Dave’s new guitar
For the last couple of decades, about 95% of my guitar playing has been in DADGAD tuning. 15 years ago, Barbara and I walked into a local music store intending to get a couple of sets of guitar strings. There were 5 or 6 Morgan guitars hanging on the wall, and of course I had to try them out. One of them, a C or ‘concert’ series in spruce and mahogany caught my attention and I asked Barbara to sing a couple of songs with me playing it. We both decided it was a good match. That guitar has been my main DADGAD guitar ever since.
Since Bardavissa formed, I’ve been using standard tuning a bit more often, so the ratio of DADGAD to standard material is more like a 75/25 split. Re-tuning a guitar in the middle of a set can be done but it is not optimal, so I much prefer to use two guitars for a mixed set. I have an Art and Lutherie Legacy series guitar that I’ve been using for standard tuning for the last few years. Art and Lutherie makes some really nice sounding guitars at very reasonable prices, but the biggest issue for me is that the Legacy series has a much narrower neck than I prefer and the Bardavissa arrangements are complex enough that having a guitar that better fits my hand is really useful.
So it was time to go searching for a new guitar. When I bought the Morgan 15 years ago his list prices were around $3,200 (CAD). Given inflation over time I expected to be looking in the $4,000 to $6,000 range. That search led to some interesting results. I may post some more detailed background in the future, but in the end it should come as no surprise that I now have another Morgan.
The new guitar is an OM model in spruce and rosewood, so it has a distinctly different voice than my C series. It already has a great sound but it is young and it will take some time to come into its voice. I have the OM in DADGAD since that is the best way for me to spend time with it and the extra resonance of DADGAD is going to help while I’m playing it in. The C series is now in standard tuning and its fully developed voice, the warmth of the mahogany back and sides, and the larger body design of the C series are all great features to have in standard tuning.
The Morgan guitar company is a one-man shop, with all instruments built by David Ianonne in North Vancouver city. This year he is celebrating his 40th year in business. I can attest that he’s a great guy to deal with personally and you can contact him directly via the website. When I contacted him in March inquiring about OM models, his comment was that my ‘timing was good’ since he had 4 OM’s available to choose from.