Ben Wilborn/Nautilox: Tunnel 14/BRW! Final VIDEO added!!!

[Hasbro]

That guitar looks and sounds amazing time. Congrats and I hope you get to enjoy it and good time. Do you find that there is plenty of room under the strings for your fingers when playing fingerstyle? One thing I curious about is how much I would be tapping the top with my nails since it has no Center sound hole

[Rwpierce]

Tom, congratulations on this beautiful all around guitar. Very unique and cool. Tone wise I would very interested on how it compares to the Penngrove that you are temporarily hosting.

[Carmel Cedar]

Tom, what a gorgeous guitar! I'm late to the "Nautilox" party, but appreciated Ben's video and his stellar recounting his design approach as well as the story behind this guitar. Looks like it will be a delight, and I look forward to your comments once you have it in your hands and have some time with it.

I love that you partnered so heavily on creating a new model. In addition to enriching our guitar community and supporting deserving luthiers, you're making your mark in helping to advance guitar design - how cool is that!

[TomB'sox]

Sorry guys and gals, been away from the forum for a few days, life got in the way we will say and leave it there. I got the guitar on Tuesday morning and then went to work. I was pretty excited to open it up when I got home.
I was not dissappointed.

Originally Posted by Hasbro

That guitar looks and sounds amazing time. Congrats and I hope you get to enjoy it and good time. Do you find that there is plenty of room under the strings for your fingers when playing fingerstyle? One thing I curious about is how much I would be tapping the top with my nails since it has no Center sound hole

No problem at all. The finger board is raised and I have yet to touch the top at all. In fact, I am a pinky anchor guy and I tend to cause little marks in the pick guard because of that. I was noticing when I play this, I am not anchoring my pinky. This was not a conscience thought. So plenty of room and I would say anyone who would hit the top when finger picking on this guitar would actually have to try and then it would be very hard.

Originally Posted by Rwpierce

Tom, congratulations on this beautiful all around guitar. Very unique and cool. Tone wise I would very interested on how it compares to the Penngrove that you are temporarily hosting.

I wish I could answer this question more directly, but I have to just say they are two completely different animals. Both stunning to play and listen to, but almost two different to compare. Like Lions and Tigers, both large cats, but completely different and yet stunning in their own right.

Originally Posted by Carmel Cedar

Tom, what a gorgeous guitar! I'm late to the "Nautilox" party, but appreciated Ben's video and his stellar recounting his design approach as well as the story behind this guitar. Looks like it will be a delight, and I look forward to your comments once you have it in your hands and have some time with it.

I love that you partnered so heavily on creating a new model. In addition to enriching our guitar community and supporting deserving luthiers, you're making your mark in helping to advance guitar design - how cool is that!

Hey, good to hear from you. It is very cool in that I got to help just a little with the design here and there with some suggestions. I know which things came about from my input and those that did not, but added all together, the result is 100% from Ben and it is pretty amazing.

[TomB'sox]

First off, this was shipped USPS and the box arrived in pristine condition. I have never had one so perfect before so well done USPS. Credit given where due:

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We upgraded to a beautiful white Visesnut case as the Nautilox deserves a palace fit for a King:

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Opening the case and there he was, I did not hear the horns from the palace (at least I don't think so):

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[TomB'sox]

There is the most wonderful grain pattern in the sides of this guitar, both at the top on each side of the neck in the cutaway section and then the bass side. I tried to capture this in the pictures, but am not sure I did. I can say I have never seen a pattern like this before, like fletching on an arrow...

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[cigarfan]

So glad to hear you've received it. Now comes the fun part. Getting to know all the nuances. Wish I was there to play with you. Doggone virus!

[Dustinfurlow]

Just now finished watching Ben's video - wow...this is a stunning guitar, tonally and visually! I am so bummed that the opportunity to hear this guitar and meet the maker were pulled out from underneath but wow, what a nice demo. Ben is so good at coaxing tone and individual characteristics out of each guitar he makes... Enjoy in good health, Tom.

[MThomson]

I'm pleased this made it to you safe and sound and you're getting to know it. I hope you get many years of pleasure from it.

[iim7V7IM7]

Congrats Tom.... I look forward to hearing your impressions of it.

[Flat5]

May it bring you joy!

[islandguitar]

Wonderful to know the guitar arrived safe and sound, Tom! Many congrats on a stunner! Everything about the Nautilox seems sublime and certainly fitting for one who loves guitars....as you do!.
Stay safe and be well,
Fred

[TomB'sox]

Originally Posted by cigarfan

So glad to hear you've received it. Now comes the fun part. Getting to know all the nuances. Wish I was there to play with you. Doggone virus!

