I really have gas for a rosewood dread!! I'm really interested in the Merrill or the Collings, although I've heard great things about the Namm model 34D, of course its brazilian. Anyone have any opinions on any of these? Comparing the Merrill and Collings, it would be Honduran verses Indian. I talked to one dealer who has both and it sounds like the Collings would be tighter and louder but the Merrill would have a truer 30's tone, he said more piano like.But I love my volume!! I have a D1A Varnish now, looking for something a little different. I buy and sell vintage stuff too and last year I had an original 1937 D-28 so I'm pretty picky(and spoiled) to say the least. The 34D is alot of dough and I dont now if I could deal with the thinner neck, and the lack of neck inlay. I know where a 2006 Brazilian C28 is but I'm not sure he was using hide glue then.

K,

Lot of great guitars out there for sure! It'd be nice to compare all these together...or own all of them. Acoustic Vibes in Phoenix has an Indian 1934D listed, but I don't know the specifics. I'd sure like to play one of these...maybe the hide glue adds a little "cut" to the SCGC mellowness.

Since you already have a Collings dread, you might want to broaden your tonal choices. You don't have to spend a fortune to get a great sounding dread. Merrill and Santa Cruz make excellent guitars, and I find them more like the old 30s Martins. That is, they are light and sound rounder and woodier. Borges is another small maker who nails the classic designs.

While I'm not (currently) in the market for a RW dread, I've been following the posts, both here and on that other forum(!).

The 3 you've mentioned are all likely fantastic guitars, albeit different. I've owned 2 D1A Varnish's and agree they are great, especially in the volume department. That said, I have not played a RW varnish model. The regular D2's I've played are quite nice and I believe the varnish adds a lot, but I wonder if it would be lots different than your mahogany Collings. Different sure, but not as different as a different maker would be.

I've only read about the SCGC guitars, the 1934's get good reviews and I would love to hear and try one. There just aren't many of them out there and they are too new to have gathered much in the way of opinions. Maybe you should get one and tell us what you think!

Merrill's, particularly with Honduran and hide glue are superb guitars and might be my first choice for a D-28 style. Great vintage tone, all the power you could want, quite different than your Collings.

Any interest in contacting a custom builder and waiting one to two years? Prices will be about the same but you might, (might) end up with something better. Specifically, I'm thinking about Marty Lanham of Nashville Guitar Co. Now, two months ago I took delivery on an NGC D-18 style and it is now the 2nd best D-18 I've ever played (the best being a certain 1939 that might be one of the handful of best guitars period). My NGC is very, very, very loud - so loud I routinely get asked to play softer in big BG acoustic jams, and I am a soft touch! Much more than volume, the tone is superb - big, open, deep bass, fabulous punch, perfect high end for leads. Kind of like the best of the Collings punch and clarity combined with the big Martin woody bass.

I say all this about my NGC to report that the best RW dread I've ever heard is a Braz/Adi NGC owned by another local here. He plays (very well) frequently at our weekly jams and I am always, always blown away by this guitar. It even sounds pretty good when I play it! Of course, there's this David Grier guy playing his NGC D-28 on "Got The Room To Myself" that sounds fairly decent!

Marty claims he is building his best guitars now, a scary thought when I consider how good this 6 year old D-28 is, but I can report my new D-18 is about as good as it gets, old or new.

Sorry to get you off track, but give some thought to the single luthier build, there are some good makers out there, you'll sometimes find a used deal and you might end up with the perfect D-28.

there's a Borges D28 at dream guitars. He only made four dreadnoughts- or was it three? anyway, I think Borges guitars are phenomenal, and he makes almost no dreads. If I were looking for a pre-war D28 clone, I'd look no further, will all due respect to Merrill, Collings, et al. I'd mention Blazer and Henkes, but they make about as many guitars as Borges, and there are zero for sale in the US, expect perhaps for a Prairie State bling special at Mass Street for about 10K. Borges. If I had money, I'd buy it, and I don't even want a rosewood dread- or at least one's not high on my perpetual GAS list. tom

Someone should check on this. I spoke with Mr. Borges about 2 years ago, was thinking about having him make me a guitar. My recollection from that talk was that he was limiting his builds to OM's and, maybe, 00/000's, said he wasn't real happy with his larger bodied guitars. I could be wrong.

With all due respect to Borges guitars - I haven't ever played one - the recent reports are that his OM's are as good as it gets, but I wonder how his older dreads and jumbos are? If he wasn't happy with them and no longer makes them, what might that imply?

Please, please, please understand, I have nothing for respect for Borges!

I was gonna suggest a B&H as the ultimate dread, but wanted to limit my suggestions to the real world. I own a B&H (Baton Rouge: SJ style in Braz and Alpine) and it more than justifies the "alien" tag. By all means, if you want one of the top two or three D-28 style guitars on the planet, put B&H on your list.

Freeblues, you are correct in what you report about Julius' large body guitars, I have spoken with him many times even as recently as a couple weeks ago and it is true that he shy's away from having to build large body guitars. Talk to him about OM's and he light's up like a christmas tree, he loves his OM work.
As far as large body guitars are concerned, I too have narrowed my search down to an NGC and a Merrill.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Papi,

quote:

I know where a 2006 Brazilian C28 is but I'm not sure he was using hide glue then.

Kwoo64, I do not know that Jim Merrill was using hide glue back then. He is a friend to this forum and we have the priveledge of occasionally reading his posts.

Not long ago he posted this.

About hide glue...It takes longer to glue things up due to having to have three guys involved in heating both gluing surfaces with hair dryers and one guy to quickly apply the glue and get it all together with clamps. It is a cool thing to know that I am using the exact same methods and materials and now, the glue, that Martin used so long ago. I still am not convinced that there is a noticeable difference sound wise as I am quite pleased with the sound and projection we get with Titebond.

That 2006 C-28 would not be hide glue. I think I know which one that is, I've seen it on the net myself and I must say that Brazilian looks of the highest grade - straight grain quartered, just about unobtainable these days. The Brazilian on that baby far out ways the glue factor IMHO. It sure isn't cheap though at 9k+.

The Brazilian on that particular guitar is some of the best straight grain quartered I have ever seen and it probably sounds amazing, but I continually hear from top luthiers that tap tone is more important than straight grain and some of the figured Brazilian taps better than some of the straight grain.

quote:

The Brazilian on that baby far out ways the glue factor IMHO. It sure isn't cheap though at 9k+.

Steve, I know 9K is alot of money, but honestly, I think it is a reasonable price if you consider that it is a Merrill and the price tag that some of the top builders are charging for a guitar with high grade Adi/Braz plus the waiting period.
I think Martin has a $21,000 upcharge for Brazilian nowadays?

i played a merrill C-28 w/braz/adi this summer, and it was one of the 3 or 4 best guitars i have ever played. $9500, i think. that being said, my D-2HA is one of the 5 or 6 best guitars i've ever played, and it's a bargain at half the price. no varnish. just good. a C-28 with honduran rosewood might be $5500, and is worth checking out, imho.