Founded in 2001 by Adam Cole and Brad Clark, Cole Clark builds everything from acoustic guitars to lap steels and ukuleles. But the Australian company’s original intent was simpler—make steel-string flattops from unique, sustainable, and local tonewoods, such as bunya and Queensland maple. Cole Clark’s most recent offering, the Angel AN2A3-BB, stays true to the company’s original mission. But in many ways it’s a sum of the lessons Cole Clark has learned since the company started, and this adds up to a modern grand auditorium guitar of superlative quality.
The Design and Craftsmanship
At a glance, the Angel AN2A3BB looks more or less traditionally built, but like many Cole Clarks, it has a lot of constructional attributes that distinguish it from the average steel-string. For starters, it’s built with a Spanish heel, a construction method more associated with classical guitars that integrates neck and neck joint and is thought by many to transfer sound better than a dovetail joint. The top and back feature surfaces of standard thickness and ridged sides instead of the kerfing that reinforces most flattop bodies. According to Cole Clark, these alternative methods contribute significantly to the guitar’s projection and volume.
The Angel is built from a selection of solid Australian species—a bunya top, Tasmanian blackwood (a relative of koa) back and sides, and a Queensland maple neck. Meanwhile, the bridge and fretboard are made from the more conventional choice of rosewood, and players with traditional tastes can opt for a top built from grade AA spruce.
The woods from Down Under used in our review model are certainly attractive. The top glows with a reddish hue and is dotted with bird’s-eye figuring here and there, and it complements the warm reddish-brown streaks of the blackwood back and sides. A thin, satin nitrocellulose finish reveals the details of all the woods in their natural glory. A rich chocolate-like brown, the fretboard and bridge make a smart counterpoint to all of the lighter-colored woods. The woods are a tactile delight too, especially the bridge and fretboard.
Ornamentation on the guitar is beautifully Spartan. There’s no back strip or end strip, just a narrow ring of maple binding on the top and back of the guitar. The rosette comprises rosewood and blackwood rings, and the fretboard is dusted with traditional snowflake inlays in mother-of-pearl. Overall the design feels very organic, though that effect is diminished to some extent by the plastic elements used for the electronics, which include controls for the preamp on the lower bout and a battery compartment on the butt end.
Cole Clark put the Angel together nicely. The neck-to-body junction is smooth and solid, the binding is perfectly flush with the body, and other tricky areas like the volute on the headstock are clean and carved precisely. The 20 Dunlop 6230 frets are flawlessly polished and entirely free of jagged edges, there are no tooling marks on the fretboard, and the TUSQ nut and saddle are tidily notched.
Inside the guitar, you’ll see some slightly rough woodworking apparent on the unfinished back and sides, and on the opposing A bracing, as well as a few very small glue spots. But these are hardly unusual, don’t affect the sound in the slightest, and on the whole, the Angel is a well-built guitar.
Smooth Playing Aussie
Removing the Angel from the included molded plastic case, I was pleased by the guitar’s light weight and the sweet smell of the wood. The Angel feels a little deep for a grand auditorium guitar, but it’s perfectly balanced between body and neck. It’s a pleasure to cradle on the lap, and it feels just as good to play slung over your shoulder.
The C-shaped neck has a medium-deep profile and comfortable rounded shoulders. With an agreeably low action and the perfect amount of neck relief, the guitar plays smooth and superbly right out of the case, and stretchy barre chords and speedy single-note runs are all easy to execute without excessive hand fatigue. The 44.4 mm nut (about 1.75") makes the fretboard feel super-spacious and perfect for fingerstyle techniques, and this effect is compounded by the long 25.5" scale. The fretboard’s 12" radius facilitates string bending too, and the guitar felt elastic and bend-happy, even with the .012 set of Elixir strings the guitar ships with.
Easy and Adaptable
The visual appeal of the Angel is echoed in the tones that lurk within, warm and alive with clarity. A simple open-E chord rings beautifully, sustains with swirling harmonics, and is well balanced from the 6th string to the 1st. Perhaps due to the integral neck, output seems remarkably consistent up and down the fretboard. For instance, a B played at the 6th string’s 7th fret does not sound dissimilar, in terms of timbre or volume, as one played at the 5th string’s 2nd fret. Overall, the Angel feels very responsive and is equal to the task of the gentlest fingerpicking and most frenzied strumming. The sound loses none of its luster or harmonic richness when the guitar is tuned to open G, DADGAD, and even down to low C. These alternative tunings are quite easy to access, thanks to the smooth-feeling Grover 18:1 tuners.
