Acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist Laurence Juber began playing OM-style guitars more than 20 years ago, and in 2002 he began working with Martin Guitars on what has become a long succession of signature models. The collaboration started with the OMC-18VLJ, which was based on a guitar that Laurence had ordered from Martin’s custom shop, and over the years, a number of models with different woods (including various rosewoods, maple, and koa) were offered in limited-edition runs. All of these guitars are based on Martin’s cutaway OM, with necks that are 1¾ inches wide at the nut and have string spacing of 2¼ inches at the saddle, which is narrower than that of vintage OMs.
We recently caught up with Laurence prior to a performance at the 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, California, where he took time to discuss and demonstrate his two current touring guitars, an OMC-18LJ built with mahogany back and sides and an OMC-21LJ built with Guatemalan rosewood back and sides. Both instruments feature European “moon-spruce” tops and hide-glue construction.
In this video, Laurence discusses each instrument in detail and shows how they differ in tone. He also talks about his signature Martin strings and gives a rundown of his amplification setup, which includes custom-made Mogami cables, D-Tar Wavelength pickups, a Grace Design Felix preamp (check out our separate demo of the Felix), a TC Electronic HOF Mini reverb pedal, and TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Noir tuner. Laurence, who has recorded several albums of solo guitar arrangements of Beatles songs, uses the OMC-21LJ to perform the Beatles’ “She Loves You” in this video. martinguitar.com, laurencejuber.com
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