In Another Lifetime... Country Blues & Retirement in the Quotidian World...

November 27, 2024

Aye! Zigga Zoomba! The University of North Carolina Class Ring and Me…

Background

My high school class ring had little meaning to me mostly because I only spent one year at that school. In fact, I don’t even remember wearing it very much. The consolation of being torn away from my original high school in South Carolina was that I finished in North Carolina, which positioned me to attend and graduate from the University of North Carolina, an accomplishment I’ve treasured all my life!

Introduction

I graduated from The University of North Carolina just over 50 years ago in 1973. Since then, I earned another undergraduate degree (high honors) from NC State, an MS from The Institute of Textile Technology, and finally a doctorate from the University of Virginia. I value all those degrees and they all made an impact on what I could accomplish during my lifetime, but the simple fact is, when you cut me, I still bleed light blue!

Alumni Hall shot across the upper quad at the University of North Carolina

Besides being one of the most beautiful campuses in the U.S. and the flagship institution in the state, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is renowned for its academic excellence, research contributions, and public service. Further it was nation’s first public university to open its doors and graduate students. Its founding history reflects the post-Revolutionary War ideals of education and public service. For me as a first generation college student it was an incredible academic experience and a wonderful place to be associated with for all my life! I’ve been fortunate to return to Chapel Hill many times during my lifetime and now, after 50 years, I live on the outskirts of town.

Acquiring a UNC Class Ring

When I finished my time at UNC in 1973, I had a student loan to repay, uncertain career direction and not two nickels to rub together, so I didn’t even think of financing a class ring. On and off over the next 50 years I considered acquiring a ring, but life, family, and achieving some modicum of success in the world of work all got in the way.

Further, I was always perplexed by the number of Class Ring designs available to choose from. It would have been much easier for me if there was a “single ring” design like the Citadel Ring, described by Pat Conroy in “The Lords of Discipline” or the West Point ring documented by Rick Atkinson in “The Long Gray Line.” Instead, the Balfour Company offered multiple designs. In fact at the time of this writing Balfour offers 8 versions for men.

It was 51 years after I graduated, retired as a University Professor in Iowa, and returned to Chapel Hill that I finally acquired a UNC class ring. I was spurred into action by a recent confluence of events. First, my return to the Chapel Hill area intensified my connection to the University. Second, I missed the 50th anniversary celebration of my graduation because I was in Iowa packing up to move back to North Carolina. I really wanted to participate in that ritual but it just would not work and perhaps the ring purchase served as some form of compensation. Finally, for the first time, I joined the UNC Alumni Organization and stumbled upon a story about the Class Ring distribution ritual, including a link to purchase one through the Balfour Company.

My fraternity brothers at their UNC 50th Anniversay, Class of 1974, the guys a year behind me. (source UNC)

I went onto the Balfour website on several different times and finally, after due consideration, decided to make the purchase of a class ring. I purchased the Legend design which can be seen below, which at the time seemed to me to be the default choice, but in retrospect I was probably wrong. At any rate, that was the model I ordered in yellow gold with an antique finish. Before I completed the purchase I went to a local jewelry store to get my ring finger sized and they were kind enough to do it. In the end, I decided to get a 14 kt gold model because it is a yellower gold color, it was not that much more expensive than the standard 10 kt, and it was considerably more durable than the 18 kt ring, which I thought was over the top anyway.

I think it took six to seven weeks to manufacture the ring as each one is customized to some extent. During the wait, I amused myself by occasionally viewing the below Youtube video of a UNC Legend model ring being produced:

When the ring arrived in a non-descript envelope containing a small velvet covered ring box, I was delighted and photographed it:

The Emotional Gravity of a UNC Class Ring

A UNC class ring signifies graduation from, by all measures, a longstanding respected institution and it’s also laden with other meaning. For example, it represents four years of intensive study and intellectual maturity gained. The ring carries with it a deep connection to the past, a pride in tradition and a shared experience stretching back to the days that Hinton James first graduated from the university. Validation of four years of effort is embedded in the ring, as well as a lifetime connection to friends made during that time in Chapel Hill. A deep spiritual connection to the university is embodied by the ring and it serves as an external signal to others with common ties.

UNC Fraternity Brothers and Lifelong Friends

The Symbols Engraved into the UNC Class Ring

Below is a photograph of the left side of my class ring, at least as how I wear it on the ring finger of my right hand. I include a brief discussion of the meaning of the various engraved symbols.

Starting from the bottom of the ring, an engraving depicts the state of North Carolina. One of the original 13 English colonies, and where in 1585 the first settlement was attempted. North Carolina was first to vote for independence from Britain in 1776, and in 1789, it became the 12th state to ratify the U.S. constitution. It bears repeating that North Carolina was the first state to establish a public university.
Also on that side of the ring is an engraving of The Old Well. The Old Well is one of the university’s most iconic symbols, steeped in history and tradition. The Old Well originally served as the primary water source for the university and nearby residents. It was simply a functional well on campus without any decorative structure. In 1897, President Edwin Alderman commissioned the construction of the current neoclassical structure, inspired by the Temple of Love at the Palace of Versailles in France. The design, featuring a domed roof supported by white columns, gave the Old Well its enduring aesthetic and iconic status. Over time, the Old Well became a symbol of the university’s ideals, representing knowledge, tradition, and the spirit of the institution.

The Old Well in its original form (source unknown)

It is a longstanding tradition to consecrate the class ring by dipping it into the water of the Old Well, which I’ve done.

Surrounding the base of the Old Well on both sides are engravings of acorns. The acorn signifies potential and growth—just as an acorn grows into a towering oak, students grow and achieve greatness through their education at the university.
The Latin phrase “Esse Quam Videri” carved into the UNC class ring translates to “To Be, Rather Than to Seem.” This phrase is the state motto of North Carolina and embodies the value of authenticity and integrity. It reflects the importance of genuinely possessing virtues and qualities, rather than merely appearing to have them.
Finally is engraved the date 1973, which is the year I graduated.

The Old Well in midsummer of 2024, the evening I dipped my ring in its water

Below is a photograph of the right side of my class ring. Again, I include a brief discussion of the meaning of the various engraved symbols.

At the base of the right side is an engraving of the bottom of a foot with a black circular mark on the heel. This is the Tar Heel, a symbol of deep historical and cultural significance for both the state North Carolina and the University. From an historical standpoint, North Carolina was a major producer of tar, pitch, and turpentine—products derived from the abundant pine forests—in the 18th and 19th centuries. These were vital for shipbuilding and trade, and workers who harvested and processed these materials often ended up with tar sticking to their heels. The nickname “Tar Heel” initially carried a derogatory connotation, used to mock North Carolinians as backwoods laborers.

A more romanticized version of the term “Tar Heel” was mythologized post Civil War when “Tar Heel” was used to depict the bravery of Confederate soldiers from North Carolina, who were said to “stick their ground during battle like they had tar on their heels!” It was even suggested that the well known Confederate General Stonewall Jackson made that statement in the midst of the battle of First Bull Run, though there is no historical proof for this assertion. At any rate, the mythologized roots of the term “Tar Heel” transmogrified into a symbol of North Carolinian and then UNC student resilience and loyalty.

More importantly UNC’s athletic teams are famously known as the Tar Heels, and the term has become a unifying symbol for students, alumni, and fans worldwide.

Above the engraved Tar Heel is the UNC school seal. The seal typically features the following elements: The Open Book: positioned at the center of the seal, the open book symbolizes knowledge and learning; The Latin Motto (“Lux Libertas”): Translating to “Light and Liberty,” this phrase underscores the university’s mission to enlighten minds and promote freedom through education. The Founding Year (1789): This marks the year the university was chartered, making it the first public university in the United States.
Surrounding the UNC school seal are oak leaves. The oak tree is a significant symbol for the university representing strength, growth, and endurance, echoing the values and aspirations of UNC and its graduates.
Above the school seal are engraved the words “Hark the Sound” from the alma mater of the University, titled “Hark the Sound of Tar Heel Voices.” The lyrics below:

Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices,
Ringing clear and true,
Singing Carolina’s praises,
Shouting NCU! (Rah, Rah, Rah!)
Hail to the brightest star of all,
Clear its radiance shine,
Carolina, priceless gem,
Receive all praises thine.

(Chorus)
I’m a Tar Heel born, I’m a Tar Heel bred,
And when I die, I’m a Tar Heel dead!
So it’s rah, rah, Carolina-lina,
Rah, rah, Carolina-lina,
Rah, rah, Carolina, rah, rah, rah!
Go to Hell, Dook!

Finally topping off the right side of the ring are the letters BA, which speak to my degree, a Bachelor of Arts.

Below is a photograph of the top of my class ring. I include a brief discussion of the various engraved symbols therein.

Surrounding the outer perimeter is The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. There are universities of North Carolina in other locations, so it’s important to note Chapel Hill, where the original one was founded.
Of course, the date of 1789 is prominently displayed when the first state university in the U.S. was founded.
Opposite the date are engraved the words, Tar Heels, which was discussed in detail above.
In the center is a blue synthetic spinel at its center, representing the university’s iconic school color Carolina Blue. The tradition of Carolina Blue and White dates back to the earliest days of the institution. The synthetic spinel stone is a manufactured gemstone that closely resembles natural spinel, a mineral composed primarily of magnesium and aluminum oxide (MgAl₂O₄). It was first developed in the early 1900s as an alternative to natural gemstones, prized for its affordability, durability, and versatility.
In the center of the blue stone is the UNC monogram which is an entwined N and C, representing North Carolina. The monogram, originally used on athletic apparel is now ubiquitous.

A note of thanks to ChatGPT for help with questions about class ring symbols, as well as North Carolina and UNC history and traditions.

November 20, 2024November 22, 2024

I Swap Out a Larger Irish Guitar for a Smaller More Comfortable One… I Review the Lowden S-50

Introduction:

During the Summer of 2023, right after I moved to North Carolina, on the way to visit my daughter in Wilmington, I stopped along the route at the small town of Southern Pines and visited Casino Guitars. I’d become aware of Casino Guitars because of the owner, Baxter Clement’s omnipresence on YouTube and, most importantly, I also knew that they were one of the rare U.S. dealers of Lowden guitars. I’d owned an all Koa Lowden many years ago and regretted trading it in and wanted to explore reacquiring one. With me along for the ride was my Collings 0002H as a potential trade item. I wrote at length about the purchase process of my Lowden F-50 on that trip and the blog article can be found here.

Me and my Lowden F-50 that I purchased in early June 2023.

Though I wrote enthusiastically about the F-50 when I published my review, I’d since become somewhat disaffected by the guitar. I’d written about the guitar’s playability and how I struggled with it, and finally took it to my local shop for a set-up. I was initially pleased with the set-up, but in time came to the conclusion that the guitar was just too difficult to play. When compared to my Martin 1937 Authentic and my Santa Cruz H-13, it was just not in the same league of playability. Consequently, I was playing it less and less, mostly because it was too difficult to fret the strings. Perhaps it was the long scale length, but more likely the string action.

Further, one evening a friend who is an accomplished guitarist, played the F-50 while I sat in front to the guitar’s sound hole. Unlike me, he really digs in with a pick, which is more aggressive than I ever play, and to my disappointment the instrument just sounded so harsh to my ear. Even though I play finger style with a lighter touch, I was deeply affected, and not in a good way by what I had heard. Still, I stuck with the guitar for a year, but I knew it was a serious problem for me when I finally put extra light strings on it, which was an admission that this guitar was just too difficult to play the way it was intended. Finally, the large lower bout, on occasion, resulted in shoulder soreness because of the “reach over” of my right arm required to play it. As I’ve written before, at the time of this guitar’s purchase my enthusiasm overrode my sense of good judgement.

I Return to Casino Guitars

On occasion, I check out Casino’s guitar inventory on their website and one day, I discovered that they’d stocked a new Lowden S-50! This is a smaller more intimate guitar than the F-50 that I currently owned. In addition, the guitar was built with Sinker Redwood over Cocobolo, which I thought would offer a warmer sound then the Spruce over Cocobolo F-50. Further, the guitar had a shorter scale length which in theory makes it easier to play. I was interested in auditioning this guitar.

I watched the S-50 from a distance for quite a while, holding my breath every time I dialed into the Casino website, hoping it was not sold. It was only after I crawled out of a month’s long medical rabbit hole that I decided to celebrate life and make a pilgrimage to Southern Pines to audition the S-50, and along with me was the F-50 to see if I could trade it in exchange.

The Lowden S-50, Baxter Clement and me….

It was a typical visit to Casino Guitars. The guys who work there were exceptionally helpful and when Baxter became aware I was lurking around the store, he came down from his apartment, which is upstairs above the shop. He made time to visit with me despite the fact that it was his son’s birthday and it was a Saturday. We played some music together and he auditioned the guitar for me too so that I could hear it directly. As you probably know, the acoustic guitar sound hole projects the guitar’s sound away from the player, so it’s nice for someone else to play the guitar as you sit in front of it. In the meantime, Sean gave the F-50 a once over and arrived at a reasonable trade in value.

In sum, the S-50 really suited my sensibilities and we closed the deal. Afterwards I met my wife for ice cream across the street from the shop and then we headed back home.

An Initial Comparison Between My New Lowden S-50 to the Older F-50

George Lowden in his shop in Northern Ireland

I drove into Southern Pines with a large bodied Lowden guitar, built with Cocobolo on the sides and Lutz Spruce on the top. Later, I returned home with a smaller bodied Lowden guitar with Cocobolo back and sides and Sinker Redwood on top. Obviously, a tonal variation would be expected based on size and wood differences between the old and new guitars.

On the other hand, a key commonality between the two guitars was Lowden artisanship. Lowden guitars are exquisite instruments that are aesthetically pleasing to the eye and made with obsessive attention to detail, which is why they’re expensive. According to George Lowden, what might appear to be small trifling details in guitar manufacturing, add up over the course of the build, finally making a considerable impact on the instrument’s performance. In addition, both guitars were designated style “50” models, which means they were built with the very best master grade tone woods in the Lowden inventory.

Partial bracing pattern under the sound board with example of dolphin shaping

Both of the Lowdens were braced similarly with what is referred to as an “A-frame” design. According to Lowden, the A-frame design stiffens the guitar around the sound hole and up through the neck so no sound is lost to unnecessary movement, but leaves the lower bout to vibrate freely, which creates the guitar’s sound. The braces themselves, which support the sound board, are individually hand carved in the form of a dolphin cresting the waves to give maximum stiffness with minimum mass for efficient sound transmission. As a result, Lowden guitars are known throughout the industry as being exceptionally powerful with extraordinary sustain. In other words, with a Lowden it is possible to get a loud sound without having to work the guitar hard and the sound lasts or sustains for a long time. It’s quite marvelous to behold when you strum a Lowden or pluck an individual string.

Other common design features between the two Lowden’s are the headstock, neck construction and neck join to the body of the guitar. The headstock of both guitars is similarly sized, shaped, and adorned with an attractive veneer on both sides, though the veneer differs between the two guitars. It’s a bit of a mystery what the wood veneer is on the newer S-50, but I suspect it is Sinker Redwood to match the guitar’s top. The tuners are Gotoh 510’s with Ebony buttons. There are lots of effective guitar tuners out in the world, but the high-tuning-ratio Gotoh 510’s are, in my judgement, the best. While they probably are not congruent with the aesthetic of a traditional (Martin-like) guitar, for a “contemporary” guitar like the Lowden, they are a perfect complement.

Lowden five piece neck and dovetail join to the body

Both the S-50 and the F-50 were built with a five piece mahogany and rosewood laminated neck, which lends to stability and resistance to twisting torque. I’ve owned a guitar with a twisted neck and it’s not pretty. A twisted neck will render a guitar largely unplayable.

The necks of the Lowden F and S models are joined at the body with a traditional dovetail join “which offers excellent transfer of vibrations from the neck to the body due to the tight fit, producing a warm, rich tone with good sustain, and offers tonal depth and resonance.” (ChatGPT)

Lowden S-50 with 12 fret neck, Ebony fretboard and Sinker Redwood soundboard

Finally, the S-50’s neck is built with an ebony fingerboard, but unlike the F-50, the newer guitar has an old school, more traditional 12 fret length, generally offering a warmer, fuller tone, which is what I was looking for in the F-50’s replacement. With 12 frets as opposed to the more common 14, the bridge is closer to the center of the lower bout, where the soundboard is more flexible, enhancing bass response and overall resonance. Further, in theory, the shorter scale length should make it easier to play.

In sum both guitars, the one I traded off, and the new one I brought home were made with the highest level of attention to detail, as well as the characteristic Lowden design features such as the rigid neck, dovetail joint and their idiosyncratic soundboard bracing. All the aforementioned result in both power and sustain, which are incredibly important attributes of an acoustic guitar. What differed between the two guitars and why I selected the new one over the old was the guitar’s tone character and playability, which is a function of design differences like the number of neck frets, scale length, guitar size, and selection of woods on the top, back and sides.

