Cole Clark FL1AC

I have the 12 string version of the FL1AC. The only body style is the dreadnought. Mine has the bunya top, spruce is an option. All other features are the same as the 6 string variant reviewed here. I give it 9 as a cutaway version would be cool

Acoustic - Amazing
Through a Class A valve amp, clean with spring line - Amazing
DI into the PA - Amazing

Sounds great,the acoustic sound is a little weaker since I lightened the strings but this has made it much easier for me to play

Some people remove the high pitched G string making it an 11 string guitar. I guess that's a matter of preference, I like the 'jangle' created by having the highest pitched string near the middle

Mine was 2nd hand 3 or 4 years old, the set-up seemed fine, I had it professionally set-up by Pete Jenkins in Adelaide. The action is now lower then most would want but still a very good compromise between speed on the fretboard and open chord hooleys. The finish is very good. The Bunya top has a huge knot in it above the sound hole, if I was buying one new (for twice what I paid) I may choose differently. These guitars are not about 'bookmatched' material but plenty of attention to detail has gone into it's manufacture

Seems robust enough. The guitar is fairly delicate and light, I've never tried to look after a guitar before, I just play them, most of mine are 30 years old (Yamaha SG, Westbury Standards, Yamaha FG415 etc.) This guitar was in mint condition as a 2nd hand guitar a few years old I'm trying (with varying degrees of success) to keep it that way.

I will mark it down as the jack entry point is via the side of the guitar, I'm not sure how well reinforced it is around this area, but I'm guessing not enough. Entry via the strap lock where there is already a hole would seem more logical. I suggest always looping the lead through the strap before plugging into the guitar, this will avoid the need to test my theory

I have had no need to contact CC. However - I did a fair bit of research and everyone who has dealt with them has been impressed with the level of after sales support given

I have never owned a quality 12 string. This is way beyond the sound and build of anything else I own

My Cole Clark has a carved Bunya top and Queensland Maple Back and sides. It is a Dreadnought. It comes with a cutaway but I opted for traditinal square shoulders.
It has Grover Tuners. The guitar is 25.5" standard scale with a 1 3/4"nut. It has a rosewood finger board on a maple neck.
The guitar is ALL solid wood. It has a piezo pickup under the bridge and a sound board pick up. It comes with three band EQ and pick up fader. It even includes an ABS hardshell case.
And one of the coolest headsocks I have ever seen.

This guitar has a rich full sound. I play mostly country rythmn guitar and I love this. It is now my main axe.

I had an old JB Player that I loved. This guitar just spanks it both plugged and unplugged. It is brighter and bassier at the same time.

The sound is a little unique, but it is very rich and woody.
What sold me on this guitar was its sound.

My guitar was a blemished. It has a thin brown painted line outlining the sound board. Mine was smeered at the base of the guitar. The dealer knocked about $300 from the price. The blemish doesn't bother me at all. It looks and sounds great.

The Guitar has no Binding. It looks cool this way. And I would not want the people at Cole Clark to do anything that would alter its superiour sound. I am not lying, I am not sure whether I like this or the Marin D28 more. They have different sounds, but both are very appealing to my ears.

It is still very new. It seems very well constructed. Because it is solid wood I would take extra care with this insrument. I use a humidifier and for the most part if I am not playing it, it is in its case.

It comes with a one year warranty. I have never dealt with Cole Clark, but I bought this guitar at Eckroth Music in Bismarck, ND. They are a very reputible and reliable outfit. They repaired neck problems in my Tele and were very kind and hepful. I know they will back up this guitar.

Bob at Eckroth told me that Cole Clark is a very good company.

Right know it is my favorite acoustic. My favorite thing about this guitar is the sound. They have a more "dressed up" model in the Fat Lady 2. But I like the elegant simplicity of this guitar.
I chose this guitar for the sound. The reasonable price, and former dealings with Eckroth influenced my decision, but what sold me was the superior sound of this instrument.

