Purchase: I bought this Small Jumbo sized guitar, with quilted sapele back & sides and Sitka spruce top directly from the luthier. Larry Presnall is a delight to deal with - attentive, thoughtful and very available for anything that I needed.
Pros: The guitar is aesthetically gorgeous. It is extremely comfortable to play, action set low. The guitar possesses magnificent tonal characteristics (volume, note separation, clarity, and the hard to define, "presence") and frets ever so easily. It's a dream for a finger picker but responds very nicely to light to medium strumming. The workmanship is flawless.
Cons: I have yet to find anything to criticize on this guitar. After playing it for about 4 months, I feel as excited to pick it up now as I did when it first arrived. As it continues to open up I anticipate greater extension of the tonal characteristics described earlier.
Summary: This guitar is a masterpiece of luthiery. In my 38 years of playing I have owned several high end guitars and this one can match any of them in sound, aesthetics and overall playability.
Again Larry, thanks for everything.
Sincerely,
Mario Natta
"Such a beautiful instrument. It just sounds and plays better every time I pick it up"!,
Jeff Schmidt, TN
I Am Airplane
"...it's the nicest guitar I've ever played and I'm so blown away its mine..."
Nicholas J, -I Am Airplane
Anh-Tuan Le
…has that OM balanced sound…the treble is simple, clear, round and sweet -- like a crystal bell…midrange notes have definition in an arpeggio… lows are well-defined…just what I hoped for…
…the guitar plays itself under a light touch, sounding natural and full (in fact it seems louder than my D-35 under the same light touch). It can't match the dreadnought's volume or growl when pushed, but I was surprised that it didn't get all clangy and confused under a heavy attack. It sounds very well composed -- no need to baby it. Cool!
…the guitar is beautiful. I really like how understated it looks, with the herringbone and MOP providing just a little contrast… the wenge back and side are unique, and look even better in person… your workmanship is nearly immaculate…I'd be proud to put MY signature on this guitar… It's a wonderful instrument, just on the verge of being too nice to play out…
…it's very well rounded in that it sounds good fingerpicked quietly or strummed fairly rigorously. I had thought that it would be a personal-use, fingerstyle guitar, but it seems like this one wants to be much more of a workhorse instrument -- one for all purposes. If that's what an OM can do, then I've been missing out all these years!
Anh-Tuan Le, CA
