Thanks for the kind words, Michael ...man you got a good eye!
And yes, 65' top and standard Mod-X bracing. All specs are "standard" for this RT except for the AAAA Quilt, Engelmann top, and Cocobolo binding boxes checked off.
As this is an RT, the neck is one piece, so no scarf or fingerjoint up there ...all one contiguous chunk of loveliness, lol!!
The heel block is, indeed, two-pieces, but definitely from the same block. Though you can't tell in the pics, the heel block and neck are all from the same cut of flamed maple as the grain "flows" from the neck to the block ...best it can, anyway, given some material has been milled away.
I haven't spoken much about the tone on this one, but I have to say how incredibly surprised I am at the Style 2s here. In another thread, I had mentioned how I "fell for" a 12-fret when I played one at a RoadShow. So I since had scouted out some Taylor x12s hoping to hear liekwise, and all the GC bodies I played just didn't do it for me (no offense, GC owners ...that's just me
). So I got it in my mind that it is 12-fret or bust.
UNTIL I played the RT Style 2s! I played this one, I played James' ("jalbert" here in his RT thread), and two other Style 2s ...they
all had in common a very large and round tone that completely defies their size! This particular one stuck with me, of course, but I could have been happy with any of the Style 2s there ...remarkable guitars, to be sure!
Suffice it to say, I love maple. But this particular guitar, given its Engelmann top (thanks to Cindy who was the original owner of now "Iplay2" 's fabulously pretty 614ce planted the idea of engel/maple combo in my head) made this guitar a standout for me. Yes, this maple guit has the signature potent, clear fundamentals that ring out truly bell like. But the engelmann top rounds out the overall timbre beautifully. The bass is
deeper, the highs are crisp but not zingy, and the mids are almost cedar-like in how "present" they are. Sorry folks, I've never heard engelmann before (save a buddy's 914 which was very nice), so this was all a surprise to me. I listen to this guitar and marvel how there could be so much deep bass tone from a little body, and in maple, to boot (blows away what one typically thinks when "maple" comes to mind). I have a lush-sounding GA7 where the deep RW tones, warm cedar mids, and crisp top to compare with. A/B'd both, side by side, for literally over an hour (then also with my Custom DN in the other thread). Keep in mind, I dig my GA7 and it has served as my #1 go-to acoustic for these years, which says it all. But how this little Style 2 can cover those tonal bases, with such vastly different wood and body size, I can only attribute to the RT wood and build magic. Sure I love my Style 2, but the other Style2s I played were likewise impressive, albeit with their own tonal flavor. Maybe this is an overworked cliche, but the tone really does sound "mature": like somehow the low notes got extended, the highs got rounded, and the midrange voice grew up and took center stage. I dunno; weak comparison, perhaps, but it makes sense to me. Not to mention, too, that the smaller bod and shorter scale, along with standard nut width, really make this a fingerstylists dream.
As a sidenote to all this Style 2 love (lest you fear I've fallen off the deep end ...ahem, too late
), I will say that its size does limit the overall volume of the guitar. Sure the tone is huge and the bass coming out defies logic, but there is a definite volume ceiling where physics simply butts in and says "enough, I'm taking over." This is where the DN or GS bodies can really flex their muscles ...and they've got muscle in spades. But that's the joy of having both a big guitar
and a little one with a big voice. I can't wait to eventually get a pup in this one. Did I ever mention how fortunate I feel?
Edward