Being a grand auditorium-sized instrument, the Angel begs to be fingerpicked, and it has a very adaptive voice that you can apply to everything from Renaissance lute pieces to country blues and chord-melody jazz. Still, it’s plenty cooperative when played with a plectrum, whether for delicate arpeggio work or more aggressive soloing and strumming—though the latter might be less advisable, given the lack of the optional pickguard.
Ratings
Pros: Distinct, stylish looks and unique tones in a smart, modern grand auditorium.
Cons: Hardcore traditionalists will prefer a grand auditorium with a dovetail joint, a shallower body, and more effectively concealed electronics.
Tones:
Playability:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street: $2099 (with hardshell case)
coleclarkguitars.com
Three Ways to Get Electrified
These days most mid-priced electric-acoustic guitars use undersaddle
electronics, which can sound bass-heavy, quacky, and not entirely
faithful to the instrument’s natural sound. But just as a home audio
system incorporates subwoofers, midrange boxes, and treble horns to best
distribute a full-range sound, the electronics on the Angel incorporate
three separate transducer elements to handle all of the sonic
frequencies. These include six individual piezo sensors
under the bridge for the low end, a FaceBrace (soundboard transducer)
for the midrange, and a condenser microphone for the high end.
The preamp includes two dials: One blends the output between the piezo and soundboard transducer elements, and the other controls the level of the mic. Once this balance is right, you can tailor the tone using standard volume, treble, mid, and bass controls, it’s unfortunate that this system doesn’t include the commonplace built-in digital tuner.
I plugged the Angel into a Fender Acoustasonic amplifier. Because acoustic guitar amps are designed to compensate for the shortcomings of traditional acoustic electronics, it took a bit of tweaking of the blend controls to get the most natural sound. What seemed to work best for this purpose was a slight emphasis on the undersaddle elements. Plugged into GarageBand, the electronics have an uncommonly warm, lifelike sound and generate a minimum of extraneous noise—this is plug-in-and-play at its best.
The Verdict
Cole Clark’s Angel AN2A3BB is a smart, modern acoustic-electric grand
auditorium that’s beautifully built, supremely playable, and capable of
generating voices that are at home in many musical contexts—especially
with its super-flexible electronics. What’s more, the Angel is built
from a selection of solid, sustainably sourced tonewoods that lend a
unique flavor to otherwise familiar tones. Though it’s not inexpensive,
it’s a total winner when it comes to playability and style. And if you
crave breaking away from the pack sonically and visually, the Cole Clark
Angel is a great way to do it.
Watch our video demo:
LR Baggs Align Reverb Acoustic Reverb Pedal
The Align Series Reverb was built from the ground up to complement the natural body dynamics and warmth of acoustic instruments that we love so much. The circuit seamlessly integrates the wet and dry signals with the effect in side chain so that it never overwhelms the original signal. We shaped the reverb with analog EQ to reflect the natural voice inherent in acoustic instruments. Additionally, the tone control adds versatility by sweeping from warm and muted to open and present. The result is an organic reverb that maintains the audiophile purity of the original signal with the controls set in any position.
Epiphone Firebird I
When Gibson debuted the Firebird I and Firebird V in 1963, the design was as innovative as it was radical. Like the Flying V and Explorer, the Firebird seemed Martian—or at least like a work of futurist art, with its offset body shape, extended lower and upper bouts, reverse headstock, and through-body neck.
Firebirds came in three versions: The single-pickup Firebird I, the two-humbucker Firebird V, and the three-pickup Firebird VII, with the latter two featuring a Vibrola tailpiece, trapezoid inlays, and neck binding. The first time I saw a Firebird in action, it was in the hands of Johnny Winter, who gave no quarter as he ripped conflagrant solos from its fretboard, but Brian Jones, Clapton, Allen Collins, Paul Stanley, and Phil Manzanera also helped make the model a legend. Original ’60s Firebird V’s sell for as much as $35,000, and reissues peak at nearly $10,000 for the Gibson Custom Shop’s ’63 Firebird V. That’s a lot of dough to look badass on stage. But now, Epiphone—in collaboration with Gibson’s Custom Shop—has taken high-quality reissues of the 1963 Firebird I and V into a more affordable realm. They’re still pricey for an Epi’, at $1,299 and $1,699, respectively, but undeniably brimming with panache.
