PRODUCT REVIEW
Small Jumbo
DAVID MUNN
BY GAYLA DRAKE PAUL
Iowa doesn’t get enough respect. Some of
the coolest things ever have come from Iowa,
like late James Gang and Deep Purple guitarist Tommy Bolin, Templeton Rye whiskey, and,
of course, Premier Guitar. You can add David
Munn to that list, too. Munn joins a long list of
outstanding Iowa luthiers who have been featured in these pages, including Kevin Pederson
of Pederson Custom Guitars (formerly Abyss),
classical builder John Dick, and David Flammang
of Flammang Guitars. Munn started building guitars in 1978 and studied with American School
of Lutherie founder Charles Fox, but supporting a family and working in a frustratingly small
workshop space dictated that he take a break. In
2001, he was in a position to retool and expand
his workshop, and that’s when he got serious
about building guitars again.
very shimmery and 3-D looking, and the glossy
finish really makes it pop. The five-piece, mahog-any-and-maple neck is comfortably chunky, with
a round profile. It’s 1 3/4" at the nut, nice and
wide, with no inlay on the fretboard except at
the twelfth fret. The fretboard and bridge are
Macassar ebony, and the peg head overlays (front
and back) are made of luscious, chocolate-and-caramel-colored Madagascar rosewood. I love
the gold Gotoh 510 tuners, which are sleek and
very modern looking—and quite comfortable
to use. They add another classic touch to this
already beautiful guitar. The rosette and purfling
are unique and elegant, and perfectly suited to
the natural look and pleasing curves. Fit and finish seem to be as top notch as they can get, and
everything is smooth and even and clean.
Show Me the Munny
Our review guitar is hot off the work-
bench—brand-spanking new. It fea-
tures a 25. 4"-scale Manzer Wedge
body, which is really exciting.
The Wedge came about when
Linda Manzer made a multi-
necked guitar for Pat Metheny
and decided it would have to
be narrower on the bass side ( 3
1/2" versus 4 1/2" on the treble
side) so he could get an arm around
it. Next thing you know, a lot of
luthiers, including notables like
Grit Laskin and Kevin Ryan,
adopted the Wedge. It’s so
much more comfortable
to play, and it has no
negative impact on tone
or volume whatsoever.
The Small Jumbo’s
body is padauk, a
rather gorgeous striped
red wood that’s a cousin
to rosewood. The back is
a three-piece with a curly
maple center strip and some
sweet marquetry diamonds
in ebony. The top is nice Sitka
spruce, with plenty of silking—it’s
All That and More
I’m running out of ways to describe the sound of
incredible guitars. I’ve used brilliant, rich, vibrant,
lively, shimmering, and warm until I’m sick of those
words. The problem is, you could combine any
of those words in just about any order and you’d
have the Munn. It’s brilliantly velvety. Shimmeringly
warm. This guitar takes my breath away every time
I pick it up. It has fantastic low end. There’s bass to
burn, but it’s so clean—there’s not a bit of mud to
be found. Even with a capo at the fifth and seventh
frets, it rings gorgeously and the lows just keep
rolling out. The mids are also clean, but there’s
no brittleness, nothing boxy or off in the mids at
all. You hear every note like it’s bathed in golden
light. The highs, to quote David Letterman, “put
me in the mind of faeries.” It’s very well balanced,
and the lows, mids and highs work together even
better as you dig in. Munn scallops his braces for
less weight and freer movement of the top and
back, and it seems to be working very well for him.
When I sit on the couch with this guitar, the sound
seems to wrap around me. And remember, this
guitar is still wet behind the ears. I can only imagine how well it will sing a year from now.
www.premierguitar.com
PREMIER GUITAR JULY 2010 201
