A peculiar test took place the other day. It is now one year ago that the Australian Guitar Centre was established, and I got the opportunity to take a closer look at, and extensively test one of their high-ranking models. The Australian guitar is swiftly becoming a trademark name much the same as the Spanish guitar. Presently, there are many different trends within the Australian guitar-building sphere. The most common one is the traditional Spanish, Torres method (as called by those in the profession), fan braced building technique. During the past 30 years, the Michael Kasha method of guitars with distinct axe-like bridges has also come to prominence. One could say that this is the so-called "American" technique, but it must be added that only a minority of classical guitar players use it. Roughly parallel in time with these, another, radically different methodology was developed, surprisingly enough from Australia. Names like Greg Smallman, John Price, Ashley Sanders or George Zitas are all Australian guitar-builders, and their names are spreading just like their expressive so-called "lattice bracing system" guitars. Notably, all of them work with this design. One wonders, what is the secret behind these guitars? This is what we set out to discover.

The guitar which was borrowed for the duration of the test, embodied a distinct Australian building technique. First and foremost, the sound board is very loosely built, the bracing constituting some very fine and light Balsa wood interwoven with carbon fibre. This material is some four times as light as Pine, and about four times as sturdy. As a result, the sound board may be considerably thinner, yet still it remains lighter and more durable, leading to fast resonance, greater degree of amplitude and an all-round better usage of the input energy. This, translated into sound, results in a very dynamic, carrying, and fast reaction-time guitar.

Another important feature of the construction is that the back is made from a solid material of 4-6 mm thickness, with no beams - if one takes a look through the sound hole, one does not see any supporting beams. This was done so with the consideration in mind that sound tends to evade larger masses, and finds outlets where there are no obstructions or less of a resistance. In the case of the Sanders guitar, this means the sound board, which will utilize the input vibration. This is a simple and sound concept - to illustrate, here is an example: let us imagine a curtain, against which we throw a ping-pong ball. We can try this at home. The curtain dampens the energy of the impact, and the ball will not bounce back. Now let us imagine a large, solid wall, against which we throw the ball - surely it will bounce back, and far away. The example illustrates the basic principles of the technique above.

Further important features of the Australian technique include the fact that the sound board and back of the guitar are strongly arched. This is done to increase its solidity, to prevent the inadvertent creation of bumps and ridges. Furthermore, the sound board of all Australian guitars are tuned a quint lower. The body resonance of a traditional Spanish guitar is around the "A" sound at 110 Hertz. If this is not balanced, then the whole register of the instrument may be polluted as a result. As the chamber itself often resonates on this frequency, the proper tuning of the back to the sound board for the optimal sound craves great consideration.

On older guitars, one may often spot sound boards which were crafter very thin indeed, which, although leading to great sound, resulted in a visibly distorted and shabby look. This is what Australian builders recognized, and corrected, by crafting the sound boards solid, yet thin, tuned to approximately the sound "E", whilst the back is tuned quite high. Through this, the balance is beautifully kept.

It is interesting to consider just why Australia became the centre for such a rapidly spreading new trend in building guitars. The explanation might just be that in such an isolated island-country, people must do the best they can without any external help. This often leads to experimentation, the discovery of novelties. Isolation has the advantage of the prevalence of sound thought and judgement - flighty trends without these elements do not last for long. The successful careers of all those who have developed the lattice-braced technique can be attributed to this fact. Additionally, the Australian guitar is more fortunate yet than say, the Kasha guitar, since it has remained in the realm of aestheticism of the Spanish guitar. Let it be said, that those who play the classical guitar lean heavily on tradition. Since the Torres technique is the oldest, and most established, they have come to identify with its sound, and so will generations to come. I have spoken about this issue with several prominent classical guitarists, and they admitted that with the Kasha guitar it was the form of the bridge which made them uncertain, or, that in a high location on the higher strings, the sound was noticeably more enduring than to what they were used to. In spite of the fact that even with its thick tone, the sound of the Kasha guitars is still brighter and more penetrating, it was rejected. Whilst those building the guitars strive for progress and innovation in sound, they are met by a stubborn resistance from the side of the guitar players. Some of them say that these innovations lead to something which isn't even guitar sound any more.

Ultimately, most of this is a question of opinion and openness, considering how for example the flamenco guitar is easily accepted into the canon, although similarly dissimilar from the traditional classical guitar, just like the Kasha and the Australian guitar.

After this lengthy introduction, I should like to introduce you to the Ashley Sanders guitar I spoke of earlier. Both the sides and the back are made of Palisandre wood from Rio, the sound board made of very thickly veined Cedar wood.

