When you mention guitars from Australia, two names immediately come to mind. They are Cole Clark and Maton Guitars. Cole Clark is a company started by Brad Clark, who left Maton in 2001 to develop his own brand of guitars. Brad Clark brought the spirit of innovation and individuality to Cole Clark guitars. There are more than four patents pending on a single Cole Clark guitar alone. This spirit of innovation has attracted many players, ranging from fingerstyle guitarist Adam Rafferty to blues-pop singer Jack Johnson.
The guitar being reviewed is the Fat Lady 2 dreadnought with the proprietary Face Brace Sensor pickup and cutaway, model FL2AC. The review model had a solid Bunya top with solid Blackwood back and sides. It sports an unusual A-shaped bracing that is different from so many other guitars which typically use the X bracing.
Beautiful Woods
The headstock of the Cole Clark has to be seen to be believed. Beautifully bevelled and shaped, the headstock exudes a feeling of fine craftsmanship. The Australian Bunya top looks desirably woody and the exotic Blackwood back and sides gives the guitar a unique look. It is a fine looking dreadnought, albeit with character of its own that screams - "I am not a Taylor/Martin guitar!"
Distinctive Tone
The tone of the guitar is just what a good dreadnought should be - big. The tone is bass-heavy and the guitar really projects. The bassy sustain of this guitar is impressive and would definitely please the strummer-kind guitarist. The guitar's thick tone lended itself really well to strumming, but held its own when fingerpicking. Even with no nails on the picking hand, the tone is loud.
Here are some clips of the guitar unplugged.
Strumming
Fingerpicking
Plugged-in Monster
The plugged in sound of the Cole Clark is the star of the show, and is probably the main reason why so many live performers endorse the Cole Clark. Using the controls, you can choose to blend between the Face Brace sensor and the Piezo pickup. The Face Brace sensor is patent pending and covers the entire top of the Fat Lady. The Face Brace sensor tended to give a more woody tone while the Piezo pickup gave the tone some presence. I was able to get a really nice tone for fingerstyle guitar with the blend in the middle between the Face Brace and the Piezo pickup. The plugged in sound is no-nonsense and I would be confident to just run the jack straight into the amp or mixer with little else.
The Fat Lady 2 is a great live instrument for those who do not want to worry about whether certain electronics will work in their guitar. It is a lean mean gig machine which is engineered for live performance, and good as well unplugged.
Watch out and give way to the Fat Lady on the guitar train!
When you mention guitars from Australia, two names immediately come to mind. They are Cole Clark and Maton Guitars. Cole Clark is a company started by Brad Clark, who left Maton in 2001 to develop his own brand of guitars. Brad Clark brought the spirit of innovation and individuality to Cole Clark guitars. There are more than four patents pending on a single Cole Clark guitar alone. This spirit of innovation has attracted many players, ranging from fingerstyle guitarist Adam Rafferty to blues-pop singer Jack Johnson.