One of the finest sounding smaller bodied guitars we have ever had the pleasure
to play, this diminutive flattop has a 24" scale, a 13.5" lower bout, an
Adirondack Spruce top; it has East Indian Rosewood back and sides as well as
fingerboard and headplate overlay. It has a neck made from Khaya about which
the Holy Wiki says: “Khaya is a genus of seven species of trees in the mahogany
family Meliaceae, native to tropical Africa and Madagascar. All species become big
trees 30-35 m tall, rarely 45 m, with a trunk over 1 m trunk diameter, often
[like so many of us] buttressed at the base.” The Bridge is gorgeous Cocobolo
and the underlying bridge plate happens to be made of Wenge; nut and saddle are
carved of bone; the tuners are Schaller Mini black/black machines and the guitar
comes from the builder strung with mediums.
This is the last Chasson guitar we will be
getting at the 2010 price. The 2011 price for this guitar will be at least
$5050. But, oh most fortunate human, you can get this at the “old” price and
save around five hundred samolians.
Do you know who Peter Skandara is? He’s
one of the finest fingerpickers from the country that brought us Tommy
Emmanuel. He just got his Chasson and he says the following (and his
enthusiasm certainly applies to this Parlor as well): “I am totally in love
with the instrument. At the moment I am experimenting with different nail shapes
and lengths to find the optimal tone that the instrument will give me. The
guitar has inspired me to compose and record an original arrangement of "Amazing
Grace." It will be in dropped D and it will bring out the full range of its
tonal spectrum from the low, chocolate quality depth of the bass to the strong,
handsome mids to the sweet, long sustained singing melody lines. I have
conceived 2 cycles already and am working on a third one to wrap it all up. Then
I need to learn it and find the best way to record it.” Wow – that’s a rave
but every person who has received a Kent Chasson from us has said similar sorts
of things. They are mind-blowingly fine
instruments.
Noted player/writer Larry Pattis had a
chance to try out this very guitar before it was sent to us. His comments are
extremely worthwhile and so we are featuring them here. This is what he said
about the instrument (edited slightly by us) on the Acoustic Guitar Forum.com,
under the headline “Delightful Chasson Parlor Model.” If you’d like to visit
the Acoustic Guitar Forum (and you really should visit it, you know) the URL is
http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/
LP: “Kent Chasson and I had been in touch
for a while, and when he decided to build a Parlor model I was hoping to get a
chance to "demo" the first guitar which was destined for Mandolin Brothers.
This guitar is the real-deal, in my book -- all the comfort and convenience of a
smaller guitar body, shorter scale length, etc., but with the true voice of a
finely built one-man-shop instrument. It is based on a 14 fret Martin 0, with
13.5" lower bout. This puts it as just a bit wider at the lower bout and longer
than the Larrivée Parlor, however, this one is a 12 fret arrangement despite the
origins of the body shape, and with a 24" scale. Thank you, Kent! It's a bit over 4" deep at the
tail block, which is appropriate for a guitar this size.
LP: “This guitar has plenty of clarity,
and plenty of projection! Its woods include an Adi top, East Indian Rosewood
Back/Sides along with a gorgeous E.I. Rosewood fingerboard (really primo/old
stuff), and a striking Cocobolo bridge. It is simply a joy to play, both
physically and tonally. The 24" scale coupled with medium gauge strings gives a
tension-feel of a standard scale with light gauge...easy to play, responsive and
in fact robust with great clarity and projection. The guitar is perfectly
balanced from string to string across the fingerboard, and gives everything
necessary going up and down the fingerboard, as well.
LP: “Since Kent is
building with an elevated fingerboard, the top is unimpeded by fingerboard,
etc., and has much more resonance than a top that has a transverse brace and a
glued fingerboard. This adds to the ‘size’ of the sound, meaning that it simply
sounds bigger than the guitar appears. Couple all of the tonal comments above
with the fact that the guitar has a great bass response (also surprising, given
the body size), and it really is a great instrument. The bass is focused and
strong - not at all diffuse. Some folks want to call a ‘Parlor’ in the 12.5"
lower-bout range...but others, like Goodall, call a 14" (00 size, in my book) a
‘parlor’...so I feel Kent calling this guitar a Parlor is
fine. At 13.5" it's tremendously comfortable, and playable.
LP continues: “It has a nice slightly
flattened ‘C’ shape neck profile, and thick enough for me...I don't like slim
necks. Ergonomically a thicker neck arrangement puts less stress on the left
hand, in fact. 1-3/4" nut coupled with a 2-1/4" bridge spacing are fine, and
Kent is one of only a few builders I know that tapers the fingerboard wide
enough (IMO) to allow for working the high E string with side-to-side
vibrato...without the E string being in danger of falling off the edges of the
fingerboard. The 2-1/4" bridge spacing is matched by that same measurement as
the overall 12th fret width, which is my personal minimum in regards to an
acceptable geometry. The fingerboard is a compound radius, 16"-22", if memory
serves – and rather comfortable.
LP concludes: “There is, inside, an
adjustable neck-block, so there is never any need for a neck reset. Kent is
also reinforcing the neck block/sides with carbon-tubes that run from the
neck-block to the waist, and across the waist area, as well. This
forward-thinking stuff is combined with great elegance of design, and I believe
that Kent has also been influenced by
Somogyi's voicing thoughts, and the results show.”
In a follow up message, Larry Pattis
provided a few more words of praise: “I should add based on a recent
forum-topic, that the guitar was perfectly ‘set-up’ when it arrived...not only
in regards to intonation and action, but fingerboard and fretwork were exactly
what I would hope for. Kent used a 3/16" wide saddle on this
guitar (his standard?), which tends to be my preference (or Somogyi's even wider
1/4"). Its nut was properly spaced, and string slots were of an appropriate
depth so Kent knows how and what to do to make
this part of the build right. A real winner all the way around; I look forward
to seeing/playing more of Kent's works as we head down the
path. My only regret was in having to send this guitar off to Mandolin
Brothers. Spending more time with this instrument would have been nice, to hear
the guitar begin to break in and develop more of its ‘voice.’ It was sure nice
as brand-new, and it will certainly only get
better.”
Larry did such a
good job describing this guitar that we have nothing to add. If you have
questions, feel free to email or phone.