Field Trip Report - The Music Emporium - Lexington, MA

We were lucky enough to recently visit our friends at the Music Emporium in Lexington, MA, just a few miles northwest of downtown Boston (it's roughly a 20min drive on Mass Ave, direction North). Don't ask us what we were actually doing all the way up there, but fact is we had the chance to go and check out this tiny 'boutique' shop and for sure, we didn't miss it.

"Field Trip"? Some words to introduce...

We've never hidden our addiction to one of the coolest websites ever for guitar geeks: www.frets.com .. It's maintained by Frank Ford of Gryphon Stringed Instruments out there in Palo Alto, CA.  Some of our favorite features ever in Frets.com are Frank's field trip reports, filled with cool photos and even cooler information. There's so much to learn and to drool over... Field trip reports are a terrific way to share experiences and information.

So basically, we thought me might as well do the same. With a spirit of free-share of information and gratuity, rather than pointless show-off .. "look were I've been and what I got to play".  Reader, please intend it the way we meant it.  Guitars are fun, guys. And that's exactly what this website is all about: having fun... We're into this for the lust of it, otherwise we might as well just be out for a beer, instead of sweating in front of this PC screen...

Let's get going...Borges Barndance

We did some business in the past with the guys at Music Emporium, so all we did was introduce ourselves, shake hands and basically they began feeding us with guitars... How cool is that?!.. So, here follow some 'on the fly' impressions on (almost) all guitars we were given the chance to check out.  Let's kick it off!.. 

Oh, yes. One more thing: all the photos will see yours truly rippin' it up... there was no way I'd let the guitars go without being played and waste time taking pictures! So, my wife took pictures instead, without me even noticing...Thanks, Simo. 

First up is a Borges Barndance model. We've long been eager to check out the work of Julius Borges hands on.. the Music Emporium was stocking several Borges guitars, so we jumped on the chance. This particular guitar is intended to capture the essence of the old Gibson slope-shouldered dreadnoughts, both in appearance and in tone. It obviously looks pretty much like a J-35, complete with firestripe pickguard and ivoroid-button tuners.
 
The headstock sports Borges trademark inlay (very slick). Back and sides are quartersawn indian rosewood, while the topwood is clean, tight-grained red spruce. The J-35 (introduced in 1936) had mahogany back and sides, while the Advanced Jumbo (introduced that same year) came with rosewood back and sides and a longer scale length (25.5'').  Our guitar here has rosewood b&s and short scale (24.75''), so it's a sort of something in between the two vintage models.

Borges is known for using old world techniques for guitar making, including the adoption of animal hide glue (there's actually some hide glue squeeze-out visible at the end of the fingerboard overhang...mmmh) and traditional dovetail glued-in neck joint. Certainly all these concur to the overall lightness of the Barndance, which is evident upon embracing the guitar.

Armed with a Golden Gate pick, I proceeded with some strumming. The short scale (24¾") lends itself well for single note lines.. albeit new (i.e. not yet mature), the Barndance displayed typical traits of the Gibson tone: burly midrange and meaty highs, with the bass register suffering the most from being the guitar brand new.. This Barndance has great projection..probably the photographer up here was in best spot to hear all the nuances of my playing.. Boy, do I like Gibson tone!... I can't resist and ask to move on to...  

...some vintage Gibsons!!

1949 GIBSON J-45

Few guitars look cooler than a old J-45! This particular one is from 1949. Although of a later vintage than the more desirable script and banner logos J-45's, this slope dread has all the charm of a nice old acoustic. Especially after playing the newer Barndance, I noticed how notes 'blossom' in a way different fashion here.  Of course (and especially on old Gibsons) with vintage axes there's always some inconsistencies to deal with. A lot depend on the past life of the guitar (how it was played, where it spent its lifetime, if it was ever messed with by improvised repairmen, etc.) and often all this on top of a frugal (but beautifully consistent and of great quality) workmanship.  But while challenging for the guitarist from a technical standpoint (i.e. guitar that is 'harder to play'), such inconsistencies give character and depth to the tone. The more we dig in the guitar, the more we understand that particular instrument, the more tone we'll be able to milk out of our box. And that's a lot of fun!

Our J-45 here looks pretty much all original, with a few scuffs here and there but I guess my wife would love to reach age 55 in such condition... It's tone is dry and woody, with honkin' mids and snappy highs, very balanced all across.

