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2013
Jeff Sigurdson Harp Guitar |
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This
is the fourth instrument I’ve offered by Canadian luthier Jeff
Sigurdson, but for those new to his harp guitars, please allow me this
brief history, so you can fully appreciate what you’re seeing. Several
years ago, an old harp guitar acquaintance of mine by the name of John
Hartman raved about a Canadian builder named (Jeff) who had been quietly
building Dyer-style harp guitars. John
suggested that I consider working with Jeff to build some quality
instruments that we could offer through Harp Guitar Music.
On John’s recommendation and a leap of faith I went into a short
but successful partnership with Jeff.
I wasn’t disappointed. My
first commission
(offered in 2010) I called “one
of the best hand-built harp guitar values I've seen in ages” and Jeff
“…one of the harp guitar world's best kept secrets.” Our
second collaboration
resulted in again in “one
of the best hand-built harp guitar values currently available.
Acoustic tone is stellar. Lovely crisp overtones and nice
complex basses.” Later,
I sold John Hartman’s original
2008 instrument. And
now it’s time for the pièce de résistance! Built
shortly after my commissions, this was John’s second
Sigurdson (yes, he loved them
that much). For this one, they
went all out, including using a set of the gorgeous claro walnut that
luthier Kerry Char had cut specifically for harp guitars at my request. John reluctantly has to part with
his prize, but my hope is that his loss will be someone’s gain and
life-changing harp guitar moment. You
will rarely see
a Sigurdson come up for sale, and Jeff now charges a base price of $10,000
for new builds. We have this
very temptingly priced, as it is "used" (three years old), but absolutely
mint. Though
the instrument is not on premises, I can obviously vouch for its quality,
and predict that the exceptional tone is similar to those I handled in the
past (and perhaps better). Again,
I must emphasize that it is the value
that sets these apart; quality and tone are equivalent to a much higher
priced instrument. The
owner will send it directly to the customer, shipped in one of my original
HGM CaseXtreme lightweight
indestructible flight
cases, and my standard 48-hour approval period applies. I’ll
let John himself share the rest of the details: “This
is an absolute gem from Jeff Sigurdson. This is the second harp guitar
Jeff built for me, and it is better in almost every way from the first
one, and the first was a tone monster. This is the only Claro HG I’ve
ever played, or seen, and it’s a perfect choice of tonewoods with which
to build. “Jeff
builds a modern Dyer variant, incorporating a few contemporary changes of
his own, both inside and out. Though Jeff's specialty is Flamenco
and Classical guitars, he honed his steel string expertise during eight
years at Larrivée Guitars, and it shows. Jeff builds in the Spanish style
and uses only hide glue for all joins, which he swears makes a huge
difference tonally. It does. “Woods
include a beautiful master grade, perfectly quartered Lutz spruce top,
hand-chosen by Shane Neifer that is packed with medullary rays. The highly
flamed, all the way across the set, Claro Walnut was from the Kerry
Char’s personal stash. The headplates are ebony, with some figuring in
the uncarved bass head. “Binding
on both top and back is deeply figured flamed maple, with an additional
b/w strip on the top. The silver "micro dot" fret markers
and bridge inlays are a nod to Jeff’s Larrivée heritage, a leftover
influence of his time there. “The
flat neck dovetail (ala Charles Hoffman) simplifies this time-consuming
joint, while more time is spent on the internal bracing (using all hide
glue construction) and a beautiful gloss nitro varnish for the body with a
satin finish on the neck. Sub-bass nut posts are custom made of
metal. “This
is very sweet instrument that offers a great value for the cost. Acoustic
tone is BIG, complex, lush, clear, sweet as can be, and very even across
all the strings. Basses are crisp and complex with lush overtones. Balance
is perfect across all 6 sub-basses.”
Again, with the other three Sigurdson transactions under my belt, I know you can take John's comments to the bank! -
Gregg "Sir Gregory" Miner |
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Specifications:
Price:
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