It's no news that Jon Gomm, the mastermind behind an intricate style of percussive fingerstyle acoustic guitar, has one of the most extensive arsenals of extended techniques around.
Nevertheless, a recently released playthrough video of Deep Sea Fishes, a track taken from his 2020 debut album The Faintest Idea, has once again served to highlight the jaw-dropping nature of Gomm's compositional skills, and showcases the 43-year-old's dazzling fretboard athleticism in all its glory.
Wielding his meticulously crafted Ibanez JGM10 acoustic guitar, which was purpose-built for Gomm’s specialist style of playing, the modern fingerstyle maestro eases listeners in with a simple one-note tapping drone that rings out over a body-spanning percussion line, before enveloping, drop-tuned strums add an extra layer of sonic intrigue.
Turns out, the opening exchanges only scratch the surface of the track, which then launches into a mind-boggling verse riff that introduces a complex melodic passage composed from two-hand tapping sequences, chime-y harmonic trills and a percussive line, all of which are executed at the same time with elite precision.
There’s a solo in there, too, though words struggle to describe just exactly what Gomm does. Take a look for yourself in the video above.
Before the axe was released earlier this year, Gomm told Guitar World that he hoped his signature would bridge a gap for those looking to get into the modern fingerstyle genre but are unable to find a suitable instrument.
"The problem with a lot of guitars that me and my peers who are well-known fingerstyle guitar players have is that we're playing guitars that are quite difficult to get," he commented. "They're maybe handmade in a very small workshop and they don't make many guitars. It's really hard to get them."
“Hopefully this style of playing will become more popular, because people will be able to get a guitar that’s designed for it."
To find out more about Jon Gomm’s signature JGM10, head over to Ibanez.
