PRODUCT REVIEW
it to a high-end Martin and the Dutchess
made a respectable showing. Though the
tone was a bit tighter than a dreadnought,
the sound that leapt out of the f-holes was
loud enough to cut through at a jam session.
As I started to dig in with some Freddie
Green-approved chords, the guitar seemed
to really find its voice, and I could hear
some intriguing overtones depending on
how I held it. In photos of many old-school
jazz players, you can see they held the guitar at an angle, with the back being free
and able to vibrate. By tilting the Dutchess
just slightly, the sound opened up and
seemed to breathe a lot more, perfect for
holding down the rhythm chair in a big
band. The tone became more focused with
some added presence when I held the guitar more upright.
I wanted to test the different possibili-
ties with an archtop guitar, so I followed
the luthier’s request by testing out some
altered tunings on the Dutchess. Starting
with open D tuning, the guitar was very
responsive and bright. Although the action
wasn’t set up for it, even some bottleneck
slide guitar sounded pretty good. When
I dug in, I could get close to some Delta-
inspired mojo, but it didn’t quite make me
want to replace my acoustic guitar.
As I explored the Dutchess acoustically, it
seemed to shine with short chord stabs and
single-note lines. The single notes had a real
bite to them and sustained for days. In a
solo or duo situation, such enhanced sustain
can really help carry things along and make
playing ballads a lot more fun.
Plugged In
I tested the Dutchess with two amps, a
Vox AGA70 and a Goodsell Valpreaux 21.
The Vox amp took the existing acoustic
tone of the guitar and gave it a little more
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