New OM Came Home: Some Pictures & Musings

Hi,

I was able to visit Mandolin Brothers and demo a number of instruments on Monday. I was thinking that I might want a smaller bodied cutaway guitar. All the guitars that I tried were variants on Orchestra Models (OM) and a few were 0 or 00 models. Some were cutaways and some were not.

6-Cutaways:
Bourgeois OMC Indian Rosewood with a European Spruce top
Collings OM1AC Mahogany with an Adirondack Spruce top
Collings OM2HCA Indian Rosewood with an Adirondack Spruce top
Collings OM3CA Indian Rosewood with an Adirondack Spruce top
Huss & Dalton OM Custom Cutaway in Sinker Mahogany with a Italian Spruce top
Martin Lawrence Juber OMC-LJ Pro in Flamed Maple with an Adirondack Spruce top

9-Non-Cutaways:
Bourgeois OM-150 Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce top
Collings OM1 Mahagony with a Sitka Spruce top
Collings OM2H Indian Rosewood with a Sitka Spruce top
Collings 01A Mahogany and Adirondack Spruce top
Huss & Dalton Custom Traditional OM in Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack Spruce top
Martin 00-18 Tim O’Brien Mahogany with an Adirondack Spruce top
Martin OM28 Marquis Indian Rosewood with a Adirondack Spruce top
Martin OM28V Indian Rosewood with a Sitka Spruce top
Martin OM-18 Custom Shop Mahogany with a Sitka Spruce top

Taking off work on a Monday was an excellent idea, because I pretty much had the shop to myself. I was able to bring my M-38 with me as a reference and I was able to quietly and systematically A/B the different instruments. It was an invaluable experience. The builder’s different choices of wood and construction techniques were very different experiences despite the fact that other a few models all were takes on Martin’s Orchestra Model.

By auditioning so many fine instruments, I came to the conclusion that they all are individual instruments made from materials with variability to them so they all sound different. One needs to try instruments out in person before purchasing one. We can get lost of this fact with the advent of the Internet, shops located far away with eye candy on their sites and articulate posters in forums like this. In the end, YOU need to play them and pick the instrument for you.

They all are individual instruments and even between two Collings OMC cutaways made from the same material they were slightly different in their harmonic character. In general, I found that I preferred rosewood to mahogany and maple as a body wood; but the Huss & Dalton which was made from the “sinker” mahogany was quite special and had a more solid bass than the other mahogany guitars. I did find also that the cutaways all took away “something” from the tone of the instrument. I don’t think that I would have noticed it without the ability to A/B directly as I did. After auditioning them all, I decided to nix the idea of a cutaway. I must also say that one of the finest instruments to my ears was the Martin OM28 Marquis. It was better to my ears than some higher-end boutique instruments.

But in the end, all of them paled to my ears and hands to one instrument: the Bourgeois OM-150. It was simply the finest sounding guitar that I had ever played. Something snapped in my head (an later my wallet!).

Premium Brazilian Rosewood & Premium Adirondack.Square headstock. Brazilian headstock veneer. 1 3/4” nut. Triple bound Ivoroid body, head and neck binding. Side purfling. Abalone rosette. Bourgeois backstrip. Short pattern Squares & Diamonds inlay. Gold Waverly tuners. Ebony pyramid bridge. Fossil Ivory bridge & end pins.

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150front.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150back.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150bridgeandsaddle.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150binding.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150Rosette.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150Frets.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150headstock2.jpg

http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff495/iim7v7im7/bourgeois%20OM-150/OM-150HeadstockTuners.jpg

Well, now that I have spent some more time taking the OM-150 for a spin, I can share some more lucid impressions.

For reference, I have been playing a Martin M-38 for 20 years, so I am used to a 0000 body size, Indian rosewood with a Sitka spruce top with a rosewood saddle. I have always found the M-38 to be a great "jack of all trades" that could handle anything from coarse strumming to delicate finger-style playing. When I purchased it 20 years ago, the other instrument that made a strong impression on me was a Santa Cruz Model H, which I could not afford at the time. So my impressions on the OM-150 are given in reference to this instrument's tone.

