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#61
06-12-2020, 12:15 AM
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#63
06-12-2020, 03:43 PM
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Got Bruces email and pics last night during band practice - I was ready to quit and drive north, while the others were wondering where the pickups were. Except our drummer, who noted “Don’t you have a few of those?”
I plan on picking it up late today, then running out to the coast and start to get to know this beauty - The pics are everything I could hope for. Stunningly beautiful master grade quartersawn materials throughout - even the neck and fretboard are exceptional. Every piece of this instrument is built with the finest materials - even 100 years ago, any master luthier would eagerly choose them. But the design is extremely advanced and refined - ergonomic and structural improvements gleaned from the work (and failures) of some of the finest luthiers of the last 100 years, tempered by an artistic sense that is something that can only be developed through continuous experimentation and critical self-judgement. But in reality, all of the design and construction is solidly rooted in tradition and time-tested techniques - creating an ideal combination of the traditionally proven with the best of modern knowledge - But the true magic in this combination is the builder - Bruce has spent 50 years developing the skills and abilities to build in this style - with each piece hand cut and shaped to be “beautiful” - yes, he actually uses that term for how he individually lays out and shapes each part - its almost zen. Or, it may be zen - and I am not at a level to truly grok it. But I do appreciate all that I do understand, and find it very easy to respect the parts I don’t. Nothing CNC, nothing that was ordered with a bar-code - and nothing built in batches. Without playing it, I can already tell you its probably the finest guitar I’ll ever hear, because it is so much greater than its parts. I’ve never heard a recording that can capture the nuances in tone, and balance, and timbre that truly define a guitar of the calibre Bruce builds, and the feel and beauty can only be experienced when its actually in your hands. The pictures give you an idea of the physical beauty, and I’m sure we’ll try to record something that will give a sense of the voice, but thats the best anyone can offer, and its really inadequate. Just a couple days ago I played a number of guitars that Bruce has in stock, and if this one is even close to any of them it is fantastic. But I do have it on Bruces opinion that this one is truly special - and I can’t wait to find out just how special for myself -
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More than a few Santa Cruz’s, a few Sexauers, a Patterson, a Larrivee, a Cumpiano, and a Klepper!!
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#64
06-12-2020, 03:51 PM
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Congrats, Tad--it's really a beautiful thing.
Enjoy your time with it on the coast!
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2013 Stehr Auditorium (Carpathian/Myrtle) 2015 Stehr Auditorium (Adi/BRW) 2020 Baranik Meridian (Blue Spruce/Manchinga) 2020 Wilborn Arum (Tunnel 14/Coco) 2021 Kinnaird Graybeard (BC Cedar/Bog Oak) 2022 Kinnaird CS Student Build (Adi/Padauk) 2023 Kinnaird FS (Italian/Koa)
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#67
06-13-2020, 04:21 AM
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Nice write-up Tad. Well said. Having Bruce build one for me this year was wish of mine for a long time. One cannot sit down with a Sexauer and not appreciate just how special they are. Really happy for you. Enjoy to the fullest!
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Life is like a box of chocolates ....
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#68
06-14-2020, 07:17 AM
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Tad, I hope that your JB is everything you hoped would be (and then some!) when you purchased the wood and conceived the project with Bruce while on vacation in Italy...
. Since Bruce’s shop is halfway between your two houses, please feel free to audition my 000 before it travels east in July...
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A bunch of nice archtops, flattops, a gypsy & nylon strings…
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#69
06-14-2020, 08:14 AM
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Very nice write up Tad. When I need someone to write about me, I am contacting you!
There is something unique and sweet about the Sexauer tone that makes it different than all my other guitars. I can not put that into words, but it is there. The one objective thing about my Sexauer and all the others I played while in the back yard in Ca. is the set-ups are perfect. I have yet to play another guitar that has the ease of play that my Sexauer does. Again, I can not even tell you why, but likely a result of the aforesaid 50 years of luthery.
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PS. I love guitars! Last edited by TomB'sox; 06-14-2020 at 09:40 AM.
