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#16
08-29-2014, 09:35 PM
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Goodall
Truly amazing guitars!
I just purchased my second - a Traditional Dread - Adi over quilted Mah. Overtones, poignant bass, expert construction, and very easy to play. My first is an Aloha model - Sitka over Koa. It shimmers when I play it!! I purchased it from the Goodall location in Kona, directly from James and Jean. Living 35 miles from that location, it was always a thrill to stop in and see what was going on and play a few. Now that they are in California, my 'candy store' is gone. I cannot say enough about their guitars: From every aspect they are (as their motto suggests) "Acoustic Excellence" 
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#17
08-29-2014, 10:33 PM
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James builds wonderfully consistent and amazing guitars!
I had the pleasure to be friends with him when he and I both moved to Fort Bragg on nearly the same day! Thanks to someone on this Forum I looked him (and his guitars!) up; got to know Jean and Luke (his wife and son), watched them set up the new shop...and I got to play the first guitars that came out of Fort Bragg! When I first met James, he brought 25 of his guitars down to the new shop - well, at that time it was just one room that was sheetrocked for an office... he had brought 40 or so guitars with him from Hawaii, reasoning that he wouldn't be building any for a while... I was absolutely taken by his guitars! Every one, EVERY ONE was a sweetheart! Not all were my cup of tea, but there was no denying how wonderful they each sounded... I'd say that I've had the privilege to play nearly 100 Goodalls, all in all... After a couple years, I worked with James to build one for me; I had a little dough and wanted something with a redwood top to remind me of my time in the redwoods there... settled on a Grand Concert, with figured mahogany and a redwood top with all ebony binding and head plate... and it is truly an amazing little guitar, I am very grateful to have it...   I know that people say mahogany doesn't have many overtones, but this little hummer has plenty! I have never played a guitar that is as ALIVE as this one! I had not had much experience with redwood topped guitars until this one, but I did a lot of research and played a few... and I love the redwood top. The response is so fast it still startles me at times, and I get plenty of volume and note separation, from a whisper to a scream... My Goodall makes me a better player, as it demands a full commitment to whatever I play, as well as all the accuracy I can muster... love that guitar!!!
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"Home is where I hang my hat, but home is so much more than that. Home is where the ones and the things I hold dear are near... And I always find my way back home." "Home" (working title) J.S, Sherman
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#18
08-29-2014, 10:57 PM
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Goodalls are a bit of an enigma with me. I have owed four of them but, alas, none are with me now. They have what I often look for (rich, full sound, lots of overtones with good note separation and clarity) but something obviously doesn't sit quite right with me. Maybe there are too many overtones? I don't know. When I first buy one I think, "this guitar is perfect". But, over time, my view seems to change. I never could figure out why to my satisfaction, as I feel that they are excellent guitars.
Signed, Confused
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#19
08-29-2014, 11:13 PM
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I have two grand concert Goodalls, in different woods. Love them both. Bought both of them used.
I don't have much to say that hasn't already been said. They are beautiful, easy to play, and have a sound that is very pleasing to my ear.
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#20
08-29-2014, 11:16 PM
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Played my first Goodall at Rudy's in NYC a couple of weeks ago. Mini jumbo. Sitka over Koa. That was simply the best guitar I have ever played period. Tried SCGC, Froggy Bottom and Collings which were all fantastic but the Goodall was the clear winner for me. I look forward to playing more of them. Ironically, if I hadn't gone to NY I may have been able to afford the Goodall. For now I will just have to dream as my credit card is on life support.
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Lowden F32C Goodall RS Breedlove Concert Pursuit Taylor 814CE
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#21
08-30-2014, 01:22 AM
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About three years ago I played an OM model with a cutaway. My friend Tom had it listed for sale and let me play it. Believe it was a spruce/rosewood and it haunts me to this day
 . That guitar was alive and responded to any style well. Of course it sold very quick. $6500 or so I recon. Way past my budget.....
