John Hall 2022 Concert Guitar (Nr. 21.)

Presented here is a completely handbuilt guitar by the

English luthier John Hall. England certainly has a

tradition in guitar building. It probably has everything

to do with the earlier active luthier Louis Panormo 

who worked and lived in London. Besides that the

famous Mrs. Pratten collection was there and also

some French luthiers that moved to England already

in the late 19th century caused a growth in interest

in guitar building (and playing).  Tradition is the magic 

word there though this guitar isn't that traditionally 

built. Nr. 21 in 2022. Price: SOLD 

Oil finished as a whole it doesn't reflect the light 

when photographing which is a plus here of course. 

John Hall opted for a bear claw spruce top. Often

the presence of the medullar rays that are present 

on a 90 degree angle of the wood grain do raise

questions with a lot of guitar players. I can tell

you that these medullar rays only will be visible

on a perfectly quarter sawn soundboard so in

fact a sign of superb quality.

In fact nicely built in every detail as the surroundings

of the soundboard also attest. Quite unique is the use

of black walnut for the fingerboard, though it is not

black at all. The explanation around these choice of

woods is that the maple wood used for the neck is 

already quite heavy and together with an ebony 

fingerboard it should have resulted in an unbalanced 

instrument. Necks on guitars like these are usually 

made out of cedar.

The Bearclaw spruce from Switzerland can be admired

here together with the securely executed purfling. John

claims to be very critical when the woods for sound-

boards are involved. The way forces are working on

the bridge and soundboard are in good hands as

John Hall was a professional engineer as well.

In fact old tradition as the big name in building up rosettes:

Vicente Arias also was a user of the color green in his work.

We have to find out more about this remarkable builder

as the guitar is really loud and can open up even more by 

playing it frequently. The oil finish doesn't feel strange 

to me as also the neck has been treated that way as well.

A little bit oriental in the choice of the headform

to my opinion but gracefully done anyway! I think

the head to be covered by an ebony layer.

The reinforcement stripe all the way up into

the head of this guitar is visible here. And the

knobs of the tuners can be swapped if wanted.

Used for the tuners are the Rubner (German) Hauser

tuners that work very well. Quite modest in engraving

but that is not always a bad thing.

The "American black walnut" wood can be seen here

again as the luthier used it for the bridge as well. The 

harder bone cover of the string tie block mounted here

prevents any marks made by the strings under tension.

John doesn't make use of a bridgeplate as it adds little

to the strength of a soundboard. The lighter wood

used for the bridge is also a plus as it makes it 

possible for the top to vibrate more freely.

The also oil finished back gives this guitar in fact a quite

natural look though maybe not at first sight. Traditinally

we are accustomed to a more shiny appearance. John Hall

used Indian Rosewood for sides and back and rather 

surprisingly maple for the neck which is quite hard and

possibly may attribute to the nice sustain this guitar

has to offer. Surprised are a lot of players with the bass

response that comes out of this guitar as this guitar is 

intact not that deep ar all: 85 mm!

No frills on the back, just giving the back a serene look.

I will try to get in touch with the luthier and I hope to

provide some more information around his work as

the man simply deserves it! We now have contact and 

we will possibly visit him in Staffordshire in the near

future if we are welcome of course. But already

having e-mail contact, John appears to be a nice 

and gentle person always willing to give more

information around his guitars. What I particularly

like is that he added specific building procedures

with a reason.

I recently had some conversation with John Hall where I shared the

comments from two other professional guitar players on the guitars

I have in my possession. Maybe interesting to read.

Hello John,

Just to let you know I had a session this morning with two guitar players. One is an old colleague of mine while the other is a performing concert guitar player, Frank Lamm. He plays a Robert Ruck guitar, just to let you in what kind of region he is positioning his guitars.

It was quite a list they both had to search from. I will mention what they have heard and played. 

They just played and listened both with each other to each of these guitars:

 

- Casa Garrido  Madrid Made by Vicente Perez Camacho  cedar topped guitar

“A touch of the Madrid guitars but with a kind of more liveliness in it.” Great guitar to hear and play. (That is my main cedar topped guitar.)

