Gibson Guy Digging a Cole Clark???
 

You know when folks around here tell you to play everything you can get your hands on and ignore the name on the headstock... Well, I used to ignore this advice because I've been for over 20 years and I know what I like (after owning and playing too many things that weren't exactly it). Sound familiar?

I like Gibson acoustics, specifically Hummingbirds. I also like the Martin D18 reimagined. I have been on the hunt for something a little smaller than my Hummingbird that I can travel with and use where I don't want to bring the Gibson. My mom bought me that guitar, so I'm careful about where it goes.

Anyway, I have been tying out just about everything and came across a Cole Clark Angel AN1E. I've heard all about how good they are plugged in, but they can be lacking unplugged. Well, whatever it is they are "lacking unplugged" I kind of like. It's got it's own thing going on. It's not trying to be another flavor of different brand.

So I brought it home and so far, so good. It's not a Gibson. It's not a dreadnought. It's not short scale. It's not x-braced. It's not sitka/mahogany. It's not glossy. But I like it.

I think most of us show preference to a certain brand. I was a Gibson guy like you (from 1971 to 2017), but have found a couple of Taylor instruments that I like better just because of their tone and build quality. Sometimes it's a bit of a challenge to "break out" so to speak, but eventually we realize that there's more guitars available than our preconceived preference. :)

I have been playing Gibsons for well over half a century and still keep five built between 1920 and 1961 around.

I once saw a blurb on the Cole Clark though where they were touting it as having an X brace within a V brace. Basically overbraced in an attempt to achieve a high level of structural stability. But their goal was not to create the best sounding guitar they could played unplugged but to bring the acoustic guitar to a whole new level when it came to electronics.

Liking the Cole Clark though has nothing to do with how they compare to a Gibson. I also have a thing for Harmony guitars. I love the things not because they sound "better" than something else but because their own distinctive voice works real well for me.

I long considered myself a Gibson/Martin guy though I’ve owned many Taylors and other brands during my guitar journey. But a little over a year ago I discovered boutique brands…and it changed everything. So I've said goodbye to my Gibsons/Martins/Taylors and gone all in Collings/Bourgeois. Couldn’t be happier. You just gotta keep playing whatever guitars you come across and when you hear that magic tone grab it regardless of what the headstock says.

I agree with all of your replies! I was getting really frustrated trying to find something smaller than my Hummingbird that still had a sweetness to its tone. That subdued acoustic thing that Cole Clark has going on is exactly what this singer/strummer likes to hear.

Oh, and plugging straight into a Radial JDI is pretty magical with their pickup system. It took me having to install a Shatten HFN in my Hummingbird plugged into a Grace Alix with an IR loader and BodyRez in the effects loop to get an amplified tone that I liked.

This isn't making any sense at all to me. Was this a really old blurb from the company's early days? It doesn't sound anything like the Cole Clark we see today.

The company was founded 20 years ago and went through a series of major changes. At one stage they were making electrics! Over the years, a few major events have been the departure of the original management (replaced years back by the current team, which is headed by a guy who was an original investor and backer and now runs the company full time); the big factory fire (also some time back) which led to a tough decision: dig into the pockets and buy all-new, expensive state-of-the-art tooling? Or fold up and give the game away? (Thankfully, Miles and the team decided to spend as much as needed.) And third, Cole Clark has grown a good deal bigger over the years.

All Cole Clark guitars are constructed the same way: both the top and the back are internally carved (this is where a lot of that reinvestment money went, on the CNC machines which do the carving). They have no kerfing (nor any need for it - the top is carved with a ledge for the sides to fit into) and very small braces - the carved top and back provide much of the required strength, so braces can (and are) be very light.

I couldn't agree more, Hiddenmickey. "Get out and play different things" is great advice for anyone. I really really like Matons. I could walk out the front door tomorrow and buy three or four new Matons, and I'd play and love all of them just as much as I do the two I already have. But I've learned a great deal of respect for Cole Clark since I first played one less than two years ago. (Back when I was gigging Cole Clark didn't exist. For that matter, Taylor was just a little company no-one had ever heard of in those days.)

