OM Guitar

Steel string guitar based on the Martin OM

Description

Steel string guitar, 14 frets to the body, scale length 25.4 inches., nut 44mm.

Also available with a smaller body (OO size) and 24.9 inch scale length (special orders only)

My OM guitars are very responsive and have a warm, clear, clean and  sweet sound, similar to my mandolins (or so I have been told).  Other comments have been that they are very evenly balanced across the strings and up the neck.  My ears (and other musicians) tell me that they are amongst some of the best sounding of the hand made small bodied guitars.  I have spent a lot of effort to make them as evenly balanced as possible, which is a really hard thing to do.  The factory guitars are hopeless in this regard and many hand made guitars also don't make the grade.

Wood choice: The possibilities are endless, and is several lifetimes work.   Red Spruce has more headroom than Carpathian Spruce, but it does take significantly more time to mature.  Carpathian has a slightly warmer sound as does Engelmann Spruce.  For the back, Tasmanian Oak and especially Tasmanian Sassafras is similar to Mahogany i.e. warmer tone, but also have excellent clarity.  So summarizing - Red Spruce, think big headroom, long time to mature.  Carpathian or Engelmann Spruce - very fine sound, quick to mature, smaller head room.  Tasmanian Sassafras or Mahogany - think warm, sweet tone, more fundamental.  Indian Rosewood, richness of tone, lots of overtones and more sparkle in the treble.  I am mostly using Red Spruce (i.e. Adirondack Spruce) now because customers (and I also) tend to prefer the sound of the Red Spruce topped guitars.

For more information see specifications or contact me.