Hog is interesting. As a top wood, it's milder than Spruce, but.. as a back and sides. Ok, take a Martin D18 and beat the hell out of it, what do you hear? Same as on a D35, same basic woods/body shape, you hear a bark that reminds me of an SG going into a Marshall, I hear overdrive and distortion.
That in fact cuts through a room of unplugged but amped up bluegrassers like you wouldn't believe. Whereas that oh so pretty to look at Rosewood bodied guitar can get a little lost in mix in that situation, but alone in your room or entertaining a small crowd, it sounds really nice, I suppose with more overtones than Hog, but I like the way the overtones in as D35 work with my compositions, it's just right, and the slow decay is beautiful and haunting.
Then there's all the Brazilian cork sniffery, for those who can afford, will most assuredly claim that it is magical. Hell, I can remember decades ago, having a coffee at the donut shop reading the Sunday paper long before you ever even heard of the of a cell phone or the internet, and I see a '69 Martin D35 for a hefty price mind you, but I wanted it, iconic guitar, and the guy's wife answers the phone. He had left and taken the guitar down to the local Gibson Martin dealer to see about the wood in the back, huuuuuge freakin big deal about whether the back was really all Braz or the middle piece East Indian, the difference being like $1000 or more or whatever, gave up instantly. Don't need a guitar that bad.
Wood is wood. I got all these Airlines and Stellas made of Birch, each one sounds more fantastic than the other. They all have different voices.
A local celebrity roots country player good friend of mine who plays a Martin on stage every night picked up one of my Stellas one time, and he sounded so fkg good on it, it was unbelievable, the way his voice worked against that tiny guitar was magic. He wanted to trade me guitars for the one he brought with him that day on the spot and I said no.
At this point I've decided Hog/Spruce is pretty much the combo for me, just trying to pare it down between guitars that are Hog/Spruce but F vs D.
The F guitar sounds really pretty with impressive bass, but something about the D35 makes me go into a trance.