I have a tough decision to make on a guitar guys.

'02 OM1(currently own) vs. late '03 OM1A (currently trying out - it’s NOS).

Its the age old adi v. sitka OM1 delema.

They both sound great! The adi top sounds better strummed, but the sitka has a more "in your face sound"..for lack of better words. The highs on the sitka '02 seem tad thicker than the '03 (new old stock) Adirondack. The adi def. has more headroom. But the om1 seems louder. Some of these observations are right on with general comments about sitka v. adi. However the volume and "thick" highs contrast what I normally read about the two. Do you think this will change?
Does with the Adirondack highs sound thicker in time? Is it even possible to answer this?

BTW - I strum, flatpick, and do tons of lead guitar work (90% with of pick)...Oh I can't afford both guitars either - rules out that option .

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 007,

Tough call. Stiffer wood needs to be driven harder to coax the best sound out of it, and adirondack, supposedly, has the highest strength to weight ratio of any commonly used top wood for guitars. It will take longer to become supple, or played in, but when it does it has a greater dynamic range than most sitka. Bill Collings has commented that mahogany and adirondack is a favorit combination of his (current Acoustic Guitar magazine interview). Subjective? Aboslutely. The best Collings I've owned, and that's fifteen to date, have had Adirondack tops. Did they sound great to begin with? Yep. And they sound better now.

Go with what sounds good now. I don't believe in buying a guitar in hopes that you'll "really" like it when it opens up. If it doesn't do it for you now, pass. Is th e OM1A used? It may already be as 'opened up' as its going to get.

What is headroom. I've read that now several times on the forum, but I've yet to see some explanations of this term and how you use it? Thanks!

Headroom is higher volume without compromising clarity. A guitar strummed will only reach a certain volume with clear notes, and at a certain point, strumming harder will not make louder clearer notes, but will sound muddy or distorted.

Clear as mud?

Dan

certainly, the adi guitar will open up over time.

will you like the 'opened up' sound of the adi guitar more than the sitka guitar?

impossible to answer.

I think I remember reading somewhere that if a guitar is not played, it will not "open up". So if the OM-1A is NOS, then it has not been played and is just waiting for the right person to come along and play the dickens out of it. Based on that premise, the OM-1A should start sounding better after about 6 - 12 months of being played every day. Hope that helps ;-)

I have to agree that the best choice of guitar is the one that sounds better NOW - in my opinion. You won't regret it!

007,

Back to your original question....

Please describe the "opened up" sound of adi vs. new...

A lot depends on the individual guitar, and the particular red spruce top.

I own 2 red spruce topped guitars - both customs, both I've had since they were "born."

First one I received in Nov. of '02. It has a tight grained red spruce top from Old Standard woods. It sounded good out of the box, but tight, and the trebles were stronger than the bass, to my ears. I've kept playing and playing this guitar (I'm a strong handed flatpicker), and FINALLY it started opening up around the 2 to 2-1/2 year mark. It's now a **strong** guitar in all registers.

What's the difference? It sounds open, strong, woofy (in a good way), punchy, LOUD. When new it was tight sounding, constricted, a tad nasally.

According to some of the above posts, I shouldn't have taken it, because it didn't sound like I wanted it to at that moment in time.

I'm glad I waited. Now I have a bond with it that's really cool, because this one guitar is almost like an extension of myself, thanks to the hundreds of hours we've spent together.

The second guitar came to me in March of '04. It's got an incredible red spruce top that came from John Arnold. Medium to wide grain, with a "swirl" at the center seam that John described as "very special wood". He said that Yo-yo Ma's violin has wood with that swirl - cool!

This guitar (a NGC) sounded open and strong from the git-go. Almost 2 years later, it's even better, although in small increments.

My advice? If you're a pick user that strums and plays a lot of lead, I'd go with the "A" over the sitka. It's the wood of the golden era guitars from Martin and Gibson in the 30's, and it sounds good for a reason.

I currently have 2 other customs on order, and they will both have red spruce tops as well. I'm a believer!

Gary Collier
Atlanta

Years ago I read in A.G. magazine how to open up a new guitar in one day. What you do is strap the guitar to your stereo speaker sound hole facing towards the speaker and turn on your stereo to a normal level and leave it there for 8 hours or more. Be sure to place something soft like a terry cloth towel between the guitar and speaker. I've done this to all the Collings guitars I own and it works!
Jeb

quote:

Originally posted by Dan Pickard:
Headroom is higher volume without compromising clarity. A guitar strummed will only reach a certain volume with clear notes, and at a certain point, strumming harder will not make louder clearer notes, but will sound muddy or distorted. Dan

Yep. And just to put this in context, when Collings are at issue, remember that you are talking about guitars with tremendous headroom anyway, no matter what model or wood. Both my D-3 and D-1 have Sitka tops, and both have way more headroom than almost anyone could need. Playing as hard as I can, much harder than I normally do, even in an old-time jam with 12-15 instruments, I can barely make these guitars give a hint of flattening out. Would they have more headroom had they red spruce tops? Perhaps. But it's the difference between a car topping out at 140 mph as opposed to 130.

B

B Woods, that's a great analogy. I have several Collings, including a C. White and a D2HBA. The difference (and I believe I hear one) between the two guitars really is marginal, maybe 135 mph to 140. What I like more about the CW is the 1 3/4 inch nut. It's all the difference in the world to me, so much so that I bought a D1A with a 1 3/4 inch nut, even though I already have a 1 11/16 D1A. Or maybe that was just an excuse... :-)

To go back to the original poster's question, it simply doesn't matter whether the top is Ad or Sitka. Go for the tone. And NEVER buy a guitar in hopes of what it may or may not do in the future. I'm not a believer in the opening up thing (I know I'm pretty much alone on this one!); get the guitar that speaks to you now... in both senses of the word!


Norman Draper