Ken Hooper Guitars ('37 D18)

[yukonkornelius]

Soon!

[Allen Shadd]

Glad to see Ken get some much deserved attention. He's a great guy and a great builder, in the top tier of the ones I know. Congrats on the new guitar!

[yukonkornelius]

[yukonkornelius]

She's on the Big Brown Truck, and due to me tomorrow.

[Nemoman]

Awesome--congrats!

Let the banjo slaying begin...

[yukonkornelius]

"out for delivery"

[DamianL]

Looks sweet as a nut...

[Allen Shadd]

Okay, time for a full report on this one!

[yukonkornelius]

Ah yes... time for the "NGD" review. To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of early reviews. I think, for the most part, people are SO excited to receive their new guitars, that sometimes the "honeymoon" period clouds their senses a bit. I've been guilty of this before, for sure.

I received Hooper #79 yesterday. For those that have not followed the build thread, I'll quickly summarize it here (as well as link the various threads below, for anyone interested). I got on Ken's list a little over a year ago. I was due to be #106. I badly wished for #79 and it's my birth year, and (to make a long story short) I was in the right place at the right time and was able to move up to #79. Ken was a huge help in making that happen, obviously. Dealing with Ken was an ABSOLUTE pleasure. From the first email, to taking delivery of the guitar along with a touching handwritten letter yesterday (and all the texts, calls, and emails in between) it's just been an absolutely wonderful experience. I can't say that enough.

I took two trips down to Elkin, North Carolina to visit with Ken. The first was in June when we selected the woods (An AMAZING Hampton Bros. adirondack top, paired with gorgeous old Honduran mahogany from the late Ted Davis' stash) and then again in November to see the progress and take some more photos. (check the link in my signature below). Both trips were just awesome. It's been great getting to know Ken, and I now consider him a friend, for sure. I could go on and one here. I just can't say enough good things about Ken as person. He's the best. I'm VERY grateful for this experience.

Okay... now for the review:

I'd played a lefty Hooper already. It was #20, a D18. I LOVED IT. So, considering it had Elixirs on it (yuck) and the fact that Ken said he believed #79 would be even better, it's safe to say my expectations were quite high.

I received the guitar yesterday, and my expectations were met, for sure. They were exceeded, actually.

I went home on my lunch break to open the box. It has been brought inside and had settled for nearly 4 hours. I felt this was enough time as the temperatures in NC and NY where about the same over the course of it's 42 hour journey to me. I had very little time to check it out, and my kids and nanny where in the house. I decided to take it out to the 40 degree garage. I opened the case and just stood in awe for about 15-20 seconds. A D-18 is a pretty boring looking guitar, usually, and, I'll admit, even in the photos of THIS guitar, it's a simply appointed D18. No bling or bells and whistles. I wanted it to "pop" a bit so we went with a very exotic Brazilian rosewood headstock veneer as well as Waverly relic nickel oval tuners. But still, it looks like a plain old D-18... Until you see it in person. The 30's style guard REALLY sets it off. I mean it's night and day in person vs. the photos. This guitar is stunning. It's simple yet drop-dead gorgeous. It's EXACTLY what I wanted. I literally could not be happier.

So I took it out, tuned it up, and plucked with bare fingers. It sounded great. Then I tried a variety of Blue Chip and real TS picks. WOW. The loudest guitar I've ever heard. Plenty of bass (thank GOD). It sounded great! A bit green, but hey, this thing has been strung for only 3 days! It's gonna take a little while, right? I also tried to take into account that it was 40 degrees in my garage, and the garage has 20ft ceilings. (room for a future loft). I was very very pleased, so, (reluctantly) back to work I went.

I didn't get off until 11pm (sigh). I raced home, checked on my 2 week old daughter and her mama, and then went downstairs to try it out again. I opened the case and found it was still perfectly in tune. I grabbed my newest Blue Chip TD35 (appropriately engraved with "Hooper #79") and began to play a bit. HOLY $%^&... I don't know if it was because I was home, comfortable, warmer, and not being rushed (vs. my quickie lunch trip), but good lord almighty... The "a bit green" thing that I mentioned went right out the window. I know I know... don't get caught in the honeymoon, ALL new guitars need to (and will) open up, etc. etc. YES. This is true, and I'm sure it will, BUT, I swear on anything and everything that matters to me, this guitar is absolutely outstanding RIGHT NOW!! If this guitar gets much better, then it'll be other worldly. I mean, I'm floored... I don't know how to describe it any better. I mean it's a **** home run. Simple as that. I want to get this in as many other lefties hands as possible. I want people to see and hear this guitar.

Ken says that he goes through painstaking effort to make the finish as this as possible, and it shows. You can feel it, you can see it, and you can sure as hell hear it.
The feel is incredible. It weighs 4.1 pounds, the neck is BIG, the profile is perfect (I chose a big round profile that he uses on his J35 model), the action is great, the bridge, saddle and nut (unbleached bone) look and feel perfect! It's just perfect. I could not be any happier. I'm absolutely THRILLED. I feel like this experience is just far more than I deserve. It's honestly borderline overwhelming. I'm very very VERY grateful for being able to experience this, and I cannot thank Ken enough.

If I were you, I'd get on Ken's list. You can thank me later.

Thanks for listening.

Below is the Ken Hooper thread from the UMGF. It shows my build most recently. You'll see build photos if you backtrack, and you'll also see reviews and photos from others going back a ways. Enjoy!

http://theunofficialmartinguitarforu...uitars?page=48

[yukonkornelius]

A few with it's new Collings made vintage case. I'm in love...

[yukonkornelius]