ARTLUTHERIE 14866 Details top
Top Wood:
Solid Cedar
Back/Sides Wood:
Wild Cherry
Neck Wood:
Maple
Fingerboard:
Rosewood
Bridge:
Rosewood
Color:
Natural
Solid Tops
Several models in the A&L line are made with solid cedar or spruce tops. A solid top guitar will require a little more care in terms of exposure to heat and humidity, but the upside is significant. A solid top guitar will not only produce richer sound and better dynamic range but has the added benefit of improving over time.
When was the last time you purchased something that improved with use?
That's right, similar to the phenomena that makes bowed instruments such as the violin better sounding with playing over time, a solid top guitar becomes better sounding over time. This is called 'aging'. Not surprisingly, the cedar and spruce used in instrument building is not your garden-variety, lumberyard wood. The giant cedar and spruce logs that we use in guitar building comes from trees that are hundreds of years old and more than six feet in diameter. The tight, straight grain in this wood makes it flexible in the direction running across the grain while at the same time, stiff in the direction of the grain. This property is what allows the guitar top to be strong enough to support the pull from the strings while remaining flexible enough to produce the vibration necessary for full, rich sound.
Tops start as single pieces of wood, which are sliced in half and then glued together. This technique is called 'bookmatched' and results in an even grain pattern across the top of the guitar.
ARTLUTHERIE 14866 Features top
Canadian Wood
We're proud to say that Art & Lutherie guitars are made in Canada using roughly 95% Canadian wood. Guitar builders consume relatively small amounts of exotic wood and therefore are not generally considered as a major threat to the environment. However, with an eye towards the future, and in the spirit of 'every little bit helps' Art & Lutherie guitars are made with woods that meet strict criteria both in terms of their tone producing attributes and their impact on the environment. Wild Cherry is an excellent tone wood when used in tops, backs, and sides. It also makes for an ecologically friendly choice because it is indigenous to Eastern Canada. Likewise, the silverleaf maple used to craft the A&L necks is also from this same region. Silverleaf maple has a weight/density very similar to that of mahogany—the most commonly used wood in acoustic guitar neck construction—and its impact on sound is virtually indiscernible from that of mahogany. Godin began experimenting with silverleaf maple necks on acoustic guitars ten years ago and it continues to be our wood of choice.
The weight and design of the structural braces inside the top and back of these guitars deliver a rich, balanced sound that previously was the exclusive domain of instruments in a much higher price range. All A&L guitar braces are made with quarter sawn Sitka Spruce.
Finish
Art & Lutherie guitars are finished with lacquer. This is a very important component of any great guitar. You may have heard talk of the mystery involved in re-creating the great violins of the world. Most experts agree that the answer is in the finish. While it's true that the materials and construction of the instrument play very important roles, it is a very special finish - applied in sufficient amounts to protect the wood but not so much as to stifle the wood's vibration-that elevates a good instrument into a great one.
Solid Tops
Several models in the A&L line are made with solid cedar or spruce tops. A solid top guitar will require a little more care in terms of exposure to heat and humidity, but the upside is significant. A solid top guitar will not only produce richer sound and better dynamic range but has the added benefit of improving over time.
When was the last time you purchased something that improved with use?
That's right, similar to the phenomena that makes bowed instruments such as the violin better sounding with playing over time, a solid top guitar becomes better sounding over time. This is called 'aging'. Not surprisingly, the cedar and spruce used in instrument building is not your garden-variety, lumberyard wood. The giant cedar and spruce logs that we use in guitar building comes from trees that are hundreds of years old and more than six feet in diameter. The tight, straight grain in this wood makes it flexible in the direction running across the grain while at the same time, stiff in the direction of the grain. This property is what allows the guitar top to be strong enough to support the pull from the strings while remaining flexible enough to produce the vibration necessary for full, rich sound.
