Canadian alt-country group the Bros. Landreth have become known for bringing not just layers of blues, rock, and eclectic modern influence to the traditional country sound, but for Joey Landreth’s depth as a guitarist and stunning tone on the instrument.
Built on a lifetime of brothers Joey and Dave’s absorbing classic country music, the band was launched with the release of 2013’s Let It Lie, through which they not-long-after made a mark on the scene when the album garnered a JUNO Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year in 2015. Following the release of 2019’s ’87, the group later received another major accolade when Bonnie Raitt covered Let It Lie’s “Made Up Mind” on her 2022 release, Just Like That…
While the original lineup included drummer Ryan Voth and pianist Alex Campbell, and the band has toured with guitarist Ariel Posen, the brothers have since taken a step back from the larger band arrangement to lead as a duo. Their latest, 2022’s Coming Home, spotlights the two in that dynamic, while featuring a few backing players.
Joey Landreth hung with John Bohlinger and the PG team before the Bros. Landreth’s show at Nashville’s Riverside Revival, where Landreth played some mind-blowing guitar and demoed his unique method for reproducing his studio sound live.Brought to you by D’Addario String Finder.
Golden Tradition
Landreth has been seen playing a Sorokin Goldtop for years. His new No. 1 is the Sorokin Pluma, handbuilt by Alex Sorokin in Edmonton, Alberta. “Alex is a master builder, and he has nothing but respect for the tradition of these guitars,” says Landreth. The Pluma features a one-piece Honduran mahogany neck and body, Eastern hard-rock maple top, hide-glue construction, and Ron Ellis LRPs pickups. It’s strung up with Stringjoy .019–.056 or .017–.054, depending on tuning.
Built Like a Mule
This Mulecaster was built in Saginaw, Michigan by Landreth’s good friend Matt Eich. Constructed with a metal body, it comes loaded with two benders, and according to Joey, Eich builds everything on the guitar (with the exception of the benders), including the pickups. “The first tune in our setlist is a song called ‘Forgiveness,’ and the benders are a big part of the hook,” Joey shares. “I can’t play that song on literally any guitar, so this guitar comes along to play that tune and a couple of other ones.” Strings are Stringjoy flatwounds, gauged .019–.056 or .017–.054, depending on tuning.
High-Strung Baritone
Joey mainly keeps this Novo baritone, which was built in Nashville and features Lollar pickups, in low open tunings. He’s worked with Stringjoy to get just the right strings to play comfortably in those tunings. “That's the thing about those guys,” he says, “is you can say, ‘I like .011s in E, what would be a comparable set of strings for D? And they’ll plop it into their computer and say, ‘This is what we think would be comparable.’” Joey asked the company for a set that would work with an Ab tuning on the baritone, and they hooked him up, but—“I have no idea what’s on this guitar. I hope I don't break a string.”
Landreth uses his Rock Slide signature slide, Paige Capos, and Blue Bell Straps, made in Spain. Landreth uses mostly Digiflex cables, but also has a few Caulfield cables as well as some made by Runway Audio Cables out of Nashville. As for picks, he doesn’t really have a preference.
Choice Circuits
Landreth uses a three-amp combination, the center being his new signature Two-Rock, which only carries the dry signal. The development of the amp came out of a meeting with guitarist Josh Smith, who turned Joey onto Two-Rock’s tones after Landreth jammed with his model. Joey reached out to Two-Rock, and a few years later, the company agreed to work with him on an amp that included a complicated-to-install harmonic tremolo, on his request. When he was sent the third and final prototype, he says, “I plugged it in and legitimately shed a tear,” laughing. “It was like, ‘It’s beautiful.’”
The two other amps in Landreth’s trifecta are Two-Rock Studio Signatures. Where the first only carries dry effects, these two only carry wet. With 1x12 speakers, they’re considerably smaller. “They are killer little amps,” he says. “Part of the appeal is that, if we’re going to go do a quick press video or something, I can just grab one of those little guys … and we don’t have to unpack the entire van.”
Joey Landreth's Pedalboard
Mounted on a pedalboard made in Melbourne, Australia, all of Joey’s pedals go directly into the GigRig G3, with the wet effects all going into a Morningstar ML10X that lives under the board. It allows Landreth to do more complex routing with custom routing for every preset, and also lets Landreth only use one stereo loop for all wet effects. Those pedals include the Empress Echosystem, Chase Bliss Thermae, Chase Bliss Blooper, Chase Bliss MOOD MkII, Chase Bliss Generation Loss, and Chase Bliss CXM 1978.
They all go into the ML10X which then goes into the GFI Duophony, which gives Landreth a parallel mixer with a ton of options, including gain for each individual loop. Landreth uses the Duophony as a master volume for all wet effects, which are set up on an expression roller that Landreth controls with a custom box that he built. The Duophony also allows Joey to add the dry signal back in, either by preset or just in real-time—which is ideal when Landreth uses a backline with only one or two amps.
Among Joey’s additional pedals is the Shnobel Tone VPJR tuner mod, plugged directly into the EXP input of the Chase Bliss Condor for volume and low pass filter control. The remainder of his board is made up of the Maxon SD-9, Fairfield Circuitry Randy’s Revenge, Fairfield Circuitry Shallow Water, DanDrive Bonk Machine, Mythos High Road Mini Fuzz, and Axess Electronics Obvious Boost/Overdrive.Shop Joey's Rig
Shop Lindsay's RigThe 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:
 | |
 | Download Example 1 Fingerstyle - Pickup, Amp, Mic'd |
| Download Example 2 Strumming - Pickup, Amp, Mic'd |
| Download Example 3 DADGAD - Pickup, Amp, Mic'd |
| Download Example 4 C Tuning - Pickup, Amp, Mic'd |
| Mic: sE3 to Aphex 207D mic-pre; Amp: L.R. Baggs Core 1, mic: Audix i5 to Aphex 207D mic-pre; Pickup (Direct): Cole Clark pickup to Aphex 230 mic-pre Interface: RME Fireface DAW: Samplitude V8 Pickup sliders: Volume 1/2, Bass 2/3, Mid flat, Treb 1/3, mix 50/50 Clips by Gayla Drake Paul | |
Perhaps not surprisingly, an Australian company has given it the best shot yet. Cole Clark Guitars, founded in 2001 by former Maton CEO Brad Clark, have combined modern technology with sustainable, locally grown woods to create some of the most unique, affordable imports in the market. This month, we’re stepping into the review chamber with a Cole Clark Fat Lady cutaway dreadnought to see just how toneful “eco-friendly” can be.
The Fat Lady Up Close
The Fat Lady 1AC is, if anything, a study in stylish sustainability. While Cole Clark acoustics are still built out of solid woods, they make use of an entire crop of native, fast growing and abundant Australian woods such as Bunya pine and Queensland maple. The Bunya soundboard is perhaps the most striking feature on this acoustic; its varied, colorful grain—alternating between tight, light stripes and wide, deep browns—gives this guitar a striking and immediately recognizable persona. The back, sides and neck are all fashioned from lightly flamed Queensland maple, a wood originally used as a stand-in for mahogany, while the fingerboard is made of solid rosewood. A spruce top is optional and available. The back is also available in Tasmanian blackwood.
For the most part, Cole Clark lets the woods do most of the talking here on this base model; appointments are kept to a minimum: thin pinstripes of rosewood surround the soundboard and form the rosette; miniaturized pearl dots mark the fingerboard; an angular black pickguard adorns the top; and a stylized three-dimensional headstock displays the company’s decal, but that’s about it. And the thing is, it truly works here—the Bunya top gives this Fat Lady a completely different look from all of the other spruce and cedar variants out there, while the absence of binding and a thin satin nitro finish showcase the seamlessness of the guitar’s construction. The result is an earthy, natural-looking dreadnought that should win over minimalists and environmentalists alike.
But don’t be fooled into thinking that the relative lack of ornamentation means that corners have been cut—quite the opposite, actually. Even though Cole Clark makes use of CNC machines during the production of the Fat Lady to keep the price affordable, the guitar includes features and attributes unheard of at this price point. For example, this Fat Lady is reinforced in all the right places: the guitar makes use of a variation on the Spanish heel at the neck joint, which tightly locks the neck block and body together, giving the Fat Lady a palpable feeling of “oneness” and great sustain, while the headstock is grafted onto the neck and reinforced with a beautifully crafted volute to add strength. The interior of the guitar dispenses with the age-old X bracing, and instead uses an internally carved soundboard and two A-shaped braces, which run the length of the instrument in opposite directions.
Also of quick note is the guitar’s feather weight and balance—both Bunya and Queensland maple are lighter than the traditional woods used on a dreadnought (even though they have similar strength properties), and the result is a body that almost seems to float in your hand and on your lap. Despite the fact that it’s still a thick dreadnought, the Fat Lady is incredibly comfortable to sit with and its sense of balance between the headstock and the body is perfect.
She Sings
For being such a light-feeling guitar, the Fat Lady definitely sings like its name implies. This acoustic is truly remarkable for the ground it covers—everything from soft fingerpicking to good-time strumming comes through clearly and with a well-balanced tonal range. Everything seems to be in proportion here, from the guitar’s crisp highs to its full-but-not-overpowering bottom-end, and it really feels like each part of the instrument adds to the greater whole in just the right amount. The dreadnought body style and bracing give the sound depth and body; the Queensland maple body and neck provide shimmering highs; the Bunya top gives this guitar just the right amount of warmth (almost akin to a cedar-topped acoustic, without the mushiness at higher volumes or intensities). Perhaps even more impressive is the guitar’s responsiveness; despite its size, this Fat Lady is nimble, dynamic and brilliantly expressive at all points.
The Fat Lady’s electronics have been custom built by Cole Clark to compliment the guitar’s tonality, and I’m proud to report that they do a hell of a job. The system is comprised of six individual piezo sensors under the bridge and a Face Brace transducer with three sensors mounted under the soundboard. A unique Blend slider on the guitar’s preamp allows you to adjust the crossover point of where the guitar’s high-end frequencies are captured from—moving the slider away from you causes more of the bridge piezos’ high-end to be amplified; pulling the slider towards you causes the system to amplify more highend from the sensors. It’s a fairly ingenious and natural-sounding system that allows you to really dial in the nature of your high-end— the Face Brace provided the Fat Lady with a little more “airiness”—although playing through a Genz Benz Shenandoah Compak 300, I found the best sounds to be in the central range of the slider, drawing equally from both sources. The system does a great job of bringing out the warmth and clarity of the guitar, and the only time feedback was an issue was at high volumes with the Face Brace sensor fully engaged.
The preamp interface itself is fairly pedestrian, Blend function aside. It has a Volume slider, and a 3-band EQ allowing you to dial in your Highs, Mids and Lows. This was really the only place that I had any quibbles with the instrument— the labels for the sliders were damn near invisible in anything short of bright light, and the conspicuous lack of an on-board tuner seems like a major omission for such a welldesigned system.
In terms of playability, the Fat Lady is certainly playable, but you’ll likely want to spend a little time dialing it in for your tastes. The guitar comes strung with .012s and a medium setup (.078" on the treble side and .098” on the bass side), and the company’s website says, “It is fully expected that specific settings are the responsibility of the customer.” The 12" fingerboard radius, the medium C profile and 1 ¾" nut width make this guitar extremely comfortable to play (although smaller hands might struggle with lower position chording), while a Graphtech TUSQ nut and Grover Rotomatic tuners keep everything stable and in tune, no matter how heavy-handed you get.
The Final Mojo
It’s safe to say that Cole Clark Guitars is on to something here—the Fat Lady is one of the finest acoustics you’ll encounter in the sub-$2000 market, and the fact that it’s made of more sustainable varieties of wood is the cherry on top. It looks great, it plays great and it sounds even better—what more could you ask for?
Buy if...
you're looking for a bright, articulate acoustic you can feel good about.
Skip if...
you're a spruce fanatic.
Rating...
MSRP $1540 - Cole Clark Guitars - coleclarkguitars.com |