1946 GIBSON Southerner Jumbo

But we ask for more, so here comes a 1946 Gibson Southern Jumbo! You'll notice the earlier script logo on the headstock. This one has sure seen a lot during its lifetime, but it's been well cared for at the Music Emporium and now is in beautiful shape. This guitar plays like a dream, courtesy also of the non-original bigger frets (these are medium-jumbo frets, as you'll likely see on several electrics!). Tuning machines are non original Grovers.  This particular SJ has one of the most spectacular bass responses I've ever experienced. Low notes are thrusted forward with authority and amazing 'woof'... Man, this guitar moves air! Paired with its smooth playability, this old Gibson is more than enough for me to get a bit excited and kick off some rowdy blues licks! If I ever had this guitar at home (sob!), I would restring it with bigger 'B' and high 'E' strings (say a .013 and .018), as the bass tends to be a bit overwhelming 'as is' (with a standard .012 set). 

All in all, I am once more confirmed that with vintage acoustics (and especially Gibsons) it's all a matter of hit or miss. No two newer guitars, manufactured in the same place 3 years one from the other, would differ as much as these two old Gibsons differ. Of course, they're different models, but that's way secondary (look at Taylors: they all pretty much sound the same!). Call it inconsistencies? Call it personality? I don't call it. Just enjoy the fun of it. Dealing with vintage guitars is more like dealing with people: you can't just impose yourself.. that's not the deal. It's all a matter of building a relation with your guitar.. You have your statement to make (based on your life, your background, the music you listened to, etc..) and so does your guitar... (am I getting too philosophycal here?..or just pathetic?).

Borges OM-28

..Whatever..just in time to move on to the other side of the bridge into the Martin realm.

Again, it's a new instrument by Julius Borges that I'm handed over by the guys in the shop. A herringbone OM-28.  Many of you may already know that Borges is one of the handful of luthiers (Dana Bourgeois, TJ Thompson, Bruce Sexauer being among the others) who used to build guitars in the tradition of the great Martins of the 20's and 30's for Eric Schoenberg; guitars which were sold under the Schoenberg brand.  While Eric is still very much in the business with his shop in Tiburon, CA, selling his brand guitars along with other newer and vintage instruments (by the way, check this out if you haven't yet: www.om28.com ), Julius Borges has quit making guitars for Schoenberg and probably decided it was more profitable business to simply sell his production on his own... Whatever the reason, this guitar we had the chance to check for sure betrays the fact that Borges honed his craft on this type of instruments. Is Schoenberg known in the guitar business as the 1929 OM evangelist? Well, then Borges must have done his homework real well, while working for Schoenberg guitars,

as it's sooo nice to play this OM-28 and see this type of work from a man who must really know what he's doing... This guitar appointments are basically those of a pre-war 1929 Martin OM: 25.4'' scale length, rosewood back and sides (on vintage Martins it's brazilian...), German spruce top, pyramid bridge (not the later belly bridge), unbound ebony fingerboard with diamond inlays. Ok...so we have a drop-in saddle and tang frets here (tang frets were introduced by Martin only in 1934, prior to that it was bar frets - more on this in a minute -), but we aren't finicky snobs, are we? Also in the body shape this guitar is true to the original 1929 design, slightly rounder than what are generally being sold as ‘Orchestra Models’ nowadays by other manufacturers, but in truth are more like a long scale 000.  Heck! This is one gorgeous guitar!

The pick is of no use here (I was also scared by the lack of pickguard and this OM's price tag) so let's throw it on the floor (or sit it on the right leg) and start fingerpicking.. First impression: if compared to the Barndance above, this guitar is way more open, lively and complex sounding right out of the box. Craftmanship is top notch here and it's evident a lot of effort was put in the details, to get everyting just right (note: obsessed with details but with not enough wallet? Check out a Collings...). As already noted, I understand Borges was in his own ballpark here...

