NEVILLE’S ADVOCATE ...
We guitarists talk a lot about tone in the electric realm. What, then, can we do to lift the acoustic to new realms of sonority, asks Neville Marten
Quite a few years back I traded three guitars – one Martin and two very nice Höfners – for another Martin, a used D-28 1937 Authentic. Guitar Village in Farnham had two from this illustrious range: a D-18 and the D-28 that I finally settled upon. The idea of the Authentic series is that the guitars are recreations of actual instruments that Martin has in its possession. Because they can’t use Brazilian rosewood, my D-28 is beautifully figured Madagasan, the nearest thing available at the time – they’ve now switched to Guatemalan, as Madagascan has become rather more scarce.
I’ve known Guitar Village’s owner, Derek (Del-Boy!) Eyre-Walker, for many years and it’s always great to catch up. I asked if I could try both guitars and Derek set me up in a quiet room with a cup of tea and left me to my own devices. I played both guitars for over an hour, swapping them around and trying to decide which one I preferred. Even though they were both secondhand, I was trading in a lot of money’s worth and so wanted to get it right. Both sounded fantastic in different ways and I just couldn’t make up my mind. Derek came back and asked how I was getting on. Seeing my utter befuddlement, he said, “Why don’t you go and have a walk, get the sound out of your head and then come back? You’ll probably decide in five minutes flat.”
I did what Del said and had a stroll around the shop drooling at everything, then went outside for a bit of fresh air before returning. He was dead right. Within five minutes I’d chosen the more strident D-28. We did the deal and off I went.