And this last year or so I've been trying out a lot of different things and met one or two that have knocked my socks of. Tacoma - a company I'd never heard of till I played one - speaks for itself (see my sig). Guild. Wow! I have becopme a bit of a Guild ambassador since I played an F-512 Maple (crazy expensive but THE best 12-string I have ever played) and a stunningly versatile old GF-60 jumbo from the 1980s. (I'm still in mourning for not buying that one.) And Martin: I've always respected Martin, never met one I really, really liked until this year when I met two in as many weeks (a 000-18 and an HD-28). Lakewood: only played one, but what a charmer that was. I haven't met a Gibson that I really like yet ... but of course I've never played an SJ-200. Probably best that I don't. It might get expensive.

All the best with your Cole Clark.

Wait. I am confused. You used to have a Bourgeois dread in your signature. At some point you added an incoming Edmonds. Then the Bourgeois went away and a Collings CJ-45 appeared as incoming(accompanied by a whole thread about it) and the Edmonds also went away. Now the CJ is gone as incoming and replaced by another Bourgeois. And all this in about a month. Wow. Impressive:up::up::up:

You’ve got a keen eye. It’s all part of the journey to find my 70th birthday guitar. First it was going to be the Edmonds. Then Uncle Sam kept sending me free money so the budget increased, allowing me to order the new Collings Traditional slope. But a couple days ago out of the blue an AGF buddy made me a can’t-say-no offer to buy his Brazilian Bourgeois. The perfect 70th B-day guitar. The deal is still a bit tentative because it depends on the final inspection. Thus that too may change. So beware of following my sig too closely…you might get whip lash. :D

This is great information and makes much more sense to me than anything else I've read about Cole Clark guitars. Now I also played a FL while I was at the store and I thought it was a little too bright for me. I'm not sure of its construction, but the little AN was warmer and more balanced.

I gig with a Cole Clark plugged in all the time. I practice plugged in as well so I don't need it to sound great unplugged. It does sound great plugged in. Neck is easy, guitar is built like a brick house, its my go to on the stand on a stage.

I’ve been quite impressed with the Cole Clark guitars I’ve had a chance to play. I had only played one before I left for a cruise of Australia and New Zealand in 2018, but in Hobart, Tasmania the local dealer had a wall full of them, and I played more than a dozen of those.

There were only one or two I didn’t care for. Overall I thought they were great.


Wade Hampton Miller

Are there any Cole Clarks that aren't so twangy / stringy sounding? I was thinking of getting one as I like that they have the same nut width and radius as my J45, but all the ones I hear acoustically seem to be missing depth in their sound.

Not sure what you mean, Shredmaster. Perhaps if you say the sort of sound you are after it might help. Cole Clark guiitars vary enormously in their sound (because of the variety of different tonewoods they use). If I was looking for a more full-bodied, rounded sound along the lines of (for example) a Taylor 324 or a D-28, then Maton would be my go-to make. (Or Guild.) That said, my Angel leans in that tonal direction with the right strings, but I don't think you'll find that particular tonewood combination is available outside Australia, certainly not at any sensible price.

Nice! Played a bunch of Cole Clark recently (and owned one briefly), and I love the tone of the Angel model in Bunya/Blackwood and Redwood/Blackwood.
Which wood combo did you get?

They are indeed very different from anything else due to the internally carved top where the thickness of the top is varied at different spots.

When playing unplugged, although lower in volume, I find it to produce among the cleanest fundamental notes in each string, with absolutely no rogue overtones (I believe this is why it is often labelled as 'thin' or 'tinny'. I love it but can easily understand why it isn't everyone's cup of tea). It makes the sound almost seem filtered, which in a way it is, filtered via the internal carve design. I also think the high notes provides a 'transcendent' omni-directional effect, which must be played in person to make sense, youtube videos won't do it justice.

Plays like a dream (Plek'ed), and the satin throughout finish makes it look like a piece of art hanging on the wall.

Enjoy your cool looking instrument!