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Steve made this guitar for me in february/march this year and I went down and picked it up from his workshop just before the lockdown. It's his "Soleá" model, the budget version with minimal/no decoration. He made one for me two years ago and I wanted another one, partly as a spare/second guitar, and partly with a few tweaks to the specs.
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RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to mark indigo)
All the pics were taken upright, and look upright on desktop, but have rotated themselves anticlockwise on post, no idea why. Also the identical flecks of something on all the pics must be some crud on my phone's camera....
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RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to JasonM)
what would a "tint" be? adding colour to the finish? like an orange conde?
It is just a basic french polish to the wood. He does it all himself.
As I understand it the rationale of the "budget" version is that the materials and construction are the same as the concert model. No decoration, veneer, purfling etc., a basic concentric ring rosette, and only a really basic french polish to protect the wood.
As most of the cost of the guitar is labour the cost is less than half what he charges for a concert guitar.
He sent me only a few pics this time, but the other one I got from him in 2018 he sent me loads of pics every day. He started the guitar on a monday morning and finished it on the friday afternoon. The following week he polished it. Took about 2 weeks total. This one took longer to finish as he had to put mine aside half way through and make a few other guitars. I wasn't in a hurry so that was fine with me.
RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to mark indigo)
That looks really nice and it must be light as it looks to be levitating in the last 2 shots. I am curious as to why it is easy to play. Is it due to the low action and/or is there something in addition?
RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to orsonw)
2 weeks! JasonM can’t even sharpen his scrapers in that amount of time. Hats off to maestro Eden.
Mark I though it was maybe a sprayed lacquer finish without any color added. It’s probably the lighting of the pics plus the pale shellac but I can see now where it doesn’t have that super glossy look of lacquer
RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to mark indigo)
This looks like a very good deal indeed. How does it sound like? Is it a kind of light and percussive flamenco guitar? I know it’s difficult to tell by word, but It’s just to have an idea.
RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to Echi)
quote:
How does it sound like? Is it a kind of light and percussive flamenco guitar?
yes, light and percussive. responsive. I made a coupla rough vids on my phone just now but they are too big to upload, about 140/150MB. Is there a thread somewhere on how to smallify vid files for upload? any ideas?
RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to mark indigo)
Cheers Mark, Glad to see it again. How does it compare to your first if I might be so bold to ask? I must admit I really enjoyed playing that one!
JasonM - It is just a pale shellac finish I vert rarely add a tint as I prefer to let the wood naturally colour. If you leave it of the case and on a stand for a year it will look just the same and be easier to repair finsh damage. Two weeks is pretty slow compared to my best time. On the classical model I used to be able to start on a Monday and have it strung up by 5pm on Friday! I've made over 100 those now!
I choose not to sign the label on these ones. I once had an idea that I could have other people help build them but after a few trials I gave up on that idea as it usually costs more than just doing the work myself. I've kept up the tradition though as a marker that this is the cheaper model. I still sign the soundboard though.
Mrstwinkle - Mark provided the pegs so I didn't charge him extra in general though I charge an extra £50 for them as they are that much more expensive than the Schaller Grandtunes I use otherwise.
Brutally minimal indeed. This is how the price it so much lower than my top guitars. £1800!
RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to mark indigo)
The recording seems not to allow for hearing subtleties like depth and overtones, but good separation of the notes indicates that partials and fundamentals ought to be well aligned anyway. And the balance across the neck leaves nothing to be desired for sure.
Said playability, I suppose, coming at least partially from soft pulsation, that may be rather typical for light guitars, both of which I like very much.
A very appealing example for what is a good guitar without costing an arm & a leg! And the no frills optics do have their very own charme.
Quite an instance for how pitying the choice of buyers is who commonly seek for a flamenca among student guitars of popular makes like say Ibanez, Alhambra etc. (boy, have I experienced bulky, heavy duds of those in shops!) for considerably more of money in the same time.
Admiring both, the lengthy and contemplatory building, as well as the super fast, yet proficient production of Stephen Eden (who won´t make a fuzz by pretending lengthy procedure, as he could), his down-to-earth presenting is so sympathetically to me.
RE: my new guitar Stephen Eden 2020 (in reply to Stu)
Hi Stu, it's great. thinking i might try to do a comparison video with the other one (2018) as I have played that one for a couple of years now. Since i got the 2020 one i have just played that (apart from when i change strings) as the neck is a bit more comfortable.
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JasonM can’t even sharpen his scrapers in that amount of time. Hats off to maestro Eden. 
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