Greg Smallman (born 19 June 1947 in

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

) is the first internationally successful non-traditional Australian guitar-maker. He is known worldwide for his innovative guitar designs''The Classical Guitar Book A Complete History''
published by Backbeat Books''The Twang Dynasty A history of plucked stringed instruments in Australasia from 1836 to 2012''
" published by Boss Publishing Although his guitars are in outward appearance similar to a traditional

Spanish classical guitar Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, there are numerous innovative differences.

Description

Among the differences from the classical Spanish guitar is the use of a high, arched and carved back, which is considerably thicker and heavier than for a conventional guitar. The back is made of Madagascar

rosewood Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated in ...

, while the top is always made of

western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...

. The light weight of the top combined with Smallman's unique system of bracing makes the guitar very responsive to input with a full rounded sound (not thin). The top of Smallman guitars is braced using a "lattice" framework composed of balsa wood and carbon fibre. By contrast, traditional classical guitars use struts made of cedar or spruce arranged in a "fan" shape. The world-renowned

classical guitarists This is a list of classical guitarists. Baroque (17th and 18th centuries) 19th century 20th century https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXAPUbFDFJfxY2qijBIG2Og?view_as=subscriberModern See also * List of flamenco guitarists References ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

, Milos Karadaglic, Xuefei Yang and many others use Greg Smallman guitars. In 1999 the Greg Smallman label changed to Greg Smallman & Sons Damon & Kym. Based for many years in Glen Innes,

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, in 2002 the Smallmans briefly relocated to the Mornington Peninsula outside

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The Greg Smallman and Sons workshop is now located near Esperance,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. They did not have a website till 2012. Greg Smallman is admired for the open way in which he shares his ideas. He does not hide them from fellow

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

s, nor has he patented them. A large number of luthiers worldwide have incorporated Smallman's design innovations into their own guitar designs.

Quotes

Gallery

Image:williams Smallman 2005a.jpg, John Williams playing his Smallman in 2005 Image:Smallman_Rosette.jpg, Smallman Rosette Image:Smallman_Label.jpg, Smallman Label Until 2002

References

External links

Official site

Interview with Greg Smallman, John Williams and Craig Ogden (28 November 2009; Robyn Johnston and David Le May; ABC Radio, IntoTheMusic
audio interview

John Williams; Australian Guitar Journal Interview Australian luthiers Classical guitar makers Living people 1947 births Businesspeople from Sydney {{Australia-music-bio-stub