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What Do Guitars from the 1800s Sound Like?
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- Опубліковано 25 кві 2022
- A lot of people think that old guitars sound better, but do they really? In this video Dan and Blake explore that question, and demo what two guitars probably sounded like back in the 1800's.
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Dan is nothing short of a national treasure!
An international treasure!
I dont think they played “ the blues” in 1872 or whatever
Damn, looks like you're getting aroused.
@@Docante1 Do you know the history of blues music and its connection with West African music?
@@Docante1 Blues is believed to have been invented in the 1860s. Whether or not former slaves would have been able to get their hands on a guitar like that back then is anybodies guess.
A one hundred year old instrument doesn't survive if it doesn't sound special. I think that's part of the reason people love them so much. The ones that are still around are premium examples of what was available a century ago. I'm sure there was some trash made back then, but nobody took the time to love them like these beauties.
I have my great uncle's 1920's Tatay, he got it second hand in the 40's or 50's; then when he passed away my grandfather had it for 30 years before giving it to me because he wanted to hear it again. That is a guitar that makes any player sound good and it is just unbelievably good sounding, the most forgiving guitar that I have ever played. Just a priceless wonder.
My guitar teacher 50 years ago, had a 1929 Martin New Yorker, all mahogany. That was an incredible sound. He was big on Eddie Lang and Fats Waller songs. It was a joy to play. And , a friend had a 1892 Gibson mandolin that was sent to Gibson for some repair. Gibson dated it and said that it's possible, Orville Gibson himself may have even worked on it. These guitars here sound incredible.
Those Silk and steel strings really made that guitar come alive!
It's somewhat astounding that those guitars have survived at all, let alone in the shape they are in. It was a real treat to see and hear them.
Agreed! Thanks so much for checking out the video.
There are recordings of Segovia playing a guitar strung with gut strings. He was able to get some pretty amazing sounds out of them. These are wonderful guitars. Thank you ver much!
Very cool. He could make the best out of ANY strings! Thanks for the comment!
This was a great video idea! Never would I have experienced the sound of those two guitars in my life apart from this. I’ve seen mid-nineteenth century guitars hanging before. Hearing them was a treat. Thank you!
Very cool! Thanks so much!
I've been enjoying all the "young bloods" in your recent videos, but it's so wonderful to see Dan in front of the camera again. I hope he won't mind me saying that he's like the cool, chill grandpa of the entire guitar community.
I own a Martin from the 1860's and have chosen to use the DelArte nylons for the lower 3 strings and the Thomastik-Infeld John Pearce folk strings for the uppe 3 strings. Sounds great!
Very cool! Thanks for the comment!
Wow Nathan, sounds amazing I am sure. Thank you for that string recommendation, though I do not have older instruments I may come across them, and if so will try them. Or even on my nylon.
Nathan - listening to this I was struck by the thought of nylon lower 3 strings and gut for the top 3.
@@chipsterb4946 You know what you could use Thomastik KR116 Flatwound Strings which will save the frets from scratches.
@@chipsterb4946 You know what you could use Thomastik KR116 Flatwound Strings which will save the frets from scratches.
Found my 1862 Ashborn 27 years ago as it was wearing medium gauge steel strings(!), a broken neck and a broken bridge and saddle. Many cracks and filled with dust. $6.50. Located a luthier who is dedicated to historical instruments, not just folk guitars. He lovingly put it back together for several hundred dollars. It is a family treasure and so fun to play. Imagine, this guitar played Stephen Foster tunes when they were new. Holds tune very well.
Amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Same here. Found a pre 1855 Martin 2 1/ 2 24 in a junk pile at a flea market. $10.00. Needs some love to be playable. Fortunately, not much. New bridge and a few separations mended. Wish I knew the history on it. Someone played the bag off of it.
Silk & steel for the win!
What a treat listening to those antiques! Amazing
Glad you enjoyed it!
Actually the low end on ALL the set-ups was amazing, it only got better with the change of strings.
My favorite acoustic is my Taylor 224ce-k DLX. I was just killing time in my local guitar center one day and decided to pick it off the wall. It sounded and felt so perfect to me that I applied for one of the store credit cards that minute just so I could make sure I left the store with it. No second thoughts, and over two years later absolutely no regrets. It's still my pride and joy amongst my acoustics.
