Major Score

Earlier this year, Taylor Guitars announced it's Spring Limited Editions to the world.  One of which included an 600 series made of African Ebony.   We were excited about them and we ordered one.  As it turned out, however, an African Ebony limited edition turned out to not be in the cards for us at Portland Music Company.  Unfortunately (or fortunately as we see it) the number of wood sets that were expected to be yielded for this edition came up short.....by about 100 sets.   We were called and informed of this and then given a choice.....we could either cancel our order or have one built using Macassar Ebony instead....and get this....at the SAME price!  Now if you've ever spec'd out a Taylor Build to Order (aka BTO) guitar, you might know that Macassar Ebony carries a pretty hefty upcharge.  We didn't even have to think twice about it.  It was a no-brainer.....Our limited was going to be made of Macassar.

When this guitar arrived many months later (far past the Spring, in fact) we immediately knew that this guitar had been worth the wait.  Our first impression, upon gazing at this treasure, was how incredible it looks.  Taylor did a great job of highlighting the natural beauty of the wood.

 Macassar Ebony Back

The ebony is strikingly rich in its coloring, alternating between reddish brown and dark chocolate brown stripes. The simple yet elegant inlays and binding of Koa and Ivoroid perfectly enhance it's beauty. 

 

 Engraved Koa Ovals w/Progressive Arrowhead-like Ivoroid Triangles

 
The Koa and Ivoroid theme is continued for the trim, binding and in the rosette. The gold Gotoh 510 tuners add the perfect finishing touch of class to this instrument.

 

European Spruce top w/Koa Rosette and Ivoroid Binding

The Gold Gotoh Tuners add a nice finishing touch

Sonically, this guitar is very special.  The rich low end of Macassar combined with the European Spruce top and Adirondack braces is something to behold.  European spruce loves a good strong attack and can completely handle it as it has plenty of headroom.  When paired with Macassar ebony, the results are a guitar with notes that are thick and saturated.

 European Spruce top

Played softly, this is a mellow, sweet sounding guitar that would be a wonderful match for someone who plays full fingerstyle.  This particular instrument also shines with a slow flat picking style which produces a rich, lush tone with a surprisingly good clarity.  This guitar is like a glass of really good wine.  You sip it and watch the legs slowly slide back down your glass.  It's savory, it's rich and it pairs well with chocolate....cause really, who doesn't love chocolate?

 Box of Chocolates

If you'd like to know more about this guitar, give us a call at 503-228-8437 or, better yet, come down to 2502 NE Broadway in Portland and ask one of us for a test drive of this beautiful instrument.

Photo's and text by Carrie Warlaumont

Blown Away....our pick of the week.

Many of you may not realize that we are more than an acoustic guitar shop. In fact, Portland Music Company began it's life in 1927 as The Saxophone Shop. The original owner, Bob Christiansen was himself, an amazing saxophonist who could sit in with any band around.

 Bob Christiansen and his Saxophone

Fast forward some 86 years and we could probably call ourselves "The Acoustic Cellar". However, we haven't forgotten our roots and are still committed to providing a fine selection of Brass and Woodwind instruments. In this day and age, with the plethora of no name, cheap instruments that have flooded the marketplace, this has become quite a challenge. We are constantly on the look out for instruments that we can provide at a reasonable price, but that we can also stand behind as there is nothing more frustrating than finding out that your pretty new instrument will never play in tune.

On that note, we are excited to present to you.....our pick of the week....

The P. Mauriat PMXT-66RDK Tenor Saxophone.

 P. Mauriat PMXT-66RDK

This is a handcrafted saxophone with drawn and rolled tone holes that are created in a way that is truly unique to P. Mauriat as they use no soldering. The result is a beautifully resonant horn that has an incredible response across it's full range.

Rolled tone holes 

This horn also features a large, elegantly engraved bell, over-sized nickel-silver keys, richly colored abalone key touches and a gorgeous dark lacquer finish.  The fit and finish on this saxophone are fantastic. It has both a metal thumb hook and thumb rest adding to it's sturdy feel in your hands.

