Cole Clark factory tour

[AcousticAmber]

A few days ago my boyfriend and I did the Cole Clark factory tour in Melbourne, Australia. It was awesome! The CEO of the company, Miles Jackson showed us the factory and explained every step of the guitar building process. He was a super chill, down-to-earth guy and he was happy to answer all of our questions.

He showed us the whole process of how the wood goes from a tree in his neighbour's backyard that was growing too far over their house, or a pesky golf course tree that had dropped a limb on someone and was becoming too dangerous, to a Cole Clark guitar.

Then he took us to the Plek machine and the fret guy gave us a full and detailed run down of the machine and how precisely it levels frets. He also explained how Cole Clark is moving away from endangered woods and using all sustainable Australian timbers, which as an ecologist, is awesome to me.

Cole Clark does things a bit differently (eg. the integrated Spanish heel neck joint instead of a dovetail joint, and internally carved top and back with routed channels for the bracing). And I had heard some negative comments from people about these facts, but once Miles explained exactly why they do these things and seeing it step-by-step for myself, it made a lot of sense to me and I feel these guitars are well built.

Afterwards, we sat in the office with a bunch of guitars in all the models and we could play them as long as we wanted. He would watch our playing styles, then recommend which model and wood combinations would best suit us. If there was something we were interested in, he would run back into the factory and come back with the exact guitar we mentioned for us to play.

All in all, it was a cool experience and I'd recommend it to anyone if you're in the area

[saxonblue]

Thanks for the insight Amber, next time I'm in Melbs will have to do that one & see where & how my 12 string was born.

How frequently do they run these tours if you recall?

[AcousticAmber]

Originally Posted by saxonblue

Thanks for the insight Amber, next time I'm in Melbs will have to do that one & see where & how my 12 string was born.

How frequently do they run these tours if you recall?

Tuesday - Thursday at 10am. You just have to email Miles first to arrange

[Tony Done]

Thanks for posting that, I didn't realise that they had factory tours. I might try and arrange something next time I am in Melbourne.

As far as I can tell, they are still recovering from the fire they had in 2013, only making acoustics. They also made an interesting range of electrics and lap steels before that.

My mate used to stock CC guitars, so I got to have a close look at them. The high precision CNC machining is interesting, and quite different from anything else I have seen.

[DuffyHardie]

Have to agree on the Miles statements.

He has personally responded to one or two emails I have sent him, and always in a professional yet friendly manner. Also spoke with him for 25min at the local guitar shop, shout out to Sunburst Music in Coogee NSW, where he was super chilled and open to discuss a range of things with customers and staff.

The Redwood/Rosewood FL2 I have is also my performance guitar and always gets a good comment or two, it sings....

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by AcousticAmber

Tuesday - Thursday at 10am. You just have to email Miles first to arrange

Wow, that's very cool. I'm planning a visit to Melbourne soon, would you be able to send me a private message with the email address for Miles?

I've long been a fan of the Coles Clark guitars, never played one I didn't like.

[tonyo]

Had a good email response from Miles. Looking forward to it. I forgot to ask him how long to allow for the tour. Any idea ?

[musicman1951]

I didn't know this maker until I found Maneli Jamal - nice player.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXINNFdk23I