For a dozen years now I have concentrated on building flat-top guitars, but I’m regularly being asked to build citterns and bouzoukis; several people telling me mine were the best available.  Now Colin Keefe and partner Janet will be working with me to build my citterns and bouzoukis.

Colin became interested in building them after fitting a new back to one of my very early citterns, the one owned by Andy Irvine, taken to the US by Paul Brady, but returning with a split back.  Colin did a wonderful job, building and fitting purfling in an exact match of my original: a perfect looking and perfectly constructed major repair.  The owner was so pleased with it, he and Colin brought it to show me. Both Colin and the repair impressed me, and the idea of collaboration was born.

Colin has experience and training that few builders can match, and his work reflects this. His guitars are excellently put together and his renovations, for which he is becoming famous, are immaculate.  His CV can be accessed here.

Colin proudly showing he can finger E major

Colin marking out a fingerboard

For the past several years Colin and Janet have been working from their workshop in Long Eaton, near Nottingham, but are now in process of moving to the North East, looking at premises a few miles from me, making regular contact easier.

Janet profiling frets

Colin has already begun building instruments to my design. This isn’t easy at a distance, as my plans are comprehensible to me but not necessarily to anyone else.  Even so, he has built a mandolin virtually indistinguishable from mine in both sound and appearance.  Now he and Janet are moving so much closer, collaboration will be easier.

I’ll be giving more information as to cittern and bouzouki availability soon.

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Yesterday Steve and Jenny Maguire came to collect Steve’s Anniversary guitar, a Verona model.  Here is Steve with his new guitar.

Jennie brought me a very pretty cushion showing a guitar sound-hole and waist; here it is in my office next to a wooden version. Such a kind thought.

German spruce and Brazilian rosewood New World Classic

This was the first I built.  It sounded so good I immediately started on a second, the Douglas Fir and Brazilian rosewood NWC in the news item below.

This guitar is a little mellower.  Still with more clarity and bite than I’m used to hearing from flat-tops, but a little gentler and warmer than my standard curved top New World.  Now well played in, it’s a guitar I would have loved when I played the (unamplified) UK folk clubs – around fifty years ago now.  Perfect bass to treble balance, nice solid treble, distinct and warm bass it would have been my perfect accompaniment guitar.  It could suit a lot of players today.

Built from reclaimed wood that sat on my shelves for fifteen years but originally will have been cut decades and decades ago, possibly when the Brazilian forest was first occupied by settlers. The Brazilian rosewood back is featured in the article ‘Joining thicknessed backs’ towards the end of ‘Brazilian rosewood for sale’  https://www.sobellguitars.com/brazilian-rosewood-for-sale/. As well as colourful and pretty, it has the true Brazilian tap tone that gives that special Brazilian rosewood sound.

The soundboard is German spruce. It’s also been sitting on my shelf for over ten years, and has the slight colour variation of really old wood.

Photos and more details on my Available Now page https://www.sobellguitars.com/available-now/ .

Last year I built two experimental New World guitars.  The first was Brazilian rosewood and German spruce but with a conventional flat top rather than my long serving curved top.  This sounded excellent, a mellower version of my guitar sound.  It occurred to me that all those decades ago when I played the UK folk clubs, how much I would have loved a guitar like this.

I’m calling this model my New World Classic.

I immediately started on another, also with Brazilian rosewood back and sides but with a Douglas Fir soundboard. I came across Douglas Fir around 25 years ago, and was struck by its stiffness, light weight and lovely colour.  I built one very nice New World (standard curved top) around 15 years ago, but other matters took my attention and Douglas Fir was shuffled onto the back burner.

However, looking at it again recently, this seemed the perfect opportunity to use it, its lovely appearance helping the decision. I’m happy I did, this is also a lovely sounding guitar.

Jonny testing the recording setup

Louis and Jonny setting up to record Douglas Fir New World

I’ve known Jonny Moss ever since he bought a Martin Simpson model around ten years ago, later replaced by his current Steinbeck model.  As well as being an outstanding guitarist, Jonny teaches and records; more details on his website www.jonnymossguitar.com.  When I called to ask him about recording equipment to make sound clips, he kindly offered to both record and video the two guitars as well as my German spruce and Africa Blackwood Model 2D. I accepted immediately.

Jonny and son Louis recorded clips of all three; here they are.

Douglas Fir and Brazilian rosewood NW
‘e’ by Andrew York. Guitar tuned DADF#BD, capo 5th fret (pictured)

German spruce and Brazilian rosewood NW
‘AJ’s Boogie’ by Mark Thomson. Guitar tuned DADGAD, capo 2nd fret

German spruce and African Blackwood 2D
‘House of the Rising Sun’ arranged by Mark Thomson. Guitar tuned CGCFGC, no capo.