Below is an excellent video of a seminar held by George Lowden where you can hear, first hand, his design philosophy in his own words:

The Lowden S-50’s Playability

Compared to the F model, the S model is smaller in both width (approximately 1 inch) and depth (approximately 0.5 inches), making it more intimate and easier to handle, especially for fingerstyle playing. In other words there’s far less effort to wrap my arm around the guitar to get to the strings with my right hand.

Smaller guitars can run the risk of sounding boxy, but that is not the case of the S-50. It’s reasonably deep body, 12 fret design, and Lowden’s bracing method free the guitar’s body to push out sound like a cannon.

Similar to the F model that I traded in, the S model came from the factory with, for my taste, string action that was too high. The Lowden literature refers to the string height as middle low, which is anything but in my judgement. It’s not quite a cheese grater but it is too high for me to enjoy playing. It’s just too much work for me to fret the strings with the in-factory set height. My first two acoustic guitars were higher end Taylors and they had very low string action, so I’ve been spoiled ever since. I don’t own those Taylors anymore, but my ’37 Martin Authentic D-28 and my Santa Cruz H-13 both have low action and are a dream to play.

Brian McGee at Twin House Music in Carrboro, NC

I knew that I was going to have to get the guitar set up properly if I was ever going to enjoy playing it. As I recollect, back in the past with the F model, my luthier adjusted the neck relief only with the truss rod, which in the end was just not enough for me to feel comfortable playing it. This time I had to get it right! I was going to have to have the string action lowered more effectively then when I had the F model in the shop.

As preparation for the trip to my luthier, using a string height gauge, I measured the action of the Lowden S, the Santa Cruz and the Martin guitars that I owned. At the twelfth fret the Lowden’s 1st string was almost 1/3 a millimeter higher and the 6th string was 1/4 millimeter higher off the fret when compared to the Martin and Santa Cruz guitars. That’s an annoying difference that can be felt during play! Before taking the guitar to the shop, I actually contacted Lowden in Northern Ireland about any issues lowering the action, and they saw no reason to prohibit adjustment downwards. To them it was a matter of taste and they believed it was easier to drop string height than to raise it, which was why the action comes out of the factory a bit on the high side. Some players like it a bit high, but not me.

I took the Lowden into the shop at Twin House Music with the measurements I’d made and asked that the Lowden be adjusted to match my other guitars. Brian McGee, a great luthier, was initially reluctant to make the changes, being concerned about string buzz and also working with the Lowden split saddle. Most guitars have a single saddle, but the Lowden is split in two pieces to enhance intonation. Making action adjustments are more challenging with a split saddle because they have to be sanded down identically to avoid introducing unwanted intonation issues. I was really insistent and Brian finally agreed, and in the end he did a fantastic job. I’m now happy with the action on a Lowden guitar. Lowden’s do not have to be cheese graters!

The S-50’s Aesthetic and Tonal Character

A key determinant of an acoustic guitars aesthetic appearance and tonal character are the woods from which it is built. My Lowden is built with the master-grade tone woods of Sinker Redwood for the top and Cocobolo back and sides. Master-grade tonewood refers to the highest quality of wood used for crafting guitars and other musical instruments. It is a premium designation reserved for tonewoods that exhibit exceptional visual, structural, and acoustic qualities, making them ideal for producing high-end guitars.

Cocobolo

According to ChatGPT, Cocobolo (Dalbergia retusa) is a premium tonewood, often commanding higher prices due to its scarcity and desirability. It is visually stunning, featuring a variety of colors such as reddish-orange, deep browns, and even purples, often with dramatic grain patterns and black streaks. Cocobolo produces a lush, vibrant tone with pronounced overtones, offering a complex and harmonically rich sound. The treble response is bright and clear without being harsh, making it well-suited for fingerstyle playing. The low end is focused and powerful, providing a solid foundation without being muddy. While not overly pronounced, the midrange is clear and contributes to a well-rounded tonal palette. Its density and stiffness give it excellent projection and sustain, making it a favorite for players who want their sound to carry. Cocobolo excels in styles that require clarity and articulation, as it allows individual notes to ring out beautifully lending itself well to fingerstyle, which is how I play.

Cocobolo shares some tonal similarities with Indian and Brazilian Rosewood, such as a rich low end and sparkling highs, but it has more pronounced overtones and a slightly brighter overall character. While Mahogany has a warmer, more midrange-focused tone, Cocobolo offers more tonal complexity and dynamic range.

From a builders standpoint, Cocobolo is very oily and must be handled accordingly to ensure glue joints are sound and finishes remain intact. The dust from this wood can be obnoxious too, causing an allergic reaction during cutting. Of course, the oil and dust are not an issue with the finished consumer product.

Finally, from a sustainability standpoint Cocobolo is becoming less readily available because of unfortunate and unscrupulous over-harvesting. Only ten to twenty percent of Cocobolo harvest goes into musical instruments, including both guitars and woodwinds. On the other hand furniture, cabinetry, and flooring account for up to eighty percent. As the attack on Cocobolo sources continues, premium guitars made with it will be seen as rare heirloom instruments. My Cocobolo Lowden will be a guitar that goes on to my children after I’m gone, though I am dubious that they will understand what they have in hand. At that point, I probably won’t care.

Sinker Redwood

Probably the most remarkable aspect of the S-50 is its top, which is comprised of two book matched pieces of master grade Sinker Redwood. It’s my first experience with this type of soundboard where its reddish/brown hue, with vertical dark streaks embedded across the boards set it apart. My other acoustics have sunburst or standard unstained spruce tops, so the S-50 just looks different from typical acoustic guitars that I’ve owned in the past. The guitar is endlessly fascinating to behold.

As I said, my other acoustic guitars all have traditional spruce tops, though they are of varying subspecies, including Sitka, European, and Adirondack (Red Spruce), so from a sonic/tonal standpoint the S-50 stands apart. Generally speaking, Spruce offers a sound that is bright, clear, and dynamic, while Sinker Redwood is warm, rich, and overtone heavy, so there’s a nice difference in both appearance and sound that distinguishes the S-50, making it a great addition to my collection.

The origin story of Sinker Redwood is fascinating in and of itself. In the late 1800’s on into the early twentieth century, which was a time of rapid industrialization in the U.S., loggers harvested Northern California Giant Redwoods without abandon. These were old growth forests with trees as old as 1000 years. Sadly, only five percent of the original old growth forests remain, and they were saved by a combination of conservationists, activists and government intervention.

Harvesting of Giant Redwoods in Northern California

The trees situated along waterways were the easiest to manage as they could be dropped and floated downriver to the sawmills on the California coast. Along the way downriver, the trees were sometimes held back in large jams with the use of chain booms until the sawmills needed them. It was under those circumstances that some logs sank to the bottom of the river and became embedded in the river bottom mud never to make it down to the sawmills.

Redwoods making the trip downriver to the sawmills.

Submerged in anaerobic (oxygen-deprived) conditions for decades, perhaps some for a century, the sunken Redwood logs would undergo physical change. While submerged, Sinker Redwood logs absorb water, which, over time, leads to compression of the wood fibers enhancing the grain density. Also, logs that sank and remained submerged tended to have very tight grain patterns simply due to the slow-growing nature of the old growth trees from which they came. In addition, while submerged, the Sinker Redwood absorbed minerals from the surrounding water, which changed its color. The wood often took on rich, darker hues, ranging from deep reddish-brown to even greenish or purplish streaks, depending on the minerals present in the river water.

Sinker Redwood embedded in the river bottom in Northern California

Over time, submersion in water also leads to a breakdown of the wood’s structural components, lignin and cellulose, particularly in the outer layers. The cold and anaerobic conditions underwater slowed this breakdown process, allowing the core wood to remain structurally sound while developing unique tonal characteristics. This slight degradation can contribute to a smoother resonance when used in guitars, often resulting in warmer and more responsive sound.

Recovery of Sinker Redwood from rivers and estuaries in Northern California

Many years later at the close of the twentieth century entrepreneurs discovered and began recovering sunken Redwood logs from the rivers and estuaries in Northern California. Only the logs that had not rotted were of value, so recovery is a tedious, risky and expensive process. Since old growth redwood was so rare, the thinking was this recovered wood would have value in end-uses such as fine furniture, paneling, sculptures. Also as a function of its appearance and tonal properties, custom guitar builders and boutique luthiers adopted Sinker Redwood for high-end musical instruments.

Luthiers discovered the wonderful properties of Sinker Redwood tops in the early 2000’s.

Sinker Redwood Combined with Cocobolo

The combination of Sinker Redwood for the soundboard and Cocobolo for the back and sides on a small-bodied guitar creates a unique tonal palette. Both woods bring specific acoustic properties that complement one another beautifully, resulting in a guitar that is both visually striking and acoustically rich.

Sinker Redwood’s warmth and harmonic richness blend seamlessly with Cocobolo’s bright, articulate clarity, creating a balanced tone that is neither too warm nor overly bright. Sinker Redwood enhances responsiveness for nuanced playing, while Cocobolo’s density adds sustain and projection, even in a small-bodied guitar. Both woods have rich overtone profiles, resulting in a lush and dynamic sound with a natural reverb-like quality. The small body shape focuses the sound, while Cocobolo ensures that projection and presence aren’t sacrificed, even in a compact form.

Finally, the visual contrast between the richly colored Sinker Redwood top and the bold, exotic Cocobolo back and sides enhances the guitar’s aesthetic appeal, making it a showpiece as well as a fine musical instrument.

Comments On Some Aesthetic Appointments

There was a time when I believed that one should aspire to own the blingiest guitar possible, with abalone adornments and inlays galore like Gene Autry’s famous decked-out Martin D-45. In fact the very first really upper end guitar I ever purchased was a Taylor 914, which was loaded with glitz. Eventually, after playing incredible sounding but relatively unadorned guitars like my Martin, Collings and Santa Cruz instruments, I realized that the wood, the build quality and the tonal output far outweighed the importance of external appearance enhanced by inlays and other doodads..

Singing Cowboy with highly adorned guitar

By most accounts George Lowden also thinks that an overly-ornamented guitar is not a particularly important design philosophy. Besides the classic dimension of the instrument, the preponderance of Lowden guitars are tastefully simple in surface appearance. The tone woods, the wood bindings and the purflings contribute to an elegantly simple appearance.

One of more extravagant touches on a Lowden S-50 guitar is the abalone and figured wood sound hole rosette. It’s really quite beautiful in person.

Final Comments

I put pickups in all my acoustic guitars. I like playing the guitar plugged into an acoustic amplifier (Genzler Acoustic Array Pro) facing me so that I can appreciate the output of the guitar. I use K&K Pure Mini pickups exclusively because they sound natural and don’t require a lot of fiddling, although an acoustic DI like an LR Baggs Venue is very helpful in the signal chain, which I have on my acoustic guitar pedalboard.

The K&K Pure Mini is a snap to place in an acoustic guitar with a pinned bridge. Two of the pin holes are used to accurately place the pickup under the bridge with the use of a jig that K&K supplies in the box. A pinless bridge like the Lowden is built with is a more challenging installation. If you follow the K&K instructions, it requires drilling two small holes underneath the saddle. This is not for the faint of heart. My luthier cleared it with me and followed the instructions, including drilling the holes. The installation is perfect and the pickup works flawlessly. I wish I could have said the same for the F-50’s installation. I don’t think it was done quite right, as I had to really boost the gain to get the pickup to function at all, which was another irritant about that guitar.

Some Sound Samples

I am embedding a couple of sound samples from YouTube. The first is Baxter Clement from Casino Guitars playing the exact model guitar I purchased from him, but this was one he had in stock several years before mine arrived. Note Baxter plays with a plectrum, which I do not. He is a very accomplished musician, much more so than me:

Below is a video produced by Heart Breaker Guitars, a dealer of fine guitars and a major supplier of Lowdens in the U.S. After a brief introduction, Mike Romano plays an S-35, very similar to the S-50, with the woods the same but maybe not quite as choice. Mr. Romano plays finger style and he’s quite good.

Here’s a sample of me playing my S-50 through a Shure mic that’s designed to interface with the iPhone that’s doing the filming. As a result there are limits to fidelity. To boost it a bit, I am running the guitar through my Genzler Acoustic Array Amplifier and my pedal board. I am playing the Mississippi John Hurt classic, Spike Driver Blues.

Here’s another sample. This is Townes Van Zandt’s instrumental arrangement of the Rolling Stones tune Dead Flowers:

Finally, here’s the instrumental arrangement for Taj Mahal’s Queen Bee:

A note of thanks to ChatGPT for help with questions about woods and some history, and for the creation of support illustrations.

June 17, 2024June 17, 2024

Closing the Loop… printing my photographs in house…

Introduction

I’ve heard it said many times that the process of photography is not completed until you hold a printed image in your hands. That statement reminds me how exciting it was, decades ago, in my 8th grade photography class to pull a print from the developer bath and to witness what I’d created! It was all very satisfying.

Nowadays most of us “develop” our prints on a computer using a software program like Adobe Lightroom to fine tune the image. Then if you are like me, you’d show them off to your family on a computer screen and then perhaps post them on various forms of social media, hoping for positive feedback. Finally to preserve the best photographs in a safe place you would upload them to a cloud server, which in my case is Zenfolio. There the photographs would sit in the dark until you decided, for whatever reason, to retrieve them, which nowadays is a major PITA because Zenfolio archives the images and it takes a minor act of Congress to view or retrieve them. In other words it is very tedious waiting hours for an archived group of photos to be retrieved!

Before the days that I uploaded to the cloud, I would send images out for print processing. To keep costs reasonable, I would have standard 3X5″ prints made and mount them into a photo album. It wasn’t long before the albums accumulated in number and started taking up considerable space in my home. Further, the smallish prints were not very satisfying to look at and finally I had little control over the quality of the print process. Most of the time, the prints were good enough, but not always. At any rate, the aforementioned Zenfolio cloud account eliminated most print charges and saved space both on my computer and in my home, but at the cost of the images disappearing into the cloud.

Lighthouse on the coast of Maine hanging on my wall

Not all my photographs disappeared into the cloud. There are some that adorn the walls of my home like the exquisitely framed shot of a Maine Lighthouse that I took on a vacation in the northeast. Printed and framed images are truly special because they evoke important memories and are typically the best I can do with a camera. Large prints are expensive to produce and professional framing costs are quite prohibitive, but I think it’s worth it for those rare photos. Recently I had four smallish North Carolina wildflower images framed for our home and they cost close to $400 for the set! These recently framed images can be seen below hanging in our sun porch.

North Carolina wildflowers printed, framed and hung in my home

Before moving on to the main subject of printing in more detail, I would be remiss not to mention another way in which I’ve preserved some of my best photographic projects, and that would be the production of printed photo books. Below, you can see three books I’ve created with the help of Apple. Two of the books cataloged my extensive work with woodlands and tall grass prairies wildflowers, and the other documented my son Parker’s successful Eagle project. The books are a marvelous way to professionally depict photographic images in a story-like format. It is a lot of work putting one together and moderately expensive to produce, but they’re a fantastic way to show off your work!.

Mama Don’t Take My Kodachrome Away

This summer I re-invested myself in my photography hobby with the acquisition of a Leica Q3. I take it almost everywhere I go because it is so portable and can make extraordinary photographs, plus I love taking pictures. As in the past, I started out posting them in social media and finally stored them in the cloud.

Then, I started to wonder how I could raise my game to a higher level. How could I push my photography a step further than I’d ever done before? It then occurred to me that wouldn’t it be a hoot to professionally print my own images in-house on a printer that I owned! And so I began the process of researching and acquiring a photographic printer.

Acquiring a Professional Printer

Well, I started googling around for “best color photographic printers” and Canon kept showing up in the upper register of the lists. There were Epson’s too, but when I considered that Canon also manufactures state-of-the-art cameras, I gave them the edge. Further, the Canon ProGraf 300 hit a sweet spot in terms of weight and footprint.

If you intend to follow the path that I was on, be aware that photographic printers are rather large devices. They are considerably bigger than typical home document printers primarily because device size is required to make larger prints. So as you would expect, the larger the output print size capability, the larger the required printer’s footprint and corresponding weight. Also affecting device weight is the amount of ink the printer will store. For example, the Canon ProGraf Pro-1000, which uses “ink tanks” will print up to a 17″ X 22″ print, but the device is almost 29 inches wide and weighs just over 71 pounds. There is no place in my home where the Pro-1000 would fit and even if there was, it’s far too heavy for me to move around!

In the end, I ordered a Canon ProGraf Pro-300 after watching multitudes of YouTube reviews and tutorials. It had a slightly smaller footprint than the Pro-1000 and weighed half as much, but only makes a print as large as 13 X 19″ and uses smaller ink storage cartridges, which is probably good enough for my purposes. In fact, most of the printing I do for my collection of keepsake images are 8 X 10″ copies which the printer handles quite easily. Occasionally as seen above, I do make large prints too. Further, the Pro-300 is a newer design than the Pro-1000 and is said to recreate blacks in a print more effectively.

The Process of Producing a Photographic Print

Select an image and fine tune it to meet your technical and artistic sensibilities. Below you can see my old fraternity brother Captain Mike, retired USN, where his assignment was as a captain on an aircraft carrier. His image was post-processed in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex and it is now ready to be printed.

