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New Bartolex 10-String Prototype: Lattice/Spruce
I have been fortunate enough to get my hands on
a new Bartolex 10-string guitar prototype, which is a lattice-braced,
Swiss spruce top, and my version has a cutaway and BBand electronics.
I'll be doing full review of it on Cathedral Guitar, but for
now, the early verdict is that it has both an amazing acoustic
and amplified sound, top build quality, and is a phenomenal value
at $1799 list.
Here is a MP3 clip of it through Schoeps / Millennia:
<http://www.m221b.com/Millennia/Improv1.mp3>
For me, this is the perfect gigging guitar. I play about 100
gigs a year on the 10-string, and it makes no sense to bring
out a concert guitar to local gigs that would cost $20,000 to
replace. The Bartolex has an acoustic sound that rivals, equals
or betters guitars costing between $4,000 to 6,000, and the amplified
sound is perhaps even more wonderful.
The quality of the materials is amazing. I took it over to show
my local luthier, Dick Dubios, who has worked at Collings guitars
(a pretty high-end acoustic guitar company) for the last 15 years,
and without any prompting from me he said: "the quality
of this Swiss spruce is stunning" and then, "I can't
believe someone can make a guitar this good for such little amount
of money."
Bartolex has really done an amazing job of combining a quality
Chinese artesian-workshop building crew with great materials
and superb design. For me this is a personal dream come true:
FINALLY, an affordable acoustic / electric that sounds great
BOTH acoustically and amplified, and is easily replaceable if
damaged or stolen, and hopefully, no long waiting list. I
think Neris may be ramping up production later this year on this
model.
To sum up: I think it is a great guitar for either 1) a first-time
10-string player 2) a guitar to play local amplified or acoustic
gigs with, and 3) a guitar for doing professional recordings
with. In fact, if you have $10,000 to spend on a new 10-string
guitar, I would strongly recommend spending just 1.6K of it on
this new Bartolex guitar, and spending the other 8.4k on high-end
pro audio gear.
I'll soon post a follow-up link with the full review, complete
with photos and additional sound files.
Thanks, Bartolex!!! This guitar is nothing short of amazing.
This guitar is a 2008 lattice-braced electric-acoustic Bartolex
10-string, with BBand A6T
electronics
TOP: Swiss Spruce
SCALE: 650 mm
BACK/SIDES: Indian Rosewood
ELECTRONICS: BBand A6T
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