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Those 100th Anniversary guitars have seriously barber-pole necks. Terrific maple grain.
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05-20-2017 02:14 PM
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?All the Unity guitars I have seen all have barber pole necks.
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Yeah, Mike...they do.
There's always music being played around our house. This morning, I was showing my grandson some settings on a synthesizer. Later, my wife was practicing organ for tomorrow's church service. After lunch, I was fooling with some Wes on (1) my Parts-caster, (2) my Super-V copy (Matsumoku)--same as 2bornot2bop and Lawson Stone's--and (3) Unity 100th Anniversary #2.
My wife is so accustomed to hearing me play guitar that it is just background noise to her. However, when I was playing D-Natural Blues on the Unity, she stopped me and said, "That guitar sounds great. What guitar are you playing?" I explained, telling her that it was the best guitar I have ever owned, or played for that matter. (It was going into a Polytone MiniBrute IV at the volume at which the acoustic and electric energy are approximately equal.)
Mike, I know you already appreciate what you have, but when a tough critic who is used to hearing me practice every day pipes up and asks about a specific guitar (she was in the next room)...
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GT
That balance between amp volume and acoustic volume is really the snizzle... I have that with the Unity's and my American Eagle, it just happens... I got some out on the porch photos, I'll be back (as The Terminator said).
BigLast edited by BigMikeinNJ; 05-20-2017 at 07:36 PM.
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+4 really is beautiful. I recognize and approve of the neck carve. I'm pretty sure I know what it sounds like. ;-)
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Note how Aaron addressed the cutaway. Let me first lay the foundation.
An archtop is, well, arched on the top and bottom but slopes down to meet the rims. The problem occurs in a cutaway- the top and bottom has not had enough distance for the wood to arc to meet the rim. So there are gaps between the top and the rim.
Gibson addressed this by making the binding thicker there. Notice in this example how thick the binding is in the cutaway compared to the outside rim. That thickness covers the gaps that otherwise would allow you to peer into the body cavity.
Take a look at the Unity. Aaron put maple inserts into the gaps. Does that make a difference? I don't know. Some people think it might. Regardless, it makes the instrument a little more special.Last edited by Marty Grass; 05-22-2017 at 05:39 PM.
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So I got to play it some on Sunday, it has a great voice, I would say the neck on this one is a little deeper, maybe that is why it looks familiar to you GT... Not race car easy fast like my Unity's (Patricks) or #3... She's got the best doggone wood. I swear Aaron had a Maui Wowie stash of wood... Perfection in every way. Hope to plug her in tomorrow morning after the upstairs neighbor goes out...
Big
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?I personally drove up to KZ to deliver my Unity 100th Anniversary #4 to Pete in September along with my Rosewood Crest and a parlor guitar and acoustic my cousin wanted worked on. You don't hand over a guitar of that caliber to just anyone to work on. I spent a lot of time showing Pete what I wanted done. Actually I used my Rosewood Crest neck as a template to guide him. He's got a few of those around so that not skinny neck was my goal. #4 was custom ordered for the president of Aria music and it had a fat neck - was sorta big at the nut but around the 5th fret it got early 50s Gretsch chunky. Compared to the other Unity's I own this neck just wasn't cutting it.
Pete and Aaron went back a long ways and it took Pete a long time to actually DO the reshaping. From what I gather he hand sanded it the whole way. Marty Grass had a look see last week and said it's now like his Hutch L5 and yeah I wasn't totally bull goose looney asking to have it reshaped now that it's done. It'll be here tomorrow... You KNOW I'm gonna wait a long time to let this one warm up once it's here...
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These are gonna be all outta order, maybe a couple of duplicates, my eyes were getting squirrelly just doing this. Sorry.
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I had the privilege of following this guitar through its neck makeover.
Pete has been very busy the last couple of years. He's fast and does an excellent job at a fair price. He gets guitars shipped from all over the place. He's also 76 years old and still works 40+ hours a week in his shop. Considering all of this, he tends to decline major jobs.
The neck reshaping was a major job because it was done by hand. That took time and sweat.
I liked the neck the way Aaron made it. I like it much more now.
Pete told me what it took to prep the guitar. Then he went through the story of how he did it. It's more involved that many might think. He was happy with the result.
Even though Pete says he doesn't want big jobs anymore, I noticed he was renecking a double bass. He walked me through that process.
It never ends.
Big Mike will like his Unity.
