It’s About Time

Avalon S200

This is the Avalon S200 Gold Series guitar, a Grand Concert sized guitar, made in N Ireland by the same group which built Lowden guitars before their split up.  Wikipedia has a writeup on the Avalon company. Their website lists mainly current series at Avalon guitars. This S200 Gold series has been discontinued but still available through direct order with them.

Since I’ve not played an Irish-made guitar (owns a Hofner – German), so it’s a risk I’m taking to buy one actually.  But this used piece has a price that was too good to miss, so to speak.  Anyway, it was made in 2003.

It arrived this morning after 2 weeks on the road and in the air. I was a bit surprised that it looked small – almost similar to a classical guitar size. In my mind I was imagining the lower bout to be wider.  The Hiscox hard case that came with it was light weight compared to regular ones. Maybe that’s the difference between UK and US design HSC?  Somehow, the latches on the HSC reminds me of the latches that used to be found on school bags back when I was in primary school. 

Avalon Headstock

The strings were worn, so I restrung it with D’Addario EXP 11 (80/20 PB). I noticed that the action was low; the saddle likewise. Nut and saddle are Tusq; not bone material. Anyway, that’s factory default material. The guitar itself is in pristine condition; clear pickguard.

To tell the truth, I was quite disappointed at first – the smaller body.  Anyway, I didn’t want to let my initial “shock” prejudiced my assessment objectively.  After the new strings were installed, boy!

The volume was loud (No kidding) for a small body. My Taylor GSMC even paled in comparison!  I guess those S200 owners weren’t kidding about it.  It has a different sounding altogether.  It will hold up well if I were to sing solo and the finger-picking will come through though without pickups.  Because it now has 80/20 PB strings, perhaps that explains the tad brightness of tone. So perhaps with just PB strings, it brings the bass tones down to a mellower level. We’ll see.

Here’s what the Avalon website says about this body shape:

Concert: S Series

“The Avalon Concert models contradict their compact proportions by producing a rich and sumptuous tone. Their personality is quite distinctive: a cleanly focussed midrange complimented by sparkling trebles and strong bass response. This guitar’s inviting dimensions produce an imposing tone suitable for a wide range of musical styles. Powerful trebles are beautifully balanced by a compact warm bass register. The overall sound and projection are truly amazing for such a small guitar.”

Dimensions:

Lower bout – 370mm [14.57"]
Upper bout – 272mm [10.71"]
Waist – 233mm [9.173"]
Soundbox – 505mm
Length – 1010mm
Nut width – 44mm
Width 12th Fret – 56mm
Lacquer Finish: Acid Catalysed Nitro-Cellulose

Taylor GSMC Headstock

Well, the Taylor GSMC (aka GS5) finally arrived today!  I was surprised as it is a public holiday and that DHL delivers.  Technically, it reached Singapore yesterday and cleared customs by noon.  No complaints.
It came in Taylor box and well packed and I’m impressed with the shipment delivered. I’m referring to the seller.

It’s as pictured in EBay though a tad disappointed that the strings were “dead” on arrival. Anyway, I took a new set of D’Addario 17 (PB med) and strung it.  It cost me 30 minutes plus some blood cos one of the treble strings poked into my left thumb. Ouch!

My wife said, “hmm… another guitar and someone complains about space shortage in his office.” 

Will update later with more pictures as well as initial impression. Meanwhile, here’s the guitar specifications:

* Type/Shape: 6-String GS  |* Back & Sides: Tropical American Mahogany |*Top: Western Red Cedar *Soundhole: Rosette Abalone |*Neck: Tropical American Mahogany |*Fretboard: Ebony with Binding |*Fretboard Inlay: Abalone Dots |*Headstock Overlay: Indian Rosewood |*Binding: Ivoroid |*Bridge: Ebony |*Nut & Saddle: Tusq |*Tuning Machines: Gold-plated Taylor Tuners |*Strings: Medium gauge |*Scale Length: 25 1/2 Inches |*Truss Rod: Adjustable |*Neck Width at Nut: 1 3/4 Inches |*Number of Frets: 20 |*Bracing: Standard II (Forward Shifted Pattern W/Relief Rout) |*Finish: Gloss | *Body Width: 16 ¼ inches | *Body Depth: 4 5/8 Inches |*Body Length: 20 Inches |*Overall Length: 41 Inches

Taylor GSMC - taken w/0 flash under fluroescent lighting

Today I won a bid on EBay for a Taylor GSMC 2006, which has been renamed as GS5 in 2008.  This is s Grand Symphony body.  This purchase meant 1) I now acceded and own a Taylor; 2) I now ventured beyond spruce top and rosewood back & side to own a cedar top/mahogany back & side guitar (My first cedar top was Takamine EN-15 which has been sold to Serbian prof from NTU).  I reckon it’ll arrive in about 10 days’ time assuming the seller gets on with his program. In fact it was a music shop in Kenosha, WI.