Same here, it will happen some day!

Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow

Just now finished watching Ben's video - wow...this is a stunning guitar, tonally and visually! I am so bummed that the opportunity to hear this guitar and meet the maker were pulled out from underneath but wow, what a nice demo. Ben is so good at coaxing tone and individual characteristics out of each guitar he makes... Enjoy in good health, Tom.

The disappointment in having to ruin the unveiling of this new model at B.I.G. is huge, but we are in unprecedented times, and we had not choice. I agree Ben is pretty amazing with the nuance he can put into his demos with that darn flat pick of his!

Originally Posted by MThomson

I'm pleased this made it to you safe and sound and you're getting to know it. I hope you get many years of pleasure from it.

Thank you for your thoughts, I plan on many more years and when I am gone, I know this guitar will bring someone else many years of love as well.

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Congrats Tom.... I look forward to hearing your impressions of it.

Thank you Bob, coming up...

Originally Posted by Flat5

May it bring you joy!

Thank you, I wish I could have put it into your hands.

[TomB'sox]

Ok, so I have had the guitar for about 4 days. I have been trying to figure out how to review this guitar and do it justice while not sounding too exuberant.

First of all, I love the colors and looks and flowing lines of the new design. That is not a surprise, we picked the woods together and made design choices along the way that I like. The world of customs right. I should like the looks.

Does it sound as good as it looks, no, it sounds much much better than it looks. The hard part is trying to describe this as the guitar is a truly new experience, so much so, that it is almost apples to oranges to compare it to anything else so I am going to try to avoid that. I love all my guitars, just differently I guess, like kids.

Upon my request, Ben sent this to me tuned up and in drop D, because I wanted that first strum out of the case to be the first thing I heard, not tuning it up cuz that gives you an idea before you play it. When I hit the low D and strummed a D chord it was like I was wrapped in sound. It is completely different, you are part of the music, in the music, not listening to the music from another vantage point, you are inside of it, a 3-D experience, like the Dolby surround sound at the start of a movie. It is like the first time of having a guitar with a soundport maybe, but, 100 times more than that.

I described it to Ben as if I were in a round room with dolby speakers all around the outside of the room, all set to converge on me in a chair in the middle of the room. It is hard to explain. It is not just the location of the sound hole either as I once owned a very nice McPherson and I did not get the same from that.

The bass, oh my, the bass. When you play the low E, it becomes a full body experience, the vibrations hit you, there is this Boom, then this full lovely round deep immersive bass note is all around you and it grows and blooms. It is like it is tuned to an octave lower or something, but it is not. Ben described the prototype as being cello like and I get that now, that deep rich haunting full sound of a solo cello being played, mezmerizing. It is a fan fret and this helps with the bass, but it is more than that. I think of it in this way. With the standard sound hole, you hit the bass and the air begins to vibrate through the top into the box, it rolls around in there for a bit then escapes through the hole and we hear it. With this design the sound hole is right there by the bass, so you hit it and the full brunt of the bass note just flows right out with no hindrance at all, nothing holding it back and you get the full intensity of the note. Now I know that is probably not how it happens via the physics, but that is what it feels and sounds like to my mind. And, this is just an OM sized body.

As you go up, the trebles are bright and clear and beautiful. So even though the bass is so so big, somehow, and this is where the magic comes in, there is a balance across the spectrum that makes for a richness, an overwhelming feel of fullness to the sound that is hard to explain.

I have already written a new fingerstyle piece that the guitar seemed to write itself as every note is a wonder upon itself.

So, that is the best I can describe this guitar. Until you play it, and Kevin, Ben, Brad Jones, and I are really the only ones that I know of that have experienced it, words (especially mine), can not do it justice.

Kathy and I were discussing the return of B.I.G. this AM (the hopeful return) for maybe early November, so anyone wanting to experience this for themselves, stay tuned (pun intended).

[Carmel Cedar]

Tom, what a great review! You have a gift for conveying tone. This guitar clearly gave you wonderful tone to write about - Ben has created something really special. Does the 'Dolby effect' also kick in when in standard tuning, or is it specific to drop D?

If you have a few moments in the middle of these hectic circumstances, a video or sound file post would be awesome - my headphones are plugged in and ready! The opportunity to see/hear this guitar live will be an extra motivation for us to make it to a rescheduled B.I.G. as well...