Played a Sobell
Tony Weber
across a guitar by a builder that you don't normally see, wherever in
the world that you. I mean, I am awfully jaded (and lucky) to be able
to walk across my living room and pick between a couple of great
McAlisters, or a fine Froggy Bottom. My close friend owns a guitar
store, so extremely fine Larrivies are almost prosaic, and I regularly
play guitars by the under-rated David Webber right out of the box.
More esoteric stuff shows up as wee, ranging from 20s Martin 000-18s to
the Brazilian Goodall Parlour currently in the store on consignment. A
mile or so away, over in Fremont, Dusty Strings has more Martins, new
and old (They currently have a suburb new Koa/Ad single-oh 12 fret that
is just...) More Goodalls, Taylors, Haxtons, Nobles Beards, Nationals
and goodies on the Used/Consignment wall than you can shake a stick at.
And I have friends with more Macs, Martins, McCollums and whatnot.
Lets just say that I'm blessed with having so many fine instruments and
musicians in the neighborhood.
So this past Saturday I'm down at my buddy Robb's shop while we are
planning a hike or mountain climb for Sunday before the reality of that
day's snow and rain-driven floods really sunk in. And up pops my
acquaintance Steffen, who is a very fine player with a great tonal
touch. He is there to meet his friend Brad Warren, who is a very fine
Seattle local singer/songwriter and guitarist. Brad is there because he
wanted Steffan's opinion on a new guitar that Brad had just received
from builder Stefan Sobell.
Now across the pond in Merry Olde England a Sobell may be quite
commonplace. But far away over here in the rainy and foggy Pacific
Northwest, Sobell is merely a rumour of a fine instrument builder whose
artifacts are played by Bart Simpson's brother Martin. I almost missed
my chance with this fine instrument, as I had been entranced listening
to an hour or so of superb interplay between Brad and Steffan, playing
on a new Webber Sephele/Englemann Roundbody that I'd steered him to, as
we have similar taste in tonal quality. Rounding out the trio was a guy
who just happened to be in the store and whose name I didn't get, who is
a visiting software engineer doing some work for the Borg or some other
Redmond tech firm. Whoever he was, he started chatting with Brad and
then laid down a great loose groove that Brad and Steffan worked off of
for eons. You just don't get a private concert like that every day. I
wish that I could play like that. Play half like that... Half play
like that... Whatever.
Anyway, after a bit I noted that the guitar that Brad had dug out of his
florescent yellow Calton had a headstock shape that I didn't remember
seeing before, and a slightly odd-shape (to me) to the bouts. So during
a break, I asked to have a look. He told me that it was a Sobell, that
he had only gotten it a couple of days before, and that he was playing
the snot out of it. (I could vouch for that last... <<G>)
Some conversation earlier had been about wide fretboards, so I was not
surprised to find that this instrument had one. What did surprise me
was how thin the neck was; it has to have had one of the thinnest neck
that I've ever played on an acoustic. Interestingly, however, it also
had a subtle V-shape. In general, I like beefer necks, but was quite
surprised that, when I started playing, that the oddness to the neck
simply vanished. Steffan was watching me, and smiled at the look on my
face, and said "feels nice, doesn't it?" It did.
It sounded good too, with that crystalline edge that you get with very
good (but not all) Brazilian Rosewood. Rich, but with good string to
string separation. Good overtones, with that hint telling you that with
some playing time they were going to be a major part of the tone.
Typical bit of slightly underwhelming new-guitar bass, particularly with
picked lightly. A firmer hand informed that it will probably develop
nicely. Great sounding beast; wish I'd had more than a few minutes with it.
Fit and finish looked excellent, nice silken top, and the sides and
interestingly a 3-piece back (abet not the wide center strip of the old
D-35) were of very nice dark quarter-sawn straight-grained Brazilian.
All in all, very nice. Perhaps I'll get another chance with it
sometime. And while I am absolutely aware of how astounding the guitars
that I have really are, and I wouldn't trade them in for almost anything
(Well, Robb's 37 00-18.), and also how fortunate that I am to play some
of the instruments that I regularly do, in my thumb fingered way, it is
still nice to meet a nice instrument from far away, hear its voice and
have it reach inside and touch you.
I think that I'm going to go play now...
TW
Mike Brown
Great post Tony, you are indeed blessed. Our local shops almost never
have anything "out of the ordinary". The only surprise that I've had in
the last few years was a Breedlove Northwest Classic in Myrtle.
I have some friends who have very nice localy made DeGruchys, but they
are no surprise, all of his guitars including my Blackwood Concert are
great.
I still haven't played anything that I like more than my own Tim Weright
Parlour though.
MJRB
Colin Irvine
<mycro...@SOCKSspeakeasy.net> squeezed out the following:
>I think that one of the more interesting occurrences is when you stumble
>across a guitar by a builder that you don't normally see, wherever in
>the world that you.
<snip>
Nice - I think any musician would empathise with that post!
Stefan comes to our folk club occasionally, particularly when Martin
Simpson is on, and it was he who put me on to the Highlander pickup
that I've just had fitted. He's quiet, unassuming and very helpful and
knowledgable [1]. His instruments are quite common round here, but all
quite exceptional IYSWIM. I'm lucky enough over 40 years of playing to
have acquired a Sobell mandolin and a couple of Gibsons (1924 A Jnr
and a 2004 F5) and never tire of comparing and contrasting the three
instruments. In particular the sustain on the Sobell is to die for -
but I have to say it struggles against a banjo in sessions!