Hey team this is a quality product what they tell you on their site is what you get awesome stuff. Mine was made in March 2008 and is a young "girlie" not a lady yet maybe but you can tell its class!
All solid timber dreadnought with internally carved top and back
Natural satin finish The internal carving is a brilliant innovation and already my friends are going wow!!!
Neck- Qld Maple
Top- Solid Bunya or ???A??? grade solid spruce top, mine is Bunya and looks absolutely beautiful I call her my Blonde Fat Lady
Solid Bunya, Qld Maple or blackwood back and sides, Mine is Maple and looks so silky smooth
Inlaid timber face edge and rosette.
Solid rosewood bridge and fingerboard
Grover Machine Heads , perfection who expects better

This will suit almost any style I imagine, depending on plugged vs unplugged, both are winners. The variable control is huge between the innovative face brace systemn and the saddle piezos. The bass on unplugged is almost too much plugged you need to use the variable slider to control that beast. Likes dislike.. absolutely none to date. I've now heard a range of Folk to Classical to Classic Rock played on my Blond Lady and she scores a definite 10 every time. I own 5 other axes and this one take the biscuit. The sound all important is what won me over buying this axe without doing my compulsory review before purchase. I was blinded by its beautiful resonance.

Action was out of the box perfect for me, might be low for some but hey what the heck, other reviewers say high you can't win this arguement!
Forget traditional bookmatching its all about quality of sound with these guys and you need to read their site to understand the new approach. Its about wood quality not just soley about aesthetics, but my Blone Lady looks absolutely Fabulous. This site lacks in the inability to post pics, cos then you can see what we talk about. Finish (nitro vs polyvs UV etc) well I asked the question of them and got a very positive response from Brad Cole himself and I think you need to ask yourself but hey He replied in plain Aussie vernacular and stood behind his product, Good On Ya Mate is all I can say

Hey I've had it a week, I will most likely never play live, although I have an invite to play next month. I was a little bit apprehensive as Brad Clark will testify, he personally advised its a similar finish to Matons and Taylors etc You can't complain about hardware, its all quality if you want gold tuners then you can proably have them if you order a custom version, mine has chrome Grovers quality Nut and Saddle. Ive used a strap and the buttons seemed solid as. Relatively short ownership but... you do get a feel for quality ... and this ooozes that personified. I have already used it at my guitar club solo .. no back up! I gave a 9 cos I would be remiss to comment on its longevity with the finer thinner finish, but hey that a compromise for a beautiful thing

My Blonde Fat lady is too young to need repairing, but when I sent an email to Cole CClark I got a personal response stating "Warranty against workmanship/ parts failure is ongoing." You can't expect better than that!

My dealings have been exceptional, Brad Clark himself took time to answer my queries and also respond to my almost arrogant advice. I now have no concerns about future issues. This company is going places. Unfortunatly I can only give a 10 rating they need a plus ++

I've been playing for over a more seriously for a decade now, I own an Alhambra dreadnought an Epiphone PR400 lamintate, an Epiphone Rivirea Elite 6 string a Takamine EF400 12 String a Johnston Chicago Blues R200 resonator and Fender and Ashdown amps. Not wanting to sound negative but it was an after thought the 'Case Candy' was missing, plus the info and warranty was just not there I had to contact the Company direct to get reassurance (which they did immediately) I'd immediately replace this guitar with anothe fat lady, it has character, I love the variable sounds plugged and I love the resonance unplugged. I looked at takamine and Martins before choosing this beauty. I go a nine cos the marketing crap wasn't great at the dealers end.

Spruce Top, Blackwood back and sides Queensland Maple neck with rosewood fretboard and Bridge. Three piece neck built into body with truss rod.

This guitar has a deep warm tone when strummed heavily however strings do buzz when played hard needs adjustment strings are too low for my style of playing sound is very colorful and lots of range depending on the pressure applied to the strings. I dont normally write reviews however I did find them helpful while shopping for an affordable quality made guitar the Fat Lady is what I came up with I A and B tested the Fat Lady 1 Cutaway against the Maton EM325C I found Unpugged both rich sonding pieces of wood both very well made but plugged in to an amplifier the Fat Lady Sang all the right tumes for me with out any false bass or rattles. I was very impressed and bought the Lady home to sing to me.

