Ok,don't take this post as fighting words. While I own and love my 2003 D1a, the remaining guitars in my collection are primarily Martins and Gibsons from the 40's, 50's and early 60's.
And I must admit the D1a stays in the case more than the others. I am partly keeping the D1a as a science experiment to see if all the rumors and innuendo about Adi tops aging, guitars mellowing over time...actually turn out to be true.

I have one picking buddy who loves his Collings and hates Martins, and of course another buddy who loves old Martins and hates any new builders. I don't subscribe to either extreme.

The great and highly opinionated George Gruhn wrote an article that basically states that guitars from the current "Golden Age" will never compare to older guitars because quite simply the wood supply today is far inferior 2nd and 3rd growth to the first growth aged woods available in the 30's, 40's and 50's.

And while some are of the mindset (again according to Gruhn) that today is the golden age of Luthiery....the guitars being built by Collings, Santa Cruz, Et al. will never measure up to older Martins and Gibsons because again, the materials available to build with today pale in comparison.

Any opinions on this one ?

wood is, obviously, an important variable. before we logged ourselves into a corner, it was far easier to get great adirondack, brazilian, and so on. But some very excellent wood has been available, albeit sporadically, and has been made into guitars that are as good right now as the fifty years old Martins and Gibsons that are so allegedly holy. Now, I've not played hundreds of vintage guitars like George has, but I've played dozens. Of those, I can think of three or four I'd actually play instead of the Collings and Blazer-Henkes I have now. So, imho, George is chock full of it. Gibsons, in particular, by the late fifties were extremely uneven in quality. Lastly, in geologic time, there is no such thing as "first growth". Trees are of a certain age, or they are not. The adi tops on the guitars I own, and have owned, are every bit as good as any I've seen on guitars with price tags north of fifty grand. You're paying for age, and for reputation. Me, I listen to the tone and feel how it plays. The rest is straw. Lotta folk still buy headstocks. But if someone wants to donate a mid thirties D18, refretted and with a neck reset, I will be happy to form a 501 (c)3 and give you a whopping tax write off. Actually, I'd rather just play. Right now. tom

I agree with sonoman; I think Mr.Gruhn's opinion is no more than that and my experiences with Martins (a 41 D-18 just this weekend) have been on keel with what he stated in his post.......I'll keep my Collings. I have a Martin that never sees the light of day anymore. That's not just me, anyone I've jammed around has said the same thing and a good many of them not even knowing what a Collings was.

rodney: I may not have stressed the fact that there are, without question, guitars from the first golden era that are just plain magical. I've played a couple, and the dealer I know best, Jim Baggett from Mass Street, has cherry picked some early Martins, and he says an early thirties OM28 (forget which exact year) is the best he's ever heard). but it was only marginally better than the Alien, which was then brand new. I also played an early forties Recording King by Gibson, a plain Jane mahogany with a huge neck, and I will never forget the tone of that guitar. When the term "vintage dry" gets tossed around, that be the guitar I have in mind. It's part of what inspired me to blow my last nickel on a varnish mahogany short scale CJ, Bill's closest take on that early J45 type instrument. So, yeah, there is some gold in them thar hills, but you have to be both lucky and rich to find one and buy it. tom

The golden age of guitars in my mind are the guitars made between 1934-1938. The forward braced wide neck guitars will forever more be the guitars that all Luthiers of this age are trying to copy. Alot of people are making guitars that in my opinion are as good and in some cases better than the GE guitars of the thirties. Dudenbostel, Henderson and Collings to name a few are making some great guitars. But when you really think about it, they are simply copying a 30's guitar. That is why the 30's guitars will always be the "Mack Daddies"
of acoustic guitars. Are there luthiers making guitars today that compare to the oldies? No doubt about it! But they will always be a copy of the Golden Era Guitars.

I've come to the conclusion that it's not a better or worse type thing. My D1a is always a pleasure to play. I think they are just different. An old Martin or Gibson to me is like tooling around in a vintage Porsche compared to a Collings that is like driving a high end Lexus. Both are wonderful experiences, the Lexus is probably a bit more reliable...but there is something about the vibe of tooling around in a classic Porsche with the top down.