Days earlier, when the ProGraf Pro-300 arrived, I unboxed it and went through a relatively easy set-up which involved installing the printer head and ink cartridges into the printer, as well as installing printer drivers onto my MacBook Pro. Further, I had to get the printer on my home network so that it would receive signal from my laptop. Finally, I installed onto my laptop a Lightroom Plug-in called Canon Professional Print and Layout, which could be accessed directly from Lightroom and/or Photoshop as well as run independently as a stand alone application. It is also possible to print directly from Lightroom using Adobe’s internal print program, but my analysis indicated that the Canon plug-in was easier and more effective to use. Below, you can see the pull-down Lightroom menu that leads directly to the Canon plug-in.

Lightroom pull down menu to access Canon printer plug-in

Now you can see the image of Captain Mike laid into the Canon printer layout work space. It is here that a variety of final fine tuning settings can be made. For example, the size of margins can be varied. More importantly, color adjustments, brightness and contrast can be altered too. The setting sliders are on the right side of the workspace.

Matching the Print to the Computer Screen

My experience is that color adjustments are best made in Lightroom and not in the Canon Layout software. Thus far, I’ve had pretty good outcomes matching color in Lightroom on screen with the final print because Lightroom has a lot more nuanced sliders to make alterations. This is no mean feat because I’m dealing with two different color theories existing between the computer and the printer. The computer screen creates hues by blending colored lights similar to stage lighting with the primary colors being red, green and blue. On the other hand, when we see a printed image we’re seeing reflected light with primary colors being cyan, magenta and yellow. In other words, the computer is transmitting mixed light and the printed image is selectively absorbing and reflecting light. To deal with these opposing color theories, It is not unusual for photographers to invest in color calibration tools to ensure best color matching between screen and print. Fortunately for me, MacBooks come from the factory with pretty accurate color calibration which helps go a long way to produce a reasonably well matched print.

On the other hand, I’ve had to master adjusting the brightness of the screen image in the Canon software to match the brightness of the final print. Depending upon my observation of the image on the screen I may adjust it to the bright side by 15 to 25 points on the slider scale of 100 to get a good match and am getting pretty accurate results.

Below you can see the image delivered from the Pro-300. It looks pretty good!

Other Considerations During Printing

There are two consumables required to operate the Canon Pro-300. They are ink and paper. The ink is visibly consumed when the printer operates. This is known because the printer does a good job of keeping me aware of dwindling ink levels. This is important as it’s really bad form to run the device with a dry ink cartridge because the printer head can be damaged. Damaging the printer head should be an avoidable failure with just a little care in keeping up with ink volumes. In order to maximize the printer’s color gamut, the device is engineered to run 10 different ink colors. My experience indicates that the inks exhaust at varying rates depending upon what the prints call for. Thus far the photo-black and the gray cartridges seem to expire more quickly, so I keep some extra spares available.

Thus far I’ve ordered my ink directly from the online Canon site. It is very easy and quick to change out an ink cartridge. You can purchase a complete set of all the required colors or buy them independently. I’ve done it both ways because I want some extra black and gray available. I considered making the purchase through Amazon out of habit; however, all the ink that was available was from aftermarket suppliers, and everything I’ve read suggests staying away from non-Canon inks. It’s pennywise and pound poor as the non-Canon inks appear not to perform as well according to general user experience, particularly from a color accuracy standpoint.

There are multiple paper sizes and finish types available for photographic printers. Further, there are multiple companies producing varying qualities of paper. The choices can be overwhelming, so in response, as I learn the ropes of photo printing, I’ve started with a basic Canon Pro Luster paper which is a nice neutral cross between a matte and low gloss finish. I’ve been very satisfied with the print outcomes and am not in a huge hurry to switch to other finishes yet; however, with a recent purchase of fresh inks, Canon threw in a sample pack of 4 different types of paper and I am looking forward to experimentation.

After Print Action

Shortly after I started printing photographs, I realized I was going to need some method for trimming the output. For example, I was printing 8 X 10″ photographs on 8.5 X 11″ paper and needed some way for neatly trimming off the excess margins. My old frat brother John Gellman advised me that the best trimmer for photographs was the Rotatrim Pro and insisted that I get the 24 inch model. He said “it’s the best and accept no substitute!” So, I followed his instructions. The Rotatrim was expensive but it is an extremely precise tool. Since it is self sharpening, it should require very little maintenance too, which I like. Below you can see the finished Captain Mike photograph after trimming:

Storing Prints

It’s very exciting seeing one of your images delivered by the printer. The question now is what do you do with the print? I’ve given some away to neighbors if I’ve photographed them, or stuck some on the refrigerator with a magnet, and framed one for the wall in my home. Too often, I found myself accumulating prints and stuffing them in a drawer to keep them safe which was not particularly satisfying!

So, after giving it some thought, I began a search for a portfolio type contrivance to hold the prints that I thought represented the best of my work. After scrambling around in Amazon, I found a line of photograph oriented portfolios by Itoya sized for 8.5 X 11″ prints. It will hold as many as 100 prints, which I thought would be a perfect way to archive images in an easy to show format. If I chose to archive the larger 13 X 19″ prints that the Canon is capable of producing, Itoya makes a portfolio large enough to hold them!

Completing the printer set-up

When I first purchased the Canon printer, I knew where I wanted to place it. We have a location in our home called the resource room, where my guitars are stored, as well as Annette’s writing and weaving space. There’s also a day bed in this ” third bedroom” for a guest if our second bedroom is occupied. At any rate, spare space in our home has its limits, but I determined that the printer would fit perfectly at the foot end of the day bed and located it there. The printer rested on the carpet floor and I wanted to get it onto a platform. The problem in finding a platform is that photographic printers are much larger than home document ones. In other words, the preponderance of home printer stands available were too small for the Canon. Eventually, I found a shelving company that offered a nice platform that the printer would fit on and now the set-up is complete.

Final Thoughts

If you subscribe to the notion that the photographic process is not complete until you hold a tangible print in your hands, then acquiring a printer that can produce a quality image may be for you. There is an upfront capital cost to set up a printer, but I’ve spent more money on a camera lens. In my judgement the cost of ink and paper are not out of line for a serious avocation or hobby. Mastering the printing process is fun, but you should enjoy working with a somewhat fiddly technology before you venture down this path.

May 6, 2024June 11, 2024

A Memoir: My Personal Journey with Cameras, As Best I Recollect…

For my own amusement I am writing a memoir about my cameras and my associated photography since I was a child. You’re welcome to join my journey. As you’ll see I’ve had a lifelong fascination with photography and cameras.

The first camera I recollect owning was a birthday gift from my parents when I was around 10 or 11 years old or so. Sadly none of the photographs taken with this camera are in my possession. I don’t think I shot a lot of images with it, primarily because film and processing was expensive and my family did not have the money to indulge large scale use of the camera. On the other hand, I do remember two very clear instances of using the camera.

My junior high school in Gastonia, NC routinely took all 8th graders on a day long field trip to Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, NC. I brought the camera long and shot a roll or two. Mostly, I shot the sites along the way like the NC Penitentiary where I saw the gas chamber used to execute the condemned, the old Dorton Arena, which was considered a regional architectural wonder, and finally the campus of the University of North Carolina. I thought I did a pretty good job documenting the trip, but when I showed the developed photos to my mother, she was apoplectic because none of the photos included my trip companions. She really dressed me down for this failure, and it actually affected my photography for a long time afterwards. Ahhhh, the damage that parents can do to their children… I call it my mom’s curse and I labored under it for a long, long time.

Typical school darkroom
Photo by Don O’Brien via Wikimedia Commons

In the 8th grade, at my Junior High School, a photography class was offered by the shop teacher, Mr. Cloninger. The focus of the class was the technology of film development and processing in the school’s iconic basement darkroom, which, as they all were, was buried near the Balrog’s lair down in the bowels of the earth. For class, we were all instructed to purchase film developer, fixer and photo paper. My parents were good enough to fund the experience.

I had no fancy film developer device. Instead in the pitch dark of my home’s bathroom, with towels stuffed under the door, and using two cake pans for the chemicals, I developed the film taken from the Brownie with the help of my Mom timing the process, as I sloshed the film back and forth, first in the chemical developer and then finally the fixer. It was pretty rudimentary but actually worked quite well. I’d then take the film to the dark room and print the images. Sadly, none of those photos exist today, but the class created lifetime memories! I have no memory of what happened to that camera.

I recollect being gifted with a Kodak Instamatic camera in my early teens from my parents. Back in those days of the early/mid 1960’s Kodak heavily advertised their simple Instamatic cameras. They were relatively inexpensive mass produced devices that were perfect for producing family memories. The film was encased in a hard plastic container that made loading into the camera very easy with little chance of accidentally exposing it. I remember thinking that if I wanted to develop the film, getting into that plastic enclosure would be very difficult. The film was a very small format 110 size which offered the user limited image size and resolution but they were great for photo albums. I do not think I used this camera very often except on family outings and have no examples of the images taken, though I can remember some of them like the ones taken on a family trip to Tweetsie Railroad in the North Carolina mountains. Again, I think the cost of purchasing and developing the film was a prohibitive factor.

Photo of me and Brad Silver, Frat President

After Junior High School, I had little to do with cameras or photography, and this dwell period lasted until I finished undergraduate school. It is important to note that one of my fraternity brothers, John Gellman, was as avid photographer and happened to be on staff of the Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina. He could be seen everywhere with a Nikon 35mm camera around his neck. The photo to the right is one he took of me in the backyard of our frat house in Chapel Hill. In short, I was inspired by John’s photography and thought I would like to be a 35mm shooter some time in the future.

I got my first taste of actual 35mm film photography in graduate school at the Institute of Textile Technology (1978), where there was a Canon manual 35mm camera available on loan. I shot a couple of roles of film and was, in short, quite enthused. The camera had a normal 50mm lens and an onboard, in camera TTL (through the lens) light meter. It was up to the shooter to select f/stop, shutter speed and film ASA(light sensitivity) to get the proper exposure. After that experience, I committed to purchasing a 35mm film camera when I could afford one. I really liked the feeling of peering into the view finder and capturing the image with a click of the shutter button.

After graduate school, I took my first post as a technical manager in Tallassee, Alabama at a very large textile manufacturing complex. It was during my time in Alabama that I purchased my first 35mm Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. It was the popular Canon AE-1.

For its time, the AE-1 was a breakthrough camera. Because of advanced design and manufacturing techniques, the camera was reasonably affordable for the technology it had to offer the user. It was one of the first SLR’s that had through the lens exposure metering which allowed precise exposure of the subject by automatically adjusting the aperture. This approach was referred to as shutter-speed priority. In other words, the user controlled shutter speed and the aperture automatically stopped down to the appropriate f/stop as determined by the TTL exposure meter. The basic out of the box AE-1 came with a relatively fast f/1.8, 50mm lens. Later, I purchased a Tokina 105mm lens to serve as a modest telephoto lens.

Still suffering under my mother’s curse, the preponderance of images I shot with the AE-1 were family photographs. I don’t have many of the photos from that era as they got lost in the shuffle of life. The image below is a great example of the AE-1’s ability. It must have been taken by my wife, at the time, after I set the camera up for her. It demonstrates how the camera was used to document family activity. It’s me in my younger days with my first born, Jessica:

With the AE-1, I shot a lot of 400 ASA film, which was a fast (good in lower light) and popular film for the time, but I eventually gravitated to 100 ASA because it was less grainy. I think I also experimented with a few rolls of slide film to save some cost in film processing, but found it unsatisfying squinting through a viewer to see the images. Though I enjoyed photography, I was irked at the cost of film processing and lack of control over the final product, so it limited how much experimentation I would do. In a single 24 picture roll of film, I would typically have a handful of keepers, so film photography was not a very shooter and cost efficient enterprise. For more process control, I considered purchasing a dark room set-up but ruled that out because I did not have the physical space and I preferred color photography. A color dark room was completely out of the question because of its increased complexity and cost.

The AE-1 was a fun camera to use and very popular, as evidenced by the advertisement shown above. I used the camera for several years before becoming distracted by changing jobs and later beginning work on a doctorate at the University of Virginia.

It was in the late 1980’s that I was on a business trip to New Orleans, where I was attending the annual meeting of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredited the institution where I was dean of the graduate program. Between sessions there was plenty of time to walk around the commercial district. I was astonished by the number of camera shops on the main drag. In retrospect, I suspect that many of those stores were owned by a single company. Nevertheless, I visited several of the shops and in doing so, I became aware of technical advances in consumer SLR cameras that had been made since I’d purchased the Canon AE-1. Most notably, the Minolta SLR that I scrutinized in the store had a state-of-the-art autofocus system, a motor-assisted zoom barrel, and selectable aperture or shutter speed priority. Further, there was a program mode where the camera could make all the decisions itself, which was great if you were feeling lazy while snapping off some quick shots. Motivated by the new technology, I purchased a Minolta in New Orleans and used it through the 1990’s. It was a fine camera to use during the waning days of film photography. As with the Canon AE-1, most of my film photographs were for family documentation. Similar to the AE_1, prohibiting factors were film and processing costs, and the lack of control over the final product since outside processors still developed and printed the film.

Below, you can see a scan of a shot taken with my Minolta of Nettie and four of our five kids on our honeymoon trip to Lake Superior,

Madeline, Mary, Nettie, Ben and Sally at Lake Superior

When I took a post at the University of Northern Iowa as a Professor of Textiles and Apparel in 1999, one of my first tasks, outside of teaching and research, was to support the annual student design show. I was loaned a small digital point and shoot camera to photograph the show. No one had ever photographed the show before me. The camera was about the size of a cassette tape, easy to use, was magical in how quickly it rendered an image to be seen on its rear LCD screen after the shot. On the other hand, the camera suffered from serious shutter lag, which was very disconcerting at first because I never experienced that phenomenon. Shutter lag meant the camera did not actually take the shot for some time after pressing the shutter, so that what you saw produced on the LCD panel was different from what you saw when you activated the shutter. Latter digital cameras removed the lag. Despite the shutter lag, I was beguiled by this new technology.

Shortly thereafter, I prevailed upon my department to order a digital camera for our use, which ended up being occupied primarily by me, mostly because I was the only who cared about photography. It was an early generation 2.1 megapixel Kodak DC265 digital range finder. I used it extensively for several years to document activity in my department and also to support my field research, which at the time was to study Civil War Reenacting, its meaning, and the relationship of dress and appearance to the activity.

You can see below a photograph of a national reenactment that I shot with the Kodak in the early 2000’s. The image was subsequently published in a monthly Civil War Reenactment journal, called the Camp Chase Gazette. This version was post processed to look like a painting.

At the Battle of Chicamauga National Reenactment

The Kodak digital camera was a true workhorse out in the field. It was exceptionally durable and its NiCad batteries held charge long enough to make it through a multi-day reenactment. It knocked out 8×10 inch images without difficulty, though that was about its maximum resolution limit, and the color rendering was reasonably accurate. Digital photo post-processing was pretty rudimentary in those days; however, I did manage to isolate my image from one photograph, and then cut and paste it onto a Matthew Brady original of captured Confederates at Gettysburg. I did this for a presentation at a professional meeting. See below:

Dr. Strauss (right) captured at Gettysburg

I dabbled around with my university’s digital cameras for several years, including a later upgrade to the Kodak. My department purchased a 5.1 megapixel, Nikon Coolpix E5000. It was a step up from the Kodak in that it had a host of more advanced features and was thus considered a prosumer camera. I had access to the camera from around 2003 to 2005. It was used to document department activities, and I shot some personal photos too like the one below that was taken on the shore of Lake Superior in Wisconsin:

Young Parker on the shore of Lake Superior at Madeline Island, Wisconsin

Around the spring of 2005, I stumbled upon a news article reviewing the new Nikon D70s. I was astonished because I had no idea that SLR’s were being manufactured that replaced film with digital sensors. They were referred to as DSLR’s. Further, my wife and I were going to spend 5 weeks in Lyon, France with our family teaching textile history at a museum and I wanted to document the trip with photography. I decided it was time to jump in and get a new camera of my own. For quite some time I was very interested in acquiring a Nikon camera, as that’s what my frat brother John Gellman shot when we were both at the University of North Carolina.

So, on a visit to Iowa City in May 2005 to see our daughter who was in school at the University of Iowa, I stopped by the local camera shop in the downtown area. The shop did not have the highly demanded D70s, but had an older stock D70, and I jumped all over it. Most exciting was that this was a real SLR camera but with a digital sensor replacing film! I suspect that the camera shop charged me top dollar, but I was delighted to leave town with the Nikon in my possession. The kit contained an 18-70mm zoom autofocus lens with a 6.1 megapixel sensor, which was larger in comparison to the university point and shoots I was using. The sensor was DX sized, which meant it was smaller than the size of a piece of 35mm film; nevertheless, it was a very capable “relatively” affordable consumer DSLR and I loved it the moment I heard the shutter click the first time.

