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Loughborough Guitar
Posted on 28/11/07
P. Klein
Cool Acoustics, the Loughborough University venture developing foamed polymer technology for acoustic guitars, today unveiled its Secret Valentine project. This yearlong collaboration with renowned UK guitarist Gordon Giltrap whose discography spans almost 40 years and master guitar-maker Rob Armstrong has resulted in a specially commissioned studio album recorded on a stunning new polymer acoustic guitar.
Robs previous clients have included George Harrison and members of Fairport Convention and The Levellers.
The new Rob Armstrong Secret Valentine guitar is a handmade hybrid acoustic guitar, featuring a wooden body and neck but with a Cool Acoustics soundboard. The soundboard is the flat front panel that shapes the majority of a guitars sound and is traditionally made of spruce or cedar. But these materials have two major quality concerns. They are vulnerable to tonal and structural changes caused by fluctuations in temperature and humidity. And as no two pieces of wood are the same there can be a variation in the tonal quality of guitars that are mass-produced to a standard construction. However to overcome this Cool Acoustics soundboards are manufactured from foamed polycarbonate, a manmade material that avoids the shortcomings of softwood and provides outstanding tonal quality.
The idea for a manmade soundboard arose during Owain Pedgleys PhD by his guitar-playing supervisor, Eddie Norman. The results they got eventually led Pedgley and Norman to set up Cool Acoustics, a Loughborough University venture backed by funding from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts.
Professional guitarist Gordon Giltrap jumped at the chance to be involved in the new project, having been won over from his first audition of Cool Acoustics instruments in 1999. The Secret Valentine guitar has been designed and developed to Gordons exacting specifications, and takes its name from one of his favourite personal compositions. Gorden was so impressed by the guitar the he has used only this instrument to record his first solo studio album for 16 years. The resulting album, also entitled Secret Valentine, is a captivating new recording of Gordons most romantic and melodic pieces. The album also includes a video interview with Gordon and the creators of the guitar.
To further celebrate the unveiling of this project, Cool Acoustics plans to manufacture an exclusive limited edition batch of Secret Valentine guitars that will appeal especially to guitar enthusiasts. The negotiations for the manufacture are now underway and the resulting instruments will be made to the exemplary standards of the handcrafted guitar used by Gordon. The preliminary price for the Secret Valentine guitar is 2000.
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