# Lady Eire Guitar



## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

Here's a video featuring a guitar constructed by Texas based luthier Jason Simpson. In the luthier's own words, this instrument was inspired by a trip he and his wife made to Ireland in 2012. I find this guitar both visually and sonically stunning. It sold (not to me, unfortunately) for about $22,000.00 U.S. (which is now what....several million Canadian dollars???).
I'm interested in what other folks on this forum think of the Lady Eire guitar.


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

So the question is: would you pay $22,000.00 U.S. for the Lady Eire guitar? My answer is, if I had the money, yes, I'd spend it on an instrument of this quality. Any thoughts?


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## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

looks and sounds beautifully, I really like the way how song / guitar was presented.
thanks for the post and info


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

If it was an investment that was sure to go up, yes.

I beat the snot out of my acoustic, so I wouldn't want this in my home. I can't imagine how crazy I'd get over regulating the humidity.


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

adcandour said:


> If it was an investment that was sure to go up, yes.
> I beat the snot out of my acoustic, so I wouldn't want this in my home. I can't imagine how crazy I'd get over regulating the humidity.


With the boutique guitar market as saturated as it is nowadays I'm not sure that even an instrument as unique and sonically fabulous as The Lady Eire would necessarily appreciate in value. I certainly agree with your point about regulating the humidity. I keep a humidifier at 40% through the winter where my guitars are stored and still replenish both the case and sound hole dampits religiously every four days. Although none of my guitars cost $22,000.00, four of them are handmade and irreplaceable to me so I get a little crazy about their welfare or as I like to remind everybody, "Guitars are people too!".



bigboki said:


> looks and sounds beautifully, I really like the way how song / guitar was presented.
> thanks for the post and info


I agree. Jason Simpson has a series of videos on youtube chronicling the building of this guitar. The video in the OP is the final instalment of it.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Gorgeous tone!, But i would never spend that much cash unless i was a millionaire


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

knight_yyz said:


> Gorgeous tone!, But i would never spend that much cash unless i was a millionaire


 So if you were a millionaire, would the Lady Eire guitar be at the top of your acquisition list? If I was to suddenly become a millionaire (you know.....win the lottery) the first things I'd do would be commission guitars from Bruce Petros and our own G.W. Barry.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

Gorgeous guitar. Love it. I'm a frugal hunter so n I wouldn't. id enjoy playing it oh yeah.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Beautiful instrument, wow!

If money were no object, absolutely.
Stunning inlay work, I can see the value to an extent.
I also have Celtic roots!


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

It is nice to see good craftsmanship still


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I said I would never spend that much cash on a guitar. I don't recall saying "Oh Boy I love that guitar I have to get me one".


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

knight_yyz said:


> I said I would never spend that much cash on a guitar. I don't recall saying "Oh Boy I love that guitar I have to get me one".


Understood. I was really just asking how you'd rate the Lady Eire compared to other acoustic guitars you like. Although I think it's a mighty fine instrument, per my previous post, I'd still opt for a Petros or a G.W. Barry instead. Particularly in light of the cost of the Lady Eire.


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## Tarbender (Apr 7, 2006)

Question; Do all of Jason Simpson's guitars command that much money? Or did someone just fall head and heels over this exquisite piece of sonic art and want it at any price?


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I'm sure are a lot of luthiers out there making comparable guitars. But at that price I'm not even looking. Sure it sounds amazing but 20k amazing? Not in my books


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

Tarbender said:


> Question; Do all of Jason Simpson's guitars command that much money? Or did someone just fall head and heels over this exquisite piece of sonic art and want it at any price?


