Two Circas at TAMCO UK.

[steveh]

Originally Posted by usb_chord

What did you think of the size? I know you wield a Mod D like a champ, but did the longer upper bout get in your way at all? When I played Al's 000 I was a tad uncomfortable because of it.

No problem at all - it's a far smaller guitar than the Mod D (which I do find a bit of a handful, but that's part of what makes them Ds). It's not deep and the fact that there was a cutaway made it feel even smaller.

Interestingly, what did shake me a little is that there's no 12 fret inlay, the neck/body join is at the 12th fret, but there are two markers at the 9th - I occasionally "got lost" if I was looking rather than feeling my way around.

Originally Posted by thomas1

Did you have the chance to play any other guitars during your TAMCO visit? If so, perhaps rather than us hijacking this thread you could give us a new thread about any other exciting things you had a chance to sample if you have time and it isn't too inconvenient - there are SO many amazing guitars on the website.

I don't think we need a whole other thread because Trevor started this one but yes, I played a whole stack of guitars; loads! I knew that Trevor had some stuff in that I really wanted to try (esp the Circas). I have been resisting the temptation but cracked eventually, skipped off work and made a day of it.

One of the "issues" at TAMCO is that there is a huge selection of really good guitars. We spoke a lot yesterday about "relative" vs "absolute" judgements. Comparing two really great guitars A/B again and again tends to magnify any differences between them whereas, in absolute terms, both are great guitars that anyone would be happy with. I find it very easy to get "confused" and I guess that's not unexpected - who wouldn't with so many stellar instruments?

That being said, there were 4 guitars that really stood out for me:

1. A Claxton EM, German over macassar ebony. This - unsurprisingly given its heritage - was very reminiscent of my Traugott. It was an unbelievably refined and balanced guitar. Complex, great separation. We described it "like a fine wine". Probably the best guitar I've ever played at TAMCO (the other being a Somogyi MD that was at the other end of the tonal spectrum). Predictably, the most expensive of the day.

2. The OOO cutaway Circa; spellbinding trebles and with that looseness you seem to get get from the 12-fret position. Far less fundamental than the Circa OM (which was mahogany, so you'd expect that).

3. A Fischer 12/15 that I really liked - mahogany but warm and luscious, and inviting. No hard edges on this one - great for slow airs. Don't know how well this would stand up to strumming hard, since I never strum.

4. A Brondel "essential" A2 in panamanian rosewood. Pretty typical of the best of Laurent's guitar to my ears - they look like Sobells but are much lighter and sound very different to me (I've had 4 Sobells): this was open, resonant, earthy and woody. A great guitar.

Hovering just below these was a Beneteau OM that I'd played a couple of years ago and which was just as good as I'd remembered.

Price no option, I'd walk out with the Claxton immediately but the Fischer and Brondel were a lot of guitar for the money. And that Circa...

I also have no doubt that someone else would come to a whole lot of different conclusions regarding their favourites.

Cheers,
Steve

[JoeCharter]

I would be quite happy to own that OM. Nice woods all around. I'm sure those two guitars won't end up in the Dusty Corner anytime soon.

Originally Posted by thomas1

Also saw Mau's woods - awesome to say the least again. John seemed pretty excited to be tackling a single 0 size guitar.

I'm quite envious that you could make it to John's shop to check out his stash in person.

As for the single 0, John was a bit concerned at first as he has far more experience with the 00 and has more control over the end result. But I told him to go nuts and to just build the best 0 according to his taste -- so now I think he's excited to introduce a new model, with no pressure whatsoever from the customer.