Got to play some old acoustics today - there is no greater joy as a guitarist

[Boudoir Guitar]

Guitar #1 was a '49 Martin 00-18. The driest of dry tone. Sooooooo good.

Guiar #2 was an early Southern Jumbo (fingerboard was not bound so seems like a mid-'40s?). Although Gibson's aren't my go-to in acoustic world, I can still appreciate the Gibson sound - bass-shy, mid-focused, rounder, not as loud. Was just a pleasure to play.

Any chance you might get to play old guitars, absolutely take it. They really do sound different than new guitars. Not always better, but always different.

Both of these examples played fantastic. The Gibson neck was particularly big, but super comfy. Martin...aside from it just oozing old vibes in the sound and visual departments...playability wise could easily be mistaken for a modern guitar.

 

[fretworn]

Quick question for you… If you knew a master luthier who is well renowned for building acoustics… which guitar/Martin would you have him rebuild?

$20k

 

[Sleezy E]

Nice!!

I've played a couple old ones from relatives over the years and they are awesome.

I've owned a no name acoustic for about 25 years now that isn't all that special, but there is sweetness that comes with age fo sho

 

[Eagle]

Guitar #1 was a '49 Martin 00-18. The driest of dry tone. Sooooooo good.

Guiar #2 was an early Southern Jumbo (fingerboard was not bound so seems like a mid-'40s?). Although Gibson's aren't my go-to in acoustic world, I can still appreciate the Gibson sound - bass-shy, mid-focused, rounder, not as loud. Was just a pleasure to play.

Any chance you might get to play old guitars, absolutely take it. They really do sound different than new guitars. Not always better, but always different.

Both of these examples played fantastic. The Gibson neck was particularly big, but super comfy. Martin...aside from it just oozing old vibes in the sound and visual departments...playability wise could easily be mistaken for a modern guitar.

Yes I get to play some amazing pre war Martins often enough to make it very difficult not to be way dissatisfied with the acoustics I can justify owning. 12th fret joint ones are my particular favourites ,they always seem to sound huge.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Yes I get to play some amazing pre war Martins often enough to make it very difficult not to be way dissatisfied with the acoustics I can justify owning. 12th fret joint ones are my particular favourites ,they always seem to sound huge.

I dunno. The new Martin 00-18 hanging next to it was a guitar I would be perfectly happy owning.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Quick question for you… If you knew a master luthier who is well renowned for building acoustics… which guitar/Martin would you have him rebuild?

$20k

I would not pay that kind of money for a spec-built guitar. Every master luthier has some duds...well built duds, but duds none the less. Not to mention that the future value of a new construction guitar is not remotely guaranteed, where as a vintage Martin or Gibson are going to hold value, dud or not, simply as historical artifact if nothing else.

The '49 Martin was listed at $7500 and some very cursory reverb searching suggests that's in the ballpark price for that vintage. I would pay that much over a new Collings or Martin Custom Shop in an heart beat, but am not quite at a point where owning a really nice acoustic makes sense - indeed, I sold my D18 earlier this summer simply because keeping it humidified through the winter in northern New England and chasing setup/playability with my home's current climate control system (i.e., open windows in the summer when humidity levels are all over the place) just isn't worth it.

Having owned some pretty darn good dreadnoughts, though, I'd be way more willing to spend money on a double or triple-0 than on a dread...a standard D-18 or D-28 off the shelf is typically nice and loud and can be well heard when playing with a group of folks and sound okay doing that. Heck, a lot of Eastman's off the shelf can be nice and loud and be well heard when playing with a group -- which, for me, is 80% of the battle with a dread.