The neck is made of Cedar wood from the Honduras, whilst the finger board is Ebony. Owing to the solid back, the guitar is noticeably heavier than its traditional counterpart, yet the pay-off is in the gorgeous, enormous sound which results from this change.

The bridge is made of Indian Palisandre wood. In all other aspects it resembles a traditional, classical guitar. A difference is perhaps that the sound board and back are all slightly domed, and the length of the body has a rounded curve, which lends an evenly rounded aspect to the guitar. It is extremely comfortable to hold, its weight evenly distributed, and its neck phenomenally positioned.

When I first plucked the strings of the Sanders guitar, I got the distinct notion that this instrument must be from another planet, but soon after I realized that it is indeed very much of this world. There is something primeval, something so subtle in its sound, that it is hard to put into words. At the same time, it is very much a guitar sound. Last year I got the opportunity to examine a George Zitas guitar at close hand, which was constructed in a similar fashion, with the exceptions of a Pine and Indian Palisandre wood soundboard. That guitar evoked very much the same sensation, of combining such elements in its sound which cannot be found in traditional classical guitars. The sound of the guitar opened up in three-four hours in a way which is only comparable to a Cedar wood guitar which had been intensely and regularly played for the last couple of years.

The endurance of the sound can be compared to any Spanish Cedar wood guitar - the reaction time and creation of the sounds is a very fast process. It is a dynamic, expressive, and incredibly loud instrument. Every sound delivers a striking blow, yet it does not clash, nor does it feel compressed and tinny. This means that any string that has been sounded delivers clearly and strongly, with no noticeable distortions. Ideal for recording guitar music!

Anybody who has delved a bit into Bartók's study of harmonies knows that small terzas constructed of piled alpha, gamma and beta chords will not sound right on any guitar. Even in the chords made up of the deepest positions and strings, one can hear the separate sounds whilst it remains in unison, without distortions.

The Cedar wood guitar usually doesn't require a warming up session, this particular guitar is raring to go after a mere four hours. With its full tone and elegantly penetrating sound, I wouldn't hesitate to call it a perfect, modern classical guitar. It's different from the usual, but it is very easy to get used to such an instrument.

There is a very peculiar component of the Ashley guitar: its fingerboard is twisted approximately one mm towards the higher and the lower positions.

With this, the master tackled the support of the strings with one finely chiselled bone. The advantage of this is that it is not the plane of the strings, but the fingerboard which twists; thus playing becomes quite easy, and the strings will not clatter, even during forceful plucking.

I was mightily impressed when I tuned down the instrument to D, indeed, even C-minor and C, and still the deepest string sounded magnificent, and most importantly, unchanged. The sound board is tuned to approximately "D", therefore the "H" string tuned down to D can produce an immense sound. Because of the loose sound board, the guitar produces and increasingly thickening tone starting from the A sound (110 Hz), and resonates through the whole register. The E6 string has an amazingly full tone, but do not let it frighten you away, it is only noticeable when one is standing directly next to the guitar. From a distance of a few steps, the tone produced by this Ashley model is incredibly balanced and full.

I would like to note, that the Australian climate is significantly moister than the European. Thus, it is of the essence to have a steam-device in the case, plus, to open both the guitar case and the window when the weather is rainy, to achieve the optimal level of moistness.

I would say that this is almost compulsory, since the guitar is a very delicate construction and much too expensive to be denied such basic treatment. One should not be cheap about a 2500 Ft steam-device.

The guitar was equipped with the basic D'Addario nylon string set, which rendered the fullest tone possible. And full it was! To those who prefer a brighter, faster and more permeating sound, I would suggest changing the H and E1 strings to either Hannabach, Pyramid, or Savarez carbon strings, plus using D'Addario's composite G string for the G. With this combination of strings, the sound of the guitar will be amplified manifold, hopefully adding to the confidence of the concert player.

I showed the guitar to a sound engineer friend with excellent hearing, and he was astounded by the full tone and tremendous carrying sound. At first, he refused to believe that this was a guitar sound, but soon after, he corrected himself: "Now this is a real guitar sound!"

The guitar can be ordered at Australian Guitar Centre, either personally or through its website. The sampled instrument has a gross price of 1.080.000,- Ft. (4000 €) Naturally, with the guitar comes a professional hard guitar case.

Positive attributes

• immense strength of sound
• richly balanced, incredibly full tone
• exquisite craftsmanship

Negative attributes

• I didn't find any as such, possibly the fact that since it's a very unusual guitar, there is an initial period where one grows accustomed to it.