A1
Art Davis on the inspiration behind the A1
The A1 came as we were just forming A. Davis Guitars. Carl, Chris and the 'marketeers' needed another model. We couldn't be a guitar company with just two models!
I took this design that had been in my head for years - really even before the M1 - and built the guitar in three weeks. I drew up the outline for the top and back, made a paper pattern for the sides and a cardboard mold for the body. I was bending sides on a pipe then, so that was it for the design and jig phase.
The A1 is based on what I would call the state of the art in steel string guitars today. Every modern guitar builder worth his salt has a guitar design of this type. Very elegant and nicely rounded outline. Big enough for real power yet restrained enough to keep the bass from getting carried away as sometimes happens on a dreadnought.
Taylor has one called the Grand Auditorium. Martin has one in the "Triple O" and the "OM" but it [the OM] is a little clunky even though it is again, somehow at the heart of all this.
I don't know if Gibson has one even though Jackson's CF100 can be regarded as a holy grail of sorts soundwise. The L1 [1911] and "O" models [1920's] were early representatives. The sound is ethereal. The brash overtones of the dreadnought are there, if you listen closely. The sweet highs with the sturdy mids; it's all there.
The design of the guitar is meant to simply showcase the woods and materials being used; exhibiting them in their greatest form. The notes and overtones not marked by anything human. Take something great and try not to wreck it... Bravo! Well, at least that's the target we're all shooting for.
If you really want to hear how the A1 performs live, there's a brace of 'em on the Doobie Brothers Live at Wolf Trap DVD. As for the 'A' - it's for Auditorium, Artist, Alpha or all of the above.