Larrivee L-10

Yesterday, got a call from a young chap, asking about my L-10. Malcolm had told him about my intention to sell it. So we arrange to meet this morning.

He came with his father, albeit later than agreed.  Anyway, it turns out that his dad knew my brother (from the same church previously).  And he has seen me before when we visited their church sometime back. I didn’t ask anything further as the conversation kept getting disrupted here and there.

Anyway, the chap likes the guitar though he was thinking it came with a electronics pickup but was satisfied to know that Malcolm could install it for him easily.  He likes the setup, action and all. So the deal was completed pretty quickly (partly due to his dad being in a hurry to get to somewhere).

SO….. I’ve sold my Larrivee L-10 and hopefully, with D03-R soon to follow. This is the shortest time I’ve own a guitar.  Less than 3 months. Had it been L-09, I would not be thinking of selling at all.  Maybe I’ll get a L03-R.   I am thinking perhaps I could now get the Goodall Grand Concert…… since I strained my right shoulder muscle over a week ago, it was a pain to play dreadnought.  Just a thought.

I removed the pickguard of my Larrivee D03-R several months ago as I didn’t quite like the tortis styled pickguard it had on originally.  Malcolm tried to dissuade me cos he thinks it looks nice with that.  I told him that maybe it’s because I’m a slow-adapter to such design that I find it hard to accept.

It became a distraction and almost an obsession to remove it.  Anyway, after reading forum such as AGF, about others who had done it, I decided to give it a try and it was a success albeit time consuming because you don’t want to ruin the sound board.  Needless to say (but I am saying it) there was a pickguard shade on the sound board.  Not that I mind. I was actually thinking giving it several months maybe the color tone will all even out. It is showing signs of color changing though.

Few weeks ago, I was sitting down playing another guitar when I glance at the D03R and thought it does look good with the pickguard.  Tried to order a new pickguard from Larrivee website but they don’t ship international.  Too troublesome to bother my good friend John Ball in MN.  So I thought, since I still have the original pickguard which I had meticulously removed and thoroughly cleansed of tacky glue and all.  I decided to paste it back.  Malcolm chided me (the nerve of that guy!) for having itchy hands, amongst other things, for removing it in the first place.  Anyway, found this 3M adhesive spray that is really easy to use and overall cost is still cheaper than ordering a brand new pickguard plus shipping and all.

This afternoon, I sprayed the 3M adhesive on one side of the pickguard and after having cleaned the sound board, and paste it, voila! The job was done!  It’s one of the rare times that I didn’t destroyed something that I removed and able to reuse it again. Man, I deserve a pat on the back.   So it’s back to business again.

Since my last post on L-10, I’ve brought it to my good and trustworthy luthier, Malcolm, for corrective action.  Previoulsy, the guitar was sent to Jarvis for saddle replacement to FMI. Somehow, it didn’t feel right — no scientific data to show just a guitarist gut-feeling — that’s why I decided to go to Malcolm.

As it turns out, the filing work down on the FMI saddle was uneven, to say the least.  Anyway, had the original bone saddle placed back and added shim to bring it to the level that I was comfortable with.  And as predictably, the guitar was much playable since.  Nice feel to it. It could be further improved later on.

Well, I use Martin SP+ PB strings light gauge on it. The 5th and 6th strings are more “intense” so to speak. I’m likely going to change it to EXP 11 (80/20) and think it’ll be to my liking.  I’m starting to enjoy this piece more and more. Who knows, I might decide to keep it and upgrade it to improve its tone and all.  Will update.

Today I get to meet a fella (Tomo) who has been in contact with me for a few months (on and off). What started this communication was his Larrivee D-09E which he got from the local dealership. It was almost $4k but didn’t perform up to par for him. 

Later he tried Jarvis and was happy for a while but some buzzing sound troubled hima great deal. Suggested that he tried Malcolm.  I think things improved though the buzz at certain spots still bothers him.  Malcolm explained that this buzzing is inherent in that guitar, and it happens to all make – boutique or mass market. 

