Another one from downunder

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Another one from downunder

Postby rustyken » 10 May 2009, 05:21

Do Avalon have any luthers in south east Queensland, they can recommend to do a health check on my Avalon J100 ?

Im only new to this forum but a long time fan of Avalon and its true once you have played one you will never put it down!! :D
rustyken
 
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Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Postby stevemac » 10 May 2009, 10:35

A very warm welcome to the forum - you lucky man ... you have an Avalon AND you live on the Gold Coast!

There are no authorised luthiers for Avalon in Australia at present, but if you find one who does good work, we'd be happy to provide authentic Avalon parts if needed. If it's a general set up you need, most competent guitar techs/repair guys should do a good job and they can contact the factory via info@avalonguitars.com if they need advice, which we recommend they do if it's their first time handling an Avalon. Hope this helps!
stevemac
 
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Postby amckenna » 10 May 2009, 11:07

Hey rustyken,
I'm a little further downunder in not quite so sunny Tasmania :)

All the best finding your luthier, I'm sure there are a few about. Sorry I can only offer you a g'day.

Cheers,
Adrian
amckenna
 
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Joined: 06 May 2009, 00:56
Location: Tasmania, Australia

Postby rustyken » 11 May 2009, 08:12

Hi Guys and thanks for the welcome.

Steve,
thanks for the info, I belive the J100 is one of the first to be made in N,ards the serial num says A00004 it was given to my mate Alan Mayers who worked in Avalon, he let me have it a few years ago now. What series would it be classed under ?

John,
DADGAD is my prefered tuning at the moment, since another of my mates, Tre & Tory S, introduced me to it on one of their songs.

Adrian,
Hope its not to cold for you down there, I see you got a blanket of snow the other week! Your Avalon will feel well at home down there with the cold, mine has got used to the heat but it hides from the humidity. It still sounds out of this world and i have had so many offers to buy it from me. They are such a special Guitar. You made a V good choice mate, enjoy.
rustyken
 
Posts: 2
Joined: 10 May 2009, 04:59
Location: Gold Coast, Australia

Postby stevemac » 11 May 2009, 23:06

You certainly have a piece of the Avalon archive there - your guitar was one of the first Avalon Gold series guitars to be made - we initially designated them J, but changed that model to A soon after - so what you have would now be called an A100 ... I think, Jim will correct me if I'm mistaken (although we no longer make that model). Give our best to Alan!
stevemac
 
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Location: The Avalon Workshops

Avalon Gold - One fine guitar

Postby NigelD » 12 May 2009, 11:38

Hi and G'day.

You are so lucky to have one of the first of the 'Gold' series. As Stevemac says, a piece of Avalon History.
It was and still is a very fine guitar.
I just took delivery of the most recent one (A100), finished last week.
The guys at Avalon still make a Gold now and then for those of us who can't afford a Legacy (yet!).
After playing it for most of the weekend, I am just thrilled by its fantastic tone.
It would be good to compare the two but I guess the Gold Coast is a bit far from North East England for a get togther in the pub!

All the best,

Nigel
NigelD
 
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Location: Durham, UK

Postby stevemac » 13 May 2009, 11:10

Quite right Nigel! Although the Gold is no longer offered as standard, we do accept custom orders for the models. It might also be worth mentioning that we build custom Legacy models with the Gold bracing, if requested.
stevemac
 
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Postby rocksteady » 14 May 2009, 02:05

stevemac wrote:Quite right Nigel! Although the Gold is no longer offered as standard, we do accept custom orders for the models. It might also be worth mentioning that we build custom Legacy models with the Gold bracing, if requested.

What would be the reason for that? Would not a Legacy bracing be superior?
I thought the Legacy models would have a better bracing.

Or what is the advantage of a legacy bracing vs a gold bracing?
rocksteady
 
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Postby stevemac » 14 May 2009, 11:25

Good question .... I guess it's an area we've not fully or properly explained. It's not a matter of advantage or superiority - it's just a tonal difference which then becomes a matter of perception, playing style and preference.

When we first developed the Gold series models we intentionally aimed for a guitar with a noticibly different tone from the guitars we were already making. This resulted in a bracing style we describe as 'AXX' (referring to how the pattern looks) - visitors to the factory will be in the know!

When the Legacy models were refined, we developed the bracing style on these guitars to what we now call the 'AXE' (which also refers to how the pattern looks, although with a bit more artistic license!).

In guitar design terms, this is part of the evolution of the instrument and it's worth acknowledging the work of our luthiers, in particular Ernie McMillen and Sam Irwin, in developing the AXX bracing style. Essentially, the AXX is stiffer which produces a slightly more compressed tone than the typical Legacy guitar. So it's well suited to flatpicking and strumming. We sometimes describe the tone as being more akin to an American built guitar. And, not surprisingly, we use a variation of the AXX bracing on the Avalon dreadnought and small body Americana guitars.

We've not got round to the R&D on an AXX for the jumbo yet ... so much to do, so little time! However, bracing development work is on-going and for every new model we create, the issue of bracing style is foremost as it is one of the critical influences on how the guitar will respond.

Please start a new thread for any follow ups on this topic!
stevemac
 
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