Cris Mirabella - Archtop Guitars for Flattop Players - Luthier Stories S2 E2
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- čas přidán 9. 06. 2024
- Cris Mirabella makes disturbingly beautiful guitars. In fact I found his work so intimidating that it was several years after we first met before I plucked up the courage to ask Cris if I could try one of his instruments. It was life-changing in several ways - perhaps mostly because what I encountered was exactly the opposite of what I was expecting out of an archtop guitar. You can find out all about Cris's work and why it means so much to me in this episode of Luthier Stories!
Like what I do? Tip me here michaelwattsguitar.com/tip-ja...
More about Cris Mirabella
www.mirabellaguitars.com/
All the best
Michael
I recently bought an Archtop guitar, a Dutch build 1938 AMKA. It’s a revelation. It probably was a cheap guitar back in the day and not the best of quality, but I found that I really like the more focused sounds as compared to my flattops. It has become my couch guitar and I pick it up every time I take a break.
Michael, thank you so much for channeling the essence of guitar playing and building in such illuminating depth and with so much love and gratitude. ‘If we’re not paying attention to everything we do, we’re done’.
Thank you Jonathon - I’m very grateful to have a thoughtful and discerning audience who I know appreciate a conversation like this. Thank you for watching!
Mirabellas Passion is amazing. His Love for the craft and the love for fellow Guitar players is incredible. Michael -Thanks for sharing this with us❤️👍🇺🇸 Arch Tops are magical!
Thank you very much for watching! I’m a massive fan of Cris and his work.
Tradition, Innovation, Skill, Experience, Science, Craftsmanship, Materials and Art, all of these are what makes a Mirabella Archtop Instrument.
Thank You Mr. Mirabella, for giving your time and sharing with all of us. Thank You Mr. Watts for making this happen.
Great Content
Thank you for watching and for your thoughtful response - glad you enjoyed it!
@@MichaelWatts Very much appreciate your content Michael, count me as a new Subscriber.
@@hkguitar1984 thank you!
What an amazing journey into arch tops. Thank you Michael and Chris for sharing your knowledge and love of this unique guitar. It irks me is that I taught in Smithtown for 33 years and was unaware of such an amazing builder. Bravo to both of you!
Ah well you can always go back Bruce - or maybe catch Cris at a show. Either way you really do need to hear what he can do!
Why does the story where you say your dad was a wonderful guy hit me so hard 😅
That’s real life
I feel like I want a guitar from each luthier in your series! This one was really insightful. Thanks Michael!
My pleasure Gianfranco! I know that feeling all too well!
Michael these stories sessions are are becoming essential Saturday viewing! Thanks so much.
Thank you Mark! I hope you'll join me next week too - my guest is John Monteleone
Fantastic!!!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it
Loved this, thank you
Thank you!
Another great episode, as always featuring great content and production. Thank you Michael
Thank you Michael! That means a lot to me
Grazie Michael for this content and topics, thanks for you work! 😉
Thank you for watching Paolo!
I loved hearing the stories and insights!
Thank you for watching Wilhelm!
I really love to hear you talking, thank you Michael!
Thank you for watching Eric!
Very inspirational story!
Thank you for watching Joshua!
Just outstanding
Thank you Anthony!
Arthur Lang was a German builder who built with segmented soundholes like this.
Good shout! Thank you!
Great conversation - thanks for sharing. That honey burst Crossfire is exquisite.
Thank you for tuning in Steve - I have to agree, it’s a very special guitar
@@MichaelWatts We have to meet up one day . I was good friends with Jimmy D’Aquisto and close friends with John Monteleone. I have two video’s of my D’Aquisto builds - and tons of stories. Cris builds a fabulous guitar - and his sense of design is fantastic.
@@stevelongobardi6870 I’d like that!
johnathan Hunt spot on regarding Michael he is a hero to enjoy his knowledge seeking and such a great quality of performance
Thank you John - there are people there doing far more heroic work than I but I’m grateful to my audience for watching!
Excellent.
Thanks Kent! Glad you enjoyed it!
I get the intimidating factor with Arch tops. I mean this may as well be about Alchemy😂 His talk of family and having good people in his life was beautiful to hear.
Cris is a wonderful human being who not coincidentally creates wonderful guitars! Thanks for watching Andrew!
Beautiful instruments. The headstock is gorgeous, but I see the G and D strings bend sideways quite a bit. That design is traditional, yes, but proven to get the strings caught in the nut. Thanks Michael for making this new series. Cheers.
Thanks for watching Carlos! The dreaded G-string syndrome you describe is most pronounced on Gibson headstocks. This guitar held its tuning beautifully even though I’d put it into DADGAD from standard only a few minutes previously
Could you explain how the two large soundports on the flat top type archtop affects the sound. How did you come up with the proportions and how they work with the oval sound hole? Thanks!
I’ll leave this for Cris to answer when he gets a chance - he is a busy man making gorgeous things
Several German makers used split soundholes, Artur Lang would be the most notable one. The "D'Angelico of Germany" as he is sometimes described, the guitars are undeniably fancy looking, but he was an exacting builder by all accounts. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable assuming aesthetics were the only consideration for the hole design.
Vintage German archtops are a world unto themselves, though. Some very different approaches to the carve and bracing compared to American designs. I haven't seen a Lang in person, but I have played a guitar by another of the more well regarded German builders, Gustav Glassl, that is essentially a copy (or at least 'in the style of') Lang. A very nice instrument, albeit definitely optimised for playing with a pick.
Very cool! Thank you so much for sharing!
@@MichaelWatts no worries. Great playing and channel, by the way.
Love this, what species of maple is used?
European maple on the back and sides and European spruce on the top. Essentially Cello woods.
Aloha! I always wanted an Arch top guitar but income has been spent before I got it. More so now that I been injured and now on SSA Disability. I found this video interesting. Well I'm trying to walk again. I got solid body guitars. Maybe a Arch top maybe in my future.
Thanks for watching Victor - I hope an archtop guitar comes your way!
how does it sound?
There’s a full video on my channel - have a listen and let me know your thoughts!
@@MichaelWatts sry, couldn't find "michael watts d'aquisto new yorker oval sound hole"
👍❤👍
Thank you Chris!
How much?
Lots
@@MichaelWatts I got lots.
why does he not let you hold and play the guitar. Maybe it's a customer guitar, but seems a shame to have no playing on these vids. Surely he has one or two around he could put into your hands.
I played it in a separate video - you can find it on my channel too
Thanks Michael, will go and watch it now. I was hoping you would have a play on it all the way through that film.
Everyone at every level of acoustic flattop playing has some idea of the obstacles and results of amplifying their sounds to a live audience. Despite that flattops get an unpleasant quackiness using piezo pickups and aren't as loud as electrics, they can be successfully amplified at a gig several ways. The same is not so for an archtop. Despite that carved archtop guitars have a remarkable pleasing tone for jazz at very low bedroom and recording studio volumes, amplifying such for a gig is a technical nightmare. So, no one except seasoned jazz guitarists know how to gig with a fat, hollowbody archtop. And most of them have failed doing so to make the jazz guitar genre commercial. Therein lies the problem.
do we pay for the look of it, no music needed?
Well… you could. Maybe you should!