Found...THE ONE!

[picture_of_nectar]

Hey guys, just thought I'd share something I am really excited about. This week I received my Matt Artinger Koa Hollowbody. I am speachless about it...the quality is impeccable and the tones I am pulling out of it are surreal.

Here is what Matt had to say about his creation:

With all salesmanship aside, it's a fantasy guitar of mine, and When I found that koa last year, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it, and it exceeded my expectations in every way. It's my first all koa hollow, and from what I noticed, it has a snap and dynamic punch that mahogany has, but it's much louder than mahogany....It was what I had in mind as a guitar for myself to keep.

The one thing you'll notice about my hollows that's different than most is the feedback suppressive aspect. I use a soundpost to tie the back and top together and reduce chances of 'swell', and I also box and shield the pickups to quell any potential for microphonic feedback, so in the end, you get a guitar that can still sustain for days, yet won't get unwieldy or out of control. The neck is a soft c, not thick not thin....happy medium, and I'm really psyched about how all of the Brazilian appointments turned out...I've never seen Brazilian that vibrant and red before!! All in all, I think you'll be as pumped as I am with it...it is my total dream guitar as  well, and hope I can get my hands on some more killer koa to make another down the road!!!!

Here is some eye candy for ya'll. If I pull a good recording I'll post up, though I am self conscious that my playing doesn't do this axe justice. Maybe someday, it inspires me to progress anyway...I feel like my quest for the "holy grail" of instruments is now over. Matt knocked this one out of the park.

[IamWILSON]

That is quite the beautiful guitar PoN!!!  When I look at your list of guitars, I feel like the 11 guitars I've realized that I currently own don't match up in anyway to the ones you have.  Not jealous or anything, I just really dig your collection list!  Anyway, enjoy... and I'd really love to hear how that baby sounds.  One question though as I do find this surprising, do you know why the back piece was not bookmatched?

[picture_of_nectar]

Why thank you.

I'm probably more skilled at collecting guitars then I am playing them, but i am learning and these bring me incredible amounts of joy. So to me that is priceless.

In the case of the Myka and Thorn Artisan HB, hours and hours of watching classified adds paid off and I was able to score two special instruments at great deals.

As far as the book matched back, I am not sure. I assume, it's what worked for him. I didn't ask at the risk of sounding like I was questioning the quality of his work.

Cheers

[Walker done done]

Holy smokes, that is STUNNING.  Psyched for you, can't wait to hear it.  Screw what you said about your playing, just post some clips!  Video would be cool too, but audio would suffice.

The only thing I don't agree with (in terms of what Matt said) is putting a block in there to tie the top and back together.  I for one love the feedback that he's trying to quell with the block; I reckon it to a lot like riding a wild horse.  It takes a learning curve to figure it out and how to control it, but it's an awesome feature to have in your bag. 

But, his craftmanship looks superb.  The high quality pics show tons of detail which I really appreciate.  Nice score.  I'm guessing this ran in the $6-$7k range?

[picture_of_nectar]

Thanks Walker, the pics were pro-shot by Matt, so i can't take credit for them...they are straight from his website and better then anything I could do...

As far as the cost, I'd rather not get into specifics in public but you are free to PM me about it. Let's just say it was a lot! Matt A. really fancied this one and the price reflected it as it was considerably more pricey then his standard builds. This was not a custom order by me, I had discovered she was available through a dealer, after it was already complete. It was love at first sight and I'll tell ya I worked really hard in the TGP emporiums to sell 4 awesome guitars to make this one happen. Since it was built "on spec," I didn't have any options as far as woods neck specifics or anything. Lets just say that this was Matt's vision, not mine, and I went on faith that his expertise was more than enough to win me over, and I am not disappointed. IF there is one thing I would change it would be the scale length. This one is based on the Gibson scale 24.75", and I am more use to playing a Fender scale length. No biggie as I am pretty adaptable, but sometimes I find my position seems off just based on what I am use to.

Regarding the centerpost and feedback. Dude, Walker...I totally am with you in the pro-feedback camp. I think feedback can be used carefully to inspire some really psychedelic jamming, especially coupled with the right modulation effects to create deep sonic textures. Obviously this isn't news to you guys, or Phish phans!  (insert Treys First Tube Jedi moves here!)

You gotta admit though that sometimes feedback can be a real bitch. Especially when the band starts playing more aggressively with louder attack and boosted volumes...Sometimes if I am trying to push hard enough to stay in the mix with a full hollowbody like the Languedoc or Myka, the feedback just gets out of hand. That is partially due also to the fact that we are a grageband and don't have a team of soundmen keeping all the levels perfect. (but, more-so due to the fact that I'm no Jedi...) Even when we gig out we are usually working the board ourselves, which is hard. Trey has said many times in his little crew-dedication talks that Phish would never be able to improvise at the level they do without their sound techs. It boggles my mind that Trey can play a 3 hour show with that Languedoc and not have it accidentally feedback even once! Wtf?

