Our Field Editor John Thomas posted a great roundup of his experiences at the 2011 Healdsburg Guitar Festival. John was there for the entire shebang but I could only make it up for one day so I didn’t get to see as much as he did. Like John, though, I found that every guitar I played was excellent. I didn’t get to look closely at everything there, but here are a few of the guitars I did get a chance to play. The photos were taken by Tom Walzem, a great graphic designer who is also the lead guitarist with the surf band the Neptunes.

Aaron Andrews Aurora Aaron is a Seattle luthier who builds archtops and flattops. His Aurora model is a carved top roundhole model, a style of guitar that I think is something of a sleeper. They have some of the mellowness of a flattop with the punch and power of an F-hole archtop, and I think they’re suited to a range of musical styles. The example Aaron brought to Healdsburg had a spruce top and carved rosewood back, an unusual choice (most archtops have maple backs and sides) but one that gave the guitar a very sweet tone.

Allan Beardsell 3DM

We covered Allan Bearsell back in issue 18. Since then he has introduced a new model, the 3DM. Beardsell says he wanted to design a guitar that was made for fingerpicking. I only got to play it for a few minutes but it sounded good when I fingerpicked it. I’m not sure that Allan quite achieved his goal of building the ultimate fingerpicking guitar because the 3DM sounded great flatpicked as well.

Stephen Grimes LC and Keola Beamer Stephen Grimes brought a few guitars from his workshop in Hawaii including the LC, which was designed with the input of Larry Coryell, and the Keola Beamer, which boasts double soundholes. The LC  had a very clear treble response and a strong midrange, which I suspect would make it a great guitar in the studio. The Beamer was very balanced, with a warm but not too boomy bass and balanced trebles and mids. I played it in standard tuning, and it sounded great, but Grimes suggests that it really comes into its own when played in open tunings. Sadly, the photo of the backs was a little blurry but trust me, the koa Steve used on these guitars was spectacular.

Hive Ukuleles Santa Cruz luthier Jake Maclay worked with Rick Turner before setting out on his own and forming Hive Ukuleles. Jake says that he was inspired by the guitars of Michihiro Matsuda, and you can definitely see the Matsuda influence in the soundhole rosettes. (I wonder if Jake has seen Michi’s new uke?) At the moment Jake is only making two models, the Hornet and the Honey Bee, which are both tenors. He says he’s considering making sopranos and concerts, my personal favorite uke size, sometime in the future. Jake’s ukes are made out a variety of tonewoods and he had examples in walnut, maple, mahogany and wenge.

Manzer Double-Neck

Ever since she made the multi-neck Pikasso guitar for Pat Metheney, Linda Manzer has become the go-to luthier for musicians seeking out similar designs. This double-neck guitar has a set of drone strings set underneath the two necks. Manzer’s table was mobbed every time I stopped by so I wasn’t able to get up close and personal with it, but I did talk to player who did and he said it sounded amazing.

Ervin Somogyi Andamento

Ervin Somogyi brought along a guitar he dubbed Andamento. I’ve seen this guitar before but every time I see it I’m reminded of how amazing it is. Ervin told me that every square on the back is made up of 196 tiny pieces. I got a chance to play it and I have to say it sounded very good. You can see more photos of it here on Somogyi’s site.

Humphrey Amps

I didn’t get a chance to play through one of Gerry Humphrey’s great looking acoustic amps, but because it was the amp all of the guitar demonstrators played through I got to hear it in action a few times. The amp is an all-tube design, which is unusual in amps designed for acoustic guitars, but it had a very sweet, warm tone. I’d love to get my hands on one and put it through its paces in person.