 

- Antonio Duran Ferrer Granada Made by Rafael Moreno Rodriguez (spruce topped guitar)

“Very bright coloring but more towards a flamenco like quality. It could have been ment as a Flamenco negro”.

 

- A Roman Padilla labelled guitar Granada Most likely made by Antonio Marin Montero  cedar topped guitar

"Typical Spanish. It reacts immediately to the striking of the right hand. Quick response but good balance and nice to hear and play.The flavor of South Spain”.

 

- A Thomas Prisloe guitar New York Pavane branded but equipped with a handmade spruce soundboard

Hughe volume and nice rounded bass response. Maybe the guitar could have a bit more personality. (My main spruce guitar up until now….)

 

- Manuel Adalid guitar Valencia “Francisco” labelled guitar made for the Francisco Esteve company (spruce)

“You have to get used to the sound of this one as it differs from the other guitars but along the line you really get connected and it becomes a sound of its’ own”. (To my opinion more “woody” like)

 

- Casimiro Lozano 1A guitar Cuenca From 1997 equipped with a spruce soundboard. “Very Spanish, beautiful sound and rounded in the higher notes. But there seems to be a kind of “break point” between the 

higher and lower strings. This problem could be solved with a carbon G-string (????)”

 

-  Amalio Burguet Maestro guitar Valencia: A cedar topped guitar, now out of the collection. “A nice guitar as well but in another category as the other ones we’ve tried. It offers less colors soundwise”.

 

- Francisco BROS guitar B50 Alicante A spruce topped guitar. In present times only known as “BROS” guitars.

“A bit the same as the former one (the Burguet) Not bad at all and a very good advanced student guitar but it offers less colors for a player”. They esteemed it in the 1000 Euro’s region! All solid materials.

 

- My 1899 Vicente Arias guitar Ciudad Real A spruce topped double back guitar. “ Maybe not that loud and entirely different from present Spanish guitars but what a refinement in tone! Unsurpassed.”

(I will never part with this one, until I die of course.)

 

- Manuel Contreras 1983 Concert Madrid A cedar topped guitar, somewhat smaller bodied than the Jose Ramirez 1A. “A really firm sound and it offers really nice colors once striked at different places. Volumewise a more modest guitar but who cares with all these extra qualities”.  (I’ve missed a kind of personality in this one - or maybe not for me - it may go.)

 

- Mass Hirade guitar Japan A spruced topped guitar model 15 (Model 20 is with Brasilian rosewood)

“We’ve heard Kohno was his teacher but to be honest we like this guitar more as it sounds like spring and not as “heavy” as the Kohno guitars tend to sound. Nice fresh sound. One of the guitars to remember regarding buying as it plays like butter”."

 

But the first guitar remains in our memory the most as it is not a traditional Spanish sounding guitar and therefore suitable to a variety of styles but still a lot of character of its’ own. What a nice and big low end and contrary to a lot of guitars, where the lows tend to color the whole spectrum of a guitar it is not present in this guitar. Moreover the sustain is remarkable and

there are no notes that, as a result of the body’s own frequency, tend to vanish quickly. Has this guitar a narrower neck? It appears to be no problem at all for us!” That was the John Hall guitar nr. 21 made in 2022. Just to let you know. Of course I feel even more confirmed on what was already my idea about this guitar built by you and I would like to share this with you.

 

We have to do another session with each other as  some other guitars haven’t been placed under the spotlights yet. Juan Orozco - Antonio Lopez Martin - An old Estruch labelled guitar but made by Telesforo Julve - A higher end Telesforo Julve - a Julian Gomez Ramirez guitar from 1917 - Juan Estruch Concierto Uno guitar- A Husson e Duchene 19th century Guitar - A Salvador Ibanez e Hijos concert guitar - A Domenico Fisschetti guitar - A Andres Martin Diego guitar from 1960 and a Nicolas Morlot 19th century French guitar.

 

Have a nice Eastern weekend with you and your friends and/or family,

Noud