Unlike the digital point and shoots, where the photos unloaded from the camera were pretty much ready to go, the D70 RAW files were anything but ready. I was shocked to see how dull and lifeless they looked like until they were post-processed on my computer to bring out the brilliance of the camera’s capture. To get the best post processing that I could at the time, I adopted Apple’s Aperture software, which I used religiously through every update, until Apple dropped the photo post-processing business. I later adopted, somewhat reluctantly, Adobe Lightroom and use it still today as I write.

I also found myself shaking off my mother’s curse and started making images for art’s sake. I felt liberated by the ability to instantly see the results of my photography and to subsequently fine tune the final product using Apple Aperture. Shortly after purchasing the D70, I took off for Lyon, France with the Nikon as well as a MacBook, and had a wonderful time using the D70 every day. Below you can see a depth of field perspective shot that I made while visiting a French Chateau. I was inspired by a similar shot I’d seen in my thumbed through classic Handbook of Photography!

Inspired too by a photograph of Coco Chanel on a scooter that I’d seen in my wife’s office, I created a derivative shot of our son Parker with his sister Madeline.

A couple of years after owning the D70, I became interested in the Nikon D200 as a step-up camera. It was an interesting time in DSLR development with companies rapidly developing advancements in sensor size, sensor light sensitivity, camera build and operating features. In short, it was a golden age of camera development. Camera companies like Nikon and Canon put out a lot of marketing pressure to make photographers feel left behind if they did not get on board with the latest models! I was not immune to these tactics.

What attracted me about the D200 was its pro-build. Unlike the D70, the body was not plastic but instead was built upon a magnesium skeleton. There were control features the D200 possessed like the ability to do back-button focusing that were not available on the D70. Further, the sensor megapixels rose to 10.1 versus 6.1, which would be visibly different in the image, allowing for more cropping and greater enlargements. I gave the D70 to my daughter Sally and purchased a D200. It made me feel like a pro of sorts.

With the D200, I continued to try to raise the level of my photography beyond simple family snapshots, though I still made plenty of them.

Parker leading the pack at Cub Scout Camp

Nettie and Madeline at the Iowa Caucus in 2008

The Nikon D300’s imaging technology was considered an evolutionary step beyond its predecessor the D200. The D300 offered an increase in megapixels from 10 to 12, which may have not been visibly noticeable; however, the D300 had better color rendering, better highlights, better shadows, enhanced autofocus and far better battery life. By the opinion of most reviewers, it made the D200 technologically obsolete. Sadly, the D300 arrived just shortly after I purchased the D200, and Nikon’s marketing machine beat me into submission. As a result, I sold the D200 to an associate at my university and purchased a D300!

As I wrote earlier, the middle late 2000’s was a period of rapid development in digital sensor and data processing technology. Photographers like myself suffered from fear of missing out (FOMO) and were easy prey for corporate marketing strategies. I don’t regret dumping the D200 so quickly, but I probably could have saved money and taken photos with it just fine for several more years. Moving from model to upgraded model was the state of the hobby back then. In the end, my experience with the D300 was that it was an excellent and versatile pro-level camera. I took a lot of excellent photographs with it.

Many of the photos I shot were of everyday quotidian life, but I continued to push myself to add a level of artistic expression to the images. The D300’s rapid shutter speed, color rendering, and improved low light sensitivity let me push my photographic boundaries a bit further beyond my previous cameras. It was a ruggedly built device too, so I took everywhere when travelling.

Parker rounding third base and heading home for the score

As with all the other Nikons that I owned, the D300’s sensor was a DX size, which meant that it was measurably smaller than the size of 35mm film, which the original film SLR’s used. The DX size limited the field of view that could be capture and required lenses to be multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to accurately express the true focal length.

As I recollect, at the same time that the D300 was introduced, Nikon also began selling a model designated the D700. Though its external appearance was very similar to the D300, internally it contained an FX sized sensor, which was the size of 35mm film. What this means is that DX has about 60% of the surface area as compared to an FX sensor. The FX was commonly referred to as a full frame sensor. At that time, in the middle-late 2000’s there was a good deal of discussion about the merits of FX vs DX sensor technology. Many hardcore photographers believed FX full frame was the only way to go because it best replicated the “film experience.”

FX vs DX field of view and sensor size comparison

Both the Nikon D300 and the D700 had 12.1 megapixel sensors; however, because of the size advantage of the D700’s more expansive FX sensor, its pixels were comparatively larger. If you consider that a pixel is a light capturing bucket, then the D700’s are considerably larger than the D300’s, permitting it to capture more light, which in turn allows it to be much more effective in low light situations, and also to capture more data from an exposure yielding more color richness and image detail.

I shot with the D300 for several years and was delighted with its performance; however, after exposure to consistent praise for the D700 during those same years, I eventually opted to purchase a used one from eBay. In short the D700 was, in my opinion, a breakthrough piece of technology. I now consider it a classic camera. The images it created were magical. Combined with the acquisition of a Nikkor 105mm macro lens, the D700 opened a broad new vista of artistic creativity for me. I was functioning at a higher level than ever before.

Macro shot of a Dahlia bloom in the rain

Note: the D700 is now in my son Parker’s hands and still functions beautifully. As I said, it is a classic camera. On the other hand, the D300 shutter quit functioning, which was a disappointment. It may have been repairable, but I thought that would be throwing good money after bad as I’d moved away from DX sensor photography.

In the summer of 2014, Nikon announced a new flagship model called the D810. It was a major enhancement beyond the magical D700. The D810 was such a quantum leap in technological advancement it raised questions among D700 shooters as to whether it was time to upgrade.

For photographers who dislike using flash like me, the D810 was capable of working in lower light than any other Nikon. More importantly, the sensor resolution leapt from the D700’s 12.1 megapixel up to the D810’s 36 megapixel, thus the camera with its FX sized sensor was capable of grabbing huge amounts of detail for an image. In fact, for me it would require a computer upgrade to handle the files efficiently. There were other enhancements like enhanced LCD resolution and improved autofocus too.

Reviewers at the time haled the D810 as “the best” professional camera available, so I ordered one and handed the D700 down to my son, who has used it to good effect. I’ve used the D810 for the past 9 years with little thought to upgrading because it never limited my creativity and often resulted in amazing photographs.

Along the way, I built a conserable support kit for the D810, including a pro tripod, monopod, state-of-the-art ball heads, multiple lenses, including two for macro shooting, a standard top mount flash, and a lens mount flash. Here are some example shots made with the D810:

Just this spring 2024 I purchased a new camera, which has offered me a fantastic experience as a photographer. The background story on my purchase can be found on this weblog here. Below are examples of some of the images I’ve taken with the Leica thus far.

Local guitar luthier in Carrboro, North Carolina

March 26, 2024September 19, 2024

Glass and Silicon… Entering the World of the Leica Q3…

The best camera is the one you have with you – Chase Jarvis

Much of the writing on this weblog focused on my involvement with guitars and roots music; however in addition to music, I’ve been a dedicated photographer too for many years. I spent years with film cameras, but I’ve used DSLR’s (digital single lens reflex cameras) almost as long as they were available, including the Nikons D70, D300, & D700.

For the past nine years, I’ve happily used a Nikon D810 kit for my photography. In addition to the camera itself, I also own a multiplicity of lenses, tripods and flash lighting systems. It was and still is a fantastic camera, and photos taken with it adorn the walls of my home and those of my kids. I generated over 4000 followers on Tumblr with photos shot from the D810 and I used it extensively to support my work as a university professor, including shooting fashion shows and teaching several semesters of fashion photography. I even held an art show of my photography at my local coffee shop when I lived in Iowa.

Macro photo of an Atamasco Lily with the D810

Over the years I’ve shot a variety of styles, including sports, fashion, and landscapes, but I have a special affection for macro images, particularly wild flowers in the woodlands and the prairie, which was facilitated by my residence in Iowa for over two decades.

Landscape Shot of Monument Valley with the D810

Despite the incredible capabilities of the Nikon D810, I’ve found it. over the past couple of years, to be a major burden to haul around. The camera, particularly with one of my macro lenses attached, feels like a cinder block around my neck after just a short time out and about. Sadly, I am no spring chicken anymore, and as a result, I am less inclined to have my camera with me when I should. I find myself too often using my iPhone 11 Pro Max. In a pinch, the iPhone grabs a decent image, but there’s so much more a good camera can do by comparison.

Is There A Lighter More Capable Camera?

Shot of my son driving to the hoop with the D810

It occurred to me that it might be time to search the marketplace for a lighter camera that I would be more willing to carry around with me when I was out and about.

Since the time I acquired the D810, the technology for digital cameras transitioned rather dramatically away from Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR), technology, where the camera used a mirror to divert the light traveling through the lens to the view finder so the photographer could frame the image. When the shutter was activated the camera would lift the mirror up out of the way to let the light traveling through the lens strike the digital sensor. To reduce mechanical complexity and to limit the internal moving mass of the camera, the new technology eliminated the mirror and introduced an electric view finder (EVF) to take light directly from the lens to the viewfinder, to produce what is referred to in the marketplace as a Mirrorless digital camera. In very short order, the major manufacturers of digital cameras dropped production of DSLR’s.

iPhone Shot recognized by Lensblr on Tumblr

To save weight I gave passing thought to acquiring a mirrorless Nikon, but examination of the specs indicated the newer cameras were not particularly lighter and there was serious question as to whether my existing lenses would work effectively on the newer mirrorless camera bodies. Buying a whole new kit with no appreciable gain in portability made no sense to me. I was further convinced when I saw a neighbor hauling around a new state-of=the-art Sony camera body with a telephoto lens and it looked like a back breaker.

In addition to the Nikon mirrorless cameras, I also considered a Leica as a lighter, but very capable “walk around” camera. I was influenced by images of war time photographers like the great Robert Capa and Horst Faas using the smallish Leica film cameras of their day. They now manufacture state-of-the art digital Leicas which are highly regarded. Further, my old fraternity brother John Gellman who has been a major influence on my development as a photographer, also shot with a Leica for a time.

Not knowing much at that time about the array of models that Leica offers, I initially only looked at their M body and some of the detachable lenses that they offer. I was put off very quickly by its prohibitive pricing, and did not realize at the time that the M is strictly a manual focus camera, which would have been a deal killer for me.

I Choose the Leica Q3

A year went by after I dismissed the notion of purchasing a Leica. In the meantime, springtime arrived again in the Piedmont of North Carolina where I live, and it can be stunningly beautiful. There were too many photographic opportunities that I was going to miss because I resisted schlepping my big Nikon around. Consequently, I decided to take another look at Leicas. This time around I dug deeper and attempted to familiarize myself with the broader array of Leica models and in very short order I noticed a great deal of positive buzz about the Q model camera. The Q3, which was announced in May 2023, is the third generation of this model camera.

I learned that the Q3 is regarded as a compact camera and that both Sony and Fuji also make popular versions in the same genre. These compact cameras are relatively small, have a fixed lens (around 28 mm), a mirrorless shutter, autofocus and selectable control of aperture, shutter speed and ISO sensitivity. They do vary in terms of the sensor resolution (i.e. megapixels), sensor size, and the proprietary algorithms used to process the image data. The viewfinders also vary too as to whether they are optical, electronic or their internal size.

If you take the time to explore YouTube there is an abundance of information about cameras and photography, including dozens of reviews on compact cameras, thus making an informed purchase decision possible. Below is an example of a typical Q3 review:

On YouTube most reviews for the various cameras are enthusiastically positive, so they should be taken with a grain of salt; nevertheless, the basic camera specifications and capabilities differentiating the devices become pretty obvious. There were some key elements that made the Q3 stand out in my meta-analysis. The Summilux 28 mm, f/1.7 lens paired with the state-of-the-art 60 megapixel sensor set the Leica apart. Also attractive to me was the large bright EVF, and the sleek relatively simple control features to manage the camera. The downside was the expense, but no compromises are made in the design of this device. You pay for the legendary history of Leica, the design, and their incomparable lenses.

Purchasing a Leica Q3: Largely a Matter of Timing and Luck

Deciding to purchase a Leica Q3 and actually acquiring one are not the same thing. There are limited supplies of the camera and considerable global demand making it a challenging purchase. Initially unaware of the limited supply of Q3’s, I went to trusted national retailer B&H Photo but was informed that the Leicas were on backorder with no estimate of resupply. The same was true with Adorama, as well as every other reputable online camera sales organizations. Scalper prices were available on Amazon and eBay, but aside from the extra exorbitant pricing, there was probably a very good chance that their supply was from the gray market, meaning they were slipped into the U.S. from Europe or Asia through the back door, putting legitimate service and warranty at question!

I placed an order with B&H but had no idea what the wait time would be. After a couple of weeks of frustration, I received some advice from one of the several Leica Q Facebook groups. One knowledgeable member suggested calling around to the U.S. corporate Leica stores. I had no idea that there were such stores, and a quick search indicated there were eight of them. The third call was to the recently opened Leica Shop and Gallery at the Meatpacking District of NYC. I stumbled into good luck because the store was so new, they had a very small Q3 waiting list and a shipment arriving very shortly. Two days later I closed the deal on a Q3. The people at the shop were very accommodating.

I completed the order on a Friday, and the camera arrived on Monday, which I thought was pretty amazing. To the left, you can see what arrived with my order. The Q3 camera itself and the battery comprised the basic order. In addition, I grabbed the Leica half leather protective case, a Leica UV filter and a 128 Gig SD card.

Setting Up My Leica Kit

There is a prevailing belief that a filter to protect the lens limits how much light can transmit through to the sensor. On the other hand, the Summilux lens is so exquisite and expensive, I am not going to leave it vulnerable to scratching, so I put a Leica filter on it. In fact, the Leica ambassador in New York recommended one. By the same token, I want to protect the camera body as best I can because I plan to keep it around my neck a lot, so I purchased the Leica buff-colored leather half case. The front half of the camera is protected by the case, but the back is left open for the LCD Panel and the various surface control interfaces. You can see on the right that the protective case has a trap door at its bottom to access the battery compartment, which is great, but the SD card slot and the side ports are not accessible, which makes the case a bit of a pain in the ass because it must be removed to get to those features. Fortunately it is a relatively easy install and removal… still…

Battery and memory card access for the Q3

To the left you can see the lower portion of the camera where the battery compartment is, as well as the memory card slot. As I mentioned above, with the leather half case installed the battery is easy to exchange, but not the memory card. I’ve seen half cases from other non-Leica manufacturers that have a larger access area so that the memory card can also be accessed.

At this point, I should note how outrageously expensive Leica brand accessories are. There are less expensive after-market products that perform the same basic function; however, I decided to trust Leica engineers to produce a case that fits perfectly onto the camera since it serves such a major protective function. The same logic held true when I made a decision to mount the Leica brand thumb grip. The Q3 was a bit like holding onto a wet bar of soap until I mounted the thumb grip. There are other aftermarket grips but in my opinion none engineered as precisely as the Leica version. You can see above the brass thumb grip which locks firmly onto the flash shoe. Note also the two black function buttons on the grip that sit astride similar buttons built into the Q3’s body and work perfectly.

On the other hand, I mounted an aftermarket soft release shutter button onto the Q3. You can see it in the image to the left. The standard shutter button is flush within a circular enclosure on the camera body, so you have to dig down a bit with your finger to activate it. The soft release screws into the shutter button, and makes it far easier to fire off a photo. I saw no reason to pay the exorbitant Leica price and instead acquired a very nice one from Popflash Photo for one third the cost.

To complete my kit I also added a spare battery and a small carry bag. The extra battery I purchased because the Q3 too rapidly drained the battery when I had the camera on for an extended period of time while watching Youtube videos for proper set-up advice. Now that I am using the camera on daily photography walks, I keep it turned off until I need it for a shot, and as a result the battery charge is lasting much longer. Still, I think it’s good form to have a backup battery even though it was quite pricey.

The Domke bag, that I purchased is shown on the left and is a brand I’ve used before. My main Nikon kit is in a large Domke bag, which you can see at the top of this article, and a similar but smaller one is used to hold a Nikon D700 which is now with my youngest son. Domke manufacturers well made coated canvas bags that are moderately priced. While sourcing other camera bags, I observed that some of the bags very popular among Youtube and Facebook Q3 owners ranged in priced from $600 to almost $1000. The Domke is a fraction the cost. All this leads me to believe (as a person who co-authored a book on fashion theory) that those wildly expensive camera bags serve more as a status symbol than the functional Domke I now own. This also suggests that there may be some people who purchase the Q3 for as much as a status symbol than for the extraordinary photographic technology that it represents.

Shooting With The Q3

Leica Q3 shot of Springtime in my Village

For me, the Leica Q3 has been a delight to own and shoot with. I’ve been amazed at the initial color rendering, the dynamic range of light to dark, and the general clarity of the images. Of course, the image needs to be framed skillfully and the camera needs to be set properly at the outset to achieve the highest level of image quality (IQ).

Framing the photograph properly was my initial challenge with the Q3. I do not ordinarily shot with a wide angle 28 mm focal length. To get a photo that suits me with 28 mm, it requires getting close to the subject or cropping the image in post processing. A 28 mm lens grabs up a good deal of real estate, but because the camera’s resolution is so great at 60 megapixels there is the capability to crop the image quite dramatically, though it makes me a bit anxious to discard so much data.

