Several of you may remember I've been waiting for this one. NGD was officially Thursday but I've been too busy playing it to snap some photos and put up a post.
First, some pics. Keep scrolling for a few more thoughts at the bottom.
From the front -- the sunburst is even better in person if you can believe it.
Beautiful mahogany with ivoroid binding.
Fairbanks inlaid into ebony overlay with open-gear Grover tuners.
The name you need to know if you've ever wanted a beautiful slope-shoulder or other 30s Gibson style guitar.
Beautiful finish, great tight-grained red spruce and vintage-style celluloid firestripe/tigerstripe pickguard.
Rosewood (madagascar?) bridge with ebony pins.
Hard to see, but awesome subtle burst on neck.
First of all, this is a Fairbanks F-35 model built by Dale Fairbanks out of South Windsor, Connecticut. It's his very true-to-original take on the classic (and increasingly popular) Gibson J-35 jumbo from the late 1930s.
I wasn't prepared for how stunning this guitar would look and feel when I'd waited long enough to get it out of its box and case -- and I admittedly had high expectations. The sunburst is the best I've ever seen -- it has a subtlety and depth I couldn't quite capture in these photos. The guitar is finished beautifully, and somehow walks a perfect line between vintage vibe and boutique hand-made guitar. There's a little personality in the wood here and there, which I love. The first thing I noticed when picking up the guitar is how light it is. The construction and bracing are all very light and it's built with hide glue like the originals.
The guitar sounds exactly like I hoped it would -- a deep, dry, direct tone that the old 1930s Gibson jumbos are famous for. To me it's kind of like a perfect blend between a really good J-45 and an Advanced Jumbo. The guitar sounds great when flatpicked, fingerpicked, or inbetween (for example, I like to go between strumming with my nails and picking). It's perfect for the folksy stuff I play and it sounds good with vocals. I have no doubt it would hold its own for bluegrass and would feel right at home playing the blues or about any other style. I think this guitar would sound good in anyone's hands -- thrilled to death that more often than not it will be in mine.
Anyway, I'm super excited about this guitar. One of these days I'll have to post a sound clip or two. Happy to answer any questions in this thread or via PM.
And since this is the Taylor forum -- don't you worry about my 210. I still love it and it's not going anywhere.
