Post by sweyne1 on Mar 6, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
Tuesday for me was not a NGD day but a NOGD day. That's Newly Ordered Guitar Day. After trying a number of guitars late last year I spent a good while thinking about it and finally decided that i'd go for a Fylde Alexander. Back in this thread I explained that I visited Keith to try his Alexander which obviously impressed me a lot.
After trying Keith’s guitar I had in mind the standard cedar/sapele mix (finance dictated no rosewood as per Keith’s guitar), a 45mm nut width and I was seriously thinking about a clean, no inlay fingerboard plus the longer scale length both of which Keith had specified.
I visited Roger’s workshop on 4th March. Roger had said I could try out any guitar available at the time but didn’t think there’d be many, maybe not even an Alexander.
He actually had seven guitars on display. One was a nylon string but I tried all six others numerous times over the best part of two hours. There was an Alexander (cedar/sapele – 43mm nut), a Leonardo (cedar/maple – 44), an Ariel (cedar/rosewood - 46), an Orsino (cedar/mahogany - 45), a Ken Nichol (cedar/rosewood - 45) and another Orsino, I think, (sitka/rosewood - 45). It was great to hear the different sounds from the different wood combinations and also feel the difference the nut widths made, not from memory but by being able to bounce back and fore between each guitar numerous times to confirm. Also it was great to be able to compare scale lengths. Four of the others were 648 with the Alexander being 629. Not a completely even comparison I know because the Alex has a slightly shorter body than the others but the comfort of the short scale made me opt to stick to that.
With the nut widths the end result was that I asked Roger for the 44 mm nut as the Leonardo felt the most comfortable. I also asked him for the Headway FEQ plus I wanted some customization to make it ‘my’ guitar. So I opted for rosewood to replace the black on the headstock plus the abalone diamond inlays as per the Leonardo.
One other benefit, which I wasn’t expecting, from having six guitars to try was that they all had slightly different neck profiles and, when I mentioned how comfortable the combination of the 44 mm nut and neck profile on the Leonardo was Roger just got out his trusty whatchamacallit, measured the Leonardo neck and said that’s what I’ll do on your guitar. Thinking back I suppose it felt quite ‘electric’. Some may be put off by that but the most important thing to me was which is the best to play. That’s what it’s all about after all.
Roger was fantastic. He just left me to it, answered any questions I came up with, offered advice and then, before I left, asked if I’d like a quick tour of the workshop. Yes was the obvious answer. You can tell from his enthusiasm that he just loves what he does. I can’t imagine him stopping until he’s unable to do it any more. That will be a very, very sad day for people who love guitars.
Now all i've got to do is wait. And wait. And wait. But it'll be worth it.
One very happy bunny.
John
After trying Keith’s guitar I had in mind the standard cedar/sapele mix (finance dictated no rosewood as per Keith’s guitar), a 45mm nut width and I was seriously thinking about a clean, no inlay fingerboard plus the longer scale length both of which Keith had specified.
I visited Roger’s workshop on 4th March. Roger had said I could try out any guitar available at the time but didn’t think there’d be many, maybe not even an Alexander.
He actually had seven guitars on display. One was a nylon string but I tried all six others numerous times over the best part of two hours. There was an Alexander (cedar/sapele – 43mm nut), a Leonardo (cedar/maple – 44), an Ariel (cedar/rosewood - 46), an Orsino (cedar/mahogany - 45), a Ken Nichol (cedar/rosewood - 45) and another Orsino, I think, (sitka/rosewood - 45). It was great to hear the different sounds from the different wood combinations and also feel the difference the nut widths made, not from memory but by being able to bounce back and fore between each guitar numerous times to confirm. Also it was great to be able to compare scale lengths. Four of the others were 648 with the Alexander being 629. Not a completely even comparison I know because the Alex has a slightly shorter body than the others but the comfort of the short scale made me opt to stick to that.
With the nut widths the end result was that I asked Roger for the 44 mm nut as the Leonardo felt the most comfortable. I also asked him for the Headway FEQ plus I wanted some customization to make it ‘my’ guitar. So I opted for rosewood to replace the black on the headstock plus the abalone diamond inlays as per the Leonardo.
One other benefit, which I wasn’t expecting, from having six guitars to try was that they all had slightly different neck profiles and, when I mentioned how comfortable the combination of the 44 mm nut and neck profile on the Leonardo was Roger just got out his trusty whatchamacallit, measured the Leonardo neck and said that’s what I’ll do on your guitar. Thinking back I suppose it felt quite ‘electric’. Some may be put off by that but the most important thing to me was which is the best to play. That’s what it’s all about after all.
Roger was fantastic. He just left me to it, answered any questions I came up with, offered advice and then, before I left, asked if I’d like a quick tour of the workshop. Yes was the obvious answer. You can tell from his enthusiasm that he just loves what he does. I can’t imagine him stopping until he’s unable to do it any more. That will be a very, very sad day for people who love guitars.
Now all i've got to do is wait. And wait. And wait. But it'll be worth it.
One very happy bunny.
John