Below you can see a surreptitious street photograph of a woman sitting across from me in my Village. I thought she looked interesting, but at the distance I was sitting from her, the 28 mm lens grabbed way more than I was interested in capturing:

Below is a severe crop of the above image, and now you can see the interesting visage of the woman sitting across from me. Despite the severe crop the image is not breaking up and is holding together well because 60 megapixels offers you a lot of leeway. I would not recommend this level of cropping as a habit, nor would I recommend making a large print of this image, but for a social media post it would serve its purpose quite well.

When taking your shot, the image can be observed and framed either through the EVF or from the LCD panel. The information available to the photographer is exactly the same. A light meter and other important settings including aperture, shutter speed and ISO are visible. I prefer to use the EVF when I shoot, with the possible exception of some down low macro shots, and there I’ll use the tilt-out LCD to great effect. In direct sunlight, when I use the EVF, I find my self cupping my hand around the viewfinder so that I can see it well.

I initially used the camera in complete manual mode, with the exception of autofocus, which really slowed me down to concentrate on what the camera was doing. After a while, on the recommendation of one of the many Q3 photographers on YouTube, I set the shutter speed and ISO to automatic with a ceiling of ISO 3500. I set the aperture myself and concentrate on framing the image. In addition, I have the camera exposure adjusted to one stop below optimal to preserve bright highlights. With this arrangement my exposures have produced many useable images like the one below of the Old Well at the University of North Carolina.

I mentioned earlier that I have a natural predilection for macro photography and as a result, the built in capacity of the Summilux lens for macro work was a major selling point to me. A simple twist on the barrel of the lens converts the Q3 into an effective macro shooter. My Nikon kit contains two macro lenses, a pair of screw on magnification lenses and a macro flash set, so it’s hard to beat the images it produces, but it is so heavy I now hesitate to drag it around. Fortunately, the Q3 is far more portable and the macro images are very nice indeed, as you can see below:

Macro shot of a wildflower with the Leica Q3

Another feature I really like about the Q3 is how fast the Summilux lens is, with its maximum aperture of f/1.7. With a lens that opens so widely, the photographer has lots of opportunity to play with shallow depth of field, which adds another element of art to my available palette. The Summilux’s out of focus bokeh is also very pleasing to the eye.

Further, the fast lens combined with the Q3 sensor’s wide dynamic range and low light noise control gives the photographer a great deal of leeway in low light circumstances. Most photographers on Youtube recommend using an ISO ceiling of 3500; however, others believe you can go a step higher and still maintain clarity, sharpness and low noise. I have yet to work with the Q3 in low light, but look forward to it. Below, you can see one of my experiments with narrow DOF indoors with natural light:

In Sum

I’ve owned the Leica Q3 for a few weeks and to this point, delighted with my purchase. The camera is light enough to carry around everywhere, which I do, and if I properly work within the constraints of the fixed 28 mm lens, it is possible to make some excellent photographs. In short, this camera is a very flexible companion and a great deal of fun to use.

September 23, 2023December 6, 2023

The Immaculate Santa Cruz H-13… My favorite all time guitar?

Introduction

I’ve written on this blog before that I lose patience with a guitar that no longer calls to me and as a result will consider it trade worthy for an instrument that I’d put to greater use. There’s too much financial value and physical space being occupied by an unused guitar. If you follow this blog, you may remember that I owned a National Reso-Lectric, and enjoyed it for several years, but then I subsequently acquired a National M-1, which is, in my judgement, the ultimate resonator and found afterwards that I had to force myself to pull the Reso-Lectric from it’s case!

At the time this story takes place, I was still residing in Iowa and was about a 2.5 hour drive from one of the largest guitar stores in the Midwest, Dave’s Guitars. An interesting thing about Dave’s is that they facilitate guitar trades through internet communication. Fill out an online form, send some photos and they’ll give you a trade value in very short order. I like this trade approach much more so than the tire kicking, frowning, hair pulling , hemming and hawing that can happen at a smaller Mom and Pop shop. So, I sent Dave’s the scoop on my Reso-Lectric and they got back to me with a reasonable price the same day.

Shortly thereafter on a gray December morning back in 2022, I loaded the Reso-Lectric into my vehicle and headed out to Dave’s to see what was what. I was not in the market for an electric guitar, as the one I had was all I think I would ever want or need. In fact, the differing tonal voices of electric guitars were not of interest to me, but that was not true about acoustic guitars. Varying shapes, body depths, wood compositions, bracing techniques, 12 vs 14 frets, glues, and finishes all, in my experience, contributed to the magical tonality of acoustic guitars. So, when I took off for Dave’s, it was acoustic guitars I was going to look at.

I think because the national economy was slowing down a bit, Dave’s acoustic guitar inventory was actually accumulating for a change. The past few years there was a Covid related feeding frenzy in guitar stores. Collings guitars, for example, flew off the hooks at Dave’s making it near impossible to test out their very popular OM model. I knew as I was driving over to Wisconsin that Dave’s actually had a couple of Collings OM’s in stock and they even had a solitary Santa Cruz acoustic in stock too!

I’d been aware of Santa Cruz guitars for decades since I first saw an advertisement in a guitar mag with Tony Rice playing a Santa Cruz knock-off (even with the odd oversized sound hole) of his famous Martin D-28. I’d also sat next to Catfish Keith in his home and listened to him play his Santa Cruz signature small bodied guitar with the Catfish logo inlaid on the headstock. Keith’s guitar was awesome sounding, so I was very interested in test driving a Santa Cruz acoustic.

When I got to the store, the acoustic guitar sales manager, JR set me up with a downstairs audition room to try out both a Collings OM and the Santa Cruz which was an H-13 model. Since the acoustic guitar sales room can be very busy and noisy, it was great to be able to quietly sit and contemplate the playability and tonality of the two guitars side by side. I switched back and forth between the two several times and stayed down there for quite some time. Both guitars were similar in that they were smaller Mahogany bodies with Spruce tops, but the similarities ended there. They looked completely different and, in the details, built differently. More on that later.

Guitar shopping at Dave’s is a double-edged sword. As a customer, you are pretty much on your own. The guys working there are so busy that they really do not have time to chase you around to cajole you into a sale. Internet sales are the preponderance of their business so they are often preoccupied with moving product out the door. Unlike a Mom and Pop store, it’s difficult to establish much of a personal relationship with the folks in that store. I’d purchased several guitars in the store and Dave, the owner, barely acknowledged me because his customer base is so large and his attention spread so thin. This was a far different atmosphere from the very personalized Casino Guitars where I recently purchased a Lowden F-50. Nevertheless, I managed on my own to come to a conclusion as to which guitar I liked most and whether or not I would make a purchase.

Both the Collings OM and the Santa Cruz were exceptionally playable, but the H-13 was a beast by comparison with greater depth and breadth of tone, possessing an expansive bottom in the bass range and some serious headroom with sparkling treble highs. It was a full spectrum cannon! The H-13’s sonic advantage during my audition may have been the combination of body depth being 3/4 of an inch deeper than the OM, Adirondack Spruce vs Sitka Spruce bracings under a European Spruce vs Sitka Spruce sound board and the 13 fret vs 14 fret neck to body join allowing ideal placement of the bridge on the body for the H-13. Both guitars were built with hot hide glue, so no advantage there. The H-13 is the lightest guitar I’ve ever held, which I think contributed to its far greater resonance as a stringed instrument. I was sold by the Santa Cruz H-13 and decided to complete its purchase with the trade of the Reso-Lectric.

Finally, I may have been recognized as a good customer during this visit to Dave’s Guitars, because JR threw in an installed K&K Mini pickup for no additional charge. After installation of the pickup, I headed back home to Iowa.

I Review the Santa Cruz H-13

General Observations

The Santa Cruz H-13, a medium sized premium guitar, was described recently by an acquaintance as a “museum piece.” This was from an accomplished musician with a long professional history, including back up and recording work with Chris Smither. Nevertheless, despite its elegant beauty, it is a simple looking instrument with just a few embellishments, including a slot head with ivoroid tuners, a sunburst finish, and an S29 top purfling, The real beauty of this guitar is how it sounds and handles.

Design Inspiration

There are small scale guitar manufacturers like Santa Cruz and Collings who specialize in precision made instruments that often take their inspiration from guitars manufactured during the early to mid part of the 20th century. The old vintage Martins and Gibsons that people pay enormous sums for serve as a design jumping off point, from which boutique manufacturers copy design features but also implement modern techniques, design enhancements and small scale builder advantages with a good deal of old world handwork. Richard Hoover of Santa Cruz has made an incredibly successful run as a thoughtful and exceptionally skillful small scale guitar manufacturer, roundly regarded as one of the best in the industry. His vision is to bring the traditions of the ancient violin masters to the steel string guitar. Below you can see a video in which Hoover discusses his approach to guitar making:

Now, as I understand it, the H-13 is inspired by the 1930’s era Gibson Nick Lucas Special. The initial impetus for Santa Cruz’s decision to create the H-13, as we know today, is credited to the late, well known luthier, Paul Hostetter. The original Special was actually made in a variety of styles and shapes; some with trapeze and others with pin bridges, 12, 13 or 14 frets, and varying tone woods. It was Gibson’s first artist endorsed guitar and what made it special was its extra body depth, which Nick Lucas wanted for a more robust bass tone. I believe Santa Cruz, at the behest of Paul Hostetter, decided to use the Gibson L-00 shape with 13 frets and the deeper body as the basis for their design, which I think is also the version that Bob Dylan made so notable early in his career.

During the height of the Covid pandemic lock-down, accomplished musician, Steve Earle did a series of Youtube videos about his vast guitar collection, which serves as an excellent history of highly valued vintage Martin and Gibson guitars. In the video below, Earle gives some historic background about the Nick Lucas Special:

Here’s an actual film of Nick Lucas playing his signature Gibson:

Finally, in this clip from D.A. Pennebaker’s film Don’t Look Back, ultra badass, Blonde on Blonde era Bob Dylan plays his Special in England where he pretty much schools Donovan during that gathering… Dylan is like a wound spring watching Donovan sing one of his ditties, and he’s waiting to explode outwards with a far more sophisticated tune than Donovan could ever imagine playing. After Dylan basically rips his guitar from Donovan’s hands and starts to play, you can see Donovan sink into himself in a defensive posture… Game over man…

Notable Elements of the Santa Cruz H-13

Starting at the top end of the guitar, the H-13 is built with a slotted headstock topping off a “standard Mahogany” neck. Hoover uses the term “standard Mahogany” to note that Santa Cruz’s mahogany is responsibly harvested from a former British plantation. This he speaks to in the video I embedded above. Based on my research, standard Mahogany is Swietenia macrophylla, commonly referred to as Honduran or Big Leaf Mahogany. The face of the headstock is elegantly simple with no binding, but enhanced with an ebony veneer and a Santa Cruz script logo inlaid with ivoroid on the top front. Santa Cruz offers multiple logo types in varying locations when purchased as a custom made guitar. If you refer to the Santa Cruz website for the H-13, there are multiple features that can be chosen when ordering the guitar from scratch, which I obviously did not do having bought this item “off the rack” at Dave’s..

Slotted headstocks are often used with guitars built with less than 14 frets as an aesthetic identifier, but also to alter tonality by creating a steeper break angle at the nut causing the string to exert more downward pressure, consequently driving more energy into the guitar when the string is plucked. I like how slotted headstocks look, but they are more tedious to restring.

To the right you can see a side/rear view of the headstock. You’ll note the “open back” or “open gear” Waverly nickel tuners with white ivoroid buttons, which are design consistent with the vintage guitar from which the H-13 takes its inspiration. The Waverly’s work just fine, but they are not near as buttery as the closed back Gotoh’s on my Lowden F-50, which are built onto a paddle-style headstock. What makes the closed back Gotoh’s so good is their high turning ratio, thus tuning is more smooth and precise. Gotoh does produce a slotted headstock “opened back” tuner but having never played with them, I am not sure that they are any better than the Waverly’s.

To the left, you can see a lower section of the neck and the upper bout of the body to where it is attached. The preponderance of steel string guitars are either 12 or 14 frets, but in the case of the H-13, it is 13 frets. According to the Santa Cruz website, the 13 fret neck, combined with the bridge location allows a longer string length which, combined with a deeper body, creates a very powerful small bodied guitar. I can attest to that!

The neck is a solid piece of mahogany, serving as a platform for an ivoroid bound ebony fingerboard. The V-shaped neck, attached precisely to the body with a traditional dovetail join, feels full in hand and is exceptionally comfortable to play. Finally, you’ll note the fretboard is unadorned with inlay keeping to the elegantly simplicity of the H-13.

There was a time in my life when I thought that owning a fancy guitar with inlays and other adornments was a sign of musical accomplishment. I’ve since traded off my fancy guitars for those made with old school sensibilities where the emphasis is on tonality as well as playability, and for the most part they are much simpler in appearance with fewer adornments like wood bindings and inlaid Abalone. I have a fondness for old school ivoroid bindings which adorn many boutique guitars inspired by vintage instruments.

The top of the H-13 is lovely; however, it boasts no unnecessary adornments, with the possible exception of the S29 purfling, “a pattern best described as a herringbone split with line of colored-wood marquetry.” The ivoroid rosette, the tortoise pick guard and the ebony pyramid bridge are all old school simplicity. Nevertheless, the high gloss nitrocellulose finish overlaying the sunburst top makes the H-13 a glory to behold.

A good bit of the tonal magic of the H-13 lies with the soundboard itself. In the case of my H-13, the standard Sitka Spruce is substituted out with European Spruce, originating from the Italian/Swiss border. Often used to build classical guitars, European Spruce is also frequently selected by boutique builders of steel guitars. “It has a sound rich in overtones, while it offers some of the headroom of Adirondack and a quicker response than Sitka, but with a warmer, thicker tone.” All in all it is a tonality that appeals to finger style players like me.

As I understand it, the sound board is tap toned at Santa Cruz to fine tune how it’s braced. In the case of my H-13, the bracings are Adirondack spruce. Theoretically, Adirondack provides greater strength and stiffness with less weight than Sitka. It generally allows for a lighter-braced top, which makes it more responsive.

Below Tommy Sands elaborates on the nuances of European Spruce:

The back and sides of H-13 are standard Mahogany. At first glance, the use of Mahogany for the back and sides of a premium guitar may seem a poorly conceived choice. Remember, Mr. Martin used Rosewood on his top-of-the-line D-28 and reserved Mahogany for the somewhat “less than” D-18. That preconception of Mahogany being a second rate tone wood still exists today. A local luthier Rob Sharer dismisses that prejudice writing that “Where (Mahogany) really shines, though, is when it is used for the back and sides of a steel-string acoustic guitar. Less dense than the rosewood species, its medium weight and open grain produce both warmth and punch, de-emphasizing the bass register while accentuating the crucial midrange, which, after all, is the guitar’s home turf in the tonal spectrum… For the player who values a dry, crunchy, punchy sound, mahogany gets the nod over rosewood’s rum-jug bass and metallic overtones.”

In sum

The Santa Cruz H-13, built to exacting standards with first rate woods and components, is still more than the sum of its parts. The guitar is feather light, but has a huge warm voice. As expected for Mahogany back and sides, it’s punchy in the mid-tones; however, the deep body and the very responsive European Spruce top offers the player surprisingly resonant bass tones and sparkling highs for a mid-sized guitar. This guitar is an absolute delight to hold and play. It is a finger style player’s delight. During the week, I try to cycle through my guitar collection on a daily basis and always look forward to H-13 day!

If you want to dig deeper into Richard Hoover’s guitar building philosophy, where he brings to bear the skills of the ancient violin makers onto steel string guitars, here’s an inside look at Santa Cruz’s shop providing intimate detail on guitar construction philosophy. After watching this, I consider it a true blessing to own one of these marvelous instruments.

Santa Cruz H-13 Tone Samples

Elizabeth Cotton – Freight Train

Drop D Fishin’ Blues

Carl Miner of the North American Guitar rocking out on an H-13 spec’d out like mine…

September 17, 2023February 7, 2024

An Irish Guitar Joins the Stable – I Review My Lowden F-50

Introduction

It was a confluence of events and cognitions that lead me down the path to purchase a different new guitar. First, I was becoming increasingly disaffected with my Collings 0002H. It was an excellent instrument that sounded great and it was my first Collings, which made it special; however, the guitar was, from the very moment I started playing it at home, difficult to play.

There are things about the playability of a guitar that sometimes elude me in the store when excitement overrides critical assessment. Or, perhaps it’s the change in ambient environment when the guitar arrives at home that causes the guitar neck to shift around and alter the instruments action. At any rate, It was just hard on my hands and more of a challenge to play when compared to my other guitars, including my Martin D-28 Authentic, the Collings C10-35, and my recently purchased Santa Cruz H-13. The playability issues continued despite having a shop luthier at Dave’s Guitars do a full set-up some weeks later. In sum, I was not playing it very much, so I knew in my heart of hearts that it had to eventually go.

