I saw a comment in another post about the D2H German top accentuating the highs and maybe being a bit too much for strumming. Just wondering what your thoughts were on an addy topped brazillian D2H for strumming? Do you find it be similar to the german topped D2H? Or would it be more versatile and handle strumming nicely?

Both Adirondack and German tops start out a little bright in sound, more so the German. Give them both a few years playing time (real playing time) and they will begin to develop a nice deeper warmer sound. Adi/Braz is a classic combination, great for picking or strumming.
The Adi. might be a little stiff at first, but will become deeper and definetly louder.
Both can be used for picking or strumming. Strumming for sure because it's a Dreadnaught. If you want to do mainly picking, you might want to go with a short scale or smaller body or both.

the only German D2H I've ever played was also one of the best rosewood dreads I've ever played. Mere EIR, and not that played in when I tried it. Killer. It tended to support my notion that the top and its bracing are actually more important than the back and sides. Heresy, I know. Whatever. The only guitar I've owned, and still do own, that has a German top is a German guitar, and not really of any help to the conversation. It was unbelievable on the first day, and has gotten moreso. tom

quote:

Originally posted by sonoman:
the only German D2H I've ever played was also one of the best rosewood dreads I've ever played. Mere EIR, and not that played in when I tried it. Killer. It tended to support my notion that the top and its bracing are actually more important than the back and sides. Heresy, I know. Whatever. The only guitar I've owned, and still do own, that has a German top is a German guitar, and not really of any help to the conversation. It was unbelievable on the first day, and has gotten moreso. tom

Tom, your vast, estimable experience notwithstanding, I choose to keep playing my lowly, shrill D2HG in piteous, shameful solitude, with ever-hopeful consolation that maybe - just maybe - down the road, I'll be saved by a dread more capable - more varnish-y, more adirondack-y, more braz-y ... more something, anything but this simple EIR and german top.

Until then - humorless, grim-faced and determined, I've set my jaw firmly into the wind, and with my gaze fixed on the horizon, I will play the hand I was dealt.

I read the post about German being bright and metallic. This was definitely NOT the case with my OM3. I bought it used, but mint. It was either never played or lightly fingerpicked. I put more scratches on the pickguard in the first day I had it than it had when I took it home. It was not broken in. A year and half to two years after I started playing it, the bass bloomed noticably, but it was never brash or too bright. IMHO

northern breed: what size do you wear in a hairshirt? I'm a 46 long. Here's to the north country (assuming northwest Wyoming counts), which I miss every single day. Maybe being born in Minnesota set my jaw firmly into the prevailing breezes out of the southwest. That would explain my difficult birth, and my status as an only child. Jeez, let's just play awhile. tom

I'm with Randy..the German topped rosewood guitars I have played have been buttery smooth and warm, distinctively warmer than red spruce topped ones. My sample size is pretty small, though....

B

I've got a german top on order (OM2HG varnish). The one I played at AMW was significantly brighter that the standard OM2 when I A/B them.

Both sounded really nice...just different.

First Collings dread I ever owned was a D2HG. In short, it was too bright sounding to me at about three years of age.

Tried several adi topped dreads, same problem to my ears. Thought the fact that I grew up playing Sitka meant my ears were just accustomed to that type sound.

Then, I finally tried a 12-fret slot-head rosewood dread with an adi top (DS2HA) and, for the first time, I heard the sound I had hoped for with 14-fret adi topped guitars. Headroom to die for, nice clear highs, but also a nice balancing warmth.

Not sure if this is typical of the slot-head guitars or if this one just tickled my fancy.

quote:

Originally posted by sonoman:
northern breed: what size do you wear in a hairshirt? I'm a 46 long. Here's to the north country (assuming northwest Wyoming counts), which I miss every single day. Maybe being born in Minnesota set my jaw firmly into the prevailing breezes out of the southwest. That would explain my difficult birth, and my status as an only child. Jeez, let's just play awhile. tom

46 reg. :-) The North country is the best, by far. I don't want to live south of the 45th parallel ever again. Whether it's the Tetons, Rockies, or Lake Superior, I need the space and good air up here. I just got in an hour+ of practice just now, and my D2HG is - well, it's a good as I'll ever need. It keeps amazing me, and what with the D1A doing it's thing too, I'll let everyone else have the varnish and braz. I would like to try a D2H and D2HA sometime though...

Northernbreed: First, I forgot to add that my experience is only half-vast. Big time. I'm not sure where the 45th parallel is, absent a globe in the room, but, much as I feel blessed to have landed in Sonoma (one of the few towns left in California that I'd be caught alive in), there is something about the light, the sky, the seasons that just don't happen. I love Sedona, too, but I'd never live there. Our house in Jackson Hole was a mile from the national park boundary, and our nearest neighbor was 30 acres away. A traffic jam was holsteins moving to summer pasture in the high country. All that, and my first Collings in late '92, a D2H. Ain't been the same since. Check out Bill Staines or Chris Ledoux singing Sweet Wyoming Home. Chokes me up every time. Now, outside to watch the smoke drift over from wildfires plaguing the state. About seven weeks from now we'll be in Wyoming, celebrating 38 years together. How Jackson Hole fits into all of that is a far longer story than this space permits, but it's way beyond coincidence. tom

quote:

Originally posted by sonoman:
I'm not sure where the 45th parallel is, absent a globe in the room, but, much as I feel blessed to have landed in Sonoma (one of the few towns left in California that I'd be caught alive in), there is something about the light, the sky, the seasons that just don't happen.

Tom -

The 45th parallel passes directly through N. St. Paul, Lake Elmo, and many other beautiful places. If you would like to visit a closer point, it passes about a mile north of my house in Oregon. Come on up and try it. But be forwarned, we don't allow no jaw settin' up here, nor no pi**in' in the wind.

Jim