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Out of line to post about NGD that is not a Gibson?


Violeiro

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I taveled to Nashville with the intention of checking out a '52 SJ, ended up bringing home a'37 Martin 28 AA.  I let the folks on this forum know, because, well, a NGD is a neat thing.   Were you shopping and this one just jumped off the wall into your soul?  If it makes you feel better, tell us about the new one, and why you think its a good companion to the 'bird.

Inquiring minds want to know !

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1 hour ago, duluthdan said:

I taveled to Nashville with the intention of checking out a '52 SJ, ended up bringing home a'37 Martin 28 AA.  I let the folks on this forum know, because, well, a NGD is a neat thing.   Were you shopping and this one just jumped off the wall into your soul?  If it makes you feel better, tell us about the new one, and why you think its a good companion to the 'bird.

Inquiring minds want to know !

 

Well, today I received my D-28 '37 AA....really flipping awesome guitar... it is second by a hair line to my Hummingbird...

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Edited by Violeiro
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1 hour ago, Paul14 said:

Cool looking guitar. Please excuse my ignorance, but what’s a an AA?

That is probably the "Authentic Aged" version, which is "pre-worn."

I've been looking at the "non-preworn" versions, since I prefer to "age" them myself.

For me, it's a choice between one of the modern Authentics  (which are Madagascar rather than Brazilian), or an early 50's Brazilian D-28. The modern authentic is a fair amount less on the used market compared to a good vintage one, and is a lot less likely to need a neck re-set... 

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AA = Authentic Aged. It mean it is an authentic replica of a 1937 D-28, with the aging/relic/wear... but it is actually a brand new guitar... key features of this guitar are:

- Really really thin finish, thing of VOS on steroids

- Hot hide glue

- Red spruce VTS top (translates to the same as baked/torrefied)

- Madagascar Rosewood back and sides

- Hand scalloped forwards shifted bracing also baked/torrefied

- And a lot of hand banging to create the looks of a 1937 guitar.... I actually like the mojo quite a bit.

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8 minutes ago, j45nick said:

That is probably the "Authentic Aged" version, which is "pre-worn."

I've been looking at the "non-preworn" versions, since I prefer to "age" them myself.

For me, it's a choice between one of the modern Authentics  (which are Madagascar rather than Brazilian), or an early 50's Brazilian D-28. The modern authentic is a fair amount less on the used market compared to a good vintage one, and is a lot less likely to need a neck re-set... 

The difference between the non-aged and the aged is on the thin finish package - the aged is about 40%-50% thinner than the Authentic not-aged model. 

The pre-worn (Aged) has its debates, as you are saying, that you can age yourself so why pay an extra $1500 for someone to do it for you, and I sued to think the same way...the truth is on the thinner finish... One of the reasons I absolutely love my Bird and J45 is because of the VOS which adds a lot of mojo to the tones coming out of them.

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1 hour ago, Violeiro said:

AA = Authentic Aged. It mean it is an authentic replica of a 1937 D-28, with the aging/relic/wear... but it is actually a brand new guitar... key features of this guitar are:

- Really really thin finish, thing of VOS on steroids

- Hot hide glue

- Red spruce VTS top (translates to the same as baked/torrefied)

- Madagascar Rosewood back and sides

- Hand scalloped forwards shifted bracing also baked/torrefied

- And a lot of hand banging to create the looks of a 1937 guitar.... I actually like the mojo quite a bit.

Thanks. It a very cool looking guitar. If I had any money, I would like to take a closer look at on of these. I would have to sell something, & that’s not happening.

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Interestingly, the "wear" on your new guitar appears to be much less pronounced than the "wear" Martin showed in the original video touting this aging process on the 1937 D-28 AA. In that version of the "wear", there was buckle rash through the finish on the back, and pickwear through the finish around the soundhole in the front. They also talked about artificially creating lacquer checking, etc.

There is a significant downside with that degree of wear that really isn't discussed: you cannot readily use most polishes on finishes that are checked or worn through to the bare wood. 

Virtuoso for one warns against using their cleaner and polishes on checked lacquer surfaces. When those cleaner/polishes dry, even after you have polished them off, the cleaner and polish penetrate the cracks (or the mechanical crazing from pick impacts, etc), leaving a residue that ultimately dries white and is, as they say, virtually impossible to remove. I learned this the hard way on a 1947 L-7 that I owned a few years ago, where I spent countless hours with naphtha-soaked cotton swabs teasing dried polish out of lacquer checks.

It may be that Martin has toned down the "aging" process on current versions of the AA guitars, compared to what was originally envisioned.

I like the Authentic series Martins a lot. There are much the same philosophically (and practically) as Gibson's Legend series guitars. In the case of the Martin Authentics, most of the original versions of those guitars are priced impossibly out of reach for most of us. The Authentics offer a chance to grab a little bit of the legend at a more rational price.

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