Odd to be playing a musical instrument – and totally digging every note – and really not be doing it the way the instrument was conceived to be played first place when it was designed and manufactured. Totally the case with this Gibson Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe: converted from its original 'hawaiian' setup to a more convenient 'spanish' setup, allowing for a less historically-correct, but more practical way to exploit the guitar's full potential (which, as we'll later see, is quite mind-boggling). Strange enough, sometimes the best designs in guitardom have gained popularity and success as benchmarks for outstanding tone and function by defying their original intended applications. . The Fender tweed 4x10 bassman amp comes to mind: designed and built to provide clean amplification for the bass player, it actually set the standard for overdriven amplified guitar tone. Go figure...

In truth, the Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe guitar doesn't really represent an original design dedicated for hawaiian type playing, in that Gibson had already been experimenting with the slope-shouldered flat top guitar (both in hawaiian and spanish setups) since a few years with the 'HG series' guitars (HG-20, 22 and 24, the latter of which having the full 16'' lower bout width, typical of later J-style dreadnoughts) and at the same time the Roy Smeck line of hawaiian guitars was introduced on the market (1934), Gibson was also marketing their first standard offering of dreadnought 'spanish' guitar, the mighty and short-lived 'Jumbo'.  In fact by 1936 the Jumbo had already morphed progressively into the J-35, by means of a continuous and enduring process of evolution of the Gibson slope-shouldered dreadnought.

And with the 'Jumbo', our Roy Smeck Stage Dlx shares more than a few things. Materials and body dimensions: red spruce top, honduran mahogany back, sides and neck, brazilian rosewood fingerboard and bridge, 16'' wide lower bout, same slope-shoulder shape, constant body depth (4.5 inches) from neck to end block (being this a quite peculiar trait, in that a tapered body depth is the de-facto standard for steel string acoustic guitar design) and same (short) scale lenght of 24 3/4''. Clearly, the Smeck has 12 frets only clear of the body, while the Jumbo is a 14-fret design. So, in practice we can look at the Smeck as a 12-fret Jumbo, guitar which really never existed. In truth, the whole Smeck construction is a little heavier than the Jumbo's, especially regarding internal bracing: the Smeck was intended to be played hawaiian style with heavy strings. Also, the Smeck was given 2 unscalloped tone bars (while the Jumbo sported 3 scalloped tone bars). Still, the Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe can definitely be regarded as the closest thing there is to a 12 fret Jumbo. This guitar in particular dates from 1938, 2 years after Gibson introduced the Advanced Jumbo: with a long scale lenght (25 1/2''), Amazon rosewood back, sides, fingerboard and bridge, fancier appointments and a price tag of $80, it was meant to compete against the Martin D-28, and is still today considered by most the best Gibson flat top ever produced.

Upon embracing the guitar, what strikes most is its incredible lighness. Considering we're talking of a full size dreadnought, it's amazing how light this Stage Deluxe is, thanks to its metal-free construction (no adjustable truss-rod, remember?), except of course for the tuning machines, and to the inherent lighness of the woods that were used: adirondack spruce, mahogany and rosewood. You really can't beat this timber selection for a light, lively and loud guitar. Which is exactly how we would describe this guitar if we were only given 3 adjectives that we could use.

We first set up this Smeck with Bronze 80/20 lights (.012'') for a comfortable action and feel all over the neck and fingerstyle or hybrid (flatpick + fingers) picking. Think of a grand piano: the guitar responds beautifully on all registers. There's no 'sweet spots' because it simply sounds great all over the place. The dynamics are frightening, you can lightly caress the strings and notes will fill the room with sweet harmonics, the more you dig in, the louder it gets and more centered on each note's fundamental, with headroom simply unheard of from a guitar that sounds so good and lively at low volumes. Incredible how it simply never compresses: it gets louder and louder, and leaving you with the impression it could get even louder, if only the strings could allow. The second most impressive aspect of its tone is what I would call 'clarity'. Clarity is the word that in my opinion best describes the way vintage acoustic guitars sound: the notes emanating from the Smeck are clear, with a beautifully defined midrange. There's no hint of 'confusion' in the harmonic response, even in the most complex passages or with awkward chord voicings. Harmonic coloration is beautifully there, but with only the 'right' harmonics, those needed to dress up each single note and make it audible in the most crowded of settings. Tone that is rich, but dry at the same time.

There's plenty of new guitars that sound fantastic when played alone in a room, but most often than not, all the nice things about their tone seem to be left behind once they are played together with other instruments. Either you can't hear the nice harmonic nuances, or you seem not to hear the guitar at all. Not so with nice vintage acoustics: for some reason, they will sound great and still be heard with the rest of the band. With time and experience, I associate this vital trait to the special harmonic coloration of a well-seasoned vintage guitar's tone, that most probably comes as a result of ageing. Let's say that time preserves only the useful harmonic content. This is what is commonly referred to by vintage guitar geeks as 'clarity' of tone. Clarity of tone = tone that is clear, rich and that cuts through.  Moving on, I would say it's worth mentioning how fast this Smeck responds to the player's touch. Notes' envelope is quick, almost sudden. There's no hint of compressed attack here, none of the 'sssstunfff' preceding each note we're commonly used to. Here, it's more like 'shtok' and there you have this big note that is spit in your face in this 'raw' and unadulterated way. A big, raw, quick sound we could say, as is often described the sound of the Gibson Jumbo.  Still, we had the chance to compare this guitar with an original 1934 Jumbo and the Smeck actually sounded clearer, while the Jumbo was darker. Still, both guitars had this infamous 'raw', quick sound that these early J-style Gibson flat tops have become famous for.  Despite the big volume of air enclosed within the Smeck's massive body, there's no overwhelming bass here. Simply a nice, full (couldn't be any other way, think of the Helmholtz resonance of this box), clear, sculped bass response that's well blended with the rest.  Again, comparing this to a 'grand piano' of guitars is all but out of place here.