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Posts: 120
Location: Miami | I really like the look of these guitars, and the sound - there are a number of people who have recorded on youtube with them.
Do the different models differ as lot in acoustic tone? From an acoustic point of view, which do you prefer? |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | prefer the older textured tops but for the newer models the 2080s are tough to beat.
I think there is great consistency in sound within model numbers but different models sound different.
Depends on your price range. The 47RI currently in the For Sale section is a tone monster. The 1681 Blue Adamas over there ain't bad either.
The UTE pair in the For Sale section is an awesome set for a really good price. If you like 12 strings you can't go wrong. |
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Posts: 15679
Location: SoCal | Then you've also got deep bowls, mid depth bowls, and super shallow bowls.
I prefer the older deep bowl textured top Adamii... |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | I think they all have their unique voices. Can't go wrong with most of them. |
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Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Ditto they have thier voice.
I have Deep bowl textured top Adamas II and W598 mid bowl.
Both sound great but different from each other. |
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Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Assuming you're from the Florida Miami, I live just across the state. You could try out the blue one. |
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November 2008
Posts: 1119
Location: Michigan | Great question, I have often wondered how my UTE sounds compared to others. The only other adamas I have played is the 2008 collectors and I immediatly loved it but I just played it in a store long before I got my UTE so I had not basis for comparison. |
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Posts: 4079
Location: Utah | The 2080 is clear and precise. Each note in a chord is easy to hear, compared to the blending heard in the wood topped Ovations. The top is more responsive than wood to right hand technique. Pick selection makes a bigger difference than on the wooden Ovations. It is more mellow than our Spruce topped Ovation LX mid bowl and deep contour bowl guitars with the same phos/bronze strings. It is not muddy, just mellow. It does favor the lower strings for volume, requiring more pick force to get the same volume out of the higher strings. Great for chords, but requires more touch when playing single note passages or jazzy melody-chords. 80/20 strings bring it up to the same brightness as my 2007 Collector's.
The UTE seems to be brighter, though it hasn't had a string change yet. The balance across the strings seems to be very even. The tone is a bit more "natural" than the 2080, but not vastly different.
The 2080 is the cutaway deep contour bowl with 14 frets to the body, the UTE is non-cutaway deep bowl with 12 frets to the body.
If you're trying to figure out which one to get, I would say that you should just shop based on features. For example, 12 vs 14 fret, cutaway vs non-cutaway, deep contour vs mid vs deep bowl. "They" say that the textured tops have the best sound, but I've never played one to compare.
Best bang-for-the-buck would be a used UTE or one of Al's W681 foreign market textured tops. The 2080 gets you the latest VIP preamp which sounds amazing in this guitar, plus the modern styling. Before you buy a used 2080 check with Al for pricing. |
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Posts: 6996
Location: Jet City | I have a 2080, and HAD a 1587. Both textured, both single epi cutaways. 2080 with a deep contour, and the 1587 with a deep bowl.
There were subtle differences, but not enough for me to justify keeping both in my current financial crunch.
I kept the 2080. Best bang for my buck, and they look way cool on stage. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | W681 export adamas should not be ignored. Best adamas bang for the buck, period. |
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August 2009
Posts: 120
Location: Miami | What exactly does it mean when it says certain Adamases are designed for export? That these models would have little success in the US? That they have been sold in the US but are primarily for the export market? Are Adamses more popular outside the US than in it? |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | Different regions of the world sell different models. These particular models were built for non-US. |
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May 2002
Posts: 651
Location: Australia | I have a #47RI and a 30th Ann. 1687 and they do sound a little different. Both have a deep rich tone with the #47 having perhaps a slightly more complex tone and wider frequency response.
I've always wondered if the anyone has compared the #47RI and the OFC Adamas guitar? |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | The 47RI is a cut above the OFC guitar in terms of responsiveness and sustain. Also a tad louder. I would attribute it to the solid saddle of the 47RI. |
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Posts: 15679
Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Gallerinski:
The 47RI is a cut above the OFC guitar in terms of responsiveness and sustain. Also a tad louder. I would attribute it to the solid saddle of the 47RI. I've always agreed with this in the past, but I've got my OFC guitar dialed in finally and would love to test them against each. May still be true, I don't know.
I do know that of all of Dave's guitars, the 47 of 47 was the one I liked the most, and that's comparing to Collings, Taks, Martins, other Adamii, and Ovations..... |
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Posts: 79
Location: So Cal | Not having access to other deep bowl Adamas models, how does the 1680 NWT sound in comparison. I'm quite pleased with the one I purchased but, on this board I read there were some of the 1680's that had better sound than others. As these are all composite construction guitars with the same braceing what could account for this difference outside of a little more glue here and there?
Jim E. |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I don't generally hear subtle differences and couldn't really hear much difference between my OFC and Tony Calman's OFC and 47, but now that I have both and have had some quiet time with each, I can hear a slight difference. The differences are the saddle and the space taken up by the electronics. That, and red guitars usually sound better. |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | It's also a misnomer that all adamas of a certain model sound the same. They do not. They certainly fall within a narrower bandwidth than duplicate copies of wooden guitars. But they are far from identical. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Dave's absolutely Right.
(with of course, the exception that he MEANT to say "misconception" as opposed to the incorrect term "misnomer"). |
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Posts: 4079
Location: Utah | A mismalapropism? |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Miss Issippi |
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Posts: 4413
| Missin' U Already. |
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December 2002
Posts: 584
Location: atlanta | Some of you have written to me expressing an interest in how Kaki's new signature Adamas actually sounds. She's on tour in Europe, and here's the best example I've seen yet on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqrvJr150a0&NR=1
He was close enough to the stage to get the sound off the stage monitors.
Best to all--
Dave King
Kaki's dad |
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I rarely play without electronics, so I can't comment on their acoustic differences, and even if I did, my hearing probably isn't good enough to note any really meaningful differences. However, playing live with a band, I can happily report that all of my Adamai sound excellent, and I would bet good money that just about every other Adamas model would sound equally good. Personally, I find more differences betwen the Ovation models, but not the Adamas models. What matters to me is how they feel and play, so I prefer the SSBs with cutaways, with the action set up about midway between high and low. For live gigging with a full band, where midrange and treble clarity is necessary from the guitar, I don't think you can go wrong with an Adamas. YMMV |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I listened to a local performer, Wilson Roberts, who has used an Adamas (with a second one as a backup) as his stage guitar for 20 years or so. He's mostly a strummer, hitting the strings pretty hard. He also tunes down a whole step and uses light strings, so the tone isn't the greatest.
Anyway, he says to anyone who will listen, that he as a Martin, Taylor, etc., but the Adamas is his workhorse. He's only had a couple problems in all those years. One was this week, but he found the jack was loose. |
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January 2006
Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago | I find my Adamas II 1581 RI (1995) to be a beautifully-tone cannon. When we recorded in the "Stella Maris" chapel I went straight with no effects and little amplification, so you can get a clear sense of the tone. Click on "band" below...
(my partner, Jeff plays an Elite) |
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Do Adamas models vary a lot in acoustic tone?