Cole Clark is an Australian manufacturer of

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s and other fretted instruments. The company is based in Bayswater,

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 ...

and was founded in 2001. Cole Clark uses unique designs, live pickup technology and have a focus on sustainably sourced timbers.

Materials

Cole Clark guitars are made almost entirely using Australian indigenous timbers. Solid timber is used in preference to plywood. Top timbers span equally across Bunya Pine, Australian Blackwood and Australian Grown Californian Redwood as top sellers, with small numbers of Spruce, Mahogany and Huon Pine. Back and side timbers include Australian Blackwood, Queensland Maple, Silky Oak, European Maple and Maple Silkwood. The company has a commitment to sustainability and have all but replaced endangered fretboard timbers like rosewood and ebony with alternatives such as Blackbean and Sheoak.

Products

Primarily, Cole Clark produce acoustic guitars, but also venture into lapsteels and bass. Previously the company has produced ukeleles and electric guitars. These are currently not in production. The Cole Clark acoustic range includes the FL Dreadnought models in 6 and 12 string, AN grand auditorium and LL travel guitar. The timber combination possibilities mean that the above models have up to 30 different combinations and back and side timber, hence a different product name. FL and AN models are available in 1, 2 and 3 series. Each with varying levels of features. The LL is available only in a 1 and 2 series. In a joint venue with Melbourne bass maker Neil Kennedy, Cole Clark released the ‘LLBN’ electric bass line in 2017. Cole Clark uses a patented ‘3-way’ pickup system that combines three elements (under saddle piezo assembly, face brace sensor, and a condenser mic) that work together, hearing only frequencies they are best equipped to handle to deliver less ‘quack’ and ‘ping’ that the average acoustic pickup and eliminating many of the feedback issues associated with such instruments. In 2019 Cole Clark released a series of Acoustic Guitars with additional Humbucker Pickups as a second output, giving the guitars the ability to switch between acoustic and electric tones as well as blend the two together with the flick of a switch. They come in FL, LL, AN, FL 12 string and the

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signature model. Cole Clark also now produce electric bass guitars designed by Australian bass maker, Neil Kennedy. They come in 4 and 5 string models, produced from entirely sustainably sourced timbers. They feature Aguilar Super Double dual coil humbucker pickups, made in New York USA.

Factory fire

At midday on 27 August 2013, a fire devastated the Cole Clark factory, halting production for almost a year.

Artists

Some notable artists that use and endorse Cole Clark guitars include: * Pete Murray * 5 Seconds of Summer * Walk off the earth *

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* Jack Johnson *

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* Nahko and Medicine for the People *

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* Tim Rogers * James Blundell * Hanne Kah

References

External links