John Slobod Circa OM Custom

"If you are looking for a new guitar made in the stye of the best pre-war Martin guitars, my favorite builder is John Slobod. I have a Slobod OM-18 12 fret guitar and I know first hand how amazing of a builder he is." - Roger Sadowsky

I probably could get away without adding one additional word to the legendary Roger Sadowsky's recommendation of John Slobod's
guitars. But really, what fun would that be? It's been almost two years since John agreed to join CR Guitar's illustrious group of builders. You can just imagine how excited I was when our first Circa Custom OM arrived. Long wait = high expectations. All I can say is not only have my high expectations been met, they have been surpassed.

John Slobod has embraced the wonderful sonic palette of pre–war Martins while presenting an instrument with modern playability. His luthier skills are of the highest order and his eye for detail is sharp and keen and on point.

When John and I discussed this OM build, we both agreed that it shouldn't be a replica of a classic Martin model. Mind you, Slobod is famous for creating them and is certainly one of the best in the world at doing so. Because of my nature, I wanted to have a bit more modern esthetic. Meaning, I wanted the wood to be the focus, with a simple, elegant, and rich flair. Like a great classical guitar, I wasn't interested in layers of shiny stuff. I wanted it to be all guitar from top to bottom. With that in mind, John selected a rare black and red streaked Brazilian rosewood for the back and sides. To add complexity and and sweetness, he chose an exceptional lightweight top of red spruce. And to dress it all up he layered in red Brazilian bindings, purfling and endgraft. It's a beautiful package.

It is also a joy to play. The action is on the lower side for ease of play and the neck profile is perfect. It's a medium full carve with just the right amount of shoulder. The shoulders on a neck carve are key to a neck profile’s success. It’s really where most of the magic is. Some builders get that, some don’t. John gets it big time!

Right out of the box, there is a maturity to the tone, like a great vintage classic steel string. Warm and sweet with transient clear highs, woody mids and round bold lows. It’s exceedingly expressive. It’s very touch sensitive and will show up for you whether you play with your fingers or a pick. I’m also certain a microphone would love this OM.

I don't know what else to add. This superb guitar is a fantastic acoustic, crafted by one of the most in–demand builders on the scene. The only issue is that it will probably be another 2 years before I see another one.

The back story of the woods used in this guitar, courtesy of John Slobod:

"The Brazilian rosewood is from a batch of very rare black wood with fire stripe reds that I found about 10 years ago. This set has the bell-like tap tone and cinnamon smell of classic Brazilian. I paired it with Brazilian rosewood bindings which were retrieved from a huge pile of veneer "cores." These are boards that are what is left when slicing thin veneer sheets from both sides of a log. The veneer guys want the figure that is revealed when cutting across the growth rings. When they get close to the center of the tree, the grain is perpendicular to the cut (quarter sawn) which is exactly what guitar makers dream about, and veneer people have little use for! Crazy! The cores' color inside the log has some of the most gorgeous red I have ever seen.

"The top is red spruce. It is probably the most consistent top wood in use. It is always stiff along the grain and very stiff across the grain too if cut on quarter. It has gotten very expensive as more people are using it again, and the master grade tops are near impossible to find. There are plenty of red spruce trees. Unfortunately they are small, they love to twist, and usually have unsightly color or other visual defects. Clean tops are rare.

"For this OM, I picked a very clean stiff top. My goal here was a slightly more complex and sweeter voice than my very dry sounding pre-war replicas. The bones are the same, but with a dash of sugar." - John Slobod

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.