I tried one of the thinlines from Cole Clark recently and was strangely drawn to it, even though it was in no way a canon or even a ‘normal’ acoustic volume really. The oddball woods and aesthetics have grown on me in recent years and I think I’d quite like an Angel with the oz woods. The open pore finish on the neck was quite comfortable and the whole thing had an interesting uniqueness about it.
Obviously I’m not daft enough to actually buy one new given how dire the resale will be…but I’ll be keeping a lookout for a used one I reckon.
Any users / fans / owners on the board?
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But seriously now, the thinline Cole Clarks (no relation to the chap above!) are specifically designed to be amplified stage guitars. They are not intended to be played acoustically as stand-alone instruments.
Cole Clark guitars generally are very stage-oriented. Even the full-size models are mostly (but not always) fairly quiet as acoustics go. (Some of the dreadnoughts can be loud. My Cole Clark 12-string dreadnought in Bunya and Blackwood was not far off deafening.)
No-one here in Australia would understand the two-page Fretboard thread currently running about third-party acoustic pickups. What is the point of all that faffing about with aftermarket stuff? You just buy a Cole Clark or a Maton and plug straight into the PA. Job done. (Even the Yanks who are notoriously agin anything not made in the USA say that.)
Above: River She-oak fretboard from my Cole Clark 12-string.
Spruce tops have given way to Bunya, Blackwood, Silky Oak, and a whole range of wonderfully unexpected things. They scour the countryside for the unexpected, finding, for example, a huge old Cedar of Lebanon planted 150 years ago in a country churchyard now needing to be removed to save damage to the buildings, plantation grown Khaya from Queensland, magnificent Redwoods in country towns grown far too big for the blocks that they are planted on, and so on. And of course, they continue to use the two traditional mainstays of Australian guitar making, Queensland Maple and Blackwood.
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just horrid to play - just felt dull, lifeless and made from balsa wood like a kids toy almost - plugged in tho, was probably the best/natural sounding Ive heard
just because you do, doesn't mean you should.
I have played other knock-your-socks off Cole Clarks, notably a particular all-Blackwood Angel 2 in 2021. I decided to go back and buy that one a few days later but it was sold. Drat! The other day in another thread I mentioned playing another one in the same construction. I wouldn't mind owning that one either, it is a very good instrument, but the one in 2021 was an absolute corker. I could easily go silly and buy one example of an Angel in each of various lovely Cole Clark timbers - Silky Oak, Cedar of Lebanon, Redwood, and of course all-Blackwood. But not in Bunya and Blackwood - not because those timbers are no good or because Cole Clark don't do them well, simply because the Maton's EA80 "Australian" model in those same timbers is quite outstanding.
Cole Clark guitars usually have thickish tops and backs but very light bracing. Tops and backs are both internally carved a bit like an archtop. This is one of the things the CNC does best - doing all that carving by hand would cost a fortune! Most (but not all) Cole Clarks are moderately heavily built and very good at resisting feedback when amplified. Every guitar is Pleked and factory quality control is generally very good. With the high-end models, it is outstanding.
I have always admired the elegant (also strong and practical) headstock-neck joint they use. It wouldn't be commercially practicable without the CNC, of course.
Above: Cole Clark's standard neck-headstock joint. The neck in this instance is Silky Maple, the headstock Blackwood.
In theory, Cole Clark's 1 and 2 and 3 Series models are all the same apart from trim and bling and choice of timbers. They all go down the same CNC line. In reality, they take more trouble and do more hand-finishing with the 3 Series guitars. I always think the 1 Series instruments, which have no body binding, look very odd, like a man with his eyebrows shaved off, and I used to think the 3 Series ones, for all their expert build and lovely timbers, had too much bling, but I have grown used to mine and wouldn't have it any other way now.
At right: Cole Clark FL2 12-string, Bunya and Blackwood. Others are (from left) Maton Messiah, Maton SRS60C custom, Cole Clark Angel 3 and Tacoma Thunderhawk. I post this picture every six months or so when some silly person (such as you) gives me an excuse.
A Redwood and Blackwood Angel 2 is £1799 at Guitar Guitar. Less VAT that is £1499. Compare to the same thing here in Hobart for $2599, which is $2362 before GST = £1260 or £240 over the odds. That's getting back towards the traditional UK markup. BTW, I played the one in Hobart one earlier this week: details here: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/3562582/#Comment_3562582
Above: Angel 3 headstock
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If your collection was hanging on a shop wall, my first pick to try would be the Angel 3, followed by the Messiah.
Those tops in the video had me drooling.
The Guild is going to go (making way for my new Brook, which is a year or so away) and there is a custom-made baritone half-finished which should be finished in spring (your autumn).
If another one has to go to make room (this is subject to negotiation!) the Maton Messiah might be the next one out the door. It's a lovely guitar but it's probably the one I would miss least. I'm a bit over rosewood.
Pretty much everyone who visits reckons the WA May is the pick of the bunch, with opinion divided as to #2: the Mineur, the Angel 3 and the Messiah all get votes. The Thunderhawk baritone, by common consent, stands alone as a completely different instrument. But don't neglect the unassuming cedar and Queensland Maple Maton dreadnought. It's nowhere near as flashy (looks-wise or sound-wise) as some of the others and cost a lot less than most of them, but if you had to pick just one guitar out of my lot, one to play in all moods and every different style, it would probably be that one.
I find, though, that when you post outdoors pics, I'm looking at the scenery, as much as the guitars. Oz is my favourite place.
http://tannin.net.au/page.php?image=090607-155120rfc.jpg