Anyway, we finally made time and we sat and chatted besides playing guitar.  I let him try my Goodall Standard, Yamaha LL-16 and Larrivee D-03R.  I tried his D-09E and indeed it sounded like it has long while more to go before it opens up.  Suggested that he tried tonerite but he didn’t say anything. 

Enjoyed the session with him and hope to interact more with him in the future. BTW, he plays well too. I reckon I have much to learn from him too. Nice guy.

In the last couple of days, I managed to sell away two nice guitars: Takamine EN-15 (cedar-top/rosewood.MIJ) and Yamaha LJ-16 (solid spruce/rosewood).  I’ve enjoyed both guitars but sensibilities demand that I trim my collection since I’ve essentially acquired my “ideal” tone guitar (Goodall Standard).  My good friend, Malcolm, also suggested that I do so. In fact, he was more radical – sell all except the Goodall! 

No way I would agree to that!  Firstly, I need a guitar for Sunday school and church related activities!  Second, I hate to lug guitars around every week!  Thirdly, I enjoy different tonewood sound every now and then.  So I’ve decided to trim it to minimally 2 pieces, but preferably 3. 

Back to the guitars, I’ve sold.  The Taka was sold to an NTU prof of social science, a Serbian, according to him. We had a nice chat and all.  The LJ-16 was sold to a younger man, Paul, who was modest to say he doesn’t play well.  He was delibearting between the LL-16 and LJ-16 that I had before him.  So it was an A/B tryout but either way, it was a win-win situation for him because models were similar but differ only on body design.  Both were less than a year old, and well toned. 

In the end, Paul chose the LJ-16 because of the look, and personally I like that too.  I think for his usage, it’d be nice as well.  He was pleasantly surprised, I think, to realize that he had just purchased a solid spruce top and solid rosewood back and side, guitar.  Someone might have told him it was laminated.  Hope he would treasure his new acquisition and played to his heart’s content. 

Of all guitars that I have left, I would most like to sell off the Larrivee L-10 – only because of the trimmings that it had. I guess it’s my preference for simple design that is in the way of my accepting this guitar. Why did I buy it in the first place? Well, I had placed the order cos I thought all along it was an L-9 (similar stuff minus the blings).  Since the ordered took place, I didn’t want to back out but to honor the sale.  Anyway, hope to find a buyer for it soon.  In fact, Malcolm had helped to upgrade and improved the action and setup etc that it sounded much “sweeter” than when I first got it. Maybe, one day the blings will grow on me.  Probably not, but who knows?

This morning, the much anticipated Goodall arrived. Frankly, I was bracing myself up for major disappointment because of the problem encountered with the klutz who messed up the shipping besides being non-communicative throughout. I was dreading the need to call credit card company and Paypal to get my money back.

So as I was opening up the box, then the hard-case, I was almost going to say, “I knew it!”  Well, I am glad to say that the Goodall was beautiful and much cheaper than Guitar Gallery would sell it!  Emailed James Goodall to ascertain the year built but I’m glad that it was in excellent condition as promised.  I think it’s an elixir new strings, so will wait a week or so before bringing to Malcolm to do setup.  I know what he’ll say to me.  Don’t think he’ll complain about me giving him business!

Interesting that the inside of the body states not only the serial number but also the material: rosewood; sitka (spruce). My guess is that this particular piece was made in 2004.  It did have 3 flea sized dings on the arm rest section of the lower bout but nothing damaging to the overall aesthetics from I can see.  Tone-wise it is loud when lightly picked or strummed.  Sparkly tone I might add.

I suppose my GAS would stop now, and now time to up my finger-picking skill up another notch. Found a wonderful site that provides nice ditty tune pieces and tab to learn and play.  Need to learn new stuff to keep the brain cells alive and kickin’

Larrivee L-10

Picked up my Larrivee L-10 from Jarvis this evening.  He told me one of the inlays was etched away when he cleaned the fretboard.  Not sure how long he “tonerite” the guitar, but he did mentioned that he felt it hadn’t opened up yet.

Another angle shot of L-10

It’s not as booming as my D-03R for sure, but then again it’s a different type of guitar. Sounded nice though.  Can’t remember what Jarvis said about Martin SP strings but it sounded alright with me. Maybe next time I’ll try D’Addario EXP PB to see how it is.

When I first opened up the box, I was rather apprehensive about it.  After changing from bone saddle to FMI, it sounds pretty good (not that it sounded bad earlier on).

Yes, it does sound like its bass is not as powerful as D-03R but I think overall it’s rather balanced tonewise.

Maybe, I will tonerite it several more hours and hopefully it will open up even more.