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#1
02-12-2019, 03:28 PM
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Two for Jack
Hi folks! John Datlen here from Datlen Luthiery. Last year I was contacted by Jwills57 to build a couple of guitars for him. What’s interesting is that Jack wanted two identical guitars except for the top wood. One for fingerstyle and one for flat picking. What’s also cool is that he trusted me to build a size and model that I had never built before. Jack wanted a large guitar with no frills. No cutaway, no bevels, no wedge, no inlay, etc. After twisting his arm a bit, he agreed to let me put a slight Manzer wedge in. I felt it was would be nice for reach around comfort as they are a larger body guitar. After a few emails back and forth, we settled on a design.
It has been a really fun project for me to design and build these guitars. I really appreciate Jack’s confidence in me since this was somewhat uncharted territory. My OM has been the largest guitar I offer until now. I am so pleased with how these guitars came out that they are being added to my lineup. They are roughly the size of a Gibson J-185 but I redesigned the body shape and braced it accordingly. Here are the general specs. Adirondack Spruce - top 1 Engelmann Spruce - top 2 Cocobolo back and sides Honduras Mahogany neck Macassar ebony fretboard, bridge and bindings 16” lower bout 4 1/2” body depth Manzer wedge 25.4” scale 14 frets to body 1 3/4”+ nut width 2 1/4” string spacing Bone nut, saddle and bridge pins Gotoh 510 tuners Adirondack IMG_1550005945.732061.jpg Engelmann IMG_1550005977.138559.jpg Bracing rough IMG_1550006052.406745.jpg Bracing finished IMG_1550006112.675980.jpg Ready for the back IMG_1550006282.169047.jpg All closed up IMG_1550006337.001903.jpg Nice cocobolo! IMG_1550006366.256048.jpg All bound up IMG_1550006478.948721.jpg IMG_1550006502.902569.jpg IMG_1550006522.200358.jpg Neck carving IMG_1550006560.378262.jpg Finish being applied IMG_1550006676.306350.jpg IMG_1550006720.069663.jpg Adirondack guitar front IMG_1550006755.984112.jpg Adirondack guitar back IMG_1550006795.688310.jpg Engelmann guitar front IMG_1550006817.481895.jpg Engelmann guitar back IMG_1550006837.714389.jpg Last edited by Kerbie; 02-28-2019 at 02:59 AM. 
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#2
02-12-2019, 03:44 PM
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Hi, Guitar Friends--This is Jack. Just wanted to add a couple of thoughts. First, John is just a very humble, very appreciative, and obviously very skillful guitar builder. We struck up an immediate rapport when I called him way back in the early spring. I had seen a video of him at Mighty Fine Guitars being interviewed by Stevie Coyle, which originally stimulated my interest, and things progressed from there. Second, the guitars are amazing, not so much as the hint of even the tiniest flaw in either instrument. The design and execution are perfect, the joinery and the mitering are perfect, the fit and finish is perfect. I've been lucky in my life to have owned a number of luthier-built guitars, and these two guitars from John are as good as any I have ever played. Obviously, there are a fair number of truly talented and committed luthiers going today, so we are lucky in this country to have such choices, but you definitely could not go wrong by checking John out, if you're looking to have a handmade guitar built. Best, Jack
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#3
02-12-2019, 06:19 PM
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I just checked out John's website. Beautiful guitars.
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=================================== '07 Gibson J-45 '68 Reissue (Fuller's) '18 Martin 00-18 '18 Martin GP-28E '65 Epiphone Zenith archtop
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#4
02-13-2019, 11:36 AM
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Quote:
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#7
02-13-2019, 12:44 PM
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Jack here. Thanks for the question, hgaynor. The Engelmann/Cocobolo has quite a velvet, creamy sound to it, a very flowing, articulate kind of sound, if that makes any sense, plenty loud and rich. The Adirondack/Cocobolo has a much more fundamental sound to it, more of a penetrating, dynamic kind of sound. This is exactly what I was hoping for when John and I embarked on this project. I play mostly fingerstyle, so that was the idea behind the Engelmann guitar, but I'm also dabbling in more single-note playing, so I thought an Adirondack guitar might work really well for this. I also think, though I haven't had too much time to experiment, that the Adirondack guitar will work really well for the stuff I play in alternate tunings. It's amazing how good these guitars both sound now, both around a month or so old; it will be truly interesting and intriguing to see how the sound of each develops and matures as time goes on. Best, Jack
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#8
02-28-2019, 12:12 AM
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Two for Jack
Hi folks! I got the professional photos of these two back from my photographer, JJI here on the forum. The guitars look great and Jack is thoroughly enjoying them.
Here is the Engelmann IMG_1551334579.126594.jpg IMG_1551334598.595188.jpg IMG_1551334667.909381.jpg IMG_1551334683.288629.jpg Here is the Adirondack IMG_1551334710.704866.jpg IMG_1551334729.978677.jpg IMG_1551334753.534259.jpg IMG_1551334771.246516.jpg Last edited by Kerbie; 02-28-2019 at 03:01 AM.
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#9
02-28-2019, 05:22 AM
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Simply beautiful Jack! And congratulations John. These look terrific.
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#10
03-01-2019, 04:42 PM
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Unfortunately, even though I chose the higher quality when posting the photos on the forum, they are not very clear. It's too bad as the quality doesn't allow you to zoom in and see the details. Maybe I will post some zoomed in shots.
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#11
03-03-2019, 07:03 AM
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Quote:
John Datlen might be relatively new in this scene as a luthier but that doesn't stop him from being one of the stars at The Golden Era Guitar where his guitars still do stand out tonally amongst his peers. Looking forward to having plenty more passing through the shop! 
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THE GOLDEN ERA GUITAR FOR SALE | VIDEOS AUTHORISED DEALER OF: Astrand | Bowerman | Brondel | Buendia | Casimi | Datlen | Doerr | Fujii | Gerber | GR Bear | Heinonen | Isaac Jang Keith | Keystone | Matsuda | Michaud Made | Ogino | Pellerin | Petros | Poljakoff | Strahm | Tom Sands | Wingert ...and more www.TheGoldenEraGuitar.com [email protected] +65 8666 0420
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#12
03-04-2019, 12:14 AM
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When John brought these to get photographed, I had the opportunity to play them both.
Staggering. They sound huge, but both retain a clarity that is pretty unexpected. I do think clarity is something that John achieves naturally. Both guitars strummed well, but they’re single note monsters. I’m happy to send anyone high res files of the images, if interested.
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