Thanks for the quick replies everyone, seems like there is something wrong with this model in a burst finish as I suspected, but I will check it out as I can return. Adorshki - how can I tell if its sitka or adi?
Ah, there-in lies the rub. It's said IIRC that adi shows coarser grain, possibly more closely spaced. Talking about the parallel pattern as opposed to the cross-grain silking.
That top does appear to be a bit more "coarse" (not in a negative sense) than sitka, but photos are a very poor method of identification in this case.
IIRC I've also seen Tacomas clearly labeled "Bluegrass Jubilee" but seem to recall they weren't consistent.
Gonna invite others to lend opinions like
@twocorgis who had an adi-topped New Hartford for a while IIRC, but couldn't bond with it.
Either way it's likely to be a fine piece, each top has its virtues and there's fans of each. Adi's said to take longer than sitka to "break in" because it's a bit stronger than sitka by weight. This also is supposed to enable a bit more volume before the top begins to "flutter" (I'm forgetting the technical term at the moment), but basically more "headroom" at volume. Thus the Bluegrass application.
On the other hand Havens certainly had no problem extracting maximum "voice" from sitka tops, which is supposed to sound a bit warmer.
Also note Guild never put adi tops on its flagship guitars, the D55 and the F50. I like to say "read between
those lines"
Final note my own '03 Havens Signature has an AA sitka top which is actually now my favorite of all 3 for sheer silking beauty and the other 2 are a "Standard top" on the D25 which has a honey-red stripe down the center from aging, and a AAA top on the F65ce which I call "white bread" because it's so homogenous.
But I'm certainly curious to hear a good Bluegrass Jubilee with an adi top. I've just never had the opportunity (in person).
In any case i'm sure it'd be nice to be sure of exactly what you have. I suspect the folks at the music store may also be able to render advice. Although they may be reluctant to admit if they did misidentify it, due to the TRC, that's understandable, given the paucity of info available to ID it. Think each model's about the same value-wise, but the Bluegrass models got a lot of attention for their tops.
And it IS an Antique Burst which was standard and VERY common for Tacoma Bluegrass Jubilees.
If you mention the possibility for confusion mentioned here they may give the question a bit more credibility.
Final possibility might be our guru
@hansmoust. He's got lots of records, but don't recall him mentioning Tacoma records before. But if Tacoma actually ID'd the different '40's by s/n, he may know for sure.
BTW that "Iced Tea Burst" is one of my faves and very uncommon. Would actually be kind of pleased if it did actually get used on some Havens'.
