Monson guitars

[ArnaudM]

Anybody here knowing or playing these monsters ?

http://monsonguitars.com/


I've been in contact with Brent, who's currently building a custom gear for me (I'll send some pictures of it as soon as I can). I really like the way he talks about his luthier job. He's not that expensive, and even if the shapes of his guitars can seem original/funny/horrible, there's something very strong emanating from the photos on which his endorsers wear the gears he made, like a kind of carnal link between the player and the axe. Impressive.

 

[ArnaudM]

OK, maybe it is time to show off a bit hehehe. Here is the masterpiece :

The guitar is not paint, just varnished. The fingerboard and half of the body are made of purplewood, the other half and the neck out of black korina.

 

[ArnaudM]

The horrible wedding picture :

 

[AD Chaos]

That guitar seems to sit really well on the thigh. I always have a nag with that.

Never heard of those woods before..

 

[ArnaudM]

Black Korina is the wood Gibson used in the 50s and 60s, before they were forbidden to cut korina trees. Purplewood is an exotic tonewood. Brighter and warmer (at the same time) than the ordinary rosewood. This guitar has a killer tone, and growls like hell.

 

[Lodge]

My brother actually has a custom Munson bass, he lets me borrow it for whenever I want to record my own shit, since I play guitar. I'll post some picks and sound samples up after work tonight, or maybe early tomorrow. The looks are a bit extreme, but Brent's guitars play amazingly well and sound beastly.

 

[Pxz]

That guitar looks freaking great !

 

[ArnaudM]

I had a lot of guitars and tried even more. But this one is really mine. Has its own unique voice, and it's freaking terrific ! @AD chaos : as said Lodge, the guitar, though its extreme shape, is an ergonomic miracle.

 

[AD Chaos]

Well congrats! The paint treatment looks interesting as well. I'm guessing it let's the wood 'breathe' etc

 

[decoy205]

I'm not aware of Gibson using black limba (korina) on guitars in the 50's. they did use white Limba on the original Explorers And Flying Vs though. Black limba is a cool tone wood though. I dig your guitar man congrats!

 

[ArnaudM]

Limba’s connection to the music world goes back a long way, says Ed Roman, head of Ed Roman Guitars in Las Vegas, NV. “Korina is the holy grail of woods for guitars and has been since Gibson featured the wood in its now classic guitars of the 1950s and '60s,” he says.

The vintage Gibson guitars include the Korina Flying V, with a pale korina body and rosewood fretboard. Issued in 1958, it was billed as the guitar that would allow musicians to “solo their way into the stratosphere.” Modernistic, with space-age overtones, the design is a classic today. Roman speculates that string instrument technicians first used korina as a substitute for mahogany, and it gained popularity because the wood produced a great tone.

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Myles Gilmer, owner of Gilmer Wood Co., Portland, OR, stocks white limba and black limba. “Most of the white or light limba is bought by guitar manufacturers. Gibson introduced the use of limba back in the '50s. The guitars, including the Flying V, weren’t that popular when first introduced, but have gained a following in the last 10 to 15 years.

“You see a lot of people making reproductions of these instruments. Over the years, people have discovered that limba has nice acoustic properties. It has a nice tap tone to it and good sustain,” Gilmer says.

Gilmer explains that limba is one of those woods that gives a reverberation. “Some woods will sound dull or clunky if you tap them, but limba actually has a ring to it. The acoustic properties are slightly different between the white and black limba.”

Gilmer says he usually purchases 8/4 stock that is 7 inches or wider. “You can glue two pieces together to make a 13- to 14-inch guitar block. We sometimes find material that is wide enough for one piece, which carries a premium price.” In addition to guitars, the wood is sometimes used for making dulcimers and mandolins.

Source : http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/limba/limba fact sheet.htm

 

[decoy205]

Correct Gibson used white limba not black limba as I said. They are both Korina.