{"id":126935,"date":"2021-12-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=126935"},"modified":"2023-05-31T20:09:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T03:09:24","slug":"great-acoustics-buck-currans-long-lost-2009-sobell-model-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/great-acoustics-buck-currans-long-lost-2009-sobell-model-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Acoustics: Buck Curran\u2019s Long Lost 2009 Sobell Model 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nearly every guitarist has a yarn about the one that got away. While most end with some degree of regret and longing, singer-songwriter and guitarist Buck Curran\u2019s tale about his 2009 Stefan Sobell Model 1 is more uplifting.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Curran had been fixated on Sobell guitars ever since seeing fingerstyle great <a href=\"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/guitar-talk-martin-simpson-continues-to-draw-inspiration-from-instruments-of-all-kinds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Martin Simpson<\/a> perform on a Butterfly Model 1 back in 1991. Years later, after spending time with a few Sobells that didn\u2019t work out for him for one reason or another\u2014including a stint owning Simpson\u2019s Butterfly\u2014Curran decided to commission a custom Sobell.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Curran is also a luthier\u2014he worked for Dana Bourgeois from 2002\u20132009\u2014and he had specific ideas about what he wanted in a guitar. The instrument would have a top made of bearclaw-figured red spruce that Curran had handpicked in Maine, along with a particularly nice set of Madagascar rosewood back and sides from Sobell\u2019s prized tonewood reserves. Curran requested that the back be made from four joined pieces, rather than the customary two, for improved stability. He went with Sobell\u2019s Sicilian Model 1 shape, which splits the difference between a 000 and a dreadnought, and eagerly awaited the instrument\u2019s completion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter\" data-effect=\"slide\"><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container\"><ul class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper\"><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"2009-Sobell-Model-1-full-front-Photo-Blue-G-Tokyo-Japan\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-126881\" data-id=\"126881\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r01.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r01.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 682w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r01.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r01.jpg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r01.jpg?w=750&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"2009-Sobell-Model-1-full-back-Photo-Blue-G-Tokyo-Japan\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-126880\" data-id=\"126880\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r02.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r02.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 682w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r02.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r02.jpg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r02.jpg?w=750&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"2009-Sobell-Model-1-headstock-front-Photo-Blue-G-Tokyo-Japan\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-126884\" data-id=\"126884\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r06.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r06.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 682w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r06.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r06.jpg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r06.jpg?w=750&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"2009-Sobell-Model-1-headstock-back-Photo-Blue-G-Tokyo-Japan\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-126885\" data-id=\"126885\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r07.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r07.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 682w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r07.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r07.jpg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r07.jpg?w=750&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"2009-Sobell-Model-1-front-Photo-Blue-G-Tokyo-Japan\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-126882\" data-id=\"126882\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r03.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r03.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 682w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r03.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r03.jpg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r03.jpg?w=750&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"682\" height=\"1024\" alt=\"2009-Sobell-Model-1-back-Photo-Blue-G-Tokyo-Japan\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-126883\" data-id=\"126883\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r05.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r05.jpg?resize=682%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 682w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r05.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r05.jpg?resize=400%2C600&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/r05.jpg?w=750&amp;ssl=1 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white\" role=\"button\"><\/a><a aria-label=\"Pause Slideshow\" class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause\" role=\"button\"><\/a><div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately, the challenges of being a full-time musician and family man during the Great Recession ended up making it impossible for Curran to take delivery of his completed dream guitar in 2009, so with great sadness he asked Sobell to sell the finished instrument. As it was based on Curran\u2019s particular specs, Sobell had a hard time finding a buyer, and the guitar remained slumbering in his workshop for years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One day out of the blue, in June 2015, Curran received an email from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lutherie.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">luthier Paul Hostetter<\/a>, who had just visited Sobell\u2019s shop and played the Model 1, telling him how great it was\u2014and that he ought to do whatever was needed to own it.&nbsp;When Curran was in a position to buy the guitar a couple years later, he was keenly disappointed to learn that it had already been sold. He then lost track of the instrument, but kept searching for it until April 2021, when it surfaced at Blue-G, a boutique shop in Japan. The guitar was priced out of reach, but Curran had the good fortune to secure it through a last-minute investor in a crowdsourcing effort, and after 12 long years, it was soon in his hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now that he has it, how does it sound? \u201cIt\u2019s super responsive\u2014notes just fly out of it. It has huge, complex fundamental tones with plenty of gorgeous overtones,\u201d Curran says. \u201cI feel incredibly fortunate to finally have this guitar, and I\u2019m looking forward to recording some improvised guitar instrumentals with it as soon as possible.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"display: inline-block; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px; margin: -5px 5% 0px 5%;\"><hr><a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/collections\/back-issues\/products\/no-332-january-february-2022\"><br><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 150px; height: 198px; margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/001_332_Cover_150px.jpg?w=1290&#038;ssl=1\"><\/a>\n<p style=\"font-family: sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px 0px;\">This article originally appeared in the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/collections\/back-issues\/products\/no-332-january-february-2022\">January\/February 2022<\/a> issue of <em>Acoustic Guitar<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<hr><\/div> <br clear=\"all\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Singer-songwriter and guitarist Buck Curran\u2019s tale about his 2009 Stefan Sobell Model 1 is more uplifting than some other tales of &#8220;the one that got away.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":126886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"Singer-songwriter and guitarist Buck Curran\u2019s tale about his 2009 Stefan Sobell Model 1 is more uplifting than some other tales of \"the one that got away.\"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1146],"tags":[524,1372],"ppma_author":[1556],"class_list":["post-126935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vintage-and-collectible-guitars","tag-great-acoustics","tag-january-february-2022","post_format-post-format-video"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Buck-Curran-and-2009-Sobell-8May2021.jpg?fit=750%2C563&ssl=1","authors":[{"term_id":1556,"user_id":12,"is_guest":0,"slug":"greg-olwellstringletter-com","display_name":"Greg Olwell","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5e8dada80c5c5ebffe48b5a4cfd35f33?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Olwell","first_name":"Greg","job_title":"","description":"Greg Olwell is <i>Acoustic Guitar<\/i>'s editor-at-large. He plays upright bass in several bands in the San Francisco Bay Area and also enjoys playing ukulele and guitar."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126935"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137611,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126935\/revisions\/137611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126935"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=126935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}