“I was surprised by how sweet and heavy Gibson’s Firebird Mini Humbuckers sound. There is nothing mini about their tone.”
An’ a I, an’ a V
Our review Firebirds arrived impeccably set up, with action low enough for speed, but high enough for slide—my comfort zone, coincidentally. They are handsome guitars too. The I is finished in gleaming cherry, while the V is decked out in vintage sunburst and a shiny Vibrola tailpiece.
The necks are the not-so-secret weapons on these models. They are 9-ply mahogany and walnut (original Firebirds have a 5-ply neck), sandwiched between mahogany wings, but both guitars are still fairly light. The I is 7 1/2 pounds and the V weighs about 9 pounds due to the additional pickup and bridge hardware. There are 22 comfortable, medium-jumbo frets, which allow easy navigation and elegant bends, a Graph Tech nut, dot neck inlays on the I and trapezoids on the V, a classic Gibson-scale neck length of 24 3/4", and an Indian laurel fretboard. The banjo-style Kluson Planetary tuners, as well as the reverse headstock, take time to get to use to, but contribute to the instruments sleek, clean lines. The Firebird I’s electronics are simply a master volume and tone, with CTS pots and Mallory caps inside, in service of a warm-to-cutting single alnico 5 Gibson USA Firebird Mini Humbucker. The V offers more ways to shape your tone: The Vibrola is cool and vibey and there’s a classic four-dial Gibson control set (also routed through Mallory caps and CTS pots), a 3-way pickup switch on the lower bout, and a pair of those Gibson USA Firebird Mini Humbuckers.
Epiphone Firebird V
Trial by Firebird
I was sure I would prefer the Firebird V playing experience, because I am typically a neck-pickup player, but both guitars revealed sonic charms through Carr Vincent and Telstar amps running in stereo, my vintage Marshall Super Lead, and a Positive Grid Spark.
Low-action setups on both accommodate everything from campfire chords to screaming single-note playing past the 12th fret, with the perfectly smooth fret ends and comfortable neck making it all a pleasure. The neck broadens to 2 1/4" at the body, from 1 3/4" at the nut, making it easy to hit high notes accurately. But what really excited me, besides how artful these guitars look, is the power and sound of the pickups.
I was surprised by how sweet and heavy Gibson’s Firebird Mini Humbuckers sound. There is nothing mini about their tone, whether slashing and growling through the Marshall or pouring thick honey out of the Carrs. And through the Spark, a highly pleasing snarl and juicy warmth were all on tap. Despite my predilection for neck pickups, I became really excited by the Firebird I. The simplicity and elegance of its look, streamlined controls, clean surface, and light weight made the I a joy to play, especially with the treble rolled to near-zero. There, early Clapton-esque tone was a cinch to find, and for blues and pseudo-jazz-licks (the best I can muster in that genre), the warmth and clarity were delightful. Despite its basic construction, the Epiphone Firebird I is assuredly more than a rock machine.
Sure, having the addition of a neck pickup on the Firebird V provides a wider selection of tones, but the voices achievable on the I were no less winning and, honestly, I could not find any pickup-and-dial configuration on the V that sounded all that different or better than those available on the I. But, ah, a Vibrola is a very nice appointment—not just for its grand appearance, which is like some antiquarian treasure, but for the subtle bends its enables. If atmospheric guitar tones from the Ventures to Hermanos Gutiérrez are your passion, you’d want the Vibrola, which stays remarkably in tune, given its relatively primitive design.
The Verdict
Make no mistake: With their uncommonly proportioned offset bodies and reverse headstocks, guitars like the Epiphone Firebird I and V require time to get acquainted. But if you’re unafraid to stand out from the crowd, these instruments will serve you visually and sonically. Both play well and offer a good scope of vintage tones—from aggressive to dark maple sugar—with simple dial adjustments. And while many other Epiphone models sell for less, these well-crafted copies of original Gibson designs provide custom-shop or boutique-builder quality at a much lower price. PG