Both guitars have beautiful Brazilian rosewood back and sides chosen for their ring as well as looks.  They are fully CITES certified, certification passes to the purchasers so that the guitars can be legally sold or exported in the future.

Both are built to my latest Signature model specification and finished by Dave Wilson to his unsurpassed standards.

The UK price is £10,000, just a little higher than the equivalent African Blackwood model.  The price includes Hiscox case and CITES certification.  Price to the US including export certificate, case and shipping is $16,000.

For more information email me: stefan@sobellguitars.com   or telephone my workshop on +44 (0) 1434 673567 .

Douglas Fir New World Classic guitar

Ever since building my first ‘flat-top’ guitar in the early 1980s, all have had a slightly curved soundboard: flat wood pulled over curved braces.  But in mid 2020 I built three experimental guitars, one a Martin Simpson model and two New World models, all of which had truly flat soundboards.  In other respects the soundboard design and bracing were unchanged.

A guitar takes a while to find its voice. Both New Worlds opened out nicely and sound lovely.  But I didn’t love the MS.

Why would two sound excellent and one not so good? Every piece of wood is different, different size guitars react differently to the same bracing system, and there are always variations between even ostensibly identical instruments. Maybe just bad luck that one wasn’t so good.  Maybe good luck that two were excellent.

The old soundboard and dusty end of the fingerboard have been removed, leaving the top lining and the neck extension visible. The Wengé neck extension was reluctant to release the soundboard and suffered minor damage which will be sorted later.  The body end of the truss rod is just visible.

In any case, after looking at, playing and wondering about the flat-top MS model, almost on an impulse I cut off the soundboard so as to replace it; I had a ready built curved soundboard I’d rejected for use on a new instrument (because of a tiny and almost invisible cosmetic flaw) which I could use.
Because my neck joint is built in to the body, removing the neck isn’t an option, which makes top replacement more complicated. But here goes.

The soundboard clamped on while the glue dries – I love these wooden cam clamps.

The soundboard trimmed to body size.  The area above the neck extension had been removed before fitting.

The neck extension has been locked firmly against the soundboard, and the space above it filled with another piece of spruce.  It sits proud but will be leveled when the glue is dry; the neck and body are now rigidly connected and everything is ready for binding.

I rout the binding and trim ledges with the ledge routing jig; the neck made life difficult and didn’t allow the jig to rout right up to it. So the last inch or so both sides I cut by hand. The neck also complicated fitting the neck end of the binding, which has to be fed between the soundboard and end of the neck.

The bindings and trim are glued and firmly bound with garish tape.  This could be the colour James Joyce described as ‘a scrotum tightening shade of green’.
The waist is clamped up, and the ends of the binding are also clamped down.  Now I’ll leave it to dry overnight.

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The red and black trim, Birdsfoot inlay and Santos rosewood binding are now sealed and scraped back.  I’ve reshaped the underneath of the fingerboard extension so the frets line up perfectly with the rest of the fingerboard and glued it in place with a specially constructed ebony caul.

This will be left overnight, then I’ll fit the 14th fret and make sure the fingerboard join is neat and tidy.

Getting there.  Soundboard bound, fingerboard extension and 14th fret in place, all made neat and tidy.  I leave stripping old lacquer from the sides to Dave; deciding where and how to blend old and new lacquer is his area of expertise.  Next to make the new bridge.

Looking perfect, now ready for Dave and the spraybooth.  The taped off bridge area can just be seen, the tape will be removed after lacquering so the bridge glues onto bare wood.

When taking a packet to my home last week, the delivery man asked Liz if this is the same Sobell as the guitar maker he delivers to in Whitley Chapel.

Liz told him yes.  Then he told her his mate was into guitars and had read in a magazine that Stefan Sobell is one of the top ten builders in the world.

Clearly an excellent magazine, with at least one very perceptive journalist. Can anyone tell me which magazine it is?

Much loved 2020 African Blackwood and German spruce 2D with Santos rosewood binding

Here the bridge is just resting in place and will be attached after the guitar has been lacquered.  The soundboard comes from Bavarian supplier Stefan Gleissner and is one of his special reserve stock.  Selected for their perfect grain and tone, these have been air dried for between ten and twenty years.

The back and sides are Brazilian rosewood from Inca Trade.  Inca Trade Brazilian rosewood was all reclaimed from ancient houses and furniture. Other than saying it is ancient there is no way of knowing how long ago it was felled.

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Here is my prototype Anniversary model.  Final soundboard sanding exposed a tiny dark knot, so after some head scratching I decided to inlay a half size ebony headstock logo into the soundboard to conceal it.  The dark logo in pale wood echoes the pale logo in the dark headstock wood.  So making a virtue of necessity.

Having done this, I like it a lot, so am offering it as an option on all future Anniversary guitars.