Goodall TRH000 versus Santa Cruz 000 versus Froggy H12 - updated with NGD

[BrunoBlack]

Originally Posted by brianlcox

Hi All,

I just bought the Goodall - I should get it play it in a week or so.

Thanks to all the comments and suggestions. The truth is for me, I don't yet know what I really want, so comissioning a new build is still out of the question. I'm still really enjoying trying many different guitars and gathering information about what works and what doesn't. I know from experience that this is a good string spacing for me, and that I like the 12 fret 000 with a short scale for fingerstyle. Let's hope I like the goodall sound in this package. The TROM I had for a while was great, but was ultimately lacking in responsiveness and clarity for my tastes. I hope that this will be an improvement on both fronts.

Thanks again,
Brian

Good luck and have fun. FWIW — I commissioned my Goodall TW-000. Before it was shipped, James contacted me and suggested that he string it up using Elixir PB HD lights instead of the regular non-HD version he generally uses. After playing many strings on this guitar over the last year, I’ve come to agree with James. The HD version plays really well with my 000. I think it balances & enriches the trebles to match the nice throaty bass.

[brianlcox]

So I have been playing the Goodall THR000-12S for about a week now. It is certainly different from the Froggy H12 I had, but some resemblances are very obvious between the two shorter scaled 12 fret 000 body sizes. Both guitars are quite responsive to a light touch and have a bass focussed, warm tone, which is just what I was hoping for.

The Goodall is perhaps a bit less touch responsive than the H12, but in exchange has more sustain and also likes strumming a bit more. It has a very clean, smooth bass, which doesn't get growly or bluesy at all unless you really lay into it. Rather, it provides a nice solid smooth bass upon which you can lay a really nice melody on top of. The trebles are clean and strong, with very nice definition - more so than my TROM that I sold last year. In fact, I think that this is a much better guitar than my TROM from the same era - I wonder why. Perhaps it's just my playing that's improved, but I doubt that. More likely it's my ears changing

I really understand now what previous posts where expressing when they said that the THR000 would be good for "pretty" music, but might not do blues as well as the H12.

The string spacing and nut width feel great to me too - the 1 13/16" feels great to me, and I'm fine with the 2 1/4" saddle spacing.

I contacted Goodall with the serial number and got the pleasant news that the Honduran Rosewood on my guitar is "Special Reserve" quality, and the quality of the Adirondack "AAA" was another $1000 upgrade. Today's build price for the guitar is about $2000 more than I expected when buying the guitar.

One thing that suprised me a little was the discovery that the guitar doesn't seem to have an adjustable truss rod. After a quick internet search, I couldn't find anything official, but found reference on a couple other fora that the slot head version of this guitar doesn't have an adjustable truss rod but rather carbon fiber inserts. I guess it's because the slot head design doesn't provide space for the standard Goodall truss rod adjustment in the headstock. They forgot to answer the question about the truss rod, so hopefully they will get back to me about that soon.

Pics to follow!

Cheers,
Brian

[brianlcox]

Had a really tough time with the reflections....
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[tadol]

Beautiful guitar! That should keep you happy for a lifetime -

Don’t know how I just caught this thread, but I can say you have a great guitar, and it sounds like you got a great deal. Honduran/Adi against Blackwood/Euro - Goodall against SC - thats something that you’d need to have the guitars side by side to really compare and evaluate, but with special instruments like these, and thats almost impossible to do under the best of circumstance - and I’d bet that there’s be no common agreement, either -

One thing I can say, my Blackwood 000 is the heaviest SC I’ve ever picked up, by quite a bit. And that includes a braz baritone!

[tippy5]

Nice golden period of tonewoods.
And your ear, or playing, getting more inspired says' it all.
When an instrument allows your music to go new places.

[BrunoBlack]

I’ve owned a GC, TROM and a TW000. I sold the TROM and don’t miss it a wink. The GC is an absolute star. I commissioned the TW000 and I have to admit that I hought I had made a big mistake for the first couple of weeks after it arrived. It was magnificent aesthetically, but boy it was just ok sounding. But I’ve seen dead green guitars change dramatically, so with fingers crossed I kept playing it and experimenting with different strings. After a couple of months I was beginning to see a great guitar emerging. Fast forward 1 year - today - and this TW000 is absolutely one of the very best guitars I’ve ever played. Deep bass, perfectly balanced tone and nice thick trebles. This is a lucky case where playing it first would have cost me a gem. But I’ll accept luck graciously. I hope you have as great of an experience as I have had.

That is odd that your guitar doesn’t have a truss rod. Good luck.

[brianlcox]

Originally Posted by tadol

Beautiful guitar! That should keep you happy for a lifetime -

Don’t know how I just caught this thread, but I can say you have a great guitar, and it sounds like you got a great deal. Honduran/Adi against Blackwood/Euro - Goodall against SC - thats something that you’d need to have the guitars side by side to really compare and evaluate, but with special instruments like these, and thats almost impossible to do under the best of circumstance - and I’d bet that there’s be no common agreement, either -

One thing I can say, my Blackwood 000 is the heaviest SC I’ve ever picked up, by quite a bit. And that includes a braz baritone!

Thanks Tad. It's too bad that we couldn't work something out, but it was honestly just easier for me to get this one from Italy than to import yours from the US. I would have been very happy with yours too, as I'm sure it's a fantastic guitar.

Originally Posted by tippy5

Nice golden period of tonewoods.
And your ear, or playing, getting more inspired says' it all.
When an instrument allows your music to go new places.

Thanks Tippy. The woods are really special on this one. I love a nice colourful piece of adirondack. It's also what first drew me to Froggy Bottom guitars (other than the tone). The Honduran Rosewood on this one also looks very nice.

Originally Posted by Haasome

I’ve owned a GC, TROM and a TW000. I sold the TROM and don’t miss it a wink. The GC is an absolute star. I commissioned the TW000 and I have to admit that I hought I had made a big mistake for the first couple of weeks after it arrived. It was magnificent aesthetically, but boy it was just ok sounding. But I’ve seen dead green guitars change dramatically, so with fingers crossed I kept playing it and experimenting with different strings. After a couple of months I was beginning to see a great guitar emerging. Fast forward 1 year - today - and this TW000 is absolutely one of the very best guitars I’ve ever played. Deep bass, perfectly balanced tone and nice thick trebles. This is a lucky case where playing it first would have cost me a gem. But I’ll accept luck graciously. I hope you have as great of an experience as I have had.

That is odd that your guitar doesn’t have a truss rod. Good luck.

Thanks Paul. This one is now over 15 years old and is very nice and open. The previous owner had some hand problems and had to give up playing so I don't think this one had been played much in the past few years. I put it on the tone rite for a few days to wake it up again and it is very nice and resonant now. I agree with your description too: nice deep bass, good balance and strong trebles. Makes for a fine fingerstyle guitar. I've also been playing with some simple melodies up the neck and am loving the nice strong, full, and even tone I'm getting.

I also find it strange that there is not adjustment for the truss rod - as far as I know there is a truss rod though - two carbon fiber bars if my sources are correct. I haven't heard back from Goodall about this one yet though. I will perhaps start a thread to see if anyone else knows anything.

[SuperB23]

Awesome find!! Looks like a winner congrats!!