....!
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onedayatatime |
#15
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Lovely. Love the simplicity of the design, especially the fingerboard without any markers. The whole design is very elegant. Congratulations
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Danny Olson SJ CED/IRW, Charis SJ SITKA/MAP, Charis SJ ENG/IRW, Charis GC Thinbody SITKA/IRW, Lowden O25c, Larrivee C19, Larrivee OM-03R, Voyage Air VA-OM 04 |