Have a Few Bob, fancied my Dream Acoustic
- Thread starter Si74
- Start date
Just chanced on a used (mint) wee Taran for sale in Singapore. Sheer bargain at 20K? Same shop has hand made things I have never heard off but watching listening to the videos,
maybe 20K is the starting point for something really special
Probably just buy four things that appeal visually and let my pal set them up to sing.
Always thought selling my Pride and Joy of 30 years would leads to qualms as to which car to buy next. Thing at the door does it all so it seems like a load of geetars coming my way.
Not going down well indoors " How many bl--dy guitars do you need".. at least she didn't add, you can't play any of them!
maybe 20K is the starting point for something really special
Probably just buy four things that appeal visually and let my pal set them up to sing.Always thought selling my Pride and Joy of 30 years would leads to qualms as to which car to buy next. Thing at the door does it all so it seems like a load of geetars coming my way.
Not going down well indoors " How many bl--dy guitars do you need".. at least she didn't add, you can't play any of them!
Well finally picked up a K.Yairi dreadnought I'd been eyeing up for a long time. Got an offer of 500 quid off the price so
thought I'd chance it. Was dubious about Koa back and sides but delighted with it. Not the bass of Rosewood but really balanced across
the frequency range. Rings like bells, sustains forever and a dream to play. Well, a narrower neck than I'm used to but can adapt to that.
thought I'd chance it. Was dubious about Koa back and sides but delighted with it. Not the bass of Rosewood but really balanced across
the frequency range. Rings like bells, sustains forever and a dream to play. Well, a narrower neck than I'm used to but can adapt to that.
ff1d1l
pfm Member
I don't visit guitar shops often, but I was up in Edinburgh last week, tried out some acoustics.
Best thing I played, and by some margin IMHO, was a Martin 'Authentic' 1937 000-18. This is a close copy reverse engineered from a guitar in the Martin collection, I believe, and is true enough to the original to use hide glue, and eschew a truss rod in favour of a T bar neck reinforcement. A diamond volute on the back of the neck to head join, nice to see. Dark high quality ebony fingerboard and bridge, wide neck and chunky early profile made it a treat to play.
The front is torrified spruce, a process whereby the wood is kilned an a controlled oxygen reduced atmosphere, which gives a pre-aged tone. Even the finish had those vertical checks that are seen in old nitro finishes.
Tone was stupendous, with a woody, dry but immediate response that made all the other Martins - some very pricey - seem clangy.
No parlour guitars I played were as nice as my Blueridge.
There were Blueridges and Eastmans in Scales which I thought played as well as most Martins, even the expensive ones, apart from the Authentic model I particularly liked.
On a previous visit I'd been very taken with Lowdens , but either my tastes had changed or Mr Lowdens output has, as I found them a bit meh this time apart from the model they'd made specially for Ed Sheeran, which I thought was a complete dog.
Edit...the "Authentic" Martin was in Guitar Guitar in Corstophine, and was 6k should anyone be feeling impulsive.
Best thing I played, and by some margin IMHO, was a Martin 'Authentic' 1937 000-18. This is a close copy reverse engineered from a guitar in the Martin collection, I believe, and is true enough to the original to use hide glue, and eschew a truss rod in favour of a T bar neck reinforcement. A diamond volute on the back of the neck to head join, nice to see. Dark high quality ebony fingerboard and bridge, wide neck and chunky early profile made it a treat to play.
The front is torrified spruce, a process whereby the wood is kilned an a controlled oxygen reduced atmosphere, which gives a pre-aged tone. Even the finish had those vertical checks that are seen in old nitro finishes.
Tone was stupendous, with a woody, dry but immediate response that made all the other Martins - some very pricey - seem clangy.
No parlour guitars I played were as nice as my Blueridge.
There were Blueridges and Eastmans in Scales which I thought played as well as most Martins, even the expensive ones, apart from the Authentic model I particularly liked.
On a previous visit I'd been very taken with Lowdens , but either my tastes had changed or Mr Lowdens output has, as I found them a bit meh this time apart from the model they'd made specially for Ed Sheeran, which I thought was a complete dog.
Edit...the "Authentic" Martin was in Guitar Guitar in Corstophine, and was 6k should anyone be feeling impulsive.