That said, pushing this guitar w/Amp hard enough can and will cause it to feedback, but in a much more intentional way. I have to have my levels and gain/dirt in the right place and change my position relative to the amp to cause her to feedback, and I like that quality. It only feeds-back when I am trying for it. The centerpost in this one is built very similar to something like the one in a PRS Archtop hollowbody. My Thorn Artisan has one also under it's stoptail bridge. Both the Artinger and Thorn are similar in a way that I can ride the feedback wave if I want to push it there, but I don't feel like i am constantly battling the waves trying to stay afloat. My Languedoc is extremely tricky and sensitive in that regard, it's like you have to have one finger on the volume knob at all times, and when it goes wrong the feedback spikes into an unpleasant shriek...which isn't fun for anybody. Instead the Artinger makes me work for it, it's there I just have to align all the variables perfectly for the feedback to sing....and I like that extra challenge.

I'll put up some soundclips if I can pull a good one. it will probably be just a clip from one of our band jams. I played her with the guys for the first time last night and absolutely loved it.

Cheers

[IamWILSON]

Interesting PoN... Some of your words about controlling the feedback make me rethink the settings I use on my TS-9s and amp to try to keep feedback under wraps when I play with my hollowbody (although it is a laminate).  I've noticed the settings where the feedback and sustain get out of control and I usually try to back off just underneath it so I am forced to work or coerce the feedback to happen.  Sometimes I'm not successful when I need it.  Maybe I need to push the gear more and let the feedback happen like craziness but learn to harness that power?!?!?

[Walker done done]

PoN, I really enjoyed reading your last post, thanks for giving some more in-depth detail of your experiences with her thus far.  Looking forward to sound clips!

[picture_of_nectar]

Interesting PoN... Some of your words about controlling the feedback make me rethink the settings I use on my TS-9s and amp to try to keep feedback under wraps when I play with my hollowbody (although it is a laminate).  I've noticed the settings where the feedback and sustain get out of control and I usually try to back off just underneath it so I am forced to work or coerce the feedback to happen.  Sometimes I'm not successful when I need it.  Maybe I need to push the gear more and let the feedback happen like craziness but learn to harness that power?!?!?

Right! Well, since everybodies rig and instruments are different I don't think there is a "one trick" solution to the problem/art of controlling feedback. It just takes time and practice and experimenting to find what works with your stuff. Also, that is going to change depending on the room you are in, so it's almost like every new venue you need to re-experiment with levels and controls to figure out what works. My guitars react differently in my basement vs our practice spot vs the local bar vs a big warehouse vs outside...etc. So it is a constantly evolving process. Still you should be able to find your sweet spost and just have to make minor tweaks to the rig to get it where you want it to be.

What I have found to work for me is a delicate balance of a few variables.
1. Guitar volume. This is what I actively use to tame/build feedback while playing most of the time. This is where skill comes in, ever watch Trey work his guitar volume knob? He is constantly on it almost like a nervous tick. He's mastered the subtlety so that most of the time you can't even hear him making the minor adjustments. You have to be careful, like if you start feeding back unexpectedly and don't want to, you hair back, but if it's too much you drop out of the bands mix and your noodle solo sounds botched...right? Subtle adjustments, and quick response is key.

2. Pedal settings and dynamics. I uses some basic dirt, a Timmy (clean boost), TS808 silver, and a OCD for crunch. Along with a Ross compressor. Basically my Dirt pedals are always set to the same levels. I then use the Ross to make adjustments for what I want the peak volume to max out at. If I lower the Level knob on the Ross i can max out my guitar volume and get a dirtier crunch from my pedals without raising the overall volume ceiling by much. The Ross is almost acting like a volume pedal in this regard, but you have to be careful as there is a fine line between reducing the volume enough and losing your tone.

Sometimes certain pedals, and certain combos of pedals will initiate feedback more then others. For instance my delay and trem together especially with dirt will almost immediately cause feedback if my guitar volume is too high, so it requires on the fly adjustments when engaging pedals.

Paul Languedoc actually saw a post i made on TGP about his G4 feeding back easily and emailed me suggesting to keep the Sustain knob throttled way back on the compressor. He said that the hollowbody+tube amp will offer enough natural compression that I don't need to really use the Comp, and that's a big part of why it was "screeching out" so quickly. And wouldn't you know it...he was right...go figure!

3. Amp volume. I think my amp sounds better when the tubes are run pretty hot so I like it as loud as possible without stage volumes that hurt my ears. The singer in my band plays acoustic guitar also so i need to becareful that my amp isn't making his guitar feedback on him which happens easily. obviously the harder you are pushing the amp the more dramatic subtle control changes and pick attack are going to make on feedback.

4. body position. Where you are relative to the amp (and monitor) can often make or break feedback without making any knob adjustments...

What I have found owning several hollowbodies is that each has their own unique sweet spot. There is something about the way different woods and the way they are carved interact with harmonic vibration that some guitars will be more prone to feedback when playing certain notes or harmonics. Also not all hollowbodies feedback the same way. the good ones maintain their pitch through the phase of the feedback, while others often start in pitch then morph to just this muddy hum in one particular key. I have owned a few that were like this, I'd play a G note or whatever and the guitar would always end up feeding back in A. Which just doesn't always work with the music obviously.

Anyway that has been my experience and I am still very much learning to ride the swell. hope it helps.
Cheers