I'm back from vacation. We were in Santa Cruz for a week. Before you
get excited, I have to unfortunately say my reviews may disappoint you. I
just picked up the instruments and played without too much attention to
workmanship. I was just in a mood for sound.
But I had some fun finds.
Sylvan Music is an awesome store. It's not huge, and I didn't look around
too much at things that didn't interest me, but it was full of stringed
instruments with a broad quality range. I played some Avalons, Lowdens,
a McPherson, and some botique amps.
The Avalons were great. I was really surprised. To my ears, there was
minimal difference in sound between them and the Lowdens which I
assume were made by George Lowden. For what I do (contemporary
music), they would be great. I loved their stronger response. The trebles
of the Lowden seemed just a bit more focused but nothing I would be
disappointed with not having. I found the primary difference in the lows.
The avalon seemed soft on the E and A strings, but the Lowden was
characteristically focused. This probably isn't the most accurate way to
describe the difference. Again, nothing I would miss. OK, but just a little.
Not $1500 worth of missing at this point in my life.
The McPherson wasn't a guitar I enjoyed. I just didn't like it at all. It had
some master grade koa and englemann, but the neck felt strange and
poorly designed. It was as if they just stopped carving at the heel or
something. I didn't like the sound. It was very even and soft. If you can
imagine adding a compressor and a reverb without much decay, that's
what I felt like I was hearing. The bass response was big. It was a weird
experience for me. I could attack it, but nothing would spike out moreso
than anything else, and the attack was soft. If you can imagine the way
reverb softens attack, that's what I kept hearing. I didn't enjoy it. At
$6500, it was twice the price of the Lowdens. I can't imagine paying
$6500 for that instrument.
I played some Matchless amps and am definitely glad I'm a few hours
away from finishing my lightning clone! They were awesome. The price
tags scared me.
With the boogie boarding, abundant taquerias, and Sylvan, Santa Cruz
would be my ideal town were it not for the over-populating and super
high cost of living.