Most of the first crop of Session King guitars are in their new homes – only a couple getting the posh high gloss finish are still to go out. So I asked one of the new owners if they could give their guitar a bit of a write up for the blog:
Here is what Tim (England) had to say about his SK.
“I’ve always admired Nigel Forster’s guitars, something clean and unfussy about their appearance that appealed to me. Don’t get me wrong, I like all that fancy wood stuff but I’d be scared to death to take one out to a gig. The Session King came along and I couldn’t resist. I loved that played in look and found the sunburst version irresistible. It was a few months in coming but boy oh boy it was worth it. My guitar has a spruce top, sunburst finish and binding to both body and headstock, there’s also a Dtar wavelength undersaddle transducer. I was greeted by a glorious whiff of workshop on opening the case and once tuned up I was met with a wonderfully rich tone.
The back and sides are made from a very dark Brazilian mahogany and the top is Spruce, I chose this option as felt I wanted the a brighter tone because of my playing style. I play with my fingers, well, the ones I have left anyhow. An accident at the age of three deprived me of half of my right forefinger and despite years of experimentation I just can’t get along with a pick, any of them. So I play with my thumb and back of my nails, a somewhat ungainly style I guess, but it suits me.
At first I was quite surprised at the weight, it feels heavy for an acoustic, but not ungainly. It feels robust structurally and yet tapping the top you can tell that it is light in comparison to the back and sides. Luckily before I sent a mail to him Nigel posted an explanation about this in some detail on his blog so I won’t go into that here. It’s a large bodied guitar, not a jumbo but a comfortable shape that you can wrap yourself around when you play seated, and strapped on looks pretty rock n roll. The neck is comfortably rounded with a largish headstock and old style enclosed tuners.
Strumming some open chords you can hear the note definition across the strings, the chords aren’t a mush but clear and concise. There’s a warmth and depth to the tone which is soft but articulate when I play with my thumb, contrasted by a rewarding clarity when I dig in hard with my nails. This guitar has dynamics in spades, smooth for delicate passages and clear and bell like when you play hard, and it’s loud, very loud! Louder than my old Guild D25 which is known for it’s projection. The prewar stylings exude charm, and the time machine finish compliments the colour and feel, it also means I am less worried about getting a ding in the finish.
I’m drawn to playing this guitar far more than any other that I have owned, I keep picking it up and already some new songs are making an appearance. Do I sound happy? Oh yes, delighted, and very much looking forward to my first gig with it in a few weeks time.”
Glad you like it Tim!