alchemy acoustic labs

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We’ve got a lot going on right now, but this also qualifies as news. In case you haven’t seen it, we’ve been part of a rather lengthy and spirited thread on the Online Collings Forum.  I have enjoyed participating in it and answering as many questions as I can. We have had a few guys from the forum call and schedule guitars to be sent in. This is the first of them. The guitar belongs to “Maui” in Hawaii and it was sent at probably the greatest personal expense so far (Calton cased guitar to and from Hawaii to Pittsburgh is not cheap) The thread on the forum is now 25 PAGES long and has been viewed over 7400 times at last count.  With all those things in mind, we really felt like we were on the hotseat on this one so we recorded everything including our before and after commentary. As we have done all along, we’re not going to publish emails here but  we’ll be happy to put anyone interested in the process in touch with the guitar’s owner or the player at any time, as long as they are open to being contacted. Please keep in mind, this is a more casual, shaky-cam style video intended for entertainment  – not  a discerning audiophile demonstration. There are new MP3 files of this guitar HERE and better quality .wavs are available upon request.

Well, we had an exhausting but really worthwhile 4 days at the NAMM show in sunny Anaheim.  We have been working to get some more instruments and models onto the website and will be putting up some new info soon. We also met with a few manufacturers of potential decal makers, but we’re still trying to find a material that Frank deems “non-sound-deadening” enough that will also not interact with nitrocellulose laquer.  (We know we owe them to a bunch of you early AO1 customers)

We met and talked with so many exceptional builders and performing artists about sending us an instrument to put through the AO1 process,  (you know who you are!) thanks to all of your overwhelmingly helpful input, advice, interest and/or participation, 2010 is looking like a big year for Alchemy Acoustic Labs.

Frank at the Collings booth, looking for a German Spruce top with Madagascar back & sides.

Newest addition to our growing stable of different amazing guitars that have gone through our AO1 process:  According to its owner, this James Olson SJ style guitar is exactly like the Olson that James Taylor owns and plays except for the inlay design. This Cedar-topped, Eastern Rosewood back and sides SJ (small jumbo) model guitar produced by Jim Olson is favored by James Taylor, Phil Keaggy, David Wilcox, Patty Larkin, David Crosby and many other top level artists.

We just completed the AO1 process on this guitar. Sound files are available below and on the Audio Page.  As great as this guitar sounded before, it sounds even better now. The quote from the control room from Jim Relja was “More sustain. More volume and balance, and just way more fun to play than before. There was a dramatic difference between the before and after performance of the guitar.”

As always, we stress that the guitars that we receive are all different and they are among the nicest sounding instruments on the planet. We are not altering the voicing of these instruments, we are just making them more of what they are, or what they will be – many years down the line – right now.

Olson SJ Track 01 (Before AAL A01 Process)

Olson SJ Track 01 (After AAL A01 Process)

Apologies to J. T. but this just seemed fitting:

Olson SJ Track 02 (Before AAL A01 Process)

Olson SJ Track 02 (After AAL A01 Process)

Here’s the response from the owner:

Having had time to spend a few weeks with the SJ Olson you processed for me – the biggest difference is not so much the unplugged sound , yes that did improve.

It was the feel of the instrument that I most noticed. The improvements were not so much in tone, but in sustain, the bloom of the note and the subtle decay as the note fades to wherever they go.

Your process creates more time and space, which in turn, creates more options to interpret a song. Songs do not have to be pushed or hurried in anyway. A great guitar that already sounded good, now simply became more a more complicated platform in it’s options available to the player.

The tree became a guitar.

What makes a great guitar ?

The one that inspires you to pick it up.

Thanks Boys

Patric Dahms
Home Port , Pittsburgh 2010

June 9, 2009 – Session/touring guitarist and master guitar tech Jim Relja examines and plays this Collings D2HG 4 weeks after it received our AO1 Process.