Fellow OLF'er Russell Rose came to visit today and we had a great day talking guitar making and playing guitars. What a really great guy he is, I had a real blast of a day. I also got to play Russell's new Cocobolo guitar. It's a sweet little guitar with a nice balance across the strings and a loud voice that belies it's small size. The bass is really nice and you get that "thump" against your belly (mine's large enough as you will soon see!) as the the back vibrates with the lower notes. Great for fingerstyle, flatpicking and strumming - as with my experience with Euro Spruce tops they start great and just get better - for a less than a week old guitar it sounds very mature already. Lovely clean build as well - the cocobolo is gorgeous and the London plane binding really sets it off. Also the cherry works really nicely for a neck. The guitar is also nicely balanced physically to play and to prove it here are a couple of pics of us "sad old Brits" playing it. Russell first, then me - (note that Russel is a great student and after a morning's hard teaching can now play right handed - well at least hold the guitar "professionally"
):
On top of that he brought me a neck blank each of cherry and Cedar of Lebanon - what a star and a gentleman
Can't wait to make a return visit down to South Wales.
The kind of guitars you listen to, and smile.