Action for me was set too low I am by no means a professional and felt the action was perfect for someone who played fast notes and also picking. I will wait for the timber to settle for a couple of months then I will take it to my Luthier to adjust the neck and raise the action for my heavy hand open chords to oscillate. For a professional player the neck may be straighten.This guitar is made with a lot of love you can tell by the way the body is built around the neck. And the detail thats gone into the neck. No sign of glue and niceley finished edges with very simple designs and a satin finish. I will probably change the strings from D'addarios to Elixiars or Ernie Ball probably go to 12s for no buzz. No bells and whistles like binding or inlays plain to look at but its a real nice simplicity. Very unique looking guitar.

For live playing this guitar whales. The guitar is very light weight and comfortable to play standing even with my short arms and fingers.The strap buttons are well placed and fitted strong grover tuners, even with new stings stays in tune for quite some time I feel this guitar will get better with age. I believe all quality instruments need care and use with common sense no matter how fragile or how tuff they are. I will look after this one because she is beautiful. No need for a back up at all unless you like smashing guitars during the show, she's tuff enough.

Website is fantastic for tips and things to be aware of and you can call the manufacturers in Melbourne any time. I think that is cool.

I have been playing guitar off and on for 20 years I also own a Washburn D22E kind of a collector love it> It also has a solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides although totally different sounding guitar I have played the Maton Messiah, EM325C, EM225C the Taylor 314 I have played Gibson's and boutique guitars like Hollingworth or Blue Note all I would say are brilliant. The Fat Lady is also just as beautiful and in a class and style of her own. I often get frustrated with people telling me what's better or what they think is the best at times I have used very expensive guitars in the studio and found a lot of disappointment. The Fat Lady 1 Cutaway performed beautifully in my home studio so many choices in sound Di'D. If you are shopping for this guitar make the decision with an A and B test or even try three Guitars in the same store for me it was the only choice for quality, sound, live work and price after shopping around for about three months. I hope this review was helpful and thank you to all those Cole Clark supporters who helped me make the decision.

All solid timber dreadnought with internally carved top and back
Natural satin finish
Neck- Qld Maple
Top- Solid Bunya top
Back & Sides- Solid Blackwood back and sides
Inlaid timber face edge and rosette.
Solid rosewood bridge and fingerboard
Grover Machine Heads
Pick Up- Dual Input pick up is Piezo type, bridge mounted and top plate sensor.
Cutaway

Made in Australia.

I mainly use steel string acoustic guitars for the clean, acoustic passages in my Prog-metal epics... Think the clean sections of bands like Opeth, Spock's Beard, Symphony X, kind of a darker sound, which this guitar suits. The combination of Bunya and Blackwood gives a very dark, bass heavy sound, as opposed to something like Spruce which is quite bright in its sound. It still has enough power in the higher register for acoustic lead breaks and the like, making it quite a versatile instrument.

This guitar arrived in immaculate condition, excellent setup, beautiful piece of timber, lovely grain. The Blackwood is extremely dark, looks almost stained, but is purely the wood finish, it looks absolutely amazing, and the Bunya top has a lot of character to it as well. The frets feel the tiniest bit rough along the bottom of the neck, but hardly any problems at all.

The guitar seems extremely robust, and the construction is top notch. The hardware is by Grover, and so is of the highest quality, no problems there. I would definately use it at gigs.

Another advantage is that with the use of Bunya, which is an Australian timber, the guitar will be less susseptible to warping, as the wood is used to Australian climate.

Absolutely brilliant customer support, I haven't had any problems with this guitar, but on another the pickup wasn't working, so I rang up and they organised to send another in the post that day. The CEO, Bradley Clark, who is still heavily involved in the design and construction of the actual instruments, is also more than happy to answer questions, and has personally replied to emails in the past.

I've been playing for a few years now, and also play Classical Guitar and Progressive-Metal Guitar, and this guitar covers all of my needs in the steel-string acoustic guitar department. If I lost it I would definately be replacing it with the same model. I love the sound of the instrument acoustically, as well as through the pickup system, they've really succeeded in keeping the purity of tone while plugged into an amp.

I've compared these Cole Clarks with other brands such as Maton Guitars, and Martin Guitars, and in my opinion none of these other guitars have the same quality and features in the same price bracket, the Cole Clark both sounds superior and is better value for money.

In all I am very satisfied with this guitar, thankyou Cole Clark!