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The Ekrem Ozkarpat semi-hollow arrived late yesterday and I opened it this morning after letting it sit overnight to warm up.
I posted about this guitar when I made the purchase last week, including the seller's photos. My first thought on opening the case was that the seller left a lot of money on the table by using lousy photos. The guitar is MUCH nicer than I was expecting. Much of the craftsmanship and detail work is really outstanding. My second realization is that the guitar is much deeper than I was expecting. It's 3.0" thick with a flat top and back.
There are no sharp edges anywhere. Both the back and top are beveled all the way around and the work on the edge the top is absolutely wonderful, making it both comfortable and very attractive.
The sound hole was the subject of some comments when I posted the original photos is certainly not my favorite design but seen in person it is beautifully implemented which makes it a lot easier to accept.
The nut is very wide (slightly over 1.8") which I love but some of that advantage is lost as you move up the nut because he used of conventional bridge. The string spacing at the nut is 2 1/16" compared to 2 3/16" on a finger spaced Soloway.
Tonally, it lacks the sustain of my Gosling but it has more acoustic presence. It doesn't sound like an arch top but that big body does get it a lot closer.
Looking at all of the features, the design is truly unique. The semi-hollow construction with the deep body, the wide nut, the single neck pickup, the flat top and back and the lovely neck joint make a really wonderful package and the 24.75" scale length fills a gap that none of my other guitars do. It's a lovely guitar to play: comfortable, really nice tone and work well with my Milkman rig.
Ozkarpat is a very prominent luthier in Turkey and has built guitars for some very well known Turkish players (including Cenk Erdogan who is one of my personal favorites). I can see why he's so highly regarded. It's a really good implementation of a really interesting and useful design. This one is almost certainly here to stay for a long haul. I've learned to never say forever. I know myself better than that but it would be really hard to replace this one and impossible to replace at anything approaching what I paid for it.
Last edited by Jim Soloway; 11-22-2020 at 11:25 AM.
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11-21-2020 06:36 PM
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Very nice, Jim! Enjoy!
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Lotsa luck with it Jim. I think it very nice.
Great workmanship. Can’t wait to here it!
JD
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That thing looks lovely Jim! Enjoy!
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Beautiful! Can't wait to hear it.
Congrats Jim.
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Very nice! I particularly like the beveling of the sound-holes. Details matter! Looking forward to hearing you play it. Congratulations, and play it in good health!
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That looks odd, but in a way that makes me really like it! Congrats, Jim. There’s a subdued beauty to it, a lack flash, that’s very appealing. Bet it plays just great.
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What a terrific looking guitar!
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Kind of like a Godin Multiac designed guitar,but way thicker!
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I think it's beautiful Jim. It there a rear panel to access the electronics? Or would you just have to go through the pickup cavity? And, what's supporting the stop tail inside?
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Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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A quick update after a couple days of serious playing on this guitar ... This almost instantly became one of my favorite guitars ever. It's an absolute joy. The shorter scale length matches up very well with the extra width. The thickness of the body matches up beautifully with the smaller lower bout width. The tone is ideal for my taste and it's wonderfully touch sensitive. It also matches up beautifully with the Milkman and Greenbased Design cab. Right now it's getting 100% of my playing time and that's likely to continue for some time.
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Very pleased for you, Jim, especially after what seems like a long search. Looks really well made.
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Sweet axe, Jim! Hope you enjoy that thing.
Ibanez archtop with 0.010 Thomastik strings and...
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