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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | On the last day of NAMM I was in the Kaman sound room and had the oportunity to A/B the subject models. To make it simple, of those 4 guitars the "best" which I understand is subjective came down to the new Adamas slothead and the 30th Anniversary. Both of these guitars were just awesome in sound with the 30th having a little more wood sound, and the Adamas having a more full sound. With finger picking and finger strumming, the difference was hardly noticable. Both guitars played great and the sound was similar. Using a pick, the Adamas really was able to belt the lows and the highs for a HUGE dynamic range. The 30th was a little tighter, but I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing. The 30th was just a little darker toned. At the same time, as the Adamas was wide and dynamic, it had a rich tone instead of the typical bright glass tone that has become associated with Adamas in more recent years. I'd say it's overall tone was similar to an Adamas I, but without one in the room, it's hard to tell.
Just my two cents. My A/B'n consisted of tuning them all the same and playing the same chords and notes on each guitar, sitting in the same place in the room. |
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Location: NJ | I know it's a stupid question Miles, but:
Did you find the sound room at the Kaman booth to be a marked improvement over past NAMM experiences??
I would think that if they're looking to tout the guitars' "acoustic" attributes more, it's definitely necessary.
Plus it kinda' proves that they actually READ these things! ;) |
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December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | Thanks for the heads up on this. It's tough to make decisions when no one around carries any of these in stock. |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Miles,
Fantastic info. Thanks. But your title suggested some opinion on the LX. Did you get typers cramp?
Brad |
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Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | The sound room was a good acoustic room. Not dead, just quiet. In past years, I don't recall any room being used. The demo's were usually in the open.
I didn't comment on the LX because by Sunday it had dead strings and sounded like a 2 x 4. I didn't think it was fare to comment. Although in retro, if it was played enough to kill the strings, that sais something. |
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Location: Scotland | I played the LX Balladeer in the booth early on Thursday morning, fantastic guitar. |
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November 2003
Posts: 100
Location: Warren, OH | From what I can see of the spec, the only major difference between the Balladeer and the Legend is the neck (ebony board/gloss vs rosewood/satin). OK, I guess the gold vs chrome machines, too.
Is that worth a $200 difference on the street? |
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December 2003
Posts: 420
Location: On the beach in Southwest Florida | AA Sitka Spruce top & Ebony Bridge for Legend & A Sitka Spruce top & Rosewood Bridge for Baladeer are additional differences. |
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Location: NJ | worth is subjective |
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November 2003
Posts: 100
Location: Warren, OH | I stand corrected! Thanks, Peter. I totally forgot about the different top. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | worth is subjective |
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November 2003
Posts: 100
Location: Warren, OH | Al, have you heard if it's possible to get the LX with a lo-Z output? |
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Slothead vs Q597 vs 30th Anniversary vs Balladeer LX
