Isaac Jang OM, 2022

Condition: Straight out of a collection, this beauty is near mint with virtually no signs of being played. It appears to be in the same condition as when it was initially sold by us at CR Guitars in 2022.

As a professional guitarist/musician, avid guitar collector, guitar shop owner, and all-around insane guitar nerd, I have had the great fortune to come across many talented and gifted individuals, musicians, guitarists, and builders. In this realm, something very mysterious and meaningful happens occasionally: you meet someone who stands out and engages you. From the moment you meet them, you know they will be a star in their field. Their talent shines, and their enthusiasm sparkles like a diamond. It brightens when they enter a room, and their passion for what they do lingers well after they've left. You just feel better having met them. Best of all, they deliver the goods. Isaac Jang is one of those exceptional, unique, uplifting talents. From the moment I met him and played his guitars, I knew this young lion of a builder was going to be a rock star. And deliver the goods he does, big time: Isaac's Cocobolo OM is just an extraordinary guitar.

Isaac's build philosophy is very wood-centric. Where some builders dominate the build materials and twist and turn the wood to achieve their desired sound, Jang lets the wood speak for itself. That is what impressed me tonally about this recent OM. I could hear the cocobolo come through, that rich reverb-like sweetness with power to spare. Its open, woody resonance and sophisticated timbres are inspiring.

Having studied with Kathy Wingert for ten years, Issac learned about tone and how to make a guitar play and feel just right. Perfect neck, perfect frets - damn, he nailed the whole thing. And if that's not enough, its visual impact is just as stunning. Just step back and look at this fine, inspired instrument. It's just beautiful. Every part is exactly where it should be: the Uchida cutaway, the Manzer wedge - all the extra crafted excellence that makes a great guitar even better.

There's only one problem here: getting a Jang at all. It's become challenging because his reputation has skyrocketed. If you see one, give it a whirl. And a note for Isaac himself: keep on keeping on - that's what rock stars do.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.

ABOUT ISAAC JANG GUITARS
In the mid-to-late 2000s Isaac Jang was simultaneously studying business management at California State University, was a guitar repair and restoration expert at Westwood Music and was serving an apprenticeship with famed luthier Kathy Wingert, a combination that helped him understand guitar construction and set him up with the tools to open his own business. Today, Jang's 200 square foot shop, housed in a historic, early-20th-century building in Hollywood, is so painstakingly uncluttered it could be part of a design magazine spread on tiny workshops. And Jang, now 28, has made a splash with his brilliant, meticulously crafted flattops: modern dreadnoughts, OMs, 00s, and small jumbos that sound great and play flawlessly. His guitars are strictly handmade, brilliantly ergonomic, and stunningly elegant. Jang's philosophy is wood-centric. "I like to have the wood speak for itself," he says. "I'm more of a designer who manipulates some parts to let the wood sing."