Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Hi Everyone, I have been working on these for a while now and I have just finished them. I have called the model the "Journeyman". I wanted an entry level guitar to be able to offer to potential customers who may not want the high end tonewoods and tuners and shell inlay that I use on my Premium guitars. I have used mildly figured blackwood with Sitka tops. Indian Rosewood Fingerboard headplate veneer and bridge. A bone nut and saddle as well. I have finished them in Mirotone satin lacquer that is easy to use and a fair bit less work than a polished gloss finish. I put a simple 2 ring BWB rosette in and no perfling just Sheoak binding which looks good against the blackwood. I use the Mid range Gotohs from Stew Mac on them as they are very good value and solid. I have put clear Mylar pick guards on them for protection with a discreet look. The cutaway one has already found an owner who is very happy with it...it was fitted with a B Band 2.2 dual source preamp with their under saddle transducer and their Acoustic Soundboard Transducer. It is a very nice setup with volume and blend controls inside the soundhole via small finger wheels. It is a pickup well worth taking a look at.

Wow...simple yet very pretty. If my first guitar was one of those I would be extremely happy!

Great job!

Whats the price of these ones? I
I really like the standard Gotoh machine heads, to me they are smother and nicer than grovers, schallers etc.

LR baggs sound hole pickups are well worth a look specially combined with the Baggs Para DI's and they are simple to fit and remove.

These guitars look like four great understatements!
Congratulations!

Gorgeous John as always I really love that simple understated look!

Really nice Stuff , I'm a big fan of the less is more Idea, I'd buy one of those .

I have had the pleasure of playing one of these beauties and can vouch for a sweet tone, Nice work Mr Wood Rodent


Cheers Tod

Thank You Gentlemen, I have sold a few of these so far and all of the owners have been very happy with them. There are no bells and whistles on them just solid woods and good craftsmanship. I have concentrated on making a good tone machine which I feel I have done. I am learning lots from Trevor and Gerard's book and I intend to implement what I learn into these over time. Players need to be educated too as to hand made guitars...luthier built instruments are under most peoples radar...we need to change that, I thing most on this forum would agree.
I hope to get a sound file happening some time. I know a lad who is a very very good player (two verys is not an understatement) and I will get him to play them so I can record them.

John aka WoodRat

I concur Ozwood! Beauty is only skin deep, whats inside emanating out is proof of pudding It would be interesting John, too hear the tonal differences you have applied,with a little help from masters Gore/Gilet, between all four instruments 1st to last.
I know a couple of young fellas from the Qld connection that would give these beauties a bash or two

Well done woodrat

Gaz

Gee what a great matching set John they look pretty nice.

Steve

Nice job John, elegantly simple. Love every one of them

Great clean look John, must be quite popular because there is nothing to distract from the build quality and there is plenty of that on display.

Well Done

Kim

Those are great John. There is nothing wrong with plain and simple, especially when it sings so beautifully. If I were in the market for a beginner's guitar, this is what I'd be looking for. Solid woods and well crafted. No extra bling that I don't want to spend the money for and tons of sound. Perfect.

Got a sound recording for us?

[quote="Lillian"] If I were in the market for a beginner's guitar, this is what I'd be looking for./quote]


Hi Lillian, I am Just curious why you would call these a beginners Guitar ?

I am seeing a Guitar that is a lot better than most pro International performers use on stage, Such as the artists that play Cole Clark FL2, Like Jack Johnston,Snow Patrol, Ash Grunwald,Pete Murray, The list of International artists playing lesser Guitars than John's goes on.

I see In John's Journeyman Range the perfect Guitar for a performing Artist, a beginner would lucky to own one. Some people just don't need the bling or want it, Sorry I'm not picking on you

But these are the kind of Guitar that I like , and Make

Because I chose my words poorly.

John, I apologize if my comment left you with the impression that I thought less of your guitar.

I didn't mean to imply that this was a guitar just for beginners. Not at all. I would expect that these guitars would be perfect on the stage, in the recording studio, as well as in someone's living room.

To me the worst guitar a beginner can get is a low end factory guitar. But that's what most grab when they think that they might be interested in a guitar because they don't want to put a lot of money into something that might last a month or two. These beauties that John made is what a beginner should get to know a guitar with. It is a properly crafted instrument of quality woods that will sing like a guitar should. There isn't bling or high end woods to drive the price up so you know what you purchasing is a wonderfully sounding guitar in its basic form.