1944 Martin 000-18

Talking of 14 fret 000’s.. Next up is a 1944 Martin 000-18, with 14 frets to the body.  14 frets 000’s are quite similar to OM’s, but their shorter scale length and slightly different bracing lend to this design a personality of its own.  This particular guitar has mahogany back, sides (it’s a 'style 18'), ebony-reinforced neck (during wartime, due to shortage of steel, neck rods in all Martin guitars were made out of ebony) and scalloped bracing.  This is definitely worth noting, as at the end of 1944 Martin abandoned scalloped bracing and went with non-scalloped braces along with thicker tops (tops thickening was progressively taking place since the early 30's). The purpose of this was basically to built sturdier guitars and avoid warranty repairs, as production numbers in the factory were growing more and more.  Also, heavier guitars were quicker to build and therefore better suited to mass production.  Basically, the gradual increase in number of guitars produced went along with a gradual increase in the mass of the guitars. Back to our guitar here: it must be one of the very last Martins with scalloped bracing. Cool!  Other relevant detail that defines the tone of this guitar is the non-advanced X bracing.  The infamous and highly sought after advanced X Martin guitars of the 30's are considered the high mark for tone from the bluegrass perspective, as they are very big sounding and powerful. Still they are less subtle than the non-advanced X instruments.  Here this particular 000 has an intimate, dry and somewhat tubby tone which is just what the doctor ordered if you play fingerstyle blues (think Sleepy John Estes) or roots music (Joseph Spence or early Ry Cooder), but you’ll probably want to move on to something else if you’re looking for an accompaniment guitar to strum or a more complete fingerpicking instrument.  Still, this 000-18 would make a lovely 2nd or 3rd instrument in the arsenal of a dedicated acoustic player with an ear for vintage tone.

1931 Martin 12 fret 00-28

Next guitar: one step deeper into Martin's golden era with a 1931 Martin 12 fret 00-28. Those of you who had a look at the Collings 00-2H review may have already noticed our fatal attraction towards this type of design.  What more can we say? It's a pre-war 12 fret Martin guitar...  I'm not commenting on its tone here, so not to act like a complete idiot! Regardless of this particular guitar we're holding, we're talking trademark tone. Period.  Still, we can't miss to notice the brazilian rosewood back and sides, the adirondak top, the bar frets! Of course, frets are not original, but this guitar was expertly refretted (along with a neck reset) with the correct bar frets.  These are typically found on pre-'34 Martins, I guess and they really help in keeping the neck stable by providing compression on the fingerboard (always bear in mind that adjustable truss rods were introduced by Martin only in the early 80's, and that prior to WWII neck reinforcement was provided by a steel T-bar).  When starting with a bar-refret job, expert repairmen choose fretwire thickness to control the amount of compression they want the fingerboard to exert on the neck, thus tailoring the amount of backbow in the neck (without strings) to counteract for the string pull and end up with the correct neck curve (straight or with a light relief) when the guitar is strung to concert pitch. Note that fret thickness can be chosen and tailored fret by fret for optimum results.  So, if ever shopping for a bar re-fret be prepared to pay a premium price to your repairman: it takes the patience of a saint to do such a job the right way!

Froggy Bottom H-12

Back to 21st century to end this quick tour through righteous acoustic tone.. and what a comeback! Here's a lovely Froggy Bottom H-12 Cutaway. Froggy Bottom guitars are handmade in Vermont by Michael Millard and a handful of talented guys. Mr. Millard is a familiar name to any (like yours truly) who was introduced to the real world of guitarmaking by the GREAT book 'Guitarmaking: Tradition & Technology' written by Bill Cumpiano and Jonathan Natelson.  In fact, both the authors learned the art of lutherie in Michael Gurian's  shop in NYC.  Michael Millard comes from there as well, and his guitars still betray this early influence.  Basically a concert-sized guitar (reminiscent of the 00 shape) with 12 frets to the body, this H-12C sports exceptional woods and amazing workmanship. This fingerpicker's dream is oh so light, hence it responds beautifully to the lightest touch. Bring this one home and you'll sit forever in your couch playing melodic lines up and down the neck.. harmonics blossom in every register and color each note, as it lingers in the air with amazing sweetness before slowly decaying. Unless you mute the strings, there's always a warm choir singing along your phrases.  The tone of the Froggy Bottom H-12C ain't no any vintage instrument clone. Yes, it pays homage to the great instruments of the past, but it's got a voice of its own that is peculiar, yet sounds familiar.. if you know what I mean.. I will not go any further in describing the fine appointments (flamed maple top and back binding, all wood purfling, a mindblowing rosette with a 'modified herringbone' motif..) that make this an absolute level instrument.

Froggy Bottom H-14C Deluxe

Just in time to pick up another one built in Vermont: a Froggy Bottom H-14C Deluxe. Still a model H, this guitar differs from the previous one as its neck joins the body at the 14th fret. Plus, it has deluxe appointments (..more abalone.. lots of it!). Tone-wise, we can still hear a very defined and refined voice from the H14, still we liked the H12 better. ..just a matter of taste, but the 12 fret version just seems to highlight best the (many) high traits of this design: immediacy of response and smoothness of tone above all.

Well, this should be the end of it... hope you enjoyed. We sure did. And, of course, we must once more thank all the guys at the Music Emporium for their kindness and support! We appreciate it!

'Till next time...