New Build: Swannell Guitars, Deep-Bodied OM

[smasters]

Hello!

I’m new round these parts but have gratefully lurked in the past!

I’m having an instrument made by Jamie Swannell of Swannell Guitars (UK) and I thought it would be fun to record the progress of what I think will be a pretty special instrument.

Jamie and I went to university together where we occasionally beer-jammed on guitar and talked nonsense about British Folk. We sort of got on with our separate lives for several years and then crossed paths again when I started performing solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar and discovered that he was making guitars full-time. He brought a couple of guitars along to a gig I did in Cambridge and I (along with Don Alder/Dan LaVoie) got to sample them. I was a big fan and straightaway, rather cheekily, asked if I might borrow one for some recording. He obliged and since then I’ve played a number of the guitars he’s made. I ended up moving to roughly the same neck of the woods recently and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to commission a build.

I had a pretty specific idea of what I was after - a comfortable body shape with decent bass response, smooth trebles and a fairly light build - a dynamically responsive top. I also like the idea of using fairly well-established tone woods but of relatively local (to the U.K.) origin. I know that the rosewood and mahoganies of the world are in limited supply and while I enjoy them greatly, conversations with Jamie (and playing some non-tropical instruments made by him) reassured me that tone has a lot more to do with the build of the instrument, than purely the timber choice.

Anyhow, we settled on a deep-bodied OM, with German Alpine Spruce top, English Walnut (from France) back and sides, 3,500 year-old Bog Oak (buried, discovered by a farmer tilling fields near Cambridge, UK) fingerboard and binding, a Yew neck (famously used for English long-bows) and Cedar bracing. All Non-Tropical woods, all of European origin.

I’m pretty excited and thought I’d share some pics of the progress. I’ve moved this thread from the Build and Repair forum - I hadn’t realised this one existed....

Here’s the Yew for the neck:


And some further early progress pics:




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[jstroop]

I admire your approach regarding the woods. It’s going to be fun watching your progress. Thanks for posting.

[cigarfan]

Some really nice local woods! Love the rosette. I will be following along.

[SJ VanSandt]

That's a great rosette - how in the world did he do that? This will be fun to watch as it comes together. Thanks for posting!

[smasters]

Haha- yes - the rosette! I think an Archimedes drill was involved but beyond that I’m not entirely sure...

I meant to post a couple of clips of previous Swannell OMs I’ve played

European Spruce and Ovangkol on this guitar:
https://soundcloud.com/stuartmasters...ur-eyes-part-1
https://youtu.be/zSM-N3rRjnE

And here’s a fan-fret OM Mod, with Spruce/Cherry:
https://youtu.be/VO3ZvfD0q88

[smasters]

Anyway, thanks for following along, guys!

I actually have a few more pics of more recent progress:

[redir]

Beautiful.

[LouieAtienza]

Excellent work!

[cigarfan]

Very very nice. Clean and precise.

[smasters]

Here's a little timelapse video of Jamie closing the box:


I can’t work out why the above thumbnail isn’t working... in the meantime, here’s the actual link: https://youtu.be/lupl08zihyo

And a bracing shot prior to closure:

[smasters]

Apologies for the long absence (entirely down to me, not Jamie!) but here are some pics of the guitar in its final stages, pre: Holy Grail guitar show and after completion. It is, without doubt, one of the most expressive and responsive instruments I have ever played.

[smasters]

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[smasters]

I know that walnut is a pretty well-established tone wood but playing this guitar, made entirely from non-tropical timbers, has shown me how much the tone can be to do with the construction of instrument, not just timber choices.

I am one happy camper.

[SJ VanSandt]

It looks great! I'm impressed with how the oak fingerboard came out looking like good ebony: did he have to stain it to get it so black? If so, do you know how?

[BrunoBlack]

That’s a real beautiful guitar!