Jason Kostal OM

[steveh]

Originally Posted by justonwo

I love the back/side woods you have chosen. It's stunning.

Thanks +++. The choice was pretty simple for me. I wanted an "upgrade" on IRW but nothing very expensive. Jason'd price on Honduran was great, so I went with that. It was then simply a case of choosing the most quartered set he had. It's why we went with a simple ebony backstrip - this is not blingy wood.

I did wonder if I should have gone with madrose - this honduran looks a bit like that.

Originally Posted by BellaD4

That top looks particularly amazing from what I can see here in this last photo. Is it German or Italian Spruce? Jason has some great wood options, for sure. The OM and MD are going to be great complements for one another....Now, you just need to pick up one of his OO's for a perfect studio!

Not sure what the top is - it is one of those two though!

There is NO WAY I am getting a OO. My aim was to sell all of my steel strings and get a small one and a big one, both from Jason....and leave it at that! I'm done with horse-trading guitars.



Ask me in a year and we'll see if I've kept that promise; I reckon it's 50:50.

Cheers,
Steve

[ericcsong]

Originally Posted by steveh

My aim was to sell all of my steel strings and get a small one and a big one, both from Jason....and leave it at that! I'm done with horse-trading guitars.

Steve, I need one big and one small from Jason as well! Unfortunately mine won't be ready until the next Healdsburg. Until then, I'll live vicariously through you!

[steveh]

Originally Posted by ericcsong

Steve, I need one big and one small from Jason as well!

To be fair, I probably mean one "big" and one "medium", i.e. an OM.

In general, I'm not a real fan of small guitars (by which I mean 00 or less). To my ears, while they often have stellar mids and especially trebles, the bass response means they sound...well...small.

I don't know how many times I've heard of such-and-such luthier whose size 0/parlour guitars sounds like a cannon, but when I try them, they don't; not to my ears anyway.

I have no doubt at all that Jason's 00 will be a fine instrument, but I'm trying to steer well clear of it - I'm happy that my current prejudices will stop me from spending more!

However, anyone care to chip in who has played Jason's 00 vs his OM? What was your take on them Eric since to seem to have definitely gone for the 00?

Cheers,
Steve

[ericcsong]

Originally Posted by steveh

What was your take on them Eric since to seem to have definitely gone for the 00?

Steve, I thought I was going 00, but I think I'm leaning towards the OM. I have similar thoughts to yours on the real small guitars. Really can't go wrong with an OM!

[steveh]

Originally Posted by ericcsong

Really can't go wrong with an OM!

And there it is, right there. IMHO the OM really has it all. I've often described it as a "vanilla" guitar - everyone likes it.

I have room for two steel strings at the moment - one has to be OM sized. The MD is such a weird outlier that I am happy to make that the other. Nothing that I've come across sounds so "big" and "thunderous" as an MD from the Somogyi stable. It's great, no doubt, but if forced to one guitar, OM every time for me.

Given all that, I've never played an OM by Jason...not long to wait though: Jason is working on the endgraft at the moment. Since he tends to make them different from guitar to guitar it's critical for him to get it right for the guitar in question, rather than merely being something different to whatever he's done before. I'm happy to have a bit of a pause while he muses on this - the endgraft will be on the guitar for life!

Cheers,
Steve

[Scanbran]

Originally Posted by steveh

I'm done with horse-trading guitars.


Cheers,
Steve

Glad to see progress is steady, Steve and it's looking fab

[steveh]

Originally Posted by Scanbran

Glad to see progress is steady, Steve and it's looking fab

Yeah - One New Year resolution about 8 or so years ago was to buy no more guitars that year; I had bought 4 before January had ended.

Indeed our pal Rory is sending me one on Friday to see what I think, but I'm going to keep my hand in my pocket....I hope!

Cheers,
Steve

[steveh]

Originally Posted by steveh

Jason is working on the endgraft at the moment. Since he tends to make them different from guitar to guitar it's critical for him to get it right for the guitar in question, rather than merely being something different to whatever he's done before. I'm happy to have a bit of a pause while he muses on this - the endgraft will be on the guitar for life!

Bit tricky this one. The woods are not blingy and I asked for the box to be bound simply and tastefully in ebony. I've been pressuring Jason to keep the endgraft real simple so it's in keeping with the rest of the guitar - only the rosette is really decorative. Anyway, he pondered and pondered and this is what he came up with:





I like it. Do you?

Cheers,
Steve

[ericcsong]

Love it! Simple, yet elegant.

[Billy Boy]

I think it's exactly what you ordered...simple...but, elegant...goes very well with the whole guitar...congratulations on this one, for sure!

[vicov]

Oh yes, I like it.

Cheers

[fountainhead]

Classic, elegant and beautiful! It's things like this that drove me to get into Jason's queue! I'll have the privilege of owning the first left handed Kostal! I am going to be the luckiest lefty alive!

[Wolfram]

Beautiful - very smart indeed, like it a lot. Looking forward to seeing and playing it in person.

Sorry I missed you Thursday - next time!

[Portland Bill]

Guitars look much better when they aren't plastered in meaningless nonsense,and this proves the point.

[ukejon]

Looks absolutely beautiful, Steve. Could be the cousin of the relatively austere guitar Mark Hatcher is making for me right now...right down to the use of a tile rosette. Look forward to seeing more shots in the days to come.