[1] i.e. just like Alan Marshall!
--
Colin Irvine
http://www.colinandpat.co.uk
anyt...@contractorcom.com
[1] i.e, Just like Alan Marshall, Stefan is great fun to get pissed
with...:-)
With the possible exception of McCollum's, Stefan Sobell's guitars are
the best I have ever seen or heard. He has a cute way of bending the
back to give more projection. If you look at enough of his guitars you
will notice all the subtle design differences between his and (for
instance) the standard Martin dreadnought design - they're thinner,
more sculpted, and as I say, the finish is astonishing.
The last one I saw, I didn't dare touch. I beat guitars up quite badly
and I really didn't want to put so much as a pick scratch on Stefan's
guitar.
They are amazing, and amazingly expensive, and justifiably so.
Pete
Chris Rockcliffe
We've had Stefan Sobell - and later his former assistant/1st hand man Nigel
Forster (now a luthier in his own right) - at different UK RMMGA meets.
Both guys gave interesting talks in different ways about their approaches to
building guitars.
Which folk club is it you attend for Martin Simpson concerts btw Colin ?
CR
Colin Irvine
<chrisro...@scripto99.demon.co.uk> squeezed out the following:
>We've had Stefan Sobell - and later his former assistant/1st hand man Nigel
>Forster (now a luthier in his own right) - at different UK RMMGA meets.
>Both guys gave interesting talks in different ways about their approaches to
>building guitars.
>
>Which folk club is it you attend for Martin Simpson concerts btw Colin ?
http://www.davylampfolkclub.co.uk/
The club's a lot better than the website!
Here's a few photos taken at the club -
http://www.colinandpat.co.uk/Colin/Folk_Music/index.html
Chris Rockcliffe
(big snippet)
> Now across the pond in Merry Olde England a Sobell may be quite
> commonplace.
Yamahas, Takamines, Taylors and Martins are commonplace A Sobell guitar is
certainly not commonplace in the UK and still a rare sight. The Sobell
bouzoukis are only slightly less commonplace to see around.
Certainly many Sobell instruments of the last decade or so will have been
built by both Stefan and Nigel Forster together. It will be interesting how
the two brands will be differentiated in build and style in the future now
that Nigel has branched off.
CR
McCollum Guitars
<anyt...@contractorcom.com> wrote in message
news:aleal31cd503quu8h...@4ax.com...
Lance
anyt...@contractorcom.com
To be serious for once, no. I like guitars which have a lightness of
touch - yours ring out, as do Jamie Kinsherff's and Kathy Wingert's.
It's a wierd thing. Low-end Martin's, for instance, sing out
wonderfully, but the higher end ones with all that binding on the neck
sound dull to me, and I've never played a Collings I liked despite the
fact that I know they are building to high standards.
I like most Taylors - across the range they are bright. Maybe it's
because I'm fundamentally a lead player and I'm looking for response
and penetration up the neck rather than in the first position (that
sounds like something out of the Kama Sutra I know but I'm sure you
get what I mean..:-)
Anyway, Woooo to you toooo!
Pete
stv
For many years, Sobell instruments were a sort of rumor to me, tho I'd
heard some on
recordings. When I began to play in Irish trad music, word and lore
of them got more
common and when I heard Ged Foley play Sobells (he's had Stefan make
several for him, I understand) on the Patrick Street band recordings,
I was amazed at the sound. Further on
into Irish music and I got to meet and hear a number of Sobell octave
mandolins, bouzoukis
and mandolins. There is nothing like them.
It's becoming more common nowadays to see ten-string mandolin family
instruments, from mandolins to octave mandolins to 25+"-scale
bouzoukis (also sometimes referred to as citterns), and I think that
Stefan Sobell was, if not the first, certainly one of the earliest
luthiers
to make them in our time.
It's nice to hear of a "new" Sobell guitar. Since Nigel Forster split
from the Sobell shop,
Stefan has raised his prices and slowed his output, so Sobell
instruments have become
more 'collectible' and pretty much the "gold standard" for Irish and
Brit Isles folk musicians
in the US. I know of six or eight Sobell mandolin-family instruments
within driving distance
of my home, but no guitars.
While the Sobell sounds are unique, his sound and those of octave
mandolin luthiers Joe Foley of Ireland and Peter Abnett in England
have aspects in common ... Very shimmery sounds, great chording and an
understated elegance. They're seldom the loudest instruments in the
room, but the complexity and character of the tone is... arresting...
I've heard one of Nigel Forsters instruments (in person), a ten-string
bouzouki, and there's
just a bit of the Sobell characteristic in there, but Nigel's voice is
all his own. I see that luthier Buck Curran, who works for
Bourgeois has built a Butterfly model based on Sobell's
design, but I don't know of any luthiers who have made mandolin family
instruments related
to Stefan's designs...
It's always a joy to meet a Sobell, always a treat to hear 'em. A
peak experience, eh Tony?
Many thanks,
stv
Tony Weber
Not necessary a peak, but on a plateau with some pretty high caliber
company. It was nice.
TW
I'd like to see more...