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2004 Martin D15M 1998 Fernandes Strat 1999 Gretsch MIJ 6120-60
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#22
08-30-2014, 03:04 AM
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I agree with all the positive things folks have said here so far. There's just nothing quite like a Goodall (the other guitars that blow me away, incidentally, are some of the best of the Martins).
I'll add that my cedar/rosewood concert jumbo is not just a highly responsive guitar with huge dynamic range for fingerstyle, but also good for strumming, and a simply fabulous guitar for flatpicking. In the hands of a bluegrass flatpicking freind of mine, my Goodall is a really good bluegrass guitar with a really strong, clear, loud voice. Others had mentioned the combination of overtones with great clarity, but I will add that the low notes in particular, when played hard, have a sort of 3 dimensional quality to them that is pretty amazing - these notes just sort of blossom. I will also second what jseth said, that I think my Goodall demands particularly good technique from me for it to sound its best, and with good technique it responds like few guitars I have encountered. One more thing: If you are into 12 string guitars, you really need to experience a Goodall 12 string sometime! Goodalls have certainly skyrocketed in price in recent years. Used Hawaiian built Goodalls are now seeming to be selling for close to the same price as when they were new, and the new California built ones, sold new, are pretty much out of my price range now.
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A few of my early attempts at recording: https://www.youtube.com/user/wcap07/featured
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#23
08-30-2014, 03:13 AM
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I`d love to own a traditional om.Gorgeous things and they sound glorious.
A little out of my price range at this point though.
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#24
08-30-2014, 06:42 AM
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I have been enamored with my custom build CJ from James for many years, it's my favorite model from him, but they all sound lovely to me...I enjoy his tonal signatures very much. My Gina is about 12 yrs old now and sings beautifully with red cedar over beeswing mahogany...
  
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 NOLE TUNES & Coastal Acoustic Music one love jam!  Martin D18 & 3 lil' birdz; Takamine KC70, P3NC x 2 
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#26
08-30-2014, 02:46 PM
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I played 3 different ones and was impressed with all of them. Rich, full, articulate - a great guitar on every level. It was quite difficult to leave without one of them (the used one). I would have had to use a couple of guitars as trade for it - would be willing to part with one of them that would be used for trading, but not quite ready to part with the other one. Someday....
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“Pretty drawings last for 15 minutes. Art lasts for centuries. Pretty drawings come from fear. Art comes from love and despair.” “Out of dialogue with others comes rhetoric. Out of dialogue with yourself comes poetry.”
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#27
08-30-2014, 03:04 PM
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Pretty full range of frequencies both useful and some not so much. If you're looking for that fundamental blues thump it doesn't reside in a Goodall. Somehow JG packs all the frequencies, sustain and projection in what he builds that present a fully colored sound. I have a pedestrian RCJC of sitka/rosewood that puts the joy in making the kind of music I like. I spend a lot of time developing melodies and this guitar actually contributes to that work.
The flip side, of course, is JG's sound may not be the best for certain cover work. For that I have other guitars.
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#28
08-30-2014, 04:47 PM
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I have a grand concert in italian/bubinga. The workmanship is perfection as far as I'm concerned. The sound is incredible- I agree with everyone else who have noted the strong overtones and rich tone. To me it's the perfect instrument for fingerstyle pieces where you have some space between notes- you won't have trouble producing a very full sound, even on more simple arrangements. On the flipside it can be a bit hard to tame when playing up-tempo pieces with a lot going on (especially in the mid-range).
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Jeff C Martin | Maton | Goodall | Froggy | Alvarez
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#29
08-30-2014, 08:16 PM
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Quote:
And I agree about James's 12-strings. One of the best I've ever had in the shop was a RCJ-12.
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Jesse @ Boutique Guitar Shop
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#30
08-30-2014, 08:18 PM
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Quote:
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Jesse @ Boutique Guitar Shop
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