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Seems to a bit of 'controversy' about Torrified Spruce. Fancying a Dowina who have started this, along with Eastman. Like lets Microwave a bit of Spruce to sound more like Cedar,lol. Some folks reckon accelerated ageing may lead to problems in the future? Torn between a second hand Furch plus a used Auden, as opposed to a very expensive Furch. Wife can't grasp the difference between triple 0, GA and Dread. This few days has me thinking a smaller used K Yairi at a third of the price of the new Furch. Way too many Spruce tops and missing a Glorious Sunburst. Amazes me how a new guitar that seems Stellar and gives me more confidence, always makes me enjoy the ones I already have more. The three more geetars or a used Maserati argument isn't holding much water. Strange as "when are you getting rid of the Red 'Thing ' in the Garage" seems to be a stuck record given it's now worth 7x times what I paid for it 30 years ago. Thought about Gibsons or Martins as an investment but don't have enough time or petrol funds to source a decent one. Heart set on the Furch bling, head tells me the Dowina understated sounds better?
Cheese
Bitter lover
A few years ago I was madly in love with the sound of the Gibson Hummingbird. Keith Richard’s playing led me to it. I tried the few I found in shops within reasonable distance, all were around 3k €, and I found they sounded incredibly dull, like ‘dead’. Until I tried a ‘vintage’ one at Thomann in Germany, for 6k - now this sounded ! I was suddenly much closer to what I had looked for all the time.
To me it is clear that if you want a proper Gibson like they were made back then, you have to buy a vintage one, the regular ones being total crap. Or they didn’t pass the standard quality test.
PS when I played this vintage Gibson I was still a long long way from sounding like Keith Richards in 1972. Playing the intro of Angie like him is not possible. So in the end I bought a 500€ Sigma which was really good value and whose sound I still like today. And it’s better suited to my level of talent.
ff1d1l
pfm Member
In the stringed instrument world, building with very old wood has been a thing since the early nineteenth century. Wood treatments including something not unlike torrification were tried, certainly by the mid nineteenth century by J B Vuillaume and others. These instruments are still played by soloists and in orchestras, apparently without any more issues than experienced using fresh and untreated wood at the time of building.
Most guitar builders would not turn a hair at using old wood, if the opportunity arose, including some of that recovered sunken wood from the Great Lakes, which commands a huge premium.
I guess the question is how closely torrification mimics ageing, and that is down to the torrification process - who has done it and how thoroughly.
I have a friend, a noted guitar builder who was assistant to Stefan Sobell, and he is adamant that torrification brings significant tonal benefits.
Well a week down the line, to say I'm happy is an understatement. 15 years old and not a mark on it. Can't put the thing down, way less 'thumpy' in the bass end than the usual suspects, beautifully balanced across the spectrum and picks up every nuance. Damn near plays itself, the neck is like butter of a knife. Seriously considering another two of these as opposed to a very expensive Furch. This thing has sat in a shop for two years and just comes more alive every time I pick it up. Strange thing is it's so inspiring, makes me appreciate all my other guitars more?
Well no questions now about who can build guitars to last! Leaving the music room last night, something I'm wearing to keep warm caught the guitar stand.
Barely out of the room CRASH! Back in room new guitar face down on the wooden floor.
I nearly wept but after checking about 15 times, not a mark on the thing.
Lesson learnt, lap, play, case!
Same for it's wee partner coming next week. So impressed with this seemed silly not to buy another one.
Good enough for Bob Weir, more than good enough for my meager talents.
Quite astounded at how much discount can be had on Reverb. "Eh, it's been lying on here for a year?" seems to work.
Saved a Grand off the asking price these two guitars
And before someone chips in ,why have they been lying around for a year or two? Thankfully K Yairi seem to slip
under the Radar here, my Good Luck.
Barely out of the room CRASH! Back in room new guitar face down on the wooden floor.
I nearly wept but after checking about 15 times, not a mark on the thing.
Lesson learnt, lap, play, case!
Same for it's wee partner coming next week. So impressed with this seemed silly not to buy another one.
Good enough for Bob Weir, more than good enough for my meager talents.
Quite astounded at how much discount can be had on Reverb. "Eh, it's been lying on here for a year?" seems to work.
Saved a Grand off the asking price these two guitars
And before someone chips in ,why have they been lying around for a year or two? Thankfully K Yairi seem to slip
under the Radar here, my Good Luck.
Well two Y Airi's later and over the Moon, took a chance on some guy that makes the occasional geetar as a Hobby. Or so he tells me?
Arrived today and is blowing my mind. Chap called Matthew Vincent Jenkins. Defo no more Factory built geetars for me. Will try and post some snaps manyana.
Arrived today and is blowing my mind. Chap called Matthew Vincent Jenkins. Defo no more Factory built geetars for me. Will try and post some snaps manyana.