Atkin guitars The Forty Three £2,999

acoustic Guitars

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 ATKIN GUITARS THE FORTY THREE £2,999
ACOUSTIC GUITARS

AWA R D
EXCELLENCE

10/10

Atkin Guitars The Forty Three

Faux distress isn’t for everybody, but in the case of Alister Atkin’s
Buddy Holly-inspired dreadnought it’s more than skin deep.
HUW PRICE discovers that it’s a slippery slope…

A
rtificially aged guitars have Although Atkin’s website doesn’t make after torrefaction, when the originals KEY FEATURES
become commonplace in the a big deal of it, the sitka spruce top is may have shrunk by up to 1/8-inch. • PRICE £2,999 (inc hard case)
electric market in the last two roasted. The process, also known as The result is a guitar that has a • DESCRIPTION All-solid
6-string acoustic. Made in
decades, but the opposite is true for torrefaction, releases moisture from the more ‘vintage’ voicing, but is more
the UK
acoustics. This writer’s one previous wood and crystallizes the resins. stable structurally, too. However Atkin • BUILD Solid torrefied sitka
encounter with a relic’d acoustic was It’s argued the same things will is no slave to the vintage aesthetic spruce top with solid
inauspicious, to say the least, but times happen to spruce over six decades, but because he incorporates a two-way mahogany back and sides,
they are a-changin’ – as evidenced mahogany neck, rosewood
bridge and fingerboard, ebony
by Canterbury-based luthier Alister
Atkin’s slope-shouldered dreadnought,
The guitar has a ‘vintage’ voicing but is peghead overlay, 14-fret neck
join, scalloped bracing,
The Forty Three. Rather than content more structurally stable, too – Atkin is vintage-style three-on-a-plate
tuners, bone nut and saddle
himself with a straight-ahead vintage
Gibson J-45 clone, Atkin’s aim was no slave to the vintage aesthetic • ELECTRICS N/A
• LEFT-HANDERS Yes
“to capture the aura of a guitar that has • FINISH Relic gloss
been played for the last 70 years”. Atkin’s method reduces this process to truss rod and uses a two-bolt method nitrocellulose
Atkin began distressing finishes about 60 minutes. He also freezes the for neck joints that’s similar to that • SCALE LENGTH
by chance when building a limited wood, with the intention of helping his used by Collings. Since Atkin’s clients 631.52mm/24 7/8”
• NECK WIDTH 42mm at nut,
run of J-45 replicas for the Buddy guitars achieve a matured and played- include a number of pro players, ease of 53mm at 12th fret
Holly Foundation. One of the guitars in tone from the get go, and eliminating repair is considered as crucial as tone. • DEPTH OF NECK 20mm at
accidentally picked up a ding so Atkin any potential shrinkage in the timber. Fixtures and fittings include a first fret, 23mm at 9th fret
figured ‘why not’ and set about copying This is why the top plates are jointed bone nut and saddle, bone bridge > • STRING SPACING 36mm
at nut, 55mm at bridge
the extensive play wear on Holly’s
• WEIGHT 1.875kg/4.13lbs
original. Originally intended as a one • CONTACT Forsyth’s
off, customers who saw the guitar soon 0161 956 2052
began placing orders for relic’d finishes www.atkinguitars.com
of their own. www.forsyths.co.uk

Not all aged guitars are created

equal but Atkin takes a holistic
approach. Of course you get extensive
lacquer checking and tinted lacquer
over the bindings, but look inside and
you’ll see dust on the back and the
braces. Even the label looks a bit ‘tired’.
Digging deeper we learn that Atkin
uses a different formulation of lacquer
The hardware is
for those guitars destined for relicing meticulously aged,
and the thickness is reduced because including the
three-on-a-plate tuners
up to 33 per cent less nitro is sprayed.

