D-Lightnin could certainly be called a Blues band, but they also have incorporated elements of swing, rockabilly, soul-jazz, surf, funk, ska, you name it... into their style. A style they don't claim to be their own since they have a good understanding of tradition. They simply like to call it 'music with heart & soul'. Still they don't mind being called a Blues band because the Blues echoes in everything they play. Let's forget about all those labels and just let 'm try to make you feel delighted with the sounds you'll hear. I'm quite sure they will........
Contact Wil Slats to get the latest CD or to have europs blues sensation D-lightnin live in concertr at wilslats@tiscali.nl
Mark Cleary with his new 18"Excalibur Special
Doyle Dykes and Tommy Emmanuel on Acoustic Strings Festival
Sunday april 23 it is showtime in Raalte (Netherlands) with workshops concerts and a guitar trade show. The Association of Dutch Archtop Makers (ADAM) wil give four clinnics about guitar building. Elferink will demonstrate his new 18” Excalibur with a totaly new pickup concept. The new pickup design which is called Tensor is integrated in the fingerboard.
Well it came in this AM and UPS brought in safely here in 2 days. I must admit Rick Ross's problem with customs had me worried but I thought they can't check every guitar and package. Before I begin I would like to say that although I have never spoken to Frans Elferink on the phone only by e mail he is wonderful gentleman to work with. I cannot say enough about how he was easy to deal with and everything was exactly has he said. I just hope I do get a chance to meet him in person.
Ok, the guitar..It is drop dead gorgeous and that is coming from a person who has played almost every archtop makers guitar that is well known. I have played all of the 22 Blue Chinery Guitars and many of Scot's guitars not part of that collection. The finish work is great beautiful blond and the binding is all traditional like a D"angelico 9 layers. The binding work is fine and if you have allot of experience with Handmade guitars you can tell right away how the work is different than a factory guitar. It has that home grown touch the is hard to describe but gives the guitar a work of Art impression ( which it is).
It is a full 18inch box with a large neck 1.77 and it is great. I just Love the wide feeling when playing fingerstyle chordmelody. The neck is a Little chunky but I love that feeling and the fret work is smooth. Action is medium low set up almost exactly like my 18inch Hollenbeck. Most of you know by now I really prefer 18 inch size as I am tall and I like the feeling of the guitar in my lap. The inlay is set perfect and the pickguard is ebony with 7 layers of binding. Has floating D'Armond 1100 with an internal mic system. Workmanship at this point is as good as it gets. The guitar is not real heavy but it is not a lightweight either. Feels about the same weight as my 1949 New Yorker same size, similar to my Hollebeck. The guitar feels really solid and I think that is the biggest plus in any fine carved-top guitar. Now for the acoustic sound since that is the test. The guitar sounds very even and not stiff as many new guitars do. In all fairness this guitar is a demo model made last year and has been played. I don't think it has many hours of playing but it sounds already smooth and even in all registers. I think it is X-braced and has that type of sound similar to a D'angelico that is X-braced. Actually I notice in the first 10 hours here today the quick comparison to my Hollenbeck that is 12 years old it is not as loud and the bass has a different response in the middle of the neck. I consider my Hollenbeck to be my personal best sounding guitar and this guitar is clearly in the same league. I would guess it may be a matter of taste at this point.
Interesting to note is that this guitar is louder than my 18 Campallone. Compared to the D'angelico is not overall as loud but it does have a striking resemblance in the overall tone. The D"a has a deeper bass response that either the Hollenbeck or the Elferink. In my mind this as a real acoustic sound that I like....smooth and even in all the registers and does not facd going up the neck. It has a more Gibson sound from the 40's and 50's compared to an Epiphone from the same era.
Plugging in the amp ( polytone RE twin 8's) it is a dream someoneplease wake me up. It has that classic sound of a Arch-top with a floating pickup much like Johnny Smith. I think for recording this will be a gem has big round sound through the amp. I have to see how his internal mic thing works it has a stereo out the you mix with the D'Armond. I will post some follows ups as the days go by if anyone is interested. This has been a long post and please forgive the typing and spelling errors as long as you get the message. Bottom line is that if you ever thought about an Elferink he is great to work with.
Mark
Matt's latest CD now available The CD 'Matt Otten plays Elferink Guitars' contains 8 pieces played on the finest archtop guitars, solo and ensemble, and recorded in pristine sound quality. The music in this download is encoded in superior 192 kpbs mp3 format for high sound quality. Inlay and CD label graphics are included. |
 Matt Otten plays Elferink guitars |