I started building a guitar because all I could afford was a low end factory guitar. It didn't take long for me to realize that I wasn't playing because I hated the guitar. It probably needed the neck to be properly set. A new guitar hasn't been around long enough to need a reset. This one was crap from the beginning, but I didn't know any better. I resented that the next level guitars were more money for more bling but not more guitar. If John's guitars were around I would have been willing to scrimp and save to be able to buy one. I wouldn't have felt cheated. I would be elated that I would have a real guitar made with real woods. That I had bought all the guitar that I would ever need and not paid for bling that I never wanted.

Bravo Lillian, No offense was taken, no need to apoligize and your point is very valid that these guitars would indeed suit a beginner as they are much easier to play than the one that you described in you post , a low end factory instrument with high action and no tone. My first instrument was such a guitar and also part of the reason why I got into building instruments too. They would equally suit a working musician that wants a good sounding guitar without having to pay for decoration that he doesn't really want or need. That was actually who and what they were conceived for and also what the model name eludes to. I have tried to leave out the non essential elements to be able to give more of the essential elements of tone and playability. I know that I am not going to worry the large makes as I am only a one man luthier show who only wants to put before potential customers a good quality product and to sell enough to make a living.
The sad thing is that most beginners, as you noted, dont want to invest in something that they are not sure if it is for them or if they will be good at...I am not sure that that will change but some people are different and will buy something of good quality from the beginning so here is that guitar if they want to purchase it.

Cheers,

John

Hi All,

I'm on Holiday's in Port Macquarie and took the oppertunity to drop in on John, aka the Woodrat ,and talk guitar , pick through his extensive Stash , feed My W.A.S and most importantly have a look , listen and feel of his guitars , the journeyman is a treat to the ears , loud, bright and articulate with really good seperation,a guitar that wants to be played , I also listened to one of Johns hi end guitars , if Nat King Cole was a Guitar , he would have been this one it was rich , throaty with exceptional projection, and it looked as good as it sounded. I enjoyed the Visit , left with an Arm Full of Tone wood , and My knowledge richer for the Experiance.

Cheers,

You have done well Paul to get near John's Stash, He locks it up when he see's me coming up the driveway

Aww come on Tod! You know that's not true!

I am sure I will see you soon!


Paul, thank you for the kind words about my guitars and I certainly enjoyed your visit and learned a lot too...I cant wait to get on and do a Falcate braced one now...I was thinking that the Blackwood one wot had a little accident (I am nearly over the shock now) will get a new back and a new Falcate top:) ...that will fix it!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend in Port Macquarie and have a safe trip home.

John.

I thought that I would just post a couple of pics of a different permutation of the Journeyman. This one has a WRC top and a 3 piece New Guinea Rosewood back and matching sides. The fingerboard and bridge are a little different, they are quartersawn African Kiaat that I got from a South African lady who I made a piece of furniture for a couple of years ago. Her late husband was a woodworker and it was from what was left of his stash. It is a nice warm brick red that compliments the guitar and makes it look different. It is very resonant. The binding is blackwood. It is what I call a MK II Journeyman because they now incorporate a lot of GoreTec from Trevor's wonderful book. Things like thinned top edge to increase monopole mobility. Also on this guitar is Tunable radial back bracing and side mass attachment points for lowering the main top resonant frequency. Since reading Trevors book I now have targets to build to which is a great leap forward instead of stumbling about in the dark:) I am learning with each guitar and with the abundance of information in the book it will keep me interested for a long time yet.

Cheers

John

Very nice indeed John, I really like the Journeyman style, it's as if the guitar is saying " just shut up and listen to me sing " I will have to call in and play one with the Gore improvements. have you played it with and without the added side mass ?.



Tod

Tod, I did put 200g of brass in it to bring the main top resonance to the target of 180. The air is a bit high yet so I need to shift that....I am still learning and will learn lots more soon to bring to bear on my guitars.
Yes come and Play it and tell me what you think....

John

Lovely guitars John. The older I get the more understated I like things.

Hi John/woodrat,
good to see a luthier (i.e. not a large-scale commercial operation) pitching at the basic/low-end side of the market; it seems most luthiers just can't help themselves by seeing how pretty they can make their product/how much they can tart it up with exotic woods and fancy details and still have it sell. Mind you, I can understand where they're coming from.

I just wish you'd been producing these a couple of years ago when I was looking around for a decent guitar.

To my mind, a guitar should be an instrument first, and an ornament later, and these look to me like good, honest instruments.

Mind you, I think you may need to revert back to Sitka/Blackwood on the MKII's; that WRC/NGR/Kiiat combo looks a bit too purty to be "low-end"!

Very nice, in a raw kinda way, and I love the change in colour across the face.

Two thumbs up.

Cheers,
Al.