The OM body is obviously smaller (15-1/16" at the lower bout vs. 16") and the depth is similar at 4-1/8" at the end of the guitar. The scale length is a touch longer (25.5" vs. 25.4") and the nut and saddles a more widely spaced (1-3/4" to 2-1/4" vs. 1-11/16" to 2-1/8"). All of these are small changes but it does take a bit of adjustment to get accustomed to. The neck profile is similar to Martin's low profile, perhaps a touch thicker with a fast satin finish. So ergonomically, the smaller size and wider string spacing is most welcome when playing with my fingers and pinching comped chords but takes adjusting especially from playing my archtop.

In terms of tone, I would describe it as being more responsive to touch in terms of its ability to play softly or loud. When you dig in to play loud, I would say that the note clarity holds together more coherently (perhaps the top wood and bracing?). Walking bass lines played on the E and the A strings are a bit tighter in their definition as well. The action is a bit higher right now on the Bourgeois than my Martin which makes pressing the E string a bit tougher than I am used to at the first fret. I will check the action when I change my first strings to see if it has moved since it was sent from Maine. There is also a difference in terms of what we player's euphemistically call "complexity" or "warmth" and "shimmer"; which are likely some complex resonance overtones that we cannot describe adequately with words. All of the talk about Brazilian Rosewood and Adirondack spruce made by a master luthier is true. I cannot begin to adequately describe the tone and feel of this instrument.

This last aspect was really what was different between the Bourgeois, Collings, Huss & Dalton and Martins that I demoed?

Nothing quite had the timbre or complexity to my aging ears. I also would comment that these types of attributes are likely totally lost if performing to an audience or with a band in the mix. I really thought that the Collings might excel here with their punch and bright voicing. Being a hobbyist that plays acoustically at home and for me 90% of the time, these complexities were of significant value to me (the hobbyist with a day job!).

Honestly, in retrospect my Martin is a very good sounding instrument. I did however feel that the Martin OM28 Marquis that I also auditioned on Monday was slightly better than my M-38 as well (perhaps due to premium wood or construction). Instruments like this Bourgeois are definitely at the upper end of diminishing returns end of the spectrum, but it is difficult to put a value on the last 10% of "goodness" for which we each have differing definitions of. The last 10% in voicing and finishing is apparent which equates to expertise and skilled labor costs. In retrospect, is it worth the 40% premium over the Martin OM28 Marquis? Is a Martin OM28 Marquis worth the 25% premium over a Martin OM28V? To me, at this point in my life; the answer to either question was profoundly yes. The linear relationships between price and benefit always go out the door on any crafted item when you get past the asymptote of price/benefit curve.

As I hope that you can tell, I am very pleased with this special instrument.


:-)

Bob

Very, very nice! I kinda did the same thing when I was auditioning slope shoulder dreads...for me a Huss and Dalton won, but I can say only a very few of those I played were "bad." An H & D "CM" now has me in its sights, and I am trying desperately not to be its target...:lol:

Wow, that is beautiful! Congrats!!

I want one.

Beautiful guitar, nicely photographed. Congratulations!

One needs to try instruments out in person before purchasing one. We can get lost of this fact with the advent of the Internet, shops located far away with eye candy on their sites and articulate posters in forums like this. In the end, YOU need to play them and pick the instrument for you.

This is truly true. I hope to someday walk into a shop like the one you described, with money enough in my pocket, and come out with something like that: small body, all solid, wide neck, voice like angel. . .och, tamale.

Good God, that is one beautiful guitar. Bourgeois makes some extremely fine instruments. Dana's dreads are killer, like playing a grand piano.
That said, I would have an extremely hard time, if money wasn't an object, deciding between one of Dana's guitars and a Collings. Love that Collings thing.

