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Joined:
February 2009
Posts: 194
Location: Huntington Beach | Keep coming back to the 70's Os. Went to GC today and played almost everything on the wall. Tried many models that have been raved about here and elsewhere - Martins, Taylors, Taks, Breeds, new Os - and nothing stood out except . . . Rainsong - I kid you not. Not perfect - but it had some personality and felt good and talked back at me. Then I went home - and no this is not psychoacoustic the familiarity the strings the room - picked up my '77 1621 and then my '78 1617 and they are better than the whole lot. Rarely on these excursions do I play something that makes me want to buy - who makes a good guitar these days? |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7211
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | It's too bad they can't get a guitar to "open up" before they sell'em... but then I guess.. they'd just call'em used.
Seriously, that is a big part of it. You can compare new guitars to new guitars... but comparing a new guitar to 20 year old guitar of the same model, unless the old one was never taken out of the case, the old one has an advantage of being played and "broken in" so-to-speak. |
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Joined:
July 2003
Posts: 3111
Location: Nashville TN. | Part of might be the strings on them.
Are you using coated strings at home???
Personally I ordered new W598 blind.
I was really disappointed in the sound
right out of the box.
Going from EXP coated to Adamas dramatically inproved the sound.
Now I like it alot.
Plus,
Aging tend to improve sound. |
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Joined:
February 2004
Posts: 2487
| Acoustic guitars are tough to pick out. Strings are a real deal breaker and you really just do not now how old some strings are when you try a new guitar out. Always bring a guitarist friend who will sit down and play so you can listen out in front of the guitar. I always figure if I find the best sound out of the bunch then a set of my favorite strings on it can only be better.
Older guitars do often have a better sound so the ageing of the wood must be a factor. I guess it makes sense as wood does age and can certainly harden with age. There are resins that do all kinds of cool stuff to spruce and other woods over the years.
And so the search for the perfect guitar sound continues....................and always will. |
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Joined:
October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Welcome 1617!!
Pretty much what they said above spells it out. |
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Joined:
November 2006
Posts: 3969
| Welcome! Hard to beat a well-played '78 1617 for sound. Part of the problem with GC is that the guitars invariably have dead strings on them. I have a few wood boxes that I think sound great, but I also have a bunch of Ovations/Adamas. I know where you're coming from. |
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Joined:
October 2008
Posts: 639
Location: NW of Philadelphia | The other part that hurts the "in-store" guitars is the setups. Most factory setups are too high.
They were also built with more care back then. |
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what is it with guitars these days?
