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Posts: 651
Location: Australia | I've got a question for guys who have owned an Adamas guitar for a while.
Have you found that in time the sound opens up in the same way as a solid wood topped guitar?
I know that my 96' Custom Legend definately sounds "better" than when I bought it. |
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March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | g'day amigo ricardo,
i wonder if one of the main reasons that a GOOD guitar sounds better the longer we own and play it because of the owner. i know woods age and can produce better sound over time, but the more we know about the things that are important to us and that we use, the more we can get out of them whether they change or not. take that porsche down the same windy road timing yourself each time and the performance improvement will almost entirey be due to the driver.
i recently got my first 2 adamai, and frankly, if they improve anymore in the way they sound, the martin and taylor guys will run me out of town. they both are clearly the best sounding acoustic guitars on the bay, plugged OR unplugged. the 12 string (ss prototype) dwarfs the sound of any 12 string i have seen or heard unplugged. it is clean and crystalline like a 12 string should sound. and plugged in it cuts right through the mix without dominating. it is truely pure pleasure to play. thanks again to my amigo cwkII. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I think Russ has hit upon something here.
While I'm sure that the physical characteristics of the wood and finish change/season/mellow and thereby improve the sound, some of it may be "psychosematic" (for lack of a better term).
I used to play the exact SlotHead Adamas that I now own LONG before I owned it. My very good friend (since childhood) was the previous owner and from time to time when we got together he'd bring it out/over. At the time, I wasn't overly crazy about the sound. I had found it to be "boomy" and just not "bright" enough for my liking. Now this all could've been attributed to the type/age of the strings he was using at the time, or perhaps it was the green ears of "envy" (after all, this wasn't MY guitar). Don't get me wrong, I was continually blown away by the instrument, but for some reason at that time, the sound of it was not my cup of tea.
Now that I've owned/played it consistantly for the past 5 years or so, I'm continually wondering what the hell I was thinking back then! Perhaps I've learned to adapt my playing to bring out what I want to hear in it, or perhaps a little "vanity" goes a long way!
Do the physical properties of the carbon top change with age? I dunno. I doubt it. Perhaps the aging of the spruce core of the top and the wooden bracing can change the sound? I dunno that one either. What I DO know is that I sure as hell ain't handing it over for any kinda' "exploratory surgery"! |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | This reminds me of a song, a very short, very good song. The writer was David somebody, I can't remember his last name. The song talks about how when he was young he wanted an old guitar with a lot of songs and stories in it. And now that he's older, he likes newer guitars, because now he's the one with the stories in him. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | I think a guitar has to have something when it is built otherwise it will never has that "something" whenever I play a new or old Adamas they sound great I am not sure if it any better than the last time but it is a great sound |
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Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | i agree al. that's why i put GOOD guitar in my post. give a hot player a piece of crap and he will reach the guitar's limit quickly and will battle to get it to do what he wants it to. since i joined this board i have aquired really GREAT guitars made by ovation (not that my old balladeer or well used ukII are bad guitars) and have plenty of room to improve within the limits of the guitars' potential. i never realized how much difference a really great guitar can make. |
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Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Small point but the core of the Adamas top is birch, .030 to be exact.
He asked for an opinion so I'll vote YES, they do get better with age. The more important thing is that they be PLAYED throughout their life for this to take place. A 1976 slothead that lived in the case won't sound as good as Cliff's which was played all these years.
Why do they improve? The constant playing allows all the bits and parts to become vibrationally alligned audiophonically. How's that for a load of old cobblers? The other reason is that they just do, so fergetaboutit. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | A guitar that doesn't get played, regardless of age or what it's made from, develops low self-esteem and sounds worse because of it. Counselling in this case, doesn't work.
Paul |
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Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Bill, did you say "vibrationally alligned audiophonically" WOOOW!!!!
Im not sure what that is but it sounds damn good!! |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | It's just gotta be true, right? |
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January 2002
Posts: 970
Location: Atlanta,Ga. | Hell yeah its true !!Im a believer...Next time somebody asks me about my Adamas' sound..Im saying its ""vibrationally alligned audiophonically" ....Then i will turn and walk away before they ask me what that means...
[ October 17, 2002: Message edited by: samova ] |
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Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | I truly believe that I have become "vibrationally aligned audiophonically" as I have grown older through being played by various situations. If not, the quality of my materials is not up to it. My old car, however, "vibrationally had wheels fall off", my house "vibrationally had roof leak" so it only works on quality instruments. They are one of the few things, other than fine wine, that do actually improve with age, if they are played. If you can mix old fine wine and old instruments than you are probably making $300 an hour like moodypi. Excuse me, my computer has just "vibrationally displayed "fatal error""or was that my pacemaker.
Bailey ;) |
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | could it be that we get better as guitarists as we get older and the guitars don't really get any better? |
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March 2002
Posts: 255
| Your dad did good Bill. |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Women definitely get better with age when they are played with. |
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March 2002
Posts: 873
Location: puerto vallarta, mexico | if you guys keep talking like this shirley mcclain is going to buy an ovation and join this board. i did a commission that she was involved with for the harmonic convergence in the 80's and she would really relate to that vibrationally aligned stuff bill. |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Maybe we could tell'em it's cheaper & less stressful than a facelift "Hey baby, let me vibrationally align you with this"
Paul
If my girlfriend ever reads this, I'm dead. |
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Posts: 3005
Location: Las Cruces, NM | Boys (I always say boys if it's bad news)
I posted an answer to some of these musings where I unintentionally mentioned "vibrationally" gadgets as compared to aged instruments and the effect on relationships. I forgot that the Army is flying the RC-7 over us and intercepting communications to try to catch the sniper. The whole area went dead, a Delta team landed on my patio, and I had to explain the term "vibrationally alligned audiophonically" to burly gentlemen with machine pistols.
Truthfully, the last Corps of Engineers construction job I did in El Paso was a modification of the hangar on Ft. Bliss where those planes and others of the Army intelligence group operates out of. They are a great bunch of guys, and had their own tragedy when one of the RC-7s hit a mountain in Columbia losing the pilot and crew. Those things are modern marvels and we weren't allowed to get too close or ask too many questions. Delta came in there a few times on their small choppers just like you see on the tele with the guys setting on the skids, ready to jump off and start battle.
[ October 20, 2002: Message edited by: Bailey ] |
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Calling Adamas Owners