The Story of a Tom Sands Signature Guitar

[mercy]

Could you share the discussion you and Tom had about the weight of a Wenge neck or was it just a design (aesthetic) decision?

[Will McNicol]

Originally Posted by mercy

Could you share the discussion you and Tom had about the weight of a Wenge neck or was it just a design (aesthetic) decision?

Yes indeed! I've not owned a guitar with a Wenge neck, and in conversations with Tom it seemed to be an excellent choice for a number of reasons. One big factor was the sheer stiffness of the stuff - "you don't want a neck that acts like an oscillator wasting all that lovely string energy" said Tom, quite rightly. Although, it is a pig to work with - but luckily that was Tom's problem not mine =D

And of course, aesthetically it's sublime which always helps matters!

[ianLP59]

Interestingly, Stefan Sobell started using Wenge for guitar necks a few years ago now and currently offers it as standard on his guitars...

A good choice of neck material methinks...

Cheers,

Ian

[steveh]

C'mon man: The beast is up and finished on Insta so dish the dirt on the AGF!

Cheers,
Steve

[Deft Tungsman]

Originally Posted by steveh

C'mon man: The beast is up and finished on Insta so dish the dirt on the AGF!

Cheers,
Steve

I second the motion!

[Will McNicol]

Originally Posted by steveh

C'mon man: The beast is up and finished on Insta so dish the dirt on the AGF!

Cheers,
Steve

Ah ha, I'm on it, I'm on it! Tonight I'll be writing a proper post =)

[Cams]

What an absolute treat to read this thread on my lunch break. Thanks Will for sending me the link. The guitar looks like an absolute stoater, to use my native Scots. I can't wait to hear what you find in her musically speaking. Gorgeous.

I like the idea of the wenge neck. My Walker SJ has a five-piece maple neck and it's rock solid. You can really feel the solidity when playing. It's one of my favourite features actually, that neck.

I hope I'll bump into to you somewhere this year Will, maybe Ullapool? I'm really hoping to push my podcast this year and also to play a lot more and meet more wonderful musicians like yourself.

[Will McNicol]

This weekend I travelled up from Dorset to Yorkshire to visit my good friend Tom. And waiting for me when I arrived was something really rather special indeed.

I've called the guitar Jupiter (because the sides really remind me of the swirling gas clouds of the planet!), and here it very much is.



First impressions? Well, as I walked into the workshop with the guitar proudly placed atop Tom's workbench, its sheer beauty was the first thing to hit me. The redwood with the copper rosettes and detailing, how it catches the light, and then of course the black limba. Just stunning. Up close, the detailing is just next-level.



I love the material combinations, and the rosette and copper detailing we couldn't not be happier with. Such a fun collaboration with beautiful results.

Then, of course, I couldn't stop playing the thing! I kept calling Tom over to say: "Oh man, listen to this"... "oh and how about THIS".



Tonally, the plan came together beautifully. The essence of the first Model S I fell in love with was very much there, the feel, the comfort, the fizzy excited-to-make-music feeling, but the Redwood has had an effect to round off the trebles beautifully and the Black Limba gives it real punch and clarities across the board. The solidity of the Wenge neck gives it a weight that I love, but feels appropriately balanced and entirely effortless to play. Amazingly, the mids have really taken off as well, not something I remembered but I was effortlessly voicing chords with mid-string melodies which just rung out perfectly, and sustained for days.



Recordings I hear you say? Well, we spent a good amount of time in some beautiful locations at a wonderful country estate called Broughton Hall doing precisely that! When it's all been put together of course I'll get sharing the results. One thing I'll remember is the first notes I played in their enormous and stunningly beautiful conservatory. The sound amongst the natural reverb was something else, and as the light shone through, and the birds tweeted in the background - I thought to myself.... what am incredibly lucky chap I am to be here with dear friends playing this wonderful instrument. Humbling in the true sense of that word.



What everyone commented was how much the guitar was opening up even just after a couple of days playing. And as I continuously play new ideas are coming to me all the time. Which, as a composer, is wonderful and precisely the idea!

I'm excited for where this guitar is going to take me, truly. And I've already had a tremendous amount of fun experimenting with the LR Baggs Dual Source pickup system - getting ready for upcoming gigs. It's sounding enormous in all the right ways!



There will be more coming soon - I'll keep you posted as things develop and recordings become available. And enormous tanks to everyone who's commented and messaged about this build - it's been a real joy sharing it all with you - my humble thanks for your support.

I think all my silly grins in the photos above tell the true story better than words can!



Tom's done something magic here, and I'm so grateful to be a part of that journey.

[Deft Tungsman]

Fantastic post, Will!! Can’t wait to witness the magic!

[Will McNicol]

And here's a couple of rather stunning photos of Jupiter:





=)

[Marcus Wong]

CONGRATULATIONS WILL!! Wow. I've loved your music ever since I first heard it back in 2015 and it's so exciting to see you with your very own Signature Tom Sands Guitar. I'll now get to hear all those songs on this beauty!! I absolutely love it when 2 incredible talents collaborate to create something this beautiful. Very much looking forward to seeing and hearing more of this!!

[TomB'sox]

Congrats, that is an amazingly beautiful guitar. My good friend, luthier Ben Wilborn, built a guitar out of a very unique set of BRW which also looked like the storm bands across Jupiter, but he named it the "Jupitar" LOL. Congrats again.

[NickRundall]

That is an absolute stunner of a guitar Will, and thanks for letting us see the design and build process in such detail and with such lovely photos. I've only recently discovered your guitar playing through various demo videos whist perving on high end guitar porn! I'm really blown away by your playing, and have you album Dragonflies, Frogs and Bumblebees on heavy rotation. Bravo! Top work mate! Same to Mr Sands. Amazing.

[steveh]

Originally Posted by NickRundall

whist perving on high end guitar porn!

Been there, done that, got the badge, have the tee-shirt.

Cheers,
Steve

[Wolfram]

That's utterly stunning Will - you must be in Heaven!!

Cheers,
David