Official Luthiers Forum!

Billy the ones I played were the original Loughborough University ones, their original prototypes, I believe they licensed cool acoustics to build them. I would love to get one into a studio, I thinks as a recording guitar they would have no peer.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I own an Ovation Mandolin and it sounds really good, believe me! but it would never compare to the ones Mario makes out of his spruce and maple, Mario's mandolins have so much power that i regretted spending $700 on my Ovation!

Shawn, i too appreciated your story, i'm a forest technician myself and love the idea of reforesting with 2 or more species on a single patch of land, i also like it when efforts are made to reforest the land according to what species were there prior to harvesting, i think that pioneer species that grow after either fire or harvesting have to play a role for the soil bringing nutrients and making it richer. When we harvest a single tree, we don't just get the wood, we affect the soil underneath it. Efforts to bring the whole patch of land to it's natural state as it was prior to harvesting are IMHO what we all should look for. Forests are slow to replenish and we all know that, vision and education should be our common goal so that future generations can also benefit from it.

Serge

What youre experiencing when you notice a wine going downhill after

Man, y'all take me way too seriously.

I didn't say the wine went bad after an hour, but rather, it didn't last an hour. In other words, we drink it.

My idea of vintage wine is last week's bottle that somehow got hidden in the fridge, behind the juice or somethin'...

Just like some folks can't hear tone well enough to truly appreciate a fine instrument, but yet they can still completely enjoy good music, some can't be bothered with fancy wines, but yet will enjoy a glass with their supper, be it cheap French table wine or fine vintage whatever. I'm one of those who enjoys a glass a day, and the cheap stuff is plenty fine enough.

[QUOTE=Colin S] Billy the ones I played were the original Loughborough University ones, their original prototypes, Colin[/QUOTE]

    So you've actually played one? Any abomOvation like tonals? Was the body wood or plastic?

   I'm familiar with Prof./Dr. Paigley's(?)story and it being tied into university, but I wasn't familiar with them selling them yet. This is interesting!

Maybe you should start another thread about details,if you havn't already. I, for one, would like to read about your experiences.

Thanks
Billy Dean Thomas

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

It's interesting to me that folks are willing to go to plastics, but you can hardly get them to try alternative woods. Admittedly there are a lot more woods on the 'acceptible' list now than there were 30 years ago or so, but IMO we've only scratched the surface in terms of usable varieties, particularly for back and side woods. Almost all of the woods that people look for are tropical, or, at least, exotic. We've run through practically the entire list of rosewoods that grow anywhere near big enough, and a whole slew of other rainforest stock, and hardly touched the stuff in our own back yards, with the exception of maple, walnut, and koa, for those of you who's back yard is in the middle of the Pacific.

I suspect that part of the problem is that the local woods have been used either as cheap substitutes, or else as outright experiments. The Sears guitars that were made of quartered oak a hundred years ago were the equivalents of today's plywood stuff, and no better built from what I've seen. Taylor's oak guitar was meant to show off the craftsmanship of the company: "We're so good we can even make OAK work!". From what I understand the folks who have played is have not been overly impressed. Yet oak, when properly used, can make an excellent guitar, being particularly well adapted for smaller steel strings. Given the history, though, it's an incredibly tough sell, no matter how good the instrument. Multiply that by what you will for beech, ash, hickory, and any number of other types.

I don't know how we're going to get past that, but I wish we could. I, too, have a piece of land that is currently growing trees, some of which, at least, are potentially great guitar wood. With any luck I'll be able to suppliment the oak, ash, beech, and maple with some black walnut (given the lemon of global warming I'll try to make lemonade), although I won't get to use it. With a bit of intelligent management I think we'll never lack for wood for fine instruments, grown in our own back yards, but we'll have to stop looking down our noses at it.

[QUOTE]I'll be able to suppliment the oak, ash, beech, and maple with some black walnut (given the lemon of global warming I'll try to make lemonade), although I won't get to use it.[/QUOTE]

"Civilizations grow great when old men plant trees!"

Keep doing this when you get old Alan!

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

[QUOTE=Mario]

Just like some folks can't hear tone well enough to truly appreciate a fine
instrument, but yet they can still completely enjoy good music, some
can't be bothered with fancy wines, but yet will enjoy a glass with their
supper, be it cheap French table wine or fine vintage whatever. I'm one of
those who enjoys a glass a day, and the cheap stuff is plenty fine
enough.[/QUOTE]

I'll drink to that!

Mario is wise beyond his years.   

                  Red

Billy, I played the original prototype, built by Eddie Norman and Armstrong, before the Limited Edition production by Cool Acoustics. I think this is the same instrument played by Gordon Giltrap. I was giving a lecture at Loughborough and visited his lab back in the late 90s, it was the totally polymer guitar. A great instrument but will never take the place of Mahogany and Euro .

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.