This is an excellent and very impressive guitar all around. As with all of Jake's guitars, workmanship is clean, simple and refined. The sound itself is textured, with ample overtones yet excellent clarity and balance - a wonderful synthesis of the Spanish and Northern European styles. The body of the guitar is very light in weight making it respond like an early 20th century Spanish guitar, but it has a slightly "weightier" neck and stiff neck joint which gives it noticeably increased sustain, balanced across all registers. Playability is a breeze with a very easy and comfortably shaped neck profile. Suitable for any size auditorium - also a wonderful recording instrument.
In terms of materials used, best to let Jake tell it in his own words: "The old spruce is from a violin wedge some I got from a cello maker. The guitar has a four piece top and a three-piece English cherry back. Sounded good from the first strum. I was offered a few pieces of this spruce by the violin maker, who was given them by a retired cello/violin maker (now deceased). You can tell it’s old when you work it. The best way to describe it is fossilized. This guitar was made from one of the best wedges. You can see the darkening of the wood at the ends from years of being stored. It must be over 50 years old at least to get to this state. The old spruce wood seems to give the guitars a played-in feel from the beginning. The English Cherry came from a local wood dealer who specializes in indigenous hardwoods. It came from a large pile of reclaimed floor boards. It’s one of my favourite woods for the back and sides. Firstly, it’s satisfying to use wood from my country. It’s a wood of medium density, sitting between cypress and rosewood, similar to maple. Unlike maple, which has a dullish tap tone, it has a nice clear ring to it, more like a rosewood. Subsequently it gives the guitar a wider range of qualities, from the warmth of maple, to the presence of rosewood. It also has a wonderful colour with a subtle figure."
Although used, this guitar has only some wear in the finish, but no structural issues like cracks or repairs - it is in excellent playing condition. Overall a beautiful looking and sounding guitar by any measure.
Photos of this guitar taken during construction.
