Official Luthiers Forum!

Here's my good friend Woody Mann playing my new low tuned guitar model.

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

Chas,

That sounds very nice indeed. What tuning is it in and what scale length etc?

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

That's pretty sweet Chas!!

Shane

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Canada

Tuning on that song is 2 steps down from standard (C to C) and then the 6th string is dropped to B flat. It's the equivalent of Drop D tuning, but 2 whole steps down.
The medley is comprised of some traditional gospel songs (you may recognize the Joseph Spence song "Great Dreams From Heaven" in there) as well as some of Woody's superb improvisation.
Particulars on the guitar:
25.9" scale length, Lutz top, scalloped bracing, very plain vanilla Mahogany B&S. The body is my Quatre model (based on 0000 Martin box). Woody likes his instruments clean, so no fretboard inlay and minimal bling.
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

wonderful Chas ......when a great player and a great guitar get together......its so special .....keep up the good work

joe

i forgot to ask Chas.......your bridge.....how do you go about gluing that on.....is the full foot print fitted or are the bridge wings sitting on the finish?

joe

Bridge is one piece with top finished removed from entire footprint. It's a tedious process....
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

Great recording! Wonderful tone. Very nice.

Very nice!

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Charles, that's just great!
Will Woody be demo-ing for you at Newport/Miami, or the next Healdsburg? I'd recommend that very tune!

Good stuff,

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Full bodied, indeed. I love both the sound and the playin.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

looks and sounds good.

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It is better to try and fail, than never try at all

Great stuff, Charles. Is the headstock your own design?

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
https://www.kenfranklinukulele.com

I really like that Charles, very nice!

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Many thanks for the kind words. It's been an interesting journey with this model. It's really pushing the limitations of a conventional guitar design. The goal was to design something that still "feels" like a regular guitar but can handle the lower registers. A true baritone (27"+ scale) has enough string tension to maintain some clarity and volume, but the trade off is the physicality needed to play one.

I just closed a Cedar topped version yesterday. It's got a little more arch built into the top which I'm hoping will accentuate the trebles. Cedar should maintain warmth and bass. We'll see...

I'm planning to attend the Miami festival and will do my best to convince Woody to attend and demo for me (as he did last year). I'm also hoping to attend a festival in France where Woody plays frequently as well. It all depends on his touring schedule....

Yes, headstock is one of my signature elements. Also a stinker to make, but ergonomically friendly and definitely unique.

-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

That's a great sound -- sweet and balanced to my ear, and lovely playing.

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Kent

Facebook Page

Sounds great! I also like the idea of your headstock. Very clever ergonomics and a visual that really compliments the asymmetry of the rest of the guitar.