Pratley Classic Concert Blackwood 2024 (New)
Pratley Classic Series Concert, all solid blackwood, made in Australia 2024. My oh my, look at this glorious little creature. The top, back and sides are all made from solid Tasmanian blackwood, which sets many hearts aflutter with it's dark, detailed grain lines. Blackwood is an acacia family species, counting among it's relatives Hawaii's famous koa trees. The tonal profile is similar to koa: bright and tight through the mids, understated tuneful fast bass, very articulate and sweet on the top end. The snappy clear voice of the blackwood pairs well with the natural balance and roundness of the concert body size: it's similar to a Martin 00 or Maton 808, so it sits nicely in your lap. The small body is complemented by the clever neck join, so even without a cutaway you can reach the top frets with ease. This is a perfect working guitar for a busy player, with a powerful and articulate natural voice and a quality preamp on deck to get the sound our far and wide. Nice one Martin, you did great.
Pratley Guitars kicked off in 2004, under the guidance of Martin Pratley, a keen woodworker with a background in pro industrial design. There's a few interesting things about the design of all Pratley's offerings. First, the neck: the idea was to get as close as possible to the feel of an electric guitar neck on an acoustic. It's a slim, round C shape, and the join is a set-neck style, so there's a block inside the body that's glued to the neck with a wedge style join not dissimilar from a horizontal dovetail. The upshot is that the clunky heel is gone, and you get easy access all the way up to the top frets. The top has a clever A/X bracing pattern too, so there's two long braces extending along the whole top coming together to a point near the rear strap pin. This allows for plenty of resonance and a nice open tone, but was also specifically designed to eliminate any swelling tendencies in the top and make sure that bridge stays nice and flat and firmly attached. They also use a bunch of environmentally friendly and attractive Australian tonewoods like Queensland maple, bunya pine, Tasmanian blackwood and Johnstone river teak. They're very sustainable timbers to use, as the trees grow to a large size much faster than spruce, rosewood and mahogany, which are old growth species that have to be shipped long distances to get here.
* photos show actual guitar you will receive *
Model: Pratley Classic Concert Blackwood (PRC-SE-BWBW)
Made: Gold Coast Australia, 2024
Serial: 032410752
Finish: natural, satin nitro
Body: solid Tasmanian blackwood top, back and sides, Concert (00-ish) shape
Neck: Queensland maple, Johnstone River teak fretboard, 25.5" scale, 12" radius, set neck/wedge join construction
Weight: 2.175kg
Mods: none
Pickup: L.R. Baggs StagePro Element System
Accessories: Pratley lightweight semi-hard case
Cosmetic condition notes: brand new with manufacturer's warranty. No major marks.
Overall: brand new condition (10/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good. Setup with 12/54 Elixir strings.
Fret Life: 10/10, brand new