Doerr guitars - pre/post Somogyi

volman · #1 01-25-2017, 10:21 AM

I've always been a huge fan of the look of Tom Doerr's guitars and really like what I hear from the videos and sound clips I can find. I'm really thinking about tracking down a used one and just wondered what differences should I expect from the guitars he built before the Somogyi voicing class to the builds after the class. Anyone with experience...your thoughts?

And any feedback on the neck? I am looking for something that will play like a Furch I recently played...low profile, "soft shoulders" (whatever that means...guy at the shop said it had softer shoulders than my Emerald), low action...played as easy as my PRS.

fitness1 · #2 01-25-2017, 10:43 AM

Because of my proximity to Tom's shop - about 25 miles - I've probably played as many of his guitars as most folks. I'm not sure about the timing of the Somogyi class, but I can tell you this......I've never picked up one of his instruments, even though typically fresh off the bench, that I couldn't have become lost in it's tone. I even remember his first double bevel guitar that he didn't think turned out as good as he wanted - I thought it was incredibly resonant and pleasing.

I'm sure Diamondave will chime in here too - he's put his paws on lots of Tom's instruments. Like me, he had a chance to play all the instruments Tom took to Santa Barbara, in my case a couple of them literally minutes after they were strung up, and they all had a consistency of tone, playability, intonation and volume that was a bit shocking. I believe his neck profile is consistently pretty shallow as well.

I doubt you'd do much better.

Here's a video of one of Tom's earlier (10 year old) instruments at Dream. Personally I think it sounds as good as any video I've seen there.

https://reverb.com/item/3254406-doerr-legacy-select

islandguitar · #3 01-25-2017, 11:59 AM

I believe Tom's time with the Somogyi workshop was around 2008. From there, Tom's own designs emerged around 2009, but even prior to that his work was influenced by top design folks like Bill Wise and Kevin Ryan.
From working with Tom on my guitar in '13-14, I can tell you that he's always pushing the envelope!! He tried some new tricks that were up his sleeve with my guitar, and I know that more recent builds have had more thought and application of the things he learns and experiments with. The Somogyi workshop was invaluable for him, no doubt.
As was mentioned, even his older work is just superb and highly desirable to many folks.
Neck shape is very playable and indeed shallow. At the time we were discussing the neck on my guitar, Tom mentioned how broad the appeal has been on his neck shapes/playability from all his clients.
Beyond all this, he's a great guy and loves to talk guitars!
Hope this helps.
Fred

volman · #4 01-25-2017, 02:01 PM

Awesome feedback. Thanks!

I've been looking at the one at Dream Guitars, but I might put a WTB ad up in the classifieds to see if anyone has a newer one they want to sell. I bet that '07 is great...but the newer styling and some of the sound clips of newer guitars has me thinking I should hold out.

islandguitar · #5 01-25-2017, 02:40 PM

Bobby Swanson (SuperB) will likely respond.....he recently purchased a Tom Doerr Legacy (older) from Dream Guitars and also has been through a build process with Tom back around '12-13, He'll have a good handle on info for you as well. Stay tuned!

billder99 · #6 01-25-2017, 06:22 PM

Just gotta say... reading the thread above, this is a great example of AGF at it's best... highly knowledgeable and experienced people meeting with curious learners, a discussion that is thoughtful and articulate.

Go Tom D.

ukejon · #7 01-25-2017, 07:08 PM

Great question. I can tell you this: his lattice-braced guitars are sonically remarkable.

volman · #8 01-25-2017, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Bobby Swanson (SuperB) will likely respond.....he recently purchased a Tom Doerr Legacy (older) from Dream Guitars and also has been through a build process with Tom back around '12-13, He'll have a good handle on info for you as well. Stay tuned!

I hope he does. I was searching for videos on YouTube of Doerr guitars and ran across a few videos he had up. I would love to get his input. It looks like he has certainly played A LOT of different boutique acoustics and would have great feedback.

SuperB23 · #9 01-26-2017, 09:56 AM

I'm here!!

I owned a 2008 Legacy in Cedar and Cocobolo which I passed on to a good friend of mine. According to Tom this Legacy was the first guitar he built after the Somogyi Class and he built it for a guitar show. The guitar was so impressive that both my friend and I ordered a new Solace from Tom in 2011 or 2012ish. I currently have a 2007 Legacy that is one of the best sounding guitars I've owned and is on par with any Olson or Ryan I've played. I've played quite a few. All that being said its really hard to go wrong with a Doerr guitar. From talking with Tom it seems like the pre Somogyi class stuff was more inline with Ryan and Olson builds where as after that the voicing changed a bit and is more in line with Kraut, Kostal, and Somogyi. Either way they are great sounding guitars so its hard to go wrong!!! On my short list of guitars to buy another Doerr is near the top.

On the subject of necks I've played two with 1 13/16" nut widths and two with 1 3/4" and all of have very comfortably to play. Like most builders the wider the nut width the more shallow the neck usually is but I'm pretty sure most of his guitars have custom necks that were ordered special for the people ordered the guitars originally.

volman · #10 01-26-2017, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperB23

I'm here!!

I owned a 2008 Legacy in Cedar and Cocobolo which I passed on to a good friend of mine. According to Tom this Legacy was the first guitar he built after the Somogyi Class and he built it for a guitar show. The guitar was so impressive that both my friend and I ordered a new Solace from Tom in 2011 or 2012ish. I currently have a 2007 Legacy that is one of the best sounding guitars I've owned and is on par with any Olson or Ryan I've played. I've played quite a few. All that being said its really hard to go wrong with a Doerr guitar. From talking with Tom it seems like the pre Somogyi class stuff was more inline with Ryan and Olson builds where as after that the voicing changed a bit and is more in line with Kraut, Kostal, and Somogyi. Either way they are great sounding guitars so its hard to go wrong!!! On my short list of guitars to buy another Doerr is near the top.

On the subject of necks I've played two with 1 13/16" nut widths and two with 1 3/4" and all of have very comfortably to play. Like most builders the wider the nut width the more shallow the neck usually is but I'm pretty sure most of his guitars have custom necks that were ordered special for the people ordered the guitars originally.

Thanks for the feedback...and especially the videos on YouTube! I think I've listened to a bunch of different ones over the last couple of days. It is great to hear so many different guitars that were recorded the same way...much easier to compare them.