Further, the 0002H was constructed with a Sitka spruce top and East Indian Rosewood back and sides which is fine; however, my Martin ’37 Authentic is composed of an Adirondack spruce top and Madagascar Rosewood back and sides which is arguably a more choice version of the Spruce and Rosewood combination. While it’s worth repeating that the 0002H was a marvelous sounding guitar, it did not compare to the incredible sounding Martin on the level of playability and wood quality (splitting hair here), so it became an ever so slightly “less than” and redundant guitar in my stable, leaving it in the category of high trade potential.

My thinking was that If I were to trade the 0002H it would be for a guitar with a wood combination and body shape that I did not already possess. One of the guitar manufacturers that I was particularly interested in was the Irish company Lowden. Many years ago I had owned an all Koa Lowden guitar that was quite beautiful, but I traded it off because the neck was a bit narrow for finger-style guitar which I’d recently adopted. Over the years I regretted parting with it.

Lowden manufactures guitars in a small shop in Northern Ireland with great individual care. George Lowden was in the same mid-century generation of successful guitar builders who started from the ground up decades ago with their own idiosyncratic approach to constructing the instruments. This would include builders like Richard Hoover of Santa Cruz, Bill Collings, and Bob Taylor.

There were no Lowden sellers in Iowa where I was residing and I was not interested in purchasing one online without trying it out. Further, I was totally unsure of which particular Lowden I was interested in. I wanted to visit a location where I could try a variety of them. I knew, for example, that Casino Guitars in Southern Pines, North Carolina was a major dealer in Lowden Guitars. I was familiar with Casino Guitars because the owner, Baxter Clement, was a highly visible Youtube personality uploading several videos every week about different aspects regarding guitars and the associated industry. Baxter was an advocate for Lowden instruments and offered a healthy variety of them in stock. Below you can watch one of Baxter’s videos about his commitment to Lowden guitars.

Baxter Clement in his store, Casino Guitars in Southern Pines, NC

While my thoughts about guitars in general, Lowden’s in particular, and trading the 0002H were percolating somewhere in the back of my mind, my wife Annette and I decided to move from Iowa to North Carolina. The state of North Carolina has a strong pull on my life. It’s where I came of age decades ago, having graduated from High School in Durham and then subsequently completed undergraduate degrees at both the University of North Carolina and NC State. We were both retired and thought it was the right time for a change of venue. We had multiple children and grandchildren who lived in NC and we were both worn down by the long and brutal Iowa winters. So, we purchased a new home outside Chapel Hill, NC, sold our Iowa home, packed up and settled into NC in early June of 2023.

Casino Guitars

I think it was as early as the second weekend that we were living in North Carolina that we planned to head to the coast to visit one of my daughters and her family. I decided that we would leave earlier then necessary and take a side trip to Casino Guitars in Southern Pines on the way to Wilmington, NC. While I was not planning on buying a guitar on this particular visit, I packed the 0002H in the event that I wished to make a trade on a guitar that I liked.

An hour away from my home, Casino Guitars is located right in the heart of the Southern Pines historic downtown district. The building itself was, back in the day, a casino, bowling alley, speakeasy and a brothel. Baxter Clement, a Southern Pines native recently renovated the building, built an apartment for his family on the second floor and established his guitar retail space on the main floor. As you can see from the images below, the shop is well stocked with premium electric and acoustic guitars, including PRS, Fender, Gretsch, Martin, Taylor and of course, Lowden. Besides the awesome inventory, the interior space is absolutely stunning. Just a great place to be!

I was lucky to find a parking space reasonably close to the store because Southern Pines was mobbed with visitors there to attend a concert that night. Leaving Annette and our dog Nike at an Ice Cream parlor, I crossed the railroad tracks that cut through the center of town and eventually found the store, which delighted me! When I entered the shop, a fellow I did not recognize from Youtube videos was manning the main desk. I later learned that he was was James Villone. Since the shop was pretty quiet at that moment James was kind enough to quickly show me the way to the Lowden’s.

Initially, James thought the only store inventory was the three Lowden’s in the glass cases. I was a little disappointed at first but thought, “what the hell,” I ‘d give those three a try out. James pulled out all three Lowden’s and brought them to this lovely audition room in the back portion of the shop. While I was playing the first one, James went out, at my request, to find me a music stand so I could play some tunes off of my iPad Pro.

Not long after, just as I looked up from my music, Baxter Clement burst into the audition room! I was delighted to finally meet him after seeing him with my morning coffee for several years. He was every bit as fun, affable and accessible as he seemed on his Youtube videos and like magic, he filled the room with Lowden guitars that he produced from his inventory hidden somewhere in the shop. He walked me through the different Lowden styles and produced various wood combinations for me to give a go. I was particularly interested in playing a guitar with a Cedar top because I’d owned a Taylor years ago with a Cedar top and I liked its warm sound; however, the Cedar topped Lowden’s on that particular morning did not work for me enough to get seriously interested in a purchase.

Undaunted, Baxter kept showing me additional Lowden’s of various wood combinations and sizes; however, after playing numerous guitars, I was about to give up, collect my wife and dog and head to Wilmington. Then finally, he dropped a Lowden constructed with Cocobolo back and sides and a Lutz Spruce top into my lap and it was magic to my ears as compared to all the others I’d played. It was a style F-50, which I would learn later meant the guitar was made from all master grade tone woods, which are the best of the best tone woods available anywhere, chosen for their exceptional tonal and visual properties!

I played the F-50 for quite a while, including some tunes with Baxter accompanying me, which delighted me to no end. Later, I met his wife, Taylor, and one of his sons. At Taylor’s behest, Annette and Nike were even invited into the shop. The whole experience was quite marvelous. Sometime thereafter we made a deal, which included a trade on the 0002H. Baxter even carried and then packed the Lowden F-50 into my car, and after farewells we headed out for a weekend in Wilmington.

I Review My Lowden F-50 Cocobolo and Lutz Spruce

My First Impressions

Much to my regret, my earliest experiences with the newly purchased F-50 were somewhat dismal. It began when I arrived in Wilmington to visit my daughter, Sally. Having just purchased the Lowden, I travelled cross state with the guitar from Southern Pines. After settling in at Sally’s, I disappeared upstairs to the guest bedroom and pulled the F-50 from its case and right away, despite the guitar still sounding great, I noticed the action was far higher than I’d observed during the Casino shop audition. In fact, the guitar was quite difficult to play, particularly in the treble section. Had my enthusiasm in the store again overridden my ability to critically analyze the guitar’s playability? On the other hand, was the Lowden exceptionally sensitive to ambient conditions and did the neck start shifting around? It should be noted that I keep D’Addario moisture packs in the guitar case, so my attempt to control guitar conditioning was functioning during the drive.

When I got back home, I measured the string height distance from the frets and observed that the the guitar was out of specification on the high side across the fretboard, this being based upon data from the Lowden website. I was subsequently welcomed back by Casino Guitars for an adjustment and returned a few days later. Sean Diesfield, Casino’s resident guitar whisperer did some work on the saddles and the neck relief and sent me on my way. At the shop the guitar seemed improved, but when I got home and played the instrument at length it was somewhat better but not good enough.

At this point I was suffering some major buyer’s remorse! Did I trade the Collings 0002H because it was a pain in the ass to play for a different guitar that might, in fact, be a worse pain in the ass to play? At that moment it seemed so.

Rather than give up, I decided to find a local skilled luthier who could give me a full set-up and lower the string action to my comfort level. That was easier said than done. Though there were a number of “repair” luthiers in town, they were either booked up for months, non responsive to my request, or occupied with life trauma and unavailable. I finally left the Lowden for over two weeks at my local shop, Twin House Music, where I take lessons and and a couple of luthiers (including the owner) do their magic. Eventually the Lowden was properly cared for. In the end, the neck relief was adjusted and the guitar now plays as well as any other in my collection! In the past, I’ve adjusted the neck relief on many of my guitars, but in the case of the Lowden, the adjustment is very difficult to make and requires a tool that I did not possess. Further, I thought the guitar had more serious problems than neck relief. At any rate, badda bing, badda boom, the guitar is great now!

The Twin House Music owner and luthier, Brian McGee, who tamed the Lowden

In the end, I don’t know how to account for the difficulties I had getting the guitar to a state of acceptable playability. Perhaps Lowden’s are more sensitive to ambient conditions? Was it the long voyage from Northern Ireland to the U.S. that caused the neck to shift? Why did I not notice the guitar’s issues when I tried it out in the store? Did the guitar’s action shift between Southern Pines and Wilmington? On Lowden’s website, they are clear to point out that a new guitar will settle-in during the first months of playing and would probably require adjustment. There is no truer statement than that!

Basic Lowden Observations

Lowden builds three basic guitar shapes with the F being their middle size between the Jumbo O and the smaller S. Originally designed to compete in the flat-picking market, the F guitar is now favored by finger-stylists too, hence my interest. For example, world renowned finger-stylist Pierre Bensusan plays an F shaped signature Lowden.

Lowden builds the F style with a variety of wood combinations. According to Lowden specifications, the 50 designation means that the woods used to construct this F shaped guitar are the best of the best that the company acquires, being selected out for a combination of tonality and appearance. In my case, the guitar body is topped with Lutz, which is a hybrid White and Sitka Spruce, characterized by a light creamy color with a very tight grain. On the other hand, Cocobolo is used for the back and sides with a showy reddish color and swirly grain lines.

According to one leading U.S. guitar manufacturer, “in terms of acoustic response, Lutz blends the positive characteristics of Sitka and White spruce and its close cousin, Engelmann. Lutz tends to exhibit characteristics of Adirondack spruce. The result is powerful sonic horsepower that translates into strong volume, projection and tonal richness.”

The back and sides of the body are composed of Cocobolo, a member of the Dalbergia species, which includes other various Rosewoods. According to the aforementioned U.S. manufacturer, “Cocobolo is a dense, stiff tropical hardwood from Mexico, which produces a fairly bright overall tone emphasized by sparkling treble notes. The tone is fast, responsive, and articulate.” Cocobolo is a substantial, heavy and oily wood that requires skill and competence to draw out its potential as a guitar tone wood; however, when it is properly deployed Cocobolo has been described as “Brazilian on steroids!”

Cocobolo backside of the F-50, note the characteristic blond sapwood section down the back’s center

Below is a video in which a luthier interacts with a sample of Cocobolo tone wood:

Below, George Lowden discusses various types of tone woods that he’s used for guitar building. While he briefly describes Cocobolo, he seems more enthusiastic with back and side woods like Walnut, Honduran Rosewood and especially African Blackwood:

Perhaps a more uplifting analysis of Cocobolo is given by the incomparable Lindsay Straw for the North American Guitar:

In the end, George Lowden says play the guitar and choose the one that speaks best to you, which is what I did when I chose Cocobolo from the crowd of Lowden’s at Casino Guitars.

To me, my F-50 is an example of high craft and understated physical beauty. The ratio of upper and lower bout sizes combined with the curvy narrow waist and sloped shoulders speak to classical Greek proportions. The satin matte finish, the understated wood bindings, the lack of decor on the fretboard and the dark veneered headstock create a sense of elegance without the gaudiness that some high end guitars self-consciously display. The figured koa/abalone rosette is a tasteful embellishment, but also holds back visually enough to avoid seeming overdone.

Other Aesthetic and Structural Features of the F-50

The Lowden paddle-type headstock has a handsome dark Ebony veneer on the face and backstrap with the brand logo inlaid top front. The tuners are the most excellent Gotoh Gold 510’s with Ebony buttons. I’ve owned several guitars in the past that were equipped with Gotoh’s. My current other acoustics are inspired by vintage Martin and Gibson guitars so they’re equipped with Waverly tuners, which are nice, but not near as supple as the Gotoh’s. I am delighted to have a guitar again with Gotoh’s. They tune like butter. As far as the nut goes, it was unclear to me based on the paucity of specs available on the Lowden website what it’s made of; however, Lowden’s website has a nice chat function and their tech rep, Simon, confirmed that bone is used, which is not surprising given the general excellence of the F-50.

I own 5 other guitars with varying neck profiles, and I am not that particular about the neck shapes other than by using it, it must not stress my old hands. Lowden is not forthcoming in their specs about their neck shape; however, I find it full-in-hand, and comfortable to play as it’s not too clubby or too thin. The neck is a five piece composite of Mahogany and Rosewood while the necks on my other axes are all solid wood, so the Lowden by comparison is somewhat exotic looking. Further, the five piece neck is theoretically more stable and less likely to twist over time. I had a Taylor solid body at one time with a twisted neck and it was ugly; fortunately, Taylor generously replaced the neck, but that’s another story. Finally, unlike the satin matte finish on the body of the Lowden, the neck has a glossier surface making it quite easy to move up and down while playing.

You can see the aesthetically pleasing “hockey stick” sweep of the Rosewood section embedded in the mahogany at the base of the neck. Again, it is hard to find out all the construction details on the Lowden website, but I am pretty sure that the neck is attached to the body with a traditional dovetail join. Also visible in the associated image is the contrast of the glossy neck versus the satin matte finish on the body, the figured Koa binding and backstrip, the beautiful wood grain striations in the Cocobolo, and finally the section of blonde sapwood running up the center back of the guitar.

To the right, you can see a section of the Ebony fingerboard with its Maple bindings. No blond streaks on the F-50’s fingerboard, with Lowden choosing only the most select all black Ebony wood for their Mastergrade model. The fingerboard extends into the sound hole to catch the highest possible treble notes, a place that I will probably never travel with my fingers. Nevertheless it is an aesthetically pleasing visual design feature. You can also see the unique and stunning sound hole rosette which is figured Koa and Abalone.

Unlike my other acoustic guitars which all have pinned bridges and one piece saddles, the F-50 and all other Lowdens are built with pinless bridges and compensated two-piece saddles. Put several guitarists in a room and they’ll debate the merits of pin vs pinless bridges. In my experience both approaches work fine. The pinless bridge makes for an attractive surface element on the guitar and certainly simplifies restringing although care should be taken to avoid having the string ball end slapping down onto the soundboard and dinging it during insertion through the bridge. Because the slap-down is almost inevitable, Lowden supplies a nifty little cardboard insert to slide beneath the bridge to protect the soundboard during stringing.

Finally the bottom of the lower bout can be seen on the right. Again, the wonderful Cocobolo grain patterns can be seen as well as a strip of figured Koa where the two side pieces meet. You’ll note a K&K Pure Mini jack installed at my request by the kind folks at Casino Guitars. I use this pickup on all my acoustics as it’s neat, simple and the amplified guitar sounds natural to my ears. If you’re interested in my tech for amplification you can click here.

To Sum it Up

Despite my initial buyer’s remorse before the F-50 was given a pro set up, this guitar is a real keeper! It is beautifully constructed, quite comfortable to handle and play, and the sonic palette available from this instrument is, as I had hoped, distinctly different from my other acoustic guitars. The body woods of Cocobolo and Lutz Spruce combined with Lowden’s exacting construction methods (of which they are quite mysterious) creates clean punchy bass tones, bell-chime like trebles with underlying warm overtones with tonal sustain that exceeds the eternal.

After I wrote this piece, Peach Guitars released a video in which some nice Lowden construction details are considered, particularly how the soundboard is manufactured:

For someone primarily used to Sitka Spruce combinations with Mahogany or the more accessible Rosewoods (but not unobtainium like Brazilian), a body of Cocobolo and Lutz is a nice stretch to something significantly different, but without being too exotic like Macassar Ebony or African Blackwood.

Tone Examples

I’ve reviewed several guitars on this website, but have never had the availability of linking to a Youtube video of my guitar being demonstrated; however, in this case Casino Guitars recorded a gentleman playing my F-50, which I show below:

I will also include a clip of me playing the F-50 also. What would be more appropriate than playing a selection of Piedmont Finger-Style Blues since I now reside in the Piedmont of North Carolina. This tune is credited to one of the most recognized and highly regarded Piedmont Blues players, Etta Baker entitled Carolina Breakdown!

Etta Baker’s Piedmont Blues: Carolina Breakdown

January 24, 2023January 25, 2023

Fixing a Guitar Neck Ding…

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I first started playing my guitars on stage around mic stands, because of inexperience, I unfortunately whacked my guitar’s neck into the stand, which leaves a small ding. Difficult to see, but irritating when moving your hand up and down the neck, particularly when playing with a slide. While the guitar is still playable and the tone is not adversely affected, it is really annoying and distracting to feel the ding during playing. It’s particularly frustrating when playing a premium guitar knowing how expensive it can be.

I was playing my National M1 the other day and was immediately reminded of the ding(s) I had in the neck. One ding from a mic stand strike and another from my friend’s careless swing of his guitar neck onto mine, which is doubly irritating!

Driven by my irritation, I started rooting around on the internet for a solution and discovered multiple remedies for ding repair. Several involved application of moisture and heat which I did not want to mess with for fear of exacerbating the damage. Fortunately, I did stumble on a relatively inexpensive mechanical solution that was worth a try.

The Cue Doctor is a dense and solid cylinder of glass that is intended to remove dings in pool cues. Apparently a ding on a pool cue is as irritating and distracting as one on a guitar neck. The device is very simple to use. Holding the cylinder in the palm of your hand and rapidly rubbing it over the ding with a modicum of pressure will flatten out the damage. According to the manufacturer the combination of pressure and heat created by the friction of rubbing will cause the indent to rise and flatten out.

