Auden emily rose & artist austin
Boutique feel and features at a midmarket price? We find out if Auden’s poised and polished guitars are giant slayers in the ‘serious acoustic’ stakes
one of the few Guitarist Gold awards we handed out last year went to Auden’s cracking Austin 12-string acoustic, so it was with a keen sense of anticipation that we took delivery of the six-string version – the Austin Artist, along with an intriguing parlour acoustic named the Emily Rose. Both guitars are made with Auden’s hybrid build process, in which the woodwork is done in a small nine-luthier workshop in China, but the final neck-set, finishing and setup is completed at Auden’s HQ here in the UK at Higham Ferrers in Northampton.
You wouldn’t necessarily notice straight away that the Austin we have in our hands now is almost the same guitar as the 12-string we tested last year. The latter’s stealthy ‘smokehouse’ finish is replaced here
by a more conventional spruce top look with opulent appointments.
“It’s the posh version,” comments Auden founder Doug Sparkes. “It’s got a new mother-of-pearl headstock logo, solid mahogany back and sides, triple-A grade spruce top, plus an African mahogany neck with an ebony faceplate on the headstock.”
It’s still pretty much the same 14-frets-to-the-body design as the 12-string Austin, however, with an hourglass outline that falls somewhere between a (very) round shouldered dreadnought and an OM, though Doug says that the “bout of the Artist was extended slightly, so we could get the bracing a bit further down inside to help with bottom-end response”, adding that “it also has the wonderful Brad Clark Supernatural pickup system”.
We’ll come back to that pickup system in a bit as it’s exclusive to Auden in the UK and the company think it’s a game-changer. Before we come to that, though, let’s turn our attention to the second Auden on test, the parlour-size Emily Rose, which is a 12-frets-to-the-body model with, in this particular variant, an AAA-grade cedar top.
A ‘boutique parlour’ vibe is evident from the moment we open the case. The guitar’s crisply slotted headstock has a lustrous ebony faceplate and its rosewood back and sides have a clear, attractive grain pattern. Like the Austin, the Emily Rose has real ebony binding with maple purfling that adorns the sides, top and back of the guitar as well as the centre joint of the back. It’s a classy look and beautifully executed, especially as the binding is made from individual strips of wood, not a pre-glued binding/purfling composite. The Austin has a near-identical binding scheme to the Emily Rose, except with what looks like mahogany taking the place of ebony as the thickest outer layer. A final important detail is that the body of the Emily Rose is increased in depth, around 5mm, to “allow the sound to develop a little bit more in the guitar”, Doug says.
Turning our attention to the necks of the guitars, which are African mahogany, the Austin sports a fullish C profile with an accentuated peak that gives it just a touch of a ‘V’ feel. The headstock of the Austin is joined to the neck with a neat scarf joint, while the edge of the fretboard is subtly but
A ‘boutique parlour’ vibe is evident from the moment we open the case… it’s a classy look that’s beautifully executed
beautifully bound with maple and ebony. Discreet but effective small-dot markers help you find your way around and evoke an understated 30s vibe.
The Emily Rose, meanwhile, has a more gently rounded, shallow-C neck profile – a very pleasant and easy profile in the hand – and, again, there’s more of that subtle fingerboard binding to add a touch of class. Doug says that the 2019 line of Auden acoustics features rolled-in fingerboard edges and the inobtrusive played-in feel of the neck lip would seem to confirm that. Build quality on both guitars is very high and we have to look very hard to find any flaws. The B string binds slightly in the nut of the Emily Rose during tuning, but it’s nothing a little lubricant wouldn’t fix.
Feel & sounds
And so onto the sounds. Starting with the Austin, then, we begin with a little fingerpicking and are rewarded with a honey-sweet yet articulate voice that sets the tone for what this guitar is all about. The foundation of its voice is a supple, mellow midrange that has abundant warmth but great definition, too. The Austin has less ‘woof’ than a dreadnought but more bass than many OMs, and striking a few hard chords shows that the sweetness and
balance don’t collapse when you push the guitar, either – the projection and clarity is excellent and if you’re looking for a different take on what a great ‘all-rounder’ acoustic guitar can be, you should try this.
The Emily Rose, meanwhile, is deceptively deep of voice. Don’t expect a D-45, but there’s more composure and depth here than we have a right to expect from a parlour. Its 44mm width at the nut – a shade wider than that of the Austin – is great for fingerstyle and in that mode it yields up a round, airy voice with an emphasis on the warm, focused low-end yielded up by that cedar/rosewood build. Strumming doesn’t overwhelm it – there’s a strong bass push and good clarity, though not quite on a par with that of the Austin.
Now to the Supernatural pickup system, which is fitted to both guitars. This is a new system developed by Bradley Clark who is the ‘Clark’ part of noted Australian guitar maker Cole Clark. Clark’s research suggested that a standard under-saddle piezo ribbon was prone to vibration that caused fizzy midrange and loss of clarity. Clark’s solution was a new system that gives each string its own piezo ‘polepiece’ and “listens to the under-saddle [area] but also the soundboard”. Fitting the Supernatural pickup is a more serious luthiery operation than with a standard piezo, so it’s only available ready-fitted on Auden’s guitars.
The Supernatural pickup is controlled via a proprietary preamp just inside the soundhole, which has three EQ sliders for bass, mid and treble; a Total Volume slider; and a mode button. The latter cycles through four EQ presets that Auden says are “tuned” to different playing styles that Doug defines as “thick strum”, “finger-pick”, “solo” and “thin strum”. You cycle between presets by pushing the button, which flashes once for Preset 1, twice for 2 and so on. It’s not hugely intuitive, but simple enough once you know the drill. Moving the sliders overrides the currently selected preset. Intrigued, we plug in the Austin first. Using an AER Compact 60 combo, we soon discover that the presets offer useful ‘speed dial’ EQ settings, though Auden’s idea of what each preset is best for doesn’t necessarily match our own preferences. For example, we liked the ‘Thin Strum’ setting on the Austin for fingerstyle.
the emily rose has a round, airy voice and strumming doesn’t overwhelm it – there’s a strong bass push and good clarity
No matter, that’s up to the individual and you can adjust EQ to taste with the sliders anyway. More importantly, the core sound does indeed seem to offer something fresh – a subtle but palpable increase in space and air around each note and a more natural voicing through the amp. More of a revelation is what happens when we plug in the Emily Rose: its bass-rich voice really blooms through the amp and gives a wonderfully expansive, natural sound that we’d be happy to use on any stage.
Verdict
No question, these are fine guitars and well priced. Both also have a USP to boast of in the highly effective Supernatural pickup system. The Emily Rose gets our vote as a stage guitar for the fingerstyle player or singer-songwriter. Its small body and stellar plugged-in voice make it perfect in this role and its size will also please players who want a smaller form-factor without sacrificing tone. It doesn’t sound quite like a typical plunky parlour, however, which might not suit some retro-minded players.
But it’s the Austin that we’d choose as a lifelong acoustic companion. Its mellow voice should mature beautifully with age and enhance its already attractive sound into something very special indeed.