No.The Lady Eire guitar was a special project incorporating a proprietary inlay system Simpson called 3D inlay and the very top grades of Engelmann spruce and Koa. This particular guitar was advertised and sold by Jason Simpson on the Acoustic Guitar Forum for the price I quoted in the OP. Currently Jason is not taking anymore orders so his website is down. You can however follow him on FaceBook at Simpson Guitars.
Here's a link to another one of his guitars that sold for much less at the Guitar Gallery in Nashville (I think).
https://www.gbase.com/gear/simpson-sj-on-sale-brazilian-rosewood


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

Just to follow up on Tarbender's question. There are several boutique luthiers now commanding prices well above $20,000.00 U.S.. Bruce and Matt Petros, Jeff Traugott, Jim Olson, and Kevin Ryan in the States, Michael Greenfield and Grit Laskin here in Canada to name a few. However; the vast majority of boutique builders charge way less. Nor would I make the claim that the priciest guitars are necessarily the best, regardless of whether they are the product of a one person boutique shop or mass produced in a huge factory.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/msd/5372776908.html

Personally, I can't imagine how wealthy I'd have to be before I could justify guitars like this. Point of diminishing returns. Maybe never playing anything like this is my savior, as I'd be quite happy with a D35H for about 20% of that.


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

High/Deaf said:


> http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/msd/5372776908.html
> 
> Personally, I can't imagine how wealthy I'd have to be before I could justify guitars like this. Point of diminishing returns. Maybe never playing anything like this is my savior, as I'd be quite happy with a D35H for about 20% of that.


That is a magnificent looking Lowden and a bargain to boot!


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

Oops! I read the price incorrectly in the craigslist add. Checked it out on the Bluedog Guitars website and discovered the cost of that particular Lowden F50 is really the better part of $25,000.00. There does seem to be a growing disconnect between reality and the price of handmade guitars or is it just another case of "this is what the market will bear"?


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Guyfrets said:


> That is a magnificent looking Lowden and a bargain to boot!


I just about shat..............before I read the next post.


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

High/Deaf said:


> I just about shat..............before I read the next post.


Yeah, me too when I realized I was off on the price by 10x!!!!


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## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

High/Deaf said:


> http://vancouver.craigslist.ca/van/msd/5372776908.html
> 
> Personally, I can't imagine how wealthy I'd have to be before I could justify guitars like this. Point of diminishing returns. Maybe never playing anything like this is my savior, as I'd be quite happy with a D35H for about 20% of that.


Blue Dog Guitars is a purveyor of many very fine and expensive guitars, they also sell what the average GC member might feel more comfortable owning. I purchased a Art&Lutherie folk CW from them two years back, just one of many affordable guitars they sell. I gotta tell ya them big dollar ones are sure nice to eyeball but I'm so damn clumsy I'd be afraid to pick one up to try.


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

High/Deaf said:


> Personally, I can't imagine how wealthy I'd have to be before I could justify guitars like this. Point of diminishing returns. Maybe never playing anything like this is my savior, as I'd be quite happy with a D35H for about 20% of that.


It looks like fine, handcrafted guitars are starting to catch up to violins,violas and cellos in terms of cost. I worked with a string ensemble a few years ago. Consider that a vintage Stradivari or Guarneri violin can run up into the millions and a mid-level used cellos start at about $100,000.00.



fredyfreeloader said:


> Blue Dog Guitars is a purveyor of many very fine and expensive guitars, they also sell what the average GC member might feel more comfortable owning. I purchased a Art&Lutherie folk CW from them two years back, just one of many affordable guitars they sell. I gotta tell ya them big dollar ones are sure nice to eyeball but I'm so damn clumsy I'd be afraid to pick one up to try.


Yes, I shouldn't have been surprised to see a prime grade Brazilian Rosewood Lowden F50 with arm bevel etc, for a hair breadth shy of $25,000.00 at Blue Dog Guitars but alas, my eyes deceived me. (There's an often repeated old story, LOL).


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

I know what you mean, Guy. One time, I went to bed with Lowden D50 and woke up with an Ovation Celebrity. I guess it coulda been worse, it coulda been an Applause.


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

High/Deaf said:


> I know what you mean, Guy. One time, I went to bed with Lowden D50 and woke up with an Ovation Celebrity. I guess it coulda been worse, it coulda been an Applause.


Love the Applause allusion. Wasn't it a kind of Zellers take on Ovation Guitars?