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#70
06-14-2020, 10:04 PM
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Well, a day and a half at the beach - guitar sounds great. A day at home - guitar sounds great. Haven’t taken it into the shop/studio, but I’m thinking it’ll sound great. What I have noticed is how incredibly easy it is to play - the set-up is superb, and the ergonomics of the fan fret and the body is really perfect. The volume is quite amazing - this is the only guitar I have with a sound port, so I thought that was it, but I covered it up, and it doesn’t really make that much difference. It seems to add a little more presence when playing at low volume, but I’m gonna have to spend a lot more time with that. The separation and balance of individual notes is incredible all up and down the fretboard, but when strummed, they meld into a beautiful chorus, with just enough woody reverb to keep it from sounding too modern. Really ideal, to my ears -
Beyond that, I picked up the guitar before Bruce had a chance to final buff and cleaning, and fresh strings. It’s still got it’s “set-up” set on - the one Bruce uses for all the fine adjustments of nut/saddle/frets/relief. Off and on, off and on, off and on - plus, this particular brand has been problematic - like the woods and tuners picked up in Cremona, we picked up a number of sets of these strings, and they’ve proven to be very inconsistent in tone and quality. So, shortly, I hope to spend an afternoon with Bruce getting everything spit-polished, and some fresh strings on, some that I know I like very well, and then we’ll be done. I’ve loved watching Bruce build beautiful guitars for a number of you over the years, and been rather (extremely) envious of many of those creations - but I can, with total honesty, say that I have not seen or played or heard any of his guitars that I would think is better, or want more. But with what I’ve seen coming out of the shop recently, that may change - someday - ;-)
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More than a few Santa Cruz’s, a few Sexauers, a Patterson, a Larrivee, a Cumpiano, and a Klepper!!
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#71
06-15-2020, 08:30 PM
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Matchette 000
Well . . . Tad is delivered, The Madrone classical has all its finish and is curing, Bob's Myrtle is halfway through its curing phase; what am I going to do? I know! I'll build another guitar for John Matchette.
This one will be a straight forward Adi/H. mahogany 000 cutaway. Regulation 25.4 (not JB or JB/2), my aesthetics rather than Martin's, and of course my subtle wedge, which makes no difference until you pick up a guitar that doesn't have it. That can be an Aha(!) moment. The top came from luthier Randy Lucas when he was vending at the Santa Barbara show in 2017. It is just the grain spacing I like, neither narrow nor wide, and nearly the same all the way across. It is also unlikely to have visible run out, and happens to be so creamy that is seems impossible that it is Adi. Randy assures me that's all he's got. The mahogany is nothing special, unless you count that I milled it myself at least 25 years ago, and it is deeply colored and as close to perfectly quarter sawn as it could be. I don't like to use the word "perfect" when talking about wood, but it is tempting in this case. Both of these plates are so homogenous that the camera fails to see what's great about them, so far. But I will give you pictures as they become a bit more embellished through my hard labor.
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#72
06-15-2020, 08:38 PM
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It is beginning to sound like you only use B&S woods that start with "M". Come to think of it, you made my Magnolia guitar.
In all, this is not so surprising as it first appears as, oddly, there is a disproportionate number of B&S woods whose names start with an "M".
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The Bard Rocks Fay OM Sinker Redwood/Tiger Myrtle Sexauer L00 Adk/Magnolia For Sale Hatcher Jumbo Bearclaw/"Bacon" Padauk Goodall Jumbo POC/flamed Mahogany Appollonio 12 POC/Myrtle MJ Franks Resonator, all Australian Blackwood Goodman J45 Lutz/fiddleback Mahogany Blackbird "Lucky 13" - carbon fiber '31 National Duolian + many other stringed instruments.
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#73
06-16-2020, 10:21 AM
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Quote:
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Multiple guitars including a 1979 Fender that needs a neck re-set
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#75
06-16-2020, 05:25 PM
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The rosette is in John's Hmah 000 Red Spruce top:
 
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