1988 Greg Smallman CD/CSAR

This 1988 Greg Smallman is a cedar and CSA rosewood lattice classical guitar from the decade in which John Williams made Smallman famous.

A Classic 1980s Smallman

This is a fine example of a classic Greg Smallman, very similar to the guitars John Williams used for his recordings of the 1980s and 90s. Pieces of Blu-Tack are attached to various spots inside the top to tame wolf notes and “tune” it. It comes with the custom wooden case originally supplied by Smallman.

Condition

This guitar is in excellent condition with no damage or repairs, only some modest signs of playing wear. There is an area of the top (lower bout, bass side) that has settled into the oval-shaped internal bracing, leaving a darkened imprint where the fibers of the wood have come to rest – a purely cosmetic blemish. Nemanja Bogunović plays his “Midnight Serenade” on it in the video above.

Greg Smallman and the Lattice Guitar

Australian maker Greg Smallman (born 1947) is the builder behind the lattice-braced concert guitar, which he first built in 1974. His cedar soundboards are very thinly built and reinforced internally not with any kind of traditional fan system but with a unique and intricate lattice of balsa wood, reinforced with carbon fiber, while a heavily domed and very thick back makes the body a very rigid and stiff outer shell, forcing all the vibration to the soundboard. These instruments are known for their great power and piano-like sustain.

John Williams and Other Players

Smallman’s instruments have been played for years most famously by John Williams, who recorded on them from the 1980s on, but also by several other concert artists, including Xuefei Yang, Ben Verdery, Craig Ogden, Tim Kain, Nicola Hall, Carlos Bonell, Miloš Karadaglić and even Paul McCartney. His sons Damon (from 1993) and Kym (from 1996) build with him, and from 1999 the labels read “Greg Smallman & Sons Damon & Kym”.