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Can you imagine just masking that thing off - not getting near the volute with all that crazy binding ??? Pete really is The Master. I've only been in his shop that one time. I could spend days hanging out watching him work, chatting it up, hearing stories from the folks that roll through there... I'm lucky Pete considered taking on the job.
Big
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Big Mike,
Congratulations! Having the neck like _you_ want it is going to be perfect. We both know how truly gorgeous and soulful Aaron's guitars are. Enjoy the bejabbers out of #4 after you receive it and warm it up. I had a long session on #2 yesterday. Man, these guitars are simply VERY special.
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Big Mike,
#2 is the best sounding 17" guitar I have ever owned and is at least as good as any 17" Gibson, Benedetto, Epiphone, or Guild I've played.
May your experience be comparable.
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Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ
I can assure you he was right up to the volute. He marched right up to the binding but didn't violate it.
You have to have a lot of patience to do this type of work. I'm not cut out for that.
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I think I’m more excited in getting it back from Pete’s than I was about it getting thru Custom from Japan. You see not only am I dying to try out this new slimmer profile, I haven't heard it's electric voice yet as it was ordered like the old style Johnny Smith with a mini jack on the pick guard. Pete installed a normal output jack on the rim. I didn't want any headaches for him trying to put an endpin jack on that ABM tailpiece and I prefer the side jack anyway -I don't leave my guitars on a stand plugged in.
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The box got here at 10:15, opened the end after about 45 minutes and brought the case into the office, which is the coolest room here. Anxiously gonna wait it out. But the cleaning lady and I really spiffed the place up, she was leaving when FedEx arrived... starting out real good here fellas...
Big
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I felt the case after 30 minutes in the office, it seemed ok so I cheated and took a quick look to shoot these. Did pick up the guitar long enough to feel the neck (amazing) and check out the finish. It is such a perfect match to the rest of the guitar. Called Pete to tell him he's the man and thank him... More later...
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?Pete sanded the bejabbers out of this neck. Yeah it's a slightly hefty L5 neck, but doggone it is really easy to play now. It's not the super easy U profile (Joe or Marty or Greentone know) of the others but it's damn fine... And speaking of Damn Fine, that's quite a match of the finish. If I had a penny for every time Pete told me he wasn't sure he could match the finish we'd all be hanging out in Cuba drinking rum and lime juice outta cocoanut shells... (You put the lime in the cocoanut and shake it all around). Yeah Mission Accomplished Mr. Moreno !!! Kudos...
Big
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Getting a guitar that fits your hand perfectly is a wonderful thing. Congratulations, Big, and play that beauty in good health!
And kudos to Mr. Moreno for making it happen!
And here's to the memory of Aaron Cowles, Master Luthier!
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Caught a 2nd long nap to rest the eyes. Checked the guitar and it had acclimated nicely, tuned her up and played it a bit unplugged. Then plugged her into my Texas Flood and carefully dialed up the volume until I had that swirly mix of amp and the guitars natural acoustic volume. WTF the first tune outta my head was just A chord jamming T Rex's GET IT ON... Then onto some Patsy Cline which I was hearing in my head while on my porch with a quadruple espresso... Oh yeah she is truly mine... I Fall To Pieces sure sounds good here boys...
Big
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The tone is quite clean and lush... intonation is spot on all the way up the neck. I have been sort of waiting for later in the day to plug in again, and then Monday for sure when many are at work... It's a very quiet building.But that won't stop me from playing acoustically today.
Speaking of the neck I can tell Pete did a lot of sanding because on the back of the neck about the 3rd fret there is a mark in the wood I don't remember pre-carve... Reminds me of the story about that billet Patrick had for his Super Patrick and how he had to use a 2nd one because carving revealed a mark in the wood he didn't like... Same with the area around the input jack, this is lovely wood used throughout the guitar but it does have little personality marks. What did they call those on young women, noooo not BEJABBERS... beauty marks.
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These Unity guitars are really fine instruments. I remember when Ted Krause’s arrived at my office after just purchasing it.
The tone was reminiscent of a 50’s D’Angelico - but I also remember the thick cross section on the neck which became tiring to me after a short while.
Do enjoy Mike - it’s a trophy pc for sure.
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Threads like this makes me regretting not having tried to have Aaron Cowles make me a Unity when it was still possible and before all the hassle with endangered woods began (I live in Europe and exporting from the US might be risky in that respect).
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