Update 2022: My friend Tom bought this back in 2018, but he basically only plays electric, so he dropped it off recently for resale. I've updated the information where necessary, taken new photos, and done a new video. Now back to it...
Since this guitar and its near-identical, maple-backed stablemate have entered the shop floor, they've been turning ears like crazy. These are big-sounding, lush, and loud-as-heck instruments that respond and play more like good J-200s than their Martin M-like shapes would suggest.
This one has walnut back and sides which, in an interesting twist, give it a voice a bit more like a rosewood OM fused to a J-45 -- lots of bottom-end suited to country chording and flatpicking but also a voice that really suits hard fingerpicking with thumbpicks and whatnot. It's very countrified.
It was built by Mr. Glen DeRusha who went under the name "Green Mountain Guitars." Not much is out there on the web about him save some forum posts and hints of repair and building dating from 2008/9 and a little earlier. He obviously knew his way around building guitars as this is put-together just as well as any other boutique Vermont guitar I've seen through the shop and definitely has more personality than most.
I mean: check it out! Engraved inlaid abalone maple leaves run down the neck, "Vermont" is inlaid in the bridge, and there's more pearl trim all around the top edge and soundhole. Add to that flamed-maple binding everywhere and you've got bling-central right here. The absolute icing on the cake is that the headstock bears an inlaid "Tunbridge Worl'ds Fair" -- presumably as a nice excuse to display his guitar at the same-named, excellent, long-running country fair.
Construction-wise it's tight, too, and well-thought-out. It's also been stable as long as I've known it. The only thing I had to do in 4 years is swap the strings and put a measure up to the 12th fret to check the action -- and it hasn't budged.
The body's fairly deep and the top and back are braced a lot like an interpretation of '50s Gibson x-bracing bracing -- hence the direction of its sound, methinks. The neck is bolted-on with over/under, 2-bolt attachment. It's firm.
Repairs included: all I had to do on this was compensate the saddle and give it a good setup. The frets are all good despite very mild fretboard wear and though the truss rod is stiff to turn, it's good to go and has a straight neck and spot-on action.
Condition notes: it's quite clean save for the most minor weather-check to the finish here and there. It also has a few very small dings on the top but I can't even get a good shot of them with the camera. The hardware has aged a little, though, through oxidation.
It comes with: a good hard case. It also has a nice K&K pickup installed so it's ready for the stage. K&K is my pickup of choice for acoustics and they've got good output, they require no batteries, are natural-sounding, and easy to use.
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