Stringed – Page 9 – Classical Guitar n Stuff

This is a question I’m sure plenty of guitar students ask, in some form, when considering purchasing or upgrading their existing instrument. It was certainly a question I toyed with and asked of my then teacher a few years ago. Can a decent or even half-decent guitar really make you a better player?

Well, yes and no.

No, in that it’s not going to turn you into a superstar of the classical guitar overnight. Only serious dedicated practice over time can do that.

But conversely yes, in that it can make learning and playing the guitar a lot easier for you. A good guitar makes it easier for you to work on becoming a better player.

This ultimately comes down to better quality of materials for the soundboard, better quality of material for other elements of the guitar, the guitar’s design and build quality. Improved quality across these factors can lead to a greater ease of playing. It sounds daft but a better built guitar will last certainly feel easier to play (in most instances, but there are always exceptions to a rule), you won’t feel like you have to squeeze the life out of it to produce different tones, different volumes or different tones at different volumes

Trust me on this one. When I first moved from a factory, or part factory built guitar, to a hand-built guitar (Allan Bull) it was nothing short of a revelation. The tone quality was stunning – deeper, richer, brighter, more clarity. I no longer had to milk the fretboard and strings for all they were worth like a stubborn old nanny goat to try to get sweet dolce tones from it. It also felt immediately easier to play in terms of moving around the fretboard. It didn’t feel like I had to fight the instrument anymore to play the music as I felt it.

I know of other guitarists transitioning over for the first time to instrument of greater quality who have had similar, epiphanic experiences.
I’m not saying that everyone should rush out and buy a luthier-built guitar. There are a number of considerations here, not least of all budget (you’re looking at a starting price of around AUD$5 to $6k for a hand-built guitar in Australia). Significant variations also exist within that rather enormous bracket of “good guitar” of types and styles of guitar, sizing, materials, quality and so on. What feels like a dream to play to one person, with melodious gossamer tones, may be another’s idea of trying to get sound from a tree branch. Different types of guitars sound can sound quite different, and the same guitar can sound quite different when played by different players. You always need to road test a number of them to find one that really speaks to you. And you’ll just know when you’ve found it.

If you’re looking to take your playing up a notch, however, you’re preparing for a higher level exam (7th/8th grade and upwards) or you’re getting into performing, you might want to give some thought to treating yourself to a quality instrument.

A little piece today on the weapon of choice of the marvelous Milos.

Soundhole and rosette of a Greg Smallman guitar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This axe that the Montenegrin sensation wields on his two recordings to date and countless concert dates is none other than a 2007 Greg Smallman.

An excellent choice of instrument with a serious pedigree of fine players also wielding the mighty Smallman. Apparently this is not his guitar, however, with this instrument being lent to him by a couple of kind benefactors (Paul and Jenny Gillham). Perhaps a seemingly strange arrangement, but something that is reasonably common to a fashion with violinists*– who can afford a Guarneri del Gesu or a Stradivarius?! (* That, or they have them on a ridiculous hire-purchase kind of arrangement which means they can never really afford them unless they make serious money as the instruments appreciate in value far more than the musician can ever pay it back.)

OK, so the Smallman isn’t quite in the price league of an 18^th century Cremonan violin, but when you consider you need to part with the best part of AUD$30,000 (roughly US$30,500) to have one of these fine instruments in your possession, that and Milos in the early days of his career, the arrangement is actually a pretty good deal for the musician. Although the way Milos is tracking at the moment, I have no doubt he’ll be able to afford one of his very own in no time at all!

Here the man himself playing Recuerdos de la Alhambra on the 2007 Smallman:

Who else plays a Smallman?

A number of well-renowned players also play Smallman guitars, including John Williams, Carlos Bonell, Xuefei Yang, Stepan Rak, Timothy Kain, Ben Verderey, David Tannenbaum and Thibault Cauvin to name but a few.

So who is Greg Smallman?

Greg Smallman is arguably one of the most well-respected and pioneering of the Australian guitar builders. Greg started building guitars back in the early 1970s, following a traditional Fleta model. At that time Australian musicians, instruments, instrument makers and their ilk were largely unknown to the wider world, and frankly not greatly well-respected.

To combat this Greg Smallman realised, much to our benefit, that he’d have to do something a little different with his guitars. So in 1980 Greg developed his now famous balsa and carbon fibre lattice bracing system with a paper-thin soundboard. These guitars have an incredible volume, whilst maintaining clarity of tone – as we can tell from Milos’ recordings.

We can also tell this from the recordings of one of Greg Smallman’s early customers and collaborators in developing his designs – another great Australian, John Williams.

John Williams playing his Smallman in 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Greg Smallman’s development of the lattice braced system, and undoubtedly the patronage of John Williams, created a springboard for phenomenal growth in Australian guitar-building.

One of the most recognizable features of Greg Smallman guitars (or Smallman and Sons Damon and Kym, to give the guitars their full and correct label title) is an armrest in the form of a small strip of wood on the bass side of the guitar. This prevents the guitarist’s arm stopping the vibrations moving through soundboard and so getting maximum response from the instrument.

How are these guitars built?

I’m not going to try to explain the full technical details of the guitars here, but check out this video to take a look inside a Smallman guitar: