So what's that strange guitar?

Simon currently plays a guitar called Tikva which was hand crafted in 1987 by David Lipkin and Haim Algranati who now call themselves L.A. Guitars. Its got D holes instead of the usual soundhole. The idea behind this is that if you have the normal soundhole you put a hole in an area of the soundboard that can make good use of the vibrations from the bridge. So instead the hole is put up at the shoulders of the guitar, giving more useable soundboard. So its a bit louder than many guitars.

The soundboard is very thin too, which gives it a nice fast response, a little bit like a flamenco guitar would respond. Its got bracing more like a classical guitar - there is no cross brace.

The dark area is a great big scratch plate, which I'm thinking of removing - it must have quite a significant damping effect.

I met the makers on a classical guitar course. We got chatting and they later sent me photos of the guitar. I was using my money for a trip to Australia at the time so Tikva was sold to someone who I heard had taken it to play jazz in New York. One year later I came home and popped to Ivor Mairant's music centre for some strings and as I got there Tikva had just gone in the window for resale. So it was fate really.

I use a Baggs LB6 pickup for PA gigs and I sometimes go through a POD xt live to help sort out the EQ.

I use Newtone strings which are custom made sets. They make a world of difference to the sound and playability, nothing else comes close, and they're cheap(ish).




	So what's that strange guitar? Simon currently plays a guitar called Tikva which was hand crafted in 1987 by David Lipkin and Haim Algranati who now call themselves L.A. Guitars. Its got D holes instead of the usual soundhole. The idea behind this is that if you have the normal soundhole you put a hole in an area of the soundboard that can make good use of the vibrations from the bridge. So instead the hole is put up at the shoulders of the guitar, giving more useable soundboard. So its a bit louder than many guitars. The soundboard is very thin too, which gives it a nice fast response, a little bit like a flamenco guitar would respond. Its got bracing more like a classical guitar - there is no cross brace. The dark area is a great big scratch plate, which I'm thinking of removing - it must have quite a significant damping effect. I met the makers on a classical guitar course. We got chatting and they later sent me photos of the guitar. I was using my money for a trip to Australia at the time so Tikva was sold to someone who I heard had taken it to play jazz in New York. One year later I came home and popped to Ivor Mairant's music centre for some strings and as I got there Tikva had just gone in the window for resale. So it was fate really. I use a Baggs LB6 pickup for PA gigs and I sometimes go through a POD xt live to help sort out the EQ. I use Newtone strings which are custom made sets. They make a world of difference to the sound and playability, nothing else comes close, and they're cheap(ish).