It may be all in my head but those old guitars to me just have a different feel, not to say there weren't many bad ones built back then as well.

I would have to agree with Gruhn on the wood thing though. Fact of the matter is we are destroying this planet and there is just less good wood for building guitars these days.

I feel the replicas that builders make are in respect of that which was before and its never been this good.

It is true modern Martins, Gibsons are chasing their own lineage aswell but the reliability and playability of todays guitars is fab.

Some of the musicians I know that still use vintage have had a lot of work done on their instruments to get the best out of them.

Now if we hold on to our guitars for even 5 years and play them plenty they start to sound great and Im super impressed with some wood grades that have shown up if you are willing to pay the extra, still cheaper then vintage by far.

I had a couple of Vintage pieces and when I realized how many brilliant sounding Collings etc.guitars they were worth I fell to my knees and screamed with delight.

Then again I play a 59 VOS Les Paul
DeTemple 52 Tele(waiting) 60's replica strat.
etc. They just work in the real world.

And my beloved stable of traditional biased Collings ofcourse.

I had the opportunity to hang out with Wayne Henderson a few weeks ago. He had 3 instruments with him, his famous guitar he built in 1968 that he bought back from someone that has a bullet hole in it, his recently built number 400 that he built for himself for his 60th birthday and a small body slothead, his girlfriends guitar he built for her a few years back. All were fantastic instruments. But he's famous for hording old wood. In particular he is sitting on an ancient supply of Spruce from the hills that surround his home. I suppose he is part of the modern day builders but still he loves the old timers, he had a ball playing my '56 D-21, a model and year he also owns and loves. He also fell in love with my '46 J-45. Wayne probably has one of the finest collections of old Martins and Gibsons of anyone. He treats his old guitars with reverance and uses them religiously as templates for the guitars he builds.

Maybe we can just meet in the middle and say its all good You take the best of the vintage Martins, the vintage Gibsons, the modern day Collings, B&H, the individual luthiers like Borges, Slobod, McAlister, Walker, etc., and you are in a very select group of guitars.

Are the best First Golden Era guitars better than the current best offerings? I don't know. But we're talking incredible v. incredible here. And let's not forget that most of the current crop of incredibles are available for a 1/3 or less of the price of the First Golden Era incredibles, and come without playability issues. FWIW.

I'll admit that my knowledge on the finer differences between vintage and modern guitars is very limited, but it's just an ingrained part of human nature to have that bittersweet longing for the past. When it comes to all things connected with music, I've noticed the sentiment is particularly strong. I wouldn't argue with George Gruhn, but I would insist on some harder, more objective evidence than "the wood ain't what it used to be".

Redavide, I'm with you on longing for the past, but only when it comes to electric guitars. Back in the day, before the prices went ballistic, I had the pleasure of owning/playing (one at a time, not multiples) a 50's Les Paul Gold Top, a vintage Reverse Firebird (with three, count em, three humbuckers), and several pre-CBS Strats, all bought at the same shop on the West Side (I think it was on 48th Street or there abouts) in NYC. Back then, you could never have convinced me that a new electric could compare to vintage. Haven't played electrics since I sold that last pre-CBS Strat, so I can't comment on the current crop. But for acoustics, the vintage bias just hasn't taken hold of me. Go figure. BTW, real fine playing on that Jorma tune in the other section. Gotta try to learn that one.

Tom, I used to practically live in those shops on 48th St. -- always 2 or 3 times a week just to nose around. The shops today just aren't the same . . . Anyway, as an example, Custom Shop Strats today are great guitars -- if they call it a '61 Strat, they used the exact building specifications from 1961 and it's essentially the same guitar. Maybe arguably better in some ways than the original because of better technology. Maybe there's something about old guitars just because they're old and they're a real connection with the past. Thanks for the comment on the Jorma tune -- now it's been 41 years since he first recorded it (Jefferson Airplane -- "Surrealistic Pillow", 1967) -- they just don't make records like that anymore . . .