 Large bell with a peek at the engraving

Beautiful Abalone key touches

Now....for the sound.

This baby blows!   And, when I say it blows, I mean it in all the good ways.

It's a very free-blowing horn that is amazingly rich and warm in it's tone. The enlarged bell just seems to add to it's fatness. It's extremely responsive and can go from a smooth, sultry sound to the thick, luscious tones that are reminiscent of a vintage horn.


What else can we say? Some horns just have that extra special something and this is one that definitely qualifies.

If you'd like to know more about this horn, give us a call at 503-228-8437 or, better yet, come down to 2502 NE Broadway in Portland and ask one of us for a test drive of this outstanding instrument.

Don't forget to bring your mouthpiece and reed!

Photo's and text by Carrie Warlaumont (Except for vintage photo of Bob Christiansen. Photographer unknown) .

Guild Orpheum: Part Deux

You may remember our earlier review of the prototype that first introduced us to this fine instrument.  Well, here it is folks.....the real deal.....

Introducing the Guild Orpheum 12 Fret Slope Shoulder. 

The Guild Custom Shop presents to us this beautifully crafted and rich-sounding Orpheum  "Slope 12" dreadnought acoustic. Built in the U.S.A. by the Guild Custom Shop, the Orpheum series models are designed to remind us of 1930s-era golden age of U.S. acoustic guitar design and construction.  Well done we say!


 First the features and amenities:  Adirondack red spruce top with scalloped red spruce bracing.

Look at this beauty!

Solid mahogany back and sides.  Traditional hot hide-glue construction.   Soft "V" neck profile, 20-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl-dot inlays with a 12" radius.  24 3/4 inch scale length.  Bone nut, elegant cream body binding, and  nitrocellulose lacquer neck finish.

 Orpheum Back

Other features include a tortoiseshell pickguard, pyramid-style ebony bridge with bone saddle and pins, Guild-logo Gotoh SE-700 open-back tuners with Guild engraved cream ivoroid buttons. Included is a handsome deluxe hard-shell case. The finishes available are Natural and Sunburst nitrocellulose lacquer.

 Guild Logo Gotoh Tuners

Now for the fun part.  Actually getting to play, listen and behold this fantastic guitar.

Right of the bat we were struck by the finish and overall styling of the Orpheium.  Seriously, just look at it!  From the fancy headstock, tobacco burst finish, down to the very unique binding and purfling, this guitar is an absolute stunner.

Orpheum Headstock

Sky blue is integrated into both the binding and purfling adding just enough of a "cooling" element to the otherwise dominant warm black and brown tones.  Understated and elegant, this addition of sky blue serves up a perfect counterpoint.

                   Back strip detail                                                                Rosette

Upon picking it up we were immediately struck by its light weight and thought perhaps we were in for something very special.  Indeed we were!  Holding it was far more comfortable than most guitars this size and its balance was obviously spot on.  No doubt, the neck joining the body at the 12th fret and the 24 3/4" scale length has much to do with its overall incredible bass response but we weren't counting on the volume!  This thing is a cannon.  Playing any open chord with a flat pick produces an experience unrivaled in recent memory.  The notes are clear, articulate, and endlessly musical.  The punch is tight and immediate and the mid range tone is outstanding.  This guitar has such immense vibration that it practically jumps off of your lap! 

Finger picking the Orpheum is an absolute pleasure.  The dynamics available to the player are many and varied.  Because of its incredible volume and tone, lightly finger picking the Orpheum produces a more than an intimate moment.  Digging in a bit reveals its full potential as an instrument capable of sounding incredible in any dynamic range.

The fretboard, with its 12" radius, is most comfortable and its 1 11/16" nut width makes it perfect for finger style playing.  The ebony finger board plays like butter.

We are all big fans of 12-fret guitars here at the store, but this one absolutely will blow you away.  Quite frankly, this Orpheum might have us losing a little sleep at night.

Written by Carrie Warlaumont and Gerald Collier
Photos by Carrie Warlaumont