De Faoite "Samhradh" Road Trip - London, SE19
May 14, 2016 15:46:29 GMT
Martin, ocarolan, and 5 more like this
Post by gekko on May 14, 2016 15:46:29 GMT
Here's my review of Samhradh, which I had the pleasure of looking after for 2 weeks from Saturday, 30th April to Saturday, 14th May.
Apologies for the lack of a recording. I lost 4 days over the middle weekend as we were away in Oslo, so my time with Samradh has been more limited than I'd have liked. I've been working on a couple of pieces and had hoped to get one of them to recording stage, but I'm probably about a week away from that. I guess I'll just save them for when I get my new Larrivee Parlour guitar in a few weeks time.
Anyway, here goes...
Appearance
The first thing that struck me is how similar Samhradh is in shape to my own guitar.
Samhradh is 10mm narrower at the waist and 10mm and 20mm narrower at the upper and lower bout (I can't remember which way round though and as I've handed it over so can't remeasure). It also has a Florentine cutaway, the same as my Fylde Alchemist.
The other thing in common is that both guitars have walnut back and sides, although Samhradh has a satin finish, whereas the Fylde is gloss. Interestingly, playing Dave's guitar for a couple of weeks made me realise just how sticky gloss can feel. It can make a guitar look nice and expensive, but satin finishes are much nicer to play.
Samhradh has stunning looks. The headstock and black tuners are very classy. The spruce top has a clear pickguard, probably a good idea for a guitar that is going on a road trip, and much more subtle than tortoiseshell ones. I confess that I can't stand tortoiseshell guards, although nearly every guitar I've had has had one.
As expected, the walnut back is beautiful. It really is a great wood - both in terms of sound and looks.
Ease of use
On the whole, Samhradh is very comfortable to play. As it's so similar to my main guitar, there was no settling in period. It really was 'pick up and play'. If I'm being harsh, I'd say that the waist shape felt slightly strange and when sitting on a proper chair playing legs crossed, I found it didn't sit quite right. However, as my usual position is slouched on the sofa, it wasn't that big a deal.
The fretboard is easy to play, aided by the satin neck and the width of the neck, which was perfect. I've been finding my Fylde neck a little problematic recently because it's only 43mm, so it was nice to have a little extra space to play with.
The body is fairly small, which is great for me as I find large guitars uncomfortable. I played the guitar for hours on end with no discomfort.
Sound
The guitar has a typical walnut tone, which I always think of as a bit moody. Where it differs from the Alchemist is that Dave's guitar is spruce rather than cedar. It was interesting to compare how the different tops affected the sound. I'd say the Alchemist has a sweeter tone, but Samhradh projects more and has added punch. I tend to pick gently, so the extra volume was helpful. In my hands, I think I sometimes struggled to make it really sing and I got more out of the bass than the top end.
General thoughts
I really enjoyed my two weeks with Samhradh. She's very easy to pick up and play, whether for 20 minutes (which is generally the amount of time I have after work) or for a few hours (at the weekend). I think you're all going to have a great time with her and I wish her well on her travels.
I've leave you with a picture of Margot, who found playing Samhradh to be an exhausting experience...
Apologies for the lack of a recording. I lost 4 days over the middle weekend as we were away in Oslo, so my time with Samradh has been more limited than I'd have liked. I've been working on a couple of pieces and had hoped to get one of them to recording stage, but I'm probably about a week away from that. I guess I'll just save them for when I get my new Larrivee Parlour guitar in a few weeks time.
Anyway, here goes...
Appearance
The first thing that struck me is how similar Samhradh is in shape to my own guitar.
Samhradh is 10mm narrower at the waist and 10mm and 20mm narrower at the upper and lower bout (I can't remember which way round though and as I've handed it over so can't remeasure). It also has a Florentine cutaway, the same as my Fylde Alchemist.
The other thing in common is that both guitars have walnut back and sides, although Samhradh has a satin finish, whereas the Fylde is gloss. Interestingly, playing Dave's guitar for a couple of weeks made me realise just how sticky gloss can feel. It can make a guitar look nice and expensive, but satin finishes are much nicer to play.
Samhradh has stunning looks. The headstock and black tuners are very classy. The spruce top has a clear pickguard, probably a good idea for a guitar that is going on a road trip, and much more subtle than tortoiseshell ones. I confess that I can't stand tortoiseshell guards, although nearly every guitar I've had has had one.
As expected, the walnut back is beautiful. It really is a great wood - both in terms of sound and looks.
Ease of use
On the whole, Samhradh is very comfortable to play. As it's so similar to my main guitar, there was no settling in period. It really was 'pick up and play'. If I'm being harsh, I'd say that the waist shape felt slightly strange and when sitting on a proper chair playing legs crossed, I found it didn't sit quite right. However, as my usual position is slouched on the sofa, it wasn't that big a deal.
The fretboard is easy to play, aided by the satin neck and the width of the neck, which was perfect. I've been finding my Fylde neck a little problematic recently because it's only 43mm, so it was nice to have a little extra space to play with.
The body is fairly small, which is great for me as I find large guitars uncomfortable. I played the guitar for hours on end with no discomfort.
Sound
The guitar has a typical walnut tone, which I always think of as a bit moody. Where it differs from the Alchemist is that Dave's guitar is spruce rather than cedar. It was interesting to compare how the different tops affected the sound. I'd say the Alchemist has a sweeter tone, but Samhradh projects more and has added punch. I tend to pick gently, so the extra volume was helpful. In my hands, I think I sometimes struggled to make it really sing and I got more out of the bass than the top end.
General thoughts
I really enjoyed my two weeks with Samhradh. She's very easy to pick up and play, whether for 20 minutes (which is generally the amount of time I have after work) or for a few hours (at the weekend). I think you're all going to have a great time with her and I wish her well on her travels.
I've leave you with a picture of Margot, who found playing Samhradh to be an exhausting experience...