Al, Joe and Jeff,
Thank you so much for the kind words. It always takes me longer to write stuff than I think and I appreciate if some of the things I have learned over the last 40 years are of interest and assistance to other people.
I think I know enough about Adirondack to have an opinion, but there are a whole lot of people who know more. I had a '57-8 Martin D28 with a ruined top about 10-12 years ago. My luthier re-topped it with Adirondack that had been seasoned for about five years. We measured the bracing of a '37 D18 and substituted that for the '50's bracing. Think about it, 40 year old Brazilian and five year old Adirondack. It was a cannon! A cannon with a small neck, so I sold it!
I've owned a few prewar Martins (000, 00 an 0 18s mostly) and a '37 Reissue D18 Authentic model, plus around 10 prewar Gibsons. I've owned several mandos with Adirondack tops. I've played one mando signed by Lloyd Loar and a couple of '20's Fern model F-5's. I've played Gilchrist, Kiminitzer and Monteleone Mandos.
That sounds like a lot of instruments, but if you space them over 40 years, it ain't that much. Most of those Adirondack guitars and mandos sounded really good, some didn't.
Again, I used to think that Adirondack was the Bees Knees. Now I think that any good guitar is the Bees Knees, whether it's Adirondack, or Sitka, or Mahogany or Rosewood, or Northern Maple or European Spruce or Unobtanium, etc. This really is the Golden Age of Guitars, grab a good one and play it for 20 years or so and pass it on to the next guy or gal!
Later, Harry
Thank you so much for the kind words. It always takes me longer to write stuff than I think and I appreciate if some of the things I have learned over the last 40 years are of interest and assistance to other people.
I think I know enough about Adirondack to have an opinion, but there are a whole lot of people who know more. I had a '57-8 Martin D28 with a ruined top about 10-12 years ago. My luthier re-topped it with Adirondack that had been seasoned for about five years. We measured the bracing of a '37 D18 and substituted that for the '50's bracing. Think about it, 40 year old Brazilian and five year old Adirondack. It was a cannon! A cannon with a small neck, so I sold it!
I've owned a few prewar Martins (000, 00 an 0 18s mostly) and a '37 Reissue D18 Authentic model, plus around 10 prewar Gibsons. I've owned several mandos with Adirondack tops. I've played one mando signed by Lloyd Loar and a couple of '20's Fern model F-5's. I've played Gilchrist, Kiminitzer and Monteleone Mandos.
That sounds like a lot of instruments, but if you space them over 40 years, it ain't that much. Most of those Adirondack guitars and mandos sounded really good, some didn't.
Again, I used to think that Adirondack was the Bees Knees. Now I think that any good guitar is the Bees Knees, whether it's Adirondack, or Sitka, or Mahogany or Rosewood, or Northern Maple or European Spruce or Unobtanium, etc. This really is the Golden Age of Guitars, grab a good one and play it for 20 years or so and pass it on to the next guy or gal!
Later, Harry