Some luthiers have taken the same technology and applied it to guitar necks. I did the same to the M1’s neck and it works amazingly well!

September 20, 2022September 22, 2022

Being one more than two…

After a thousand miles on the trails, I relate my experience with the Catrike Dumont…

Introduction

I’ve been a lifelong traditional “diamond -framed” cyclist; however, for physical reasons resulting from surgeries in a delicate area of my body, I found myself no longer comfortable on a two wheeled bicycle. This was a shame because my most recent bicycle (Specialized Roubaix) was an almost “light as air” carbon fiber technological wonder that epitomized the elegance and efficiency of human powered motion.

As I recollect just prior to my surgery last year, my doctors suggested that I might want to consider another form of cycling that would be more comfortable. I was not alone in this circumstance. In fact, physical limitations of vary sorts seem to be the rule rather than the exception for riders transitioning from traditional bicycle technology to alternatives like recumbent designs. I dismissed my doctor’s concerns until early this summer when I rode the Roubaix a few times and realized I might undo the good work of my surgeons if I kept at it.

According to Wikipedia, “a recumbent bicycle or tricycle is a conveyance that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider’s weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by back and buttocks. On a traditional upright bicycle, the body weight rests entirely on a small portion of the sitting bones, the feet, and the hands.”

Recumbent cycles come in two basic configurations, which are either two or three wheeled designs. Initially my inclination was to acquire a two wheeled version, but I was dissuaded by my local bike shop for two related reasons. First, they don’t sell them and second the owner does not trust their basic stability. His quote to me was, “you ever seen one of those things going up a hill?” Saying this while he moved his hands back and forth horizontally indicating that they have difficulty keeping a straight line, which is essential safe-cycling behavior. This was further confirmed to me when I stumbled upon a gruesome YouTube video of a rider crashing his Cruzbike recumbent into a curb when he briefly took one of his hands off the handlebar grip! You can see this disaster in the video below which caused me to rule out the two-wheeled version of the recumbent. The wreck happens about the 3:15 mark, and at the 8:40 mark the rider shares the injuries he sustained:

I Purchase a Recumbent Trike

At first pass I was very reluctant to own a recumbent trike. My understanding was that they were heavy, wide and incurred increased rolling resistance because of three wheels in contact with the road surface. The was anathema to a “roadie” cyclist like me who placed the greatest value on limited mass, precision components and maximum speed! My feelings were also complicated by my disdain for trike riders. They never appeared to be serious cyclists, instead tooling along at a leisurely pace in their lazy boy chairs on wheels! I wondered where they kept their remote controls and beer koozies on those odd conveyances.

I had to set aside my prejudices regarding trikes because I very much wanted to get back to riding on the bike trails. Cycling with my wife is a very important part of our daily routine. So I went out shopping for a trike.

My purchase was initially driven by what was available in my immediate Iowa location. I’ve had a longstanding relationship with my local bike shop and felt very comfortable buying my trike from them. I wanted a place that I could reach easily for the inevitable service that trikes require. My instincts were correct because my trike spent a good deal of time in the service bay during my initial thousand miles of ownership.

At the time of my searching, my local shop listed on their webpage Catrike, ICE, and TerraTrike brands. Probably because of global supply chain issues there were a just small number of TerraTrikes in the shop, no ICE’s and a pretty good inventory of Catrikes. At any rate, the Catrike designs were more appealing to me so I focused on them. I ended up purchasing a Dumont because trikes are fairly large mechanisms and this one folded up to a smaller size. Further, it was designed with both front and rear suspension. Since you cannot lift up out of the seat when encountering a bump on the trail as you can on a traditional diamond framed bike, I thought suspension to soften the impact on my aging body made great sense.

I’ve never owned a Candy Purple bike, so I selected it over a Liquid Black one, which were the two available. The Catrikes are known for their exquisite paint jobs. They apply the paint with powder coating technology using their own unique color mixes. The powder coated paint is supposedly more evenly applied and more durable. Sadly though, because of the powder coat technology, Catrike does not offer touch up paint, which can be an issue if you ding up the frame which I did in very short order. Other than adding some Shimano SPD pedals, a water bottle holder and some fore and aft lighting, I rolled out of the store with a stock Dumont.

I Add an eCat Bosch Motor

The Dumont weighs in at 43 pounds. That is a lot of aluminum, steel and rubber to power along the trail. The trike was equipped with a triple crankset up front and a 10 ring cassette in the rear, giving 30 possible combinations. Riding on the flats and rolling down hills was fun, but climbing any inclines was tedious for me as gravity comes into play in a big way when you’re driving a beefy trike such as the Dumont. After about 150 miles of toiling with the Dumont, I decided I was not having any fun on my summer morning rides with my wife. Compared to the ease of riding my Specialized Roubaix, the Dumont was a boar hog. Cycling had become a chore, and I had to take some kind of action or I’d quit riding.

During my initial trike shopping, I became aware that a Dumont could be retrofit with an electric assist motor, but that would be a big step for me because I actually disdained bikes that used motors. I just thought they were for the unmotivated or lazy.

Nevertheless, being desperate to raise the Dumont to the level of fun to ride, I laid down a sizable chunk of cash and had my shop install a motor on the Dumont. The installation was pretty easy as the front end of the boom is completely swapped out. The three ring crankset, cranks and pedals are removed and replaced with a boom that holds a German made Bosch Active Line Plus motor, subcontracted by the Catrike manufacturer. The old boom went into a box in my garage and I transferred my new Shimano SPD pedals to the powered boom.

Riding with the new motor took a bit of acclimation, but very soon the Dumont was great fun to ride! The motor is torque-activated, meaning that pedaling is required to trigger the assistance that it offers to the rider. In the above graphic you can see that the Active Line Plus motor offers four levels of assistance ranging from 40 to 270% additional power beyond the baseline offered by your own legs.

The level of assistance is selected by Bosch’s Purion computer which is mounted where the shift lever was for the old front derailleur that was replaced by the motor boom. Pressing the Purion plus or minus buttons move the motor through the four stages of assistance. I ride the Dumont mostly at the ECO or 40% assistance level, which to a large extent remediates the piggish weight of the trike. At the ECO setting I’ll tool along at about 12 mph. If I need to go faster, or I’m feeling lazy, I’ll bump the Purion up to TOUR level and there I can run 14 to 15 mph with a moderate amount of leg input from me. I will use the SPORT of TURBO settings for the rare Iowa hills, with the assistance level depending upon how steep they are.

The Bosch motor and Purion computer are all powered by a rechargeable battery that is mounted on the side of the trike between the seat and rear wheel. The battery will dissipate its charge at a rate that is a function of how much assist you require during a ride. For example the Purion estimates that riding at the ECO setting gives a range of about 70 miles, TOUR 40 miles and so on. The battery can be recharged while attached to the trike. Removal of the battery requires a key.

It’s important to note that the battery and the mount add width to the trike when in its folded state. Before I added the battery, the folded Dumont would easily fit into the rear of my Honda Crosstour or my wife’s Subaru Outback. Now it won’t! This is a big problem and has pushed me to seek out a trike rack and trailer hitch for my Honda. This is an ongoing and costly process. It’s also worth noting that the Dumont now weighs in the neighborhood of 53 pounds with the addition of the motor boom and battery. The motor more than makes up for the additional weight!

The Annoying Rear Fender

The stock Dumont is equipped with an aluminum fender mounted over the rear wheel. The fender is useful when riding wet, sloppy trails after a rainstorm. But, I removed it from the trike because it made an unholy racket any time I rode over somewhat uneven trails, which is all too common where I live. I tried tightening the fender mounts, adding rubber washers between the mount and the trike body and even worked with the body’s shock absorber all to no avail. Finally, I contacted Catrike and they basically admitted that they have trouble with “some” of their fenders and offered to send me a replacement. Further, they informed me that they were redesigning their fenders.

I saw no advantage to having Catrike send me a new fender since the one I had was perfectly good, other than being quite noisy. It was hard for me to accept the clashing about of the fender while riding through my bucolic, wooded bike trails, so I removed it. The removal process was stressful and tedious because the screw mounting the fender directly to the frame was very difficult to get to, but I eventually got it free. I miss the fender on those days that the trail is sloppy, but I do not miss the racket! Perhaps I will give the redesigned fender a go when and if it becomes available next Spring.

Those Dang Disc Brakes

I’ve ridden with bicycles all my life that used wheel rim grabbing calipers. Adjusting them was relatively easy to do. On the other hand, the Dumont was equipped with Avid BB7 Disc Brakes on both of the front wheels. In addition, they are also equipped with Catrike locking brake levers. When adjusted properly, the trike’s disc brakes work very effectively however, it took multiple trips to the shop to get the BB7’s to function as they were designed to do.

Since the cables of a new trike stretch over the initial break-in period it was difficult to keep them properly adjusted. Secondly, the BB7’s are more difficult to access and way more complicated to adjust, making them beyond my capabilities. Consequently, any adjustments had to be done in my bike shop.

During the break-in period, I experienced several hundred miles of noisy pad to disc rubbing from the right brake before finally getting it adjusted properly. As a result of cable stretching, the parking brake on the left side quit grabbing and had to be reset. This is important because a trike will roll off if not locked down with a parking brake! Finally the brake levers had to be fine tuned so that they activated the brakes simultaneously when under equivalent hand pressure. For a while they were not set identically, which caused the trike to fishtail during rapid breaking. As of this writing the brakes are finally functioning properly, but it was an ordeal getting there.

Working Through Issues with the Rear Derailleur

The Dumont is equipped with a SRAM GX ten speed derailleur, which is a moderate quality device used often on Mountain Bikes. It is activated by an indexed shifter-lever mounted on the right steering grip. While it’s been working very accurately for the past several hundred miles, I had some difficulties with it until the control cable settled into its stretched out length and the derailleur limit screw settings were fine tuned. The limit screws control the lateral motion of the derailleur and this is important because when set properly, they reduce the probability of throwing the chain either into the wheel or onto the axle.

Twice I experienced the chain dropping off the rear gear cassette and jamming up on the axle. This malfunction prohibits movement of the chain and locks down the motion of the pedals. The first time it happened, I freaked out and went into emergency braking mode, and to this day I’m not sure whether or not the rear wheel locked up also. Nevertheless, the trike spilled over on its right side and I was thrown free from the trike onto the trail. OUCH! Sore hip and elbow road rash for days after.

After my first “chain drop” incident, my bike shop fine tuned the derailleur and I rode along fine for several hundred miles before the derailleur malfunctioned again. This time, I did not panic and let the trike roll to a stop. As with the first chain drop, it was difficult to free the chain from its jammed space on the axle but I eventually got it and the trike rolling again. I think my bike shop did another fine-tuning and the derailleur’s been working great since then.

I’ve read that the use of a motor places more strain on the chain and the derailleur as opposed to the unassisted state. Consequently, some effort by the rider to reduce pedaling load during a gear shift reduces stress on the system and the probability of malfunction. This is not always possible, but I try to do it now as often as I can.

It is also worth noting that the bottom of Dumont’s derailleur is fairly close to the ground with its lowest point being 5 inches above the trail surface. By comparison the bottom of the Roubaix’s derailleur is 6.5 inches above the surface of the road. This may not seem like a big difference, but it must be because unlike the Roubaix, I’ve picked up trail debris several times while on the trike and found it trapped between the Dumont’s derailleur and rear wheel. In fact, during one ride, after a rain storm, I picked up a small windblown branch with leaves still attached and it wove its way around both jockey wheels and several times around the rear cassette. What a mess that was to clean up while out on the trail!

Because of chain drops and derailleur fouling I considered chucking the derailleur and replacing it with a Rohloff internally geared hub. They’re very expensive, but owners of those hubs are super enthusiastic about them. At this point, I’ve decided against allocating those funds because my bike shop guys are very unenthusiastic about doing the work. In addition, the Catrike literature about the Bosch motor indicates it is set up for use with a standard derailleur and finally, mounting a Rohloff on the Dumont requires a drop out adaptor kit which alters the trike’s frame geometry by extending it one inch in length. I am assuming that the Catrike designers were very intentional when they laid out the trike’s geometry and I am reluctant to mess with it.

Those Pesky Flats

The stock Dumont is dressed out with Schwalbe Marathon Racer tires. They’re advertised as the lightest of the Marathon tires, but boast of good durability and flat resistance. Nevertheless, I got a flat on the bike trail shortly after acquiring the Dumont and had yet to equip myself with spare tire tubes and field repairs tools. I had to roll the trike to a location where my wife could pick me up. Rolling a Dumont with a flat tire is an ordeal as the trike wants to curve off in the direction of the flatted tire. I never want to do that again!

Schwalbe Marathon Plus Flat Resistant Tires

After consultation with my bike shop I had them order a set of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires which are supposedly bullet proof and in the unlikely event of a flat I now have spare tubes and field repair tools. The Marathon Plus are big beefy tires and actually add some cushion to the ride.

The Marathon Plus tires come in E50 and E25 varieties. The E50’s are for bikes/trikes that are spec’d to run with motors that push the vehicle to speeds in the neighborhood of 30 mph. The E25’s are for trikes like the Dumont that are set to max out at 20 mph. For some inexplicable reason my shop put E50’s on the front and an E25 on the rear. I would have preferred E25’s all around as they are lighter than the E50’s. On rotating elements like wheels, lighter is better. I should have been a more attentive and knowledgeable consumer when I had the shop order the tires. In fact, I would prefer to pull the E50’s off and replace them with E25’s, which I’ll do if I ever wear them out.

I’ve run several hundred miles on the new Marathon Plus tires and so far no flats!

To the left you can see an image of the various items I carry along for tire repair. Included from right to left are tire tubes of two sizes, a patch kit, zip locks, a pump, hex wrenches, tire tools and a plastic snipper.

I’d prefer not to carry all the aforementioned items; however, I don’t want to get caught with my pants down on the bike trails again with a flat that I cannot fix. Catrike builds a variety of pockets under and behind the seat that can be used to stow pumps and tools; however, I found it necessary to mount a rack and smallish bag on the rear to house the tire tubes. The rest of the bag is useful for hauling a bike lock and whatever else you want to bring along within reason.

The rack, bag and tools etc. violate my holdover minimalist “roadie” sensibility, but riding a Dumont with a motor assist is a completely different affect. So I bring it all along!

Being Seen

The Dumont is considerably less visible on the road or trail than my two-wheeled Roubaix. Since trikes are still relatively rare, neither motorists nor other cyclists recognize and respond to them as readily as a two wheeler. For this reason, making a trike more visible when out and about is the prime directive!

In the past, I’ve been critical of two-wheelers running daylight lights. The lights that are now sold are so bright they’re practically blinding or at a minimum really annoying when the rider is using the periodic flash setting. Bright lights can trigger a migraine for some, including me, so I will studiously look away from an oncoming riding running bright lights. Despite my antipathy for running day lights, I put them on my Dumont for safety reasons. A trike must be recognized quickly, but I do feel bad for passersby’s who may feel afflicted by my lights.

In the image gallery above you can see the front white light, the two rear red lights, and the flag I use on the Dumont to enhance visibility. I run the lights whenever I am on the move. Since the lights are expensive and would be very easy to steal off the trike, I remove them when I park in a public place, like in front of our local coffee shop. The lights are rechargeable, which must be done pretty much every day. You can see my recharging station in my kitchen.

The Dumont was equipped with a rather prosaic, small orange flag. Shortly after purchasing the trike, I rode it under a tree that had partially fallen across the trail and unknowingly had the flag stripped off the pole. Consequently, I purchased a new larger and more interesting looking official Catrike flag which was pricey, but I like it! The flag and a rubber grommet that helps lock the flag pole into place were made and sold aftermarket by TerraCycle.

How Stable is a Catrike Dumont?

Cycling is an inherently hazardous pastime. Over the years, I’ve taken my fair share of spills from two wheeled, diamond shaped bicycle frames. I initially thought a trike would be different, so when I first sat down into the Dumont cockpit, I said to my bike guy, “you’d probably have to be intentional to tip over a three wheeled vehicle,” and he visibly shuddered. This he followed with a warning that several of his customers had mishaps on their trikes, and that I should ride mine with caution especially in the early days of ownership! So how stable is the Dumont? Here are some of my thoughts:

From a stability standpoint, not all trikes are created equal. Some are more stable than others. For example, the Dumont is considered fairly stable with a Catrike rating of 10, whereas the 559 model is rated 7.5. Since the Dumont is all I’ve ever ridden, I can only speak about it.
When you’re riding on a straightaway, the part of your brain that handles balancing on a two-wheeler is free to engage in other realms so as enjoying the scenery. With three wheels, the trike balances itself.
It’s really nice when you come to a full stop. It is no longer necessary to unclip myself from the pedals and reclip when I start rolling, which was the case with my two-wheeler.
On the other hand, taking curves requires more care than riding on a two-wheeler. Taking a sharp curve too fast can result in a spill. In time, you learn to lean into the curve which allows you to go faster, but a two-wheeler will always have an advantage.
Despite its high stability rating, I’ve tipped the Dumont over twice and as a result been thrown from it landing hard on the ground. Fortunately, I was not hurt too badly, but I do not want to make a habit of this. In both cases, I was in an emergency braking mode. The first time, my chain dropped from the cassette onto the rear axle, locked up my pedals and I went into panic mode by over-braking. This spill was probably avoidable.