Thats awesome, and I love that guitar too
Good question Dan. I have played a ton of guitars and though I have a few oldies, they are making some mighty good guitars today. I love them all…
Great presentation comparing the guitars with different strings.
With genuine gut strings the bass strings were muddy on both and they both sounded like toy guitars.
Both improved greatly with nylon strings. The Martin sounded better than the other. It was sounding like a real guitar!
With steel strings, the Martin came alive - clear note separation from all 6 strings. Lovely.
Yes, we loved the silk & steel as well. Thanks for the feedback!
I thought the exact same thing. Thanks for voicing it.
@@stewmac You could've gone w/ Thomastik KR116 Rope Core Flatwounds. The Nylon Strings really improve the Tuning stability & tone of these Guitars, the Gut Strings sounded like Toys.
Stumbled upon this. Wonderful to know these guitars still sound beautiful, and that gut strings are still available. Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
I bought a 49 going on 50 year old Yamaha FG-160 a few months back to clean up and resell at a profit but fell in love with it and decided to keep it. It's got the usual problem of high action but it has unique tone, great sustain and a ton of resonance. It vibrates right into my chest and sounds like a concert hall inside the sound hole. It has inspired a lot of new music of differing styles from me. It has a sound that I can't explain that bests my other much more expensive guitars and anything I've found on the store walls. There's definitely something to a well aged vintage guitar.
I love my Martin HD-28. Great sound!! It’s new, purchased late February of this year.
I've got a Yamaha 69 FG 230 12 string that just sings when its played. The guitars tend to age well from what I've seen and heard as long as the guitar is taken care of and kept in a relatively constant environment where it's not subject to extreme temperature swings. The one I have has a really good warm full sound.
That Martin with the Silk & Steel is one of the best acoustic sounds I've ever heard. I'm sold.
Wow those guitars sound great! I have a hohner acoustic dreadnought I’ve had for 22 years now. I use Daddario phosphor bronze .013-.056 gauge strings and it seems to sound better every year!
I once got to play Rory Gallagher's 66 Telecaster. I haven't played anything that was even close to how it sounded and played. I think good old guitars stay around because people know they are good and the best players pick the best guitars. The bad ones don't get anywhere and get thrown aside.
Survivorship bias.
It begs the question. Had you not known who’s guitar it was, would it still have sounded as amazing?
@@valentino3191 Well I thought it was a replica or something when I got to play it initially - it was only as I was playing it I was told it was his actual guitar haha. So it did both sound and feel amazing to play before I knew. I played a replica made from an old strat before I got to play the tele but the tele was just another level ^^
I have a 1964 Harmony that sounds just beautiful! Sure it’s nothing particularly special but of the 2 dozen guitars I own it just has such a unique and different tone. Most of all I fantasize a bit of all the songs it has been tasked to sing through its life and it inspires me to challenge it with new and interesting demands!
Great video guys! I think you really did a thorough job of experimenting with the different possibilities! Well done!
Your Harmony sounds great! Thanks so much for the comment.
"it’s nothing particularly special".... I don't think so. For all the reasons you give - it sounds bloody spesh to me!
I know what you mean. I've got a 79 Yamaha 000 which is all laminate and I believe a student model but that little thing just blows away any of my other acoustics.
I have several old Brazilian Rosewood parlor guitars to a 2012 Gibson Hummingbird, each of my guitars has it unique sound and feel.
The one that most appealed to my ear the best was the 1872 Martin with nylon strings, it still maintained its brightness but was a tad mellow too and resonated more. Thanks for demonstrating 'em and more importantly putting them back in playable condition. Tip o' the cap gents.
Played a Koa Goodall at the Pickin' Parlor about 5-6 years ago. Tremendous sound and feel from the get go. Decided I wasn't ready for that kind of outlay at the time, and have been regretting it ever since. It was the one that got away. Don't live for regret.
My uncle used to say "alway go with the Martin "..yep, with silk, etc strings..very nice!!
Around 15 years ago I played a brand new Breedlove Ed Gerhard signature 12-string that took my breath away. I'd never heard clarity and bass response like that, and still to this day it haunts me that I didn't take it home.
Gut strings, from way back in the day... I had no idea. Thanks again guys!
Wow, that was gorgeous. I'm going to go put some silk & steel strings on my 1925 Regal now.
I need to than you Stumac. Personally. My DAD became a great luthier after i introduced him to you. Rest his soul, you taught him right.
