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Surprised by the Claxton Malabar
First, a little history...
I have been commissioning and buying and selling guitars for a long time and have gone through quite a few guitars. Fairly early on, I got my hands on a jumbo that was made by a luthier many enthusiasts consider to be probably or at least among the very best in the world. This.guitar influenced me significantly in what I considered to be a world class guitar. What I can remember from it to this day was the best and most profound bass I have ever heard. But it also imprinted a bias towards rosewood and spruce - especially brazilian rosewood and adirondack spruce. As well because of it, I believed that a small guitar could never give the fullness of tonality and sound that were needed. This understanding was reinforced by many more guitars that I played or owned since then - many of them made by some of the most respected luthiers in the world. A good guitar was at least OM in size and always made of spruce and rosewood, preferably brazilian rosewood. Turn the clock quite a few years and by now I had tried the guitars of almost all the luthiers whose work I was intrigued by. But there was one luthier whose work I had not played yet - Ed Claxton. I had always heard good things about his work and no one ever had a negative thing to say about him or of the tone of any of his guitars as far as I came across. But it was not easy for me to come across one of his guitars as they were not very frequently on the market and not often at a time when I was able to afford one, or it woukdbe sold beforehand or somethint would occur that would frustrate my chance to try one. I finally got my hands on a euro spruce and euro maple malabar. I now have a new reference standard for the best guitar i have ever played. Furthermore, it overturns all my guitar prejudices and assumptions. Despite not being made of rosewood, it seems to have the reverb and richness of rosewood. It has among the greatest bloom of any guitar I have ever played. Despite being smaller than an OM and being 12 fret, it has power and volume and fullness of sound. It has directness and a level of instant responsiveness that would be absent from a rosewood guitar. It has the best treble and mid of any guitar I have possibly ever played - suppleness, fatness of fundamental, clarity, warmth, an almost human quality and sorority of timbre. Spmething about its tonality made songs played on it sound nicer to my ear. Despite its size, it has nothing lacking in its bass at all - true, it is not as big as that jumbo so many years ago but at the same time it is not out of proportion with the rest of the tone - now I understand what perfect balance means. The bass is satisfying, deep, totally debunking my prejudices that non rosewood guitars could never deliver a great bass to my ears. Best of all, there is a sense like I am coming home about it that makes it my favourite guitar of all the guitars I have ever tried. In short, this malabar is as close as it gets to a perfect guitar that I have ever encountered! I never thought I would say this of a small Maple guitar, of all things...
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... Last edited by gitarro; 01-07-2023 at 09:57 AM. |
#2
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I first met Ed in 2003 and was immediately impressed by his work. He is a master craftsman and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. Craftsmanship without equal and sound to match. Congratulations on your guitar, you won’t find a better one.
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#3
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I have never played a Claxton, but I am glad to see your post, not because he needs much publicity as his reputation is well established, but because you have such high praise for a maple guitar.
I am tired of hearing the same old stuff about maple being too bright and can't produce a great guitar. I have played many maple guitars that were incredible and own one that is one of my most enjoyable guitars to play and would never sell (S. Kinnaird OM). Michael Watts' main guitar is a Kostal ModD made from maple. So congrats on your great find and a wonderful guitar as well as helping to destroy the ignorant stereotype that maple guitars still seem to hold and contributing such positive reviews both for Ed and maple guitars.
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PS. I love guitars! |
#4
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... |
#5
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Hand built….by a master
Plus one on maple, when done RIGHT
My JK custom is fabulous sounding, and beautiful as well. I believe firmly in 12 frets to the body for TONE Nice that we can change our minds in our dotage! Hahahaha Play it in fine health and spirits Paul
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4 John Kinnaird SS 12c CUSTOMS: Big Maple/WRC Dread(ish) Jumbo Spanish Cedar/WRC Jumbo OLD Brazilian RW/WRC Big Tunnel 14 RW/Bubinga Dread(ish) R.T 2 12c sinker RW/Claro 96 422ce bought new! 96 LKSM 12 552ce 12x12 J. Stepick Bari Weissy WRC/Walnut More |
#6
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Not surprised by your Malabar...
First off, congratulations on your find, gitarro!
Second, dude, where are the pics???? I've extolled the charms of my Claxton OM many times on this forum. Since I bought it nearly four years ago, I have had the opportunity to play quite a few guitars owned by friends that were built by some of the world's very best luthiers (Traugott, Kostal, Sands, Baranik, De Jonge, Ryan, Circa, Bown, etc.). In all this time, I have never felt even the slightest tinge of guitar envy, despite the fact that some of those guitars cost many thousands more than what I paid for my Claxton. Gitarro's description of what sets his Malabar apart from all the rest echoes Janne Suominen's impressions of his own maple Malabar and reflects my experience with my OM. Steve H, another guitar connoisseur and fortunate owner of a Claxton OM, said it best: "It's just right in every single area without bragging about itself." Each of the guitars in my signature has its own special brand of excellence, but if I had to choose only one, the Claxton would be it, hands down.
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____________________________________________ 1922 Martin 0-28 1933 Martin 0-17 1974 Alvarez/Yairi CY120 2010 Baranik Parlor 2013 Circa OM-18 2014 Claxton OM Traditional 2014 Blackbird Rider Last edited by Deft Tungsman; 08-27-2023 at 03:06 PM. |
#7
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Ed is a genuinely wonderful guy who builds perfectly constructed instruments. Craftsmanship is second to none (his rosettes!), with a wonderful, balanced tone and no hand waving. They’re kind of a Zen instrument: Ed’s design and build philosophies don’t chase the latest fashion or exalt the past, they just dial in a beautiful appearance and tremendously versatile sound. I inherited one of his Euro maple guitars and can vouch for all that is said here.
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#8
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I've really enjoyed the 4 or 5 Claxton guitars I've played as well. Ed builds fine instruments!
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Crazy guitar nut in search of the best sounding guitars built today and yesterday. High End Guitar Review Videos. www.youtube.com/user/rockinb23 |
#9
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Claxton's design aesthetic on this malabar is tasteful and elegantl and his wokrmanship is indeed first class in fit and finish.
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... |
#10
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I guess sometimes it takes a great guitar to demolish soemstromgly held stereotypes..
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... |
#11
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Your posts on your guitar have been one of the biggest spurs to prod me into continuing to look yo try a claxton, so thanks for sharing your good experiences with your claxton guitar.u
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... |
#12
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... Last edited by gitarro; 01-08-2023 at 05:08 AM. |
#13
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... |
#14
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A bit of botanical geekdom to go with the guitar geekdom:
There are two European Maple species commonly used for woodworking and instruments: Acer pseudoplatanus common name: Sycamore Maple Acer platanoides, common name: Norway Maple I believe the one used for most guitars is A. pseudoplatanus. While the species designations of both Euro maples reference the genus Platanus - which is the genus of Sycamores - they are both true maples as their genus name suggests. |
#15
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In the end it is about who you love above yourself and what you have stood for and lived for that make the difference... |