Vintage vs New Acoustic Guitars?

[twalker]

One of the things I've been looking into was purchasing some Gibson acoustic guitars... specifically a J-200, J-45 and a southern jumbo. I'm not sure whether to buy them new or go for the vintage ones. I hear Gibson is making them different these days and would like to know if anyone knows anything about this.

 

I already own a 1935 L-00 which I really love.

 

Thanks

[brundaddy]

You'll get a lot more response to this topic if you post in the acoustic forum. FWIW in the house I'm staying in there are 3 1960's J-45s and a brand new Dove. The J-45s sound much better but the necks are teeny tiny. The new Dove has a nice neck but very little low end to its tone. So I end up playing the old ones and cursing the narrow necks.

 

That said, if you're deciding which guitar to buy next... don't listen to anybody on the internet, listen to the guitars. Some old guitars sound amazing, some not so hot -- same for new ones.

 

So the 3 old guitars in this house sound better than the one new one. However, you can't infer jackshlt from that. I've played beaucoup vintage & new acoustics and any given year is a mixed bag, tone-wise.

[twalker]

Thanks brun... sure, the sound and feel of the instrument is always subjective but my question was more along the lines of construction... i.e.. .type of woods being used, bracing.. etc.

[freak show]

Welcome to the forum. brundaddy is right: The acoustic guys aren't over here very often, so you may want to ask a mod to move your thread to the acoustic section. You'll get more responses over there.

 

As to the differences: I get the impression that it's pretty hard to get exact spec's on new Gibson acoustics. They seem to be deliberately evasive, so you may find it difficult to get a definitive answer.

 

What one can say with certainty is that they don't use Brazilian Rosewood any more. Also they rarely use Honduran Mahogany or Adirondack Spruce, and there aren't many models made using hide glue. These things were all standard on the old Gibsons.

 

And the biggest difference is going to be the aging. For example, Martin makes a D-18 to the exact spec's of a guitar from the 30's, but it still doesn't sound like one of the old ones. It can't. It hasn't been played for decades. The wood isn't 70 years old.

 

If you want vintage tone, your best bet is to buy vintage.

[pippy]

...Thanks brun... sure, the sound and feel of the instrument is always subjective but my question was more along the lines of construction... i.e.. .type of woods being used, bracing.. etc...

 

...If you want vintage tone, your best bet is to buy vintage...

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I'm not entirely sure what you are after.

 

Are you wanting the best-sounding instrument or one which is made exactly the same as they were "in the old days"?

 

There are, certainly, detail and constructional differences between new and old instruments. Some of these changes would have been adopted with the idea of improving the product. Others, as freak show mentions, have been imposed upon Gibson because of the unavailability of certain materials; especially with regard the woods used.

 

I'm not trying to be a smartarse, and I'm sure I'm about to tell you something which you already realise, but if you are after the best sounding instrument you really do have to try out as many examples of anything you can find to see which sounds best to you.

 

If you are after one built as they were in the old days you really do have to buy one which was built in the old days.

 

Good luck hunting.

[milod]

Pippy pretty well nailed it...

 

But as a picker who cares more about pickability, then tone, then looks as a distant "last concern," I'd say if you have the cash for that sorta stuff, take your time and play stuff that appear might trip your trigger and then go for what you may have found.

 

If you're in a more urban area... you've that advantage.

 

I guess if suddenly I had oodles of cash I'd still not just buy guitars because they're a certain type or age or even price tag, but those that somehow became "mine" the minute I put my hands on them.

 

Oddly that's not even close to making some pricetag concerns. I just got a super-inexpensive little Epi AE, for example, that makes my hands wanna sing and fingerpick 30s-50s folksie blues - and technically it's a kids' or other sorta beginner's guitar that kinda sounds acoustically like ... some old 30s parlor guitars...

 

m