I had a 1954 Hofner acoustic 12 string acoustic and it was a beautiful guitar. I loaned it to my late nephew who tried to tune it up to G and broke its face and bridge. It was beautiful tone and the neck had a rounder radius and was really nice to play. I have an Epiphone D-212 that I bought to replace it. I broke my shoulder and arm and it hasn’t healed well, but I am still trying, it had to be my left of course and I may have broken my wrist too . But the Epiphone sounds wonderful, but has a flatter wider neck that will take getting used to. But the Hofner was a really great tone. But the Epiphone is too. It is Mahogany with a spruce top, so I think that’s why they both have a similar tone.
I own a 1958 Guild X50 that has extraordinary sound and character, moreso than most any other guitar I have played. Everyone that plays it is astonished at the sound. I think it is helped by age, but I think happenstance of the right parts and woods has a great deal to do with it as well, along with an experienced builder.
It's a fascinating area of Exploration of guitar History, would love to see videos of some of the guitar compositions written in the 1800s on these kinds of instruments, the time before audio recording existed.
Great idea!
My oldest and first acoustic guitar is the 1971 Yamaha FG-75 Red Label, made in Japan, it's 52 years old! A beginner's guitar no doubt but that old wood can make sounds that my 2019 Martin can't. I use the steel string D'addario's .011 -.052 light Gauge Bronze strings.
The silk and steel have more chime but there’s something I really like about the thump of the cat guts. But silk and steel feel great under the fingers. Thanks for a very enjoyable video!
Another great video !!
I just picked up a 1920s ukulele and it is a tipple 10 strings it has changed my ear, now when I play my larrivee guitar I'm focusing on really trying to make the strings ring out where as before I never noticed the importance of strings on on instrument. I'm loved the video I need an old parlor guitar next so cool
Some 40+ years ago, I took up valuable seating space at the University of Delaware, where I majored in "Stone Balloon downstairs bar"; I minored in electrical engineering. Thursdays were 'open mike night', and one of the more frequent acts performed with three "Martins", two of which were minted at the turn of the 19th Century. He stated that the repair tech who performed most of the work that day "believed that good guitars become 'acoustically seasoned', and respond well to frequent, careful playing. Lesser guitars, on the other hand, "earn their weight in dust".
I loved the video and the different sounds of strings.
I also love the fact that our listening and expectations change over time. I'm sure players and listened of the time would find the sound of the silk and steel "harsh".
I would love to hear a current made OM model or similar played with all those strings as another comparison.
Keep up the super work
To my ear the Martin is noticably louder with more presence. With either set of strings but really shines with those silk and steels.
Went to Guitar Center in Manchester CT with my uncle for his 60th bday...... we had a ball! There was a used Hilbourne tele that we tried and absolutely loved... Sounded so amazing through both a deluxe and twin. Got back home to NY and called my Unc and said, please go back to GC and pick up that Hilbourne for me.... he went back and it was gone.... That was 8 yrs ago and we both still talk about how amazing that guitar played and sounded.
If you find a guitar that sounds and play just right.... before it is gone.... JUST BUY IT!!!
Good advice! 😎
I thought the gut sounded interesting, but the silk and steel made me think "gut sounds like plucking a tennis racket."
Like Timex vs Rolex.Awesome experiment. Thanks for the video guys.🙂👍✌
I know this video is a year old but i want leave a comment. First, thank you for producing this video. Like another viewer pointed out, this is the only way some of us can see and hear these old treasures. And to hear them comparing new and old style strings was a special treat. I've seen really old guitars in museums but don't get to hear them except on old recordings. As for the best sounding guitar that I've played and own... I was stationed in San Diego with my job for a little over twenty years. In 2010ish I had the pleasure of touring the Taylor guitar factory and commissioning a personal build. I got a GC8e which is a rosewood and spruce concert size guitar with a tobacco burst finish and some nice abalone inlay. Not overly fancy just really beautiful. I was actually able to tour the factory again while they were building my guitar. Despite the small size, this guitar has a big, balanced voice and sounds better to my ear anyway than most I've played. Good thing too because I'm not a wealthy guy and can't afford more than one acoustic of this caliber in my lifetime lol. I play it everyday and never fails to bring a smile to my face. I love reading other's tales of "special" guitars in their lives. Thanks again for the video Dan.
