Posted by Joe Caruso on Sat, Jan 30, 2010 @ 07:56 PM
One of the nicest exchanges we had at the recent NAMM show was with the new guitar-building team of Willie Carter and Eric Poulsen. We've known Willie for several years, going back to when he first displayed at the Newport Guitar Festival in '05. He's been immersed in the luthier world for over 10 years, having studied with master builder Serge DeJonge in 2000. He also headed up the sales floor at Gryphon Strings in Palo Alto for several years, so he knows both sides of the business. Eric Poulsen is a master wood worker and designer and headed up production at Santa Cruz Guitars for more than a decade. Together, these guys make an awesome team.
I got a great vibe from talking with them and playing their guitars. They have loads of passion, an outstanding breadth of knowledge, and a design sense that is refreshingly modern. We're proud to be Carter Poulsen's first dealer and look forward to seeing more of their guitars in the shop.
J-Model in Englemann spruce and Indian rosewood, now in stock. There's a 00-sized G-Model on the way, as well. Stop by and check them out.
Posted by Joe Caruso on Fri, Jan 15, 2010 @ 10:09 AM
A busy first day at NAMM. I spent the better part of the day in Hall E, sometimes referred to as the acoustic room as it's where makers such as Collings, Goodall, Bourgeois and the like set up. It also tends to have a much lower noise level than the main rooms. Here are some of the highlights of my day:
Amazing ukes at the Collings booth where Steve and Alex unveiled two concert ukes with the most amazing koa bodies. Apparently, they'd had a few left-over guitar sides with no matching tops or backs. What does one do with such small pieces of wood? Take a look at these beauties:
Some pretty amazing figure. We snagged both ukes and hope to have them back at The Music Emporium early next week. Bill Collings showed up later in the day with a one-of-a-kind archtop ukulele! Incredible. Here it is held by the lovely Angela Wade:
The other nice addition to the Collings line was an MT2 Mandola. As you would expect, it's a fabulous instrument. Prototype Serial # 001 is a lovely black-face A-style and will be coming home with us as well. (pics to follow)
The Martin booth was bustling. Got to take in a great performance by Jorma as he debuted his new signature M-30. Amazing player with any guitar in his hand, though I'll have to admit the Martin has some very attractive elements: Italian spruce, colorful wood marquetry purfling, and the superb comfort of the M body. Seems more and more players are waking up to the M's unique balance of size, tonal strength, and balance.
Spent a little time at the Cole-Clarke booth. Interesting guitars out of Australia. They're gaining wide acceptance among some well-known players, Jack Johnson being the most notable. I wasn't overwhelmed by their acoustic response but plugged in, wow! They have a very unique pickup system that combines a Takamine-inspired saddle pickup with Cole-Clarke's own tone bar sensor which runs the length of the top in much the same way a major brace wood. The effect is jaw-dropping.
More later...