I understand completely. I auditioned 6 Colling's OMs that day, and they are very nice instruments. The timbre of their voicing is decidingly brighter than other instruments that I auditioned. I suspect that they work extremely well in a band mix where you are trying to cut through the mix. I however felt to my ears that the Bougeois that I took home, the Martin OM-28V Marquis, and the Huss & Dalton OM cutaway and Traditonal OM smoked all of the Collings in terms of their sonic balance, timbre and harmonic content.

I also believe that you need to find the "right" instrument. There is variability even amongst a single builder and model. I auditioned a Collings OM2HCA and a OM3CA. Both were Indian Rosewood, Adirondack Spruce instruments (uncertain if they both were braced the same). Much to my surprise, they were subtely different instruments sonically, one being more harmonic and slightly different mid-bass balance to it.

So I would encourage anyone to go audition an instrument before buying one. If anyone of the instruments that I had auditioned had arrived home via an Internet purchase I would have thought that it was the greatest guitar I had ever played. It is only when you can quietly and methodically A/B many of them do you really get the opportunity the hear the difference. I was most fortunate to have a dealer within driving distance that had 15, high-end OM instruments.


Good God, that is one beautiful guitar. Bourgeois makes some extremely fine instruments. Dana's dreads are killer, like playing a grand piano.
That said, I would have an extremely hard time, if money wasn't an object, deciding between one of Dana's guitars and a Collings. Love that Collings thing.

Great advice. I'm lucky to live not far from one of the great acoustic shops in the country, Appalachian Bluegrass in Catonsville, Md. Great selection of great guitars and the staff is excellent. It's as if they actually want you to play the guitars.

I want one.

Me too....

Beautiful guitar.

I used to live in New York and spent many happy hours at Mandolin Brothers.

My one regret was leaving a Santa Cruz 000 size guitar behind. It had an Adorirondack top, Mahogony back and sides, almost no decoratioin and weighed absolutely nothing.

The guitar was the sweetest-sounding, most comfortable playing instrument I've ever played (including vintage Martins). It was about $3200 back in the nineties and I just didn't have the money and didn't want to leverage it.

That was dumb. By now it would have been paid for, and would have 15+ years playing time to open up.

Congratulations on your purchase, you did a good thing by buying it, now enjoy it.

P.

Hi,

20 years ago in Mandolin Brothers when I purchased my Martin M-38, I also demoed a Santa Cruz Model H which was likely priced closer to $3k back then. I could not afford it and I purchased my Martin, which has given me two decades of blissful playing; but I never forgot the Model H. When I played the OM-150, I immediately got the same feeling and now 20 years later, but now, I was in a position to afford an instrument. I was not going to leave that one there again.

Instruments are all individual and need to be auditioned before purchasing. Are all SCGC Model H's or Bourgeois OM-150s as good as each other? Likely not, given the nature of wood and human craftsmanship; so auditioning is a must. I was extremely fortunate to have 15 instruments in a single shop to audition. If they where auditioned singularly, I never would have appreciated the differences between them, because they all sounded good in their own way. Hence the challenge of buying eye candy via the Internet. Even with a return policy, you will never know if there was another one that you would have liked better.

:-)

Bob

Beautiful guitar.

I used to live in New York and spent many happy hours at Mandolin Brothers.

My one regret was leaving a Santa Cruz 000 size guitar behind. It had an Adorirondack top, Mahogony back and sides, almost no decoratioin and weighed absolutely nothing.

The guitar was the sweetest-sounding, most comfortable playing instrument I've ever played (including vintage Martins). It was about $3200 back in the nineties and I just didn't have the money and didn't want to leverage it.

That was dumb. By now it would have been paid for, and would have 15+ years playing time to open up.

Congratulations on your purchase, you did a good thing by buying it, now enjoy it.

P.

Congrats that's a beauty!