Recently got an Eastman E20 OO with the antique varnish in the shop and that thing is nuts.
Man your inner Jerry was showing in a lot of that playing. Fantastic especially on true pieces of history.
That guy knew what to do with that old old guitar. He knew how to play it exactly. I have a 1905-ish classical guitar, and it sounds just like these guitars. ...except mine actually sounds quite a bit better, but it has nylon strings. My guitar has a big booming sound on the bass notes that just resonates so much. StewMac is awesome.
Of course, yours sounds better. We totally believe you, Jeff. 😉
I currently own a PRS SE P20 and I am very actually quite happy with it, considering that all the acoustic guitars I have played since 2002 have been subject to comparison with a unique experience I had then. This happened in London where I stumbled upon a 1926 Gibson that left me just sleepless for a very, very long time... That particular guitar had EVERYTHING I could possibly desire from an acoustic except the price tag, which stated GBP 6000,-.
Thanks for this opportunity! And thank you for using authentic gut strings!
Thank you for sharing and documenting these rare instruments.
I recently purchased a 1870’s Martin 0-28 guitar and I love the tone and the action with the nylon strings that you used. I’ve really been surprised. When I compare their tone and action with my 1962 Martin 00-18 I like both. Each has its place and I am pleased with the fact that both have been built to the tone that I associate with Martin guitars.
My favourite guitar is my Seagull Artist Mosaic. It's brand new, and I was not going to buy it that day, but I couldn't let it go after trying it. I got the demo unit that I played. I usually prefer 80/20 bronze, bit I use phosphor bronze D'addario strings on it. It sounds more cozy if that makes any sense :p
Awesome!
I've had my Cedar S6 for 20 years and with phosphor bronzes it absolutely sings.
I have an old Yamaha classical and the D Addario strings are my favorites. I have tried a couple of different sets but always come back to D Addarios.
When you talk about the guitar that you love one guitar comes to mind. about 3 months ago my local guitar store got a Martin d15m streetmaster and I have been drooling and playing that thing almost every day since then. I go in there almost every day and play it. I lost sleep over it for about 3 weeks and I've been saving up money trying to afford that thing and I hope it doesn't go before I can buy it. It plays so well and it feels right in my hands. And I truly love it
go to the store and put it on lay away and make weekly payments. No one else will be able to buy it.
I think I prefer the Silk & Steels. I do have a couple of small, older guitars; a 63 Martin 5-16 Terz and a 1910 Washburn 1-15 Braz/Spruce. I have both strung with ultra light steels, they both just had very good neck resets, and they seem to be faring quite well, both in open tunings. I've used S&S before on various guitars, especially 12 strings, and I know them quite well, but it just never occurred to me to try them on either of these...
I have a Guild 412 from 1980 I’ve been playing it with just 6 six strings. The high strings are bright and the low strings boom. Strum a chord and you can feel the neck and the top vibrate. It’s a thing of beauty. All maple except for the top (spruce) and the fretboard (ebony).
I own a 1952 Harmony Stratotone, and it's the best sounding electric guitar I've ever played. It was hanging next to a 1965 Gibson ES-335 and when I compared the two the Harmony was the clear winner.
The pickup is very clear, with a very rich midrange, and great bass; it's also overwound with the copper sticking out from the sides, making it the loudest pickup I've ever heard. The person I bought the harmony from copper-shielded the inside and compensated the bridge saddle for me and it really plays great even with no truss rod, he did a great job.
When I bought it, it had standard d'addario strings, but I changed them to stringjoy's "broadway" set of nickel strings. The nickel strings made it sound even better. All of my friends who've played it agree with me, it's the best sounding electric guitar we've ever heard.
I still have my first acoustic I got in 1960, it a 1958 Kay solid top, can't read the model stamp. To me it sounds better than my Taylor 314sce. I guess it just my 72 year old ears. Older guitars sound great and your video shows it. Good job guys!
What wonderful instruments. They both sound beautiful. The gut strings sound fabulous.
That is amazing. I can picture someone playing it away back in the day
I was quite fortunate to have my dad buy for me what I felt was the best electric guitar in Len's Guitar City of Minneapolis in the early spring of 1967, a 1966 Guild Starfire V with Bigsby delete. It had been custom ordered by a member of the Castaways before Gibson gave them free stuff to use on their tour and movie appearance. In all the years since, the only other guitar I have played that was set up so similar and with my kind of character, was BB King's Lucille, that he let me play during a break at a roadhouse concert in early 1970. THAT was an experience of a lifetime.. not so much for the guitar experience, but because I found him to be such a magnificent soul.