The second spill was when some oversized clown on an eBike veered off the concrete trail into the grass, and in a panic over-corrected and swerved into me while I was passing him. Had I not hard-braked I would have hit him and that would have been a real mess. On this particular hard-brake, the rear wheel went airborne, the front end dug into the pavement and I was tossed. This was not, on my part, an avoidable accident. In the end, it is best to refrain from getting yourself into an emergency hard-brake scenario, if it is at all possible.

Epilogue

After 1000 miles in the Dumont’s cockpit, I find the trike’s functioning on the mark in all respects and a great deal of fun to ride. Were it not for the Dumont, I would no longer be on the bike trails, which would have been a great loss to me and my wife.

I’d like to thank the folks at Bike Tech in Cedar Falls, Iowa for their service, attentiveness, friendship, patience, and most of all for keeping me rolling.

May 28, 2022June 25, 2022

One ring to rule them all… a Martin Authentic 1937 moves into place…

Introduction

When I completed the purchase of my second Collings, a lovely guitar inspired by Gibson’s 1930’s era L-00, I thought I was pretty much done acquiring guitars. My six guitar collection included two resonators (one being electric), two electrics (one being a hybrid acoustic/electric, and two acoustics. But I wasn’t really done. There were two remaining issues affecting my sense of guitar balance and purpose:

First, my hybrid, semi-hollow bodied Taylor T5z, was going for long periods without being played, and that’s a red flag warning that it may be time to go. In the end it’s a niche instrument best for switching back and forth between acoustic or electric tonalities depending upon the tune being played. It’s most suitable for a gig where you only want to bring one guitar, which is not a dilemma I ever find myself in. The truth was, if I wanted to play electric, I had a far better instrument (Collings I-35) to do the job, and there was no way the T5z could match the sonic performance of the Collings acoustics in my stable.

Secondly, I’ve found myself playing a number multiple tunings on my acoustic guitars, including standard, Drop D, and Skip James’s Cross Tuning. Further, there was a Chris Smithers Open D tune that I wanted to take a run at. My experience is that guitars like to settle into a specific tuning so it’s best not to be frequently changing the tunings on a single guitar. For this reason, I began thinking that it might be nice to have a third acoustic guitar at my disposal!

Consequently for the two aforementioned reasons, I decided to eventually trade the T5Z one day in the future. In preparation, via their online process, Dave’s Guitars give me a trade-in value so I knew what I had to work with. Not surprisingly, I was going to take a haircut on a trade, but that’s the guitar business. At first I thought I might swap the T5z out for an American Professional Stratocaster at my local shop, but I was reminded during that Strat’s audition that I was not, at some fundamental level, a Strat player and my Collings Electric really met all my needs, so dumping off the T5z was put onto the back burner for a while.

A Rare Martin Guitar Finds Me

I take lessons weekly at my local guitar shop and it’s not unusual for the former store owner Bob, now store consultant, to greet me and show me some new guitar arrival that might be of curiosity. Most of the time the guitars, usually recent trade-ins, do not arouse my interest. But a couple of weeks ago, Bob dropped a dreadnought into my lap and explained that it was a pre-owned “Martin Authentic” built to the exacting specifications of a vintage 1937 Martin from the golden age of dreadnoughts. The guitar was in immaculate condition too and had been owned by a collector who’d passed away. His son traded the Martin in for a Taylor 814ce. So much about guitar acquisition is driven by idiosyncratic personal taste.

Me and the Authentic at the Bob’s Guitars

Initially, the guitar Bob placed in my hands was not of interest to me. For years, I’d been playing smaller bodied guitars, not a Howitzer sized dreadnought. Yes, my first two guitars, in a former lifetime, were dreads, but when I gave up on bluegrass flat picking and took up finger-style I moved to 000’s, OM’s and other smaller sized instruments. Further, I’d never been that enamored by Martin’s tonality, fit/finish and general appearance for the cost involved. But this guitar was different, sounding and feeling unusually interesting to me! Perhaps this guitar’s tone appealed to my ears because it was seven years old and had “opened up,” or maybe because the vintage “hand-built” construction techniques employed by Martin’s exclusive Custom Shop appealed to my sense of design aesthetics. Finally, the combination of rare tone woods, specifically an Adirondack spruce top with Madagascar rosewood back and sides produced a tone I’d never experienced before. It was in contrast to the Martins I’d played in the past that required really digging-in to the strings to get a decent sound. As a finger style player, my touch was generally too light to elicit magic from a Martin dreadnought. I noodled around with the guitar for a while and then went to my lesson. Afterwards, on the way out, I glanced at the Martin again hanging on the wall and thought that it might be a nice complement to the Collings acoustics I already owned, particularly for the alternate tunings I like to use.

The next day, I went back to the shop and played the Authentic again for quite a while and found it even more appealing especially since Bob replaced the existing strings with some new ones. At some point, I played the guitar into a Shure SM-57 mic plugged into a Genzler Amp to better hear it and then went home to think about it some more. Finally, the next day which was a quiet rainy Saturday, I went back to the shop with my T5z, made the trade, and purchased the Authentic. The combination of the trade along with a considerable reduction from new because the guitar was pre-owned brought the price down to something reasonable. Current new versions of the Authentic are far more pricey than I’d be willing to spend, so I feel fortunate.

Overview of the Martin 1937 Authentic D-28

To the right, you can see the Authentic. It is a formidably large guitar. Both the size and depth of the body were designed to produce a large sound. In short, the Martin Company designed the guitar to meet the needs of a popular Hawaiian slack key player (open tunings) in the early part of the 20th century. It was some time later in the 1930’s, that the Martin Company decided to begin regularly producing this large guitar and named it the “Dreadnought.”

By the time of the Second Folk Revival in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s the Dreadnought guitar became the “go to” size for acoustic players. The Martin brand was one of the most prized among those large guitars, especially, the mahogany (back and sided) D-18 and the rosewood D-28.

For more background on Martin Dreadnoughts, you may enjoy the following wonderful film:

https://vimeo.com/594705036?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=133332214

In the case of my guitar, the D-28, it has over the years, for a variety of reasons, been modified in terms of woods, bracings, and neck designs, still maintaining its general specifications. Because of a combination of rare aged woods and design features such as the hot hide glues used in the olden days, wood thicknesses, and placement of bracings, the 1937 era D-28 is considered a “high-water” mark in Martin Guitar design, and people will pay hefty sums for that vintage. Given that an original ’37 Martin D-28 is far beyond the price range of most guitar players, Martin, in the recent past, responded by producing a Custom Shop rendition of the ’37 that comes as close as possible to the original instrument. I’ve read that they took their museum specimen of the ’37 to the Smithsonian for detailed medical-technology imaging and analysis to generate the specs to manufacture an exact replica. Other than the substitution of Madagascar Rosewood for the practically unobtainable Brazilian variety, the guitar comes as close to the original ’37 as is technically feasible, hence the moniker, the “Authentic.”

Though I was certainly familiar with the value wealthy players placed on rare vintage guitars, up until the time Bob dropped the Authentic into my lap, I was unaware of Martin’s production of a more affordable “authentic/vintage” guitar. Below you can see a short YouTube film of Steve Earle speaking about his 1935 Martin D-28, which is also from the golden era of dreadnoughts. He refers to the ’35 as the holy grail of Martins. Earle’s enthusiasm for that guitar speaks to the motivation behind the Martin Company attempting to reproduce authentic versions of the past.

In addition to the singular sounds emanating from this combination of wood and steel, there is a perceived inherent beauty with this guitar connected to its decades long history as one of popular music’s most essential instruments. From the CF Martin & Co. decal on the headstock, down the mahogany neck, to the herringbone purfling surrounding the soundboard, as well as the tortoise colored pick guard, the guitar projects a culturally constructed aesthetic intertwined with the likes of Tony Rice, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Hank Williams and Bob Dylan among others.

Still, as an observable object in visual space, the D-28 body is not really proportioned to the dictates of classical aesthetic beauty. A more classically designed guitar would have a narrower waist separating a smaller upper bout from the larger lower one. In many respects the Martin dreadnought is a big box with curved corners attached to a long neck, but its awkwardness relative to classical proportions is today considered an essential part of its beauty.

The Headstock

Authentic Headstock with “traditional” decal…

Before I got annoyed with their heavy-handed marketing and later became disenchanted with their tone, I was the owner of several higher end Taylor guitars. I bring this up because In comparison to typical Martin D-18’s and D-28’s, my similarly priced Taylor’s were appointed way more nicely with wooden bindings and purflings, as well as abalone inlays in the rosette, fretboard and headstock. I was completely put off by the “prosaic” C.F. Martin decal on the headstock, wondering why Martin would not use an inlay in the headstock on their flagship (and expensive) guitars.

My opinion about superficial guitar “surface” bling changed after acquiring two incredible sounding and rather simply appointed Collings guitars. I finally realized that the nice features Taylor offered were all well and good, but the guitar’s tone was by far the controlling factor for the instrument’s worth and value to me. I came to appreciate simplicity in appearance when accompanied by superior tonal output!

Headstock rear showing Waverly tuners and carved volute.

Given my new frame of reference, I am delighted with the Authentic’s headstock. Although I myself would not recognize the subtle differences between other more modern D-28’s, the headstock of the Authentic is shaped in thickness and taper as the ’37 was originally made, in this case with a Madagascar rosewood veneer instead of Brazilian, and embellished with a stylish volute carved into the back. Topping it off on the face of the headstock is the traditional C.F. Martin and Co. decal.

The paddle style headstock is equipped with vintage-style Waverly open back tuners and nickel butterbean knobs. In the past, I became very partial to Gotoh tuners and had them on three different Taylor guitars, two of which I “after-market” installed. The Gotoh high gear ratio tuners make precision tuning very easy. By comparison, I think the Waverly’s do an equivalently nice job and work well on my two Collings’s as well as the Authentic. They look very cool too!

The Neck

The 1937 D-28 was one of the earlier models that was built with fourteen frets between the body and the nut. Despite the fact that the guitar was at least 7 years old, the frets were in mint shape with no visible wear. Eschewing modern CNC milling, the neck is hand carved in the Martin custom shop to the shape of the original ’37 out of a mahogany block. This, in part, accounts for the high cost of this guitar.

I’ve got six total guitars made by National, Collings and this Martin. The necks all vary in shape and I happily play them all. The Authentic has a “1937” shape which is actually kind of meaningless to me; however, I will state it is a pleasure to play.

The 1 3/4 inch nut is bone and wide enough for comfortable fingerstyle playing. The fretboard is a solid black ebony which is somewhat difficult to acquire nowadays. Due to ebony wood scarcity and preservation, most fretboards of that material today have blond streaks randomly running through them. The fretboard inlaid markers are subtle but handsome 1937 diamond and square shapes.

Dovetail neck join. Note the rich red color of the mahogany neck and the Madagascar rosewood sides of the guitar.

The neck has a reinforced T-Bar to give it stability and it is attached to the body using C.F. Martin’s traditional dovetail joint. Unlike modern guitars (like my other 5), consistent with the design of that era, the Authentic has no adjustable truss rod. Since I tweak my guitar neck with the truss rod on occasion, I find this a bit unnerving; however, from everything I’ve read the Authentic’s neck is supposedly very stable. Right now the string to neck play is quite good up and down the neck. I imagine controlling the moisture content of this guitar is fairly critical to maintain neck stability!

The Body

The Authentic soundboard. Note the Adirondack’s wide grain.

The Authentic’s body is constructed with an Adirondack spruce soundboard and Madagascar rosewood back and sides. Every other acoustic guitar I’ve ever owned was built with a Sitka spruce soundboard, as is 80 percent of all other quality acoustic guitars. In the early years of the D-28’s construction all the tops was made with Adirondack (Red) Spruce; however, due to scarcity of the heavily logged Red Spruce trees, the guitar industry transitioned to the more plentiful Sitka Spruce. Sitka is a pretty tight grained wood that yields a warm response when played, whereas Adirondack, a wider grained wood, is harder and more glasslike as compared to Sitka, giving it a sharper more more immediate response. Adirondack is prized by Bluegrass flat pickers and strummers because of the way the top responds to those styles of play, but I think too that the boutique crowd also values Adirondack because it is a relatively rare, high status wood. I do not have the ear to detect the subtleties of Sitka vs Adirondack, but I do, very much, like the guitar’s overall tonality (for a very articulate discussion of the Authentic’s tone as it relates to Madagascar versus Brazilian back and side wood, I suggest you read this blog article).

The D-28 Authentic 1937 was first introduced at a 2013 NAMM show and records show that my instrument was ordered by Dave’s Guitar Shop for delivery to its previous owner in 2014. The initial production models of the ’37 did not utilize the Vintage Tone System (VTS), a torrefication heat treatment of the Adirondack soundboard to enhance the tone via “premature” aging. I think all subsequent production from 2015 on are torrified. I am agnostic about that type of wood treatment, but pleased the guitar has been played-in for 7-8 years in a natural manner. As I said before, it sounds quite lovely.

For a hefty monetary charge, C.F. Martin also offers an aging process in the custom shop to relic the instrument. I am not particularly enthusiastic about “relic” technique and am delighted this process was not applied to my Authentic. In fact, other than a barely visible crease-like ding in the soundboard, a small ding on the bottom, and some marking on the pickguard, this guitar was immaculate even though having been played for 7-8 years. The previous owner took great care of this guitar and makes me wonder if it ever left his home. Me, on the other hand, as much as I try to care of my guitars, I end up inadvertently beating the shit out of them because I play them and use them in and out of my home. Guitars are awkward shaped objects as they move through three dimensional space, and with me guiding them, they can attract wear marks, dings, and finish checking, so in the end I unwittingly relic them the old-fashioned way.

Unlike my Taylor 914ce, which was an exercise in excess, with abalone appointments galore, as well as wood bindings and purflings. The Authentic is more scaled down, but beautiful in its own right. You can see in the image to the left that the sound hole rosette is simple yet tasteful, and the soundboard is appointed with traditional bold herringbone purflings and grained ivoroid bindings. While I play fingerstyle and don’t generally like pickguards, if you are going to have one, the “old school” Delmar faux tortoise type is a nice one to have.

Rounding off the guitar’s top is the authentic ebony Style Belly bridge with long bone saddle. The bridge pins are polymer plastic with black dots. The bridge is located to give a comfortable 25.4 inch scale length.

A photo of the back of the guitar indicates the subtle beauty of Madagascar rosewood. The color of the wood is toward the red end of the spectrum and exhibits some nice but restrained grain. As suggested earlier, Madagascar rosewood has somewhat similar tonality when compared to the essentially unobtainable and certainly unaffordable Brazilian rosewood. A guitar constructed from Brazilian would be many times more expensive. Finally, note the 28 Style Zig-Zag (Authentic) purfling down the center of the back. It’s a very nice touch.

I love my guitars and I love to play them. It is a privilege to own and play National Resonators, as well as Collings electric and acoustic guitars, and now an exceptional Martin Authentic. Nevertheless, I view those guitars as tools and a means to an end, which is to make music. I won’t leave the guitars hiding in their cases preserved from the dings, scratches and bumps of use. They’re tools and I will hammer nails with them as long as I can.

To that end, I perform with my guitars around town, and host a monthly open mic night at a local coffee shop. I own a Genzler Pro Array and a Bose L-1 Pro 32 PA that I plug into when I perform. Consequently, I had a pick-up installed in the Authentic. In the image to the left you can see the jack for a K&K Pure Mini pick-up, an elegantly simple device that utilizes 3 transducers that are glued under the bridge plate. I’ve seen some high end guitar owners fret about adversely impacting the resale value of their guitars by altering them, such as adding a pick-up. I do not worry about such matters, especially with a low impact addition like the K&K.

Because the K&K Pure Mini is so simple, without onboard preamp and tone controls, I’ve built an acoustic guitar pedal board to manage the tone of the Authentic and my two other Collings. For more information about the board, click here.

Summary

The Martin D-28 Authentic 1937 is one of the “Kings” of acoustic guitars. It is made with incredible care and dedication to evoking the golden age of guitars. In my home the Authentic has fierce competition for playing time from a Collings 0002H, a Collings C10-35, and a National M-1 Tricone, yet at this time it rules the roost. It is a magical guitar and rules them all…

Example Sound Clips

Below please find some Vimeo clips I made with the D-28 Authentic. The clips were made on an iPhone 11 Pro Max with a Shure MV 88 clip-on Mic. The guitar was played through my pedalboard into a Genzler Pro Array acoustic amp. I added a dash of compression, delay and reverb. The clips was processed on a elderly MacBook Pro with iMovie. The guitars tone would probably be best appreciated with headphones.

The first two clips are the Authentic tuned in Open D:

Following is a clip in standard tuning:

In Another Lifetime… Country Blues & Retirement in the Quotidian World…

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