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## StratCat (Dec 30, 2013)

Beautiful instrument. These types of builds (Linda Manzer included - 2003 Nylon string for $19k US on her website right now) are on a completely different playing field than mass produced instruments and very much in line with other types of quality stringed instruments. I recall reading an article in Premier Guitar about the cost of acoustic guitars and the writer made reference to professional orchestral musicians who wouldn't have a chance at an audition if they didn't show up with an instrument valued in the 10s of thousands of dollars. 

In 1994, I played a $5k Larrivee at an acoustic guitar shop in Spokane Washington and recall thinking that I would never play electric again after that experience. The quality of the tone was, pardon the pun, electrifying, as were the reverberations through my chest. For a professional musician or collector who is wealthy, the cost of this would be a drop in the bucket. Think of someone like Sting or his guitarist Dominic Miller. Well, maybe not Sting - He's Scottish! Why wouldn't a musician at that level have something like this? Especially considering the millions of dollars spent on non musical items such as mansions, yachts, and cars.

Picture this though - jump ahead 100 years and someone pulls out a dusty guitar case that their eccentric great uncle owned and had stashed away in some (humidity controlled  storage room and opens it to find this.....


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

StratCat said:


> Beautiful instrument.
> For a professional musician or collector who is wealthy, the cost of this would be a drop in the bucket. Think of someone like Sting or his guitarist Dominic Miller. Well, maybe not Sting - He's Scottish! Why wouldn't a musician at that level have something like this? Especially considering the millions of dollars spent on non musical items such as mansions, yachts, and cars.


Although I'm not a pop star like Sting, I am a lifelong professional musician and have built up a small stable of quality handmade guitars. Two of my classical guitars (an M. Kohno and a custom built P. Daniels) have German Spruce tops and Brazilian Rosewood back and sides. The purchase dates of these guitars predate CITES so cost nowhere near todays prices. My latest acquisition is a steel string PRS Private Stock Angelus (see page 26 of the thread "Let's See Your Acoustics in this Guitars Canada Forum). I bought it 2nd hand so got a great deal but even at full freight and brand new it was far less than the prices quoted for many boutique shop guitars today. Interestingly, at the time I came upon the PRS I had already contacted one of this country's foremost boutique luthiers (G.W. Barry) with the intention of comdrmissioning a custom build from him. The wait time was going to be 18 months and in the meantime I met and fell in love with the aforementioned PRS Angelus. I'd still love to commission a G.W. Barry but, like I said earlier, I'm not a pop star. BTW - Both Tony McManus and Martin Simpson are endorsees who play PRS Private Stock acoustic guitars so I'm in pretty good company vis-a-vis my Angelus.
All that said, CITES is one big reason for the recent jump in prices. Another reason is the inverse market response to the saturation of the high end market. The point I'm trying to make is that most professional players are not pop stars and have nowhere near the disposable cash of a Drake, Adele, Sting, Paul McCartney etc., yet like the orchestral musicians you reference in your post we still need the best instruments we can find to compete. Its becoming more of a conundrum for guitarists as the prices demanded for our instrument start to line-up closer to its orchestral cousins. At the end of the day I'm lucky to have the quality guitars I do for the prices I paid.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Certainly a beautiful guitar. But would I pay $30,000.00 CDN for it. I don't think my conscience would allow that. But it would be a lovely guitar to have.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm not an acoustic player but that guitar is stunning and sounds incredible. Is it worth the money? Obviously it was to someone, that's all that matters. My guitar "limit" is around $2500 CAN. Anything more expensive than that and you're not getting what you pay for, at least in my book  I buy guitars to play, not look at, I'd be terrified of damaging the lady Eire.


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## Guyfrets (Aug 20, 2012)

davetcan said:


> I'm not an acoustic player but that guitar is stunning and sounds incredible. I'd be terrified of damaging the lady Eire.


Me too but I'd still love to have her in my stable.


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## albert (Apr 15, 2009)

A very beautiful guitar with a sound to match. If I was thinking of buying another guitar and I had the cash, why not? If I bought a new car for $30K people wouldn't think I was nuts. But I am satisfied driving my old car and truck so why not spend it on something special? That guitar is as much art as it is a musical instrument.


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