Amazing - thank you for sharing!
That is a very cool and insightful test! Bravo!
I love vintage guitars. My Dad bought a new J45 in 1962. I learned to play on that guitar. I still have it. When loyfor more guitars, I used that Gibson for comparison.
I couldn’t find what I was looking for. So I started looking for guitars with different voices. Currently I own an old 37-39 Regal archtop, a Guild 12 string, a Gretsch resonator, and a Mitchell guitar I bought a couple of years ago. Last fall I bought a 1970 Kay to fix up. Last week , at the same store I found a 1951 Espanola classical guitar that needs work, but still has life in it. He was about to throw it away, but he just gave to me.
For me there are two guitars. The first is a mid sixties Martin D-28 Brazilian rosewood guitar that was played by a folk singer named Barry Drake at a college campus performance in 1977. At the time I was primarily a banjo player, and I didn't know a lot about guitars, but I immediately recognized that this guitar sounded sweeter and fuller and richer than any guitar I had ever heard. The second one is also a Martin dread . I found it in a well-stocked music store that had quite a few Martins, but this one was very different. It was like the sound was jumping out of the soundhole. I didn't have the money to buy it, so I put it back and thought I'd buy another one like it later in life when I wasn't so strapped for cash. Forty years later, I have never heard another one like it.
Around 1977 I had a Lo Prinzi. It was the first “real” guitar I had, and it gave me chills the first time I played it. 🥂
I love my Orangewood Ava Mahogany. Of course, I slotted the bridge, reamed the bridge pin holes, and replaced the ebony bridge pins with bone. Such a well balanced guitar.
Very nice!
Gents...First of all, thank you! Lovely playing, and a worthy video!
For me, although there are many fine sounding guitars manufactured today... There is no comparison to be made.Those guitars you demonstrated for us sound like 150 years of music history, bringing its tears, laughter, sorrows, and joy to we who live in this digital-driven age! Just pure, glossy, heart-stealing living tone! I have heard (And played.) several old guitars, and the effect aging has on their tone is peerless, especially if they can bear up to silk and steel, which brings out everything they can be, with clarity, depth, and projection in all registers, and no harshness. Nylon is definitely a second, the choice for a more delicate instrument top, with shallow support or little in the way of bracing. Gut is invitingly warm, but somewhat of an almost muffled presentation; The trebles are muted in the highs, the middles dreamy and distant, the bass mysterious and a bit muddy or foggy. It breaks down to personal taste, but with them, you hear what the composers of the nineteenth century heard as they played. I wish to note, you can buy synthetic gut strings by the Aquila string company, that are $100 dollars cheaper, and which are amazing! (They are called Nylagut, and deliver a remarkably gut-like tone!) So there's an alternative for those who'd enjoy the experiment with an old, or new guitar! Of course, everything else considered about old guitars, it's important they be played regularly, just as with violins, for instance, to maintain their integrity.
Thank you for the great comment. Dan and Blake both agreed that the old Martin was a once-in-a-lifetime sound. Very cool about the Nylagut string option!
My stepmother owns a 12-fret Triple-0 Bjärton from the late sixties or early seventies. It's got a few dings and surface cracks but it plays and sounds absolutely fantastic. I live in Sweden so Bjärtons from that time aren't rare at all but I've yet to see another one of that model.
I love listening to my Tony Mottola records and hear his sweet gut-string guitar.
Brilliant!
I loved the calm of you two fine chaps.
If you listen to someone that plays any well made guitar there is always something Wonderful coming your way, especially if the player is actually enjoying the experience.
Ahzum. Simply mezmurizing sound. Easy on the ears. I feel like I just took a time warp.
Intonation is remarkably good on these two.
I was more than just a little bit partial to the authentic sound you pulled out of the guitars with the gut strings. That was pretty cool. The bass was different at first, but then, like I said, it’s easy to listen to. I really liked it up and down the fret board and across all the strings.
Gold star to who ever did the side by side video editing comparison.
Made my day to see this video.
Thanks guys.
I used an Alvarez from the 80s to cover "From The Beginning" by ELP and it sounded just like the record.