Tops start as single pieces of wood, which are sliced in half and then glued together. This technique is called 'bookmatched' and results in an even grain pattern across the top of the guitar.
Laminated Tops
Many of the guitars in the A&L line feature laminated wild cherry tops. If you just finished reading the information about solid tops, you may be wondering whether a laminated top also ages or improves with playing. The short answer is: no it does not.
However, there are still several reasons to consider a wild cherry top model.
1/ We have spent years refining the bracing of these tops and the result is an excellent sound right out of the box.
2/ A laminated top guitar is less prone to the negative effects of heat and humidity, requiring less care.
3/ Price. The laminated top models are more affordable than the solid top versions of the same guitars.
A solid top is a good choice if you know what you're looking for in terms of sound, body size etc. On the other hand, if you're just taking up guitar playing, a laminated top model can be an excellent choice. If later on you choose to upgrade to a solid top model you will be much better qualified to choose a guitar according to your own newly developed tastes.
ARTLUTHERIE 14866 History top
Welcome to Art & Lutherie
You should enjoy your first guitar playing experience instead of becoming discouraged by an instrument that is difficult to play.
It was with this in mind that Godin Guitar Company President & Founder, Robert Godin, set about designing a line of entry-level acoustic guitars that would bring the key attributes of pro quality guitars within the reach of novice players. Most entry-level guitars are made with an emphasis on how they look, which is fine unless it is accomplished at the expense of how the guitar sounds and feels. For example, A&L guitars are finished with genuine lacquer. This special finish is applied over a four-day process that leaves a thin coating that protects the wood without inhibiting vibration. The thick plastic finishes found on other entry level guitars are the result of a one-shot spray technique that smothers the wood and the sound along with it. And, it doesn't stop with the finish. A&L guitars are made using many of the same tolerances and techniques as those of Godin's world-renowned Seagull guitars.
Precise neck pitch, fully compensated saddles, high ratio tuners, pro-quality set-ups and playability are all features that make the A&L guitars fun to play.
After all, guitar playing is supposed to be fun.
The Most Popular Instrument in the World
What an incredible invention the guitar is. It makes an excellent accompanist. It can also be a fantastically expressive solo voice. And with practice it can be both. Not unlike a piano when you think about it, except for a couple of striking differences. First of all a guitar is portable (try taking a piano on your next camping trip), and secondly you can fill a small room with guitars for the price of one piano. The guitar is also an excellent tool for musical composition. It's probably safe to say that many of your favorite songs were composed by someone with a guitar in hand. Most of all, guitar playing can be a lot of fun and the fun begins almost immediately.
However, if guitar playing is a new endeavor for you, you may find yourself slightly overwhelmed by the dozens of guitar choices confronting you. This problem is compounded by the fact that for the most part they all look basically the same. This is where it gets a little bit tricky. Most manufacturers are going on the assumption that the subtle things that make a guitar sound great are not yet obvious to you. So they emphasize the obvious and make their guitars pretty to look at. After all, you may not recognize a nice sounding guitar or a guitar that has particularly great feel, but you probably already have some idea of which guitars look cool.
The irony in this is that many of the techniques employed to make an entry-level guitar attractive have a corresponding negative effect on the instrument's sound. Thick, plastic finishes stifle the sound of a guitar. An acoustic guitar makes sound by vibrating. Pressboard covered in wallpaper may look great but will never have the resonant qualities that are key to a great sounding guitar.
Makers of fine guitars choose specific hardwood (called tone woods) because of their resonant qualities. Art and Lutherie guitars were created to bring key ingredients of the best acoustic guitars to the novice guitar player. Specifically, we're talking about real wood combined with decades of expert craftsmanship result in an affordable acoustic guitar with excellent sound and feel. We say "real wood" in reference to the fact that the three-way lamination of Wild Cherry found on the back, sides and top of the Art & Lutherie guitars is made from three layers of genuine hardwood, not the pressboard construction that constitutes many guitars in the A&L price range.
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