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 Atkin guitars The Forty Three £2,999
acoustic Guitars

The ‘banner’ headstock The lacquer checking is

decal is a tribute to the subtle, but artfully executed
design that appeared on
WWII-era Gibsons such
as Buddy Holly’s

In Use outstanding string-to-string transitions

Last month we looked at the and properly defined chord voicing.
Fairbanks F20-S – a recreation of It also means The Forty Three is
the 1930s Gibson Nick Lucas model. equally well suited to strumming and
Although the Fairbanks is a jewel of a fingerpicking, so long as you’re a picker
guitar producing a very fine tone, there who can deal with the string spacing.
is nothing especially ‘vintage’ about The medium depth ‘C’ neck profile
its sound or feel. In contrast, in every may be slimmer than an original’s,
department The Forty Three is one but it contributes to the sense of old
of the most convincing vintage-style slipper comfort. When we first take
acoustic guitars that this writer has this guitar out of its hard shell Hiscox
ever encountered. case, country rhythm playing seems
Like this? Try these… pins and a set of appropriate ‘no line’ No doubt the looks would have like the obvious place to start and we’re
Gibson’s regular J-45 reissue Kluson-style three-on-a-plate tuners. a powerful influence on anyone’s rewarded with the kind of tones you’ve
£1,699 features the later
The tuners are artfully aged and have perception but the effect would be heard on countless classic records.
‘backwards’ belly bridge and
an LR Baggs pickup system and an encouragingly smooth and positive fleeting if the sound couldn’t back it up. Moving onto fingerpicking, it’s like
the True Vintage version action, but we think unbleached bone Based on our experience of various old the brooding hush you might get from
£2,722 has a ‘thermally treated’ might suit the overall aesthetic of this Gibson guitars, we would say The Forty Springsteen’s solo work or the intimacy
Adirondack spruce top. Other guitar a tad better. Three is eerily evocative. of early Davey Graham. The natural
high-end options include the
Collings CJ £5,049 and the
Atkin informs us that the back Although it’s a slope-shouldered balance and compressed dynamics,
Bourgeois Slope D £5,950 and sides are Honduran mahogany variety of dreadnought, the bass is combined with the rock-steady tuning
and Indian rosewood is used for the powerful but well proportioned and and easy action, make it so easy to play.
fingerboard and bridge. The rosewood far from boomy. It has an enjoyable You’ll find dreads that are louder,
brighter and more powerful, but this

Based on our experience of various old guitar wasn’t designed for that. Instead
Alister Atkin set out to replicate the
Gibson guitars we would say The Forty look, feel and sound of a vintage

Three’s sound is eerily evocative ‘banner’ J-45 and we can report he has
succeeded – and then some.

has a particularly beautiful colour punchiness, but there’s a woody and verdict
and it’s sanded and buffed to create rounded quality to the notes rather + Vintage tone with wonderful
a smooth vintage feel that further than a cutting front end or a twangy contemporary playability
enhances the playing experience. bite. In a sense it’s a similar story at + Extremely comfortable and f amiliar
The celluloid pickguard with its soft the other end of the frequency range feel for J-45 lovers
bevelled edges is another classy touch. because The Forty Three is totally
+ Superb balance
+ Very accomplished relicing
Atkin has them made in the US, each devoid of shrillness. There’s more than
– Nut and saddle look a bit too clean
with a uniquely individual appearance. enough brightness to provide clarity,
Some vintage purists may argue Alister
We’re not certain if the headstock but it’s a sweetly dark sparkle rather
Atkin has taken a few liberties with this
logos are decals or silk screened but that a cutting ‘kerrchang’. J-45 tribute, but where it matters, we
they look utterly fantastic. The deep So instead of the classic scooped mid think he has got it spectacularly right.
dark gold colour with subtle relicing is ‘boom-chakka’ dreadnought response, A simply wonderful acoustic guitar
enhanced by lateral checking and you get something far more refined and 10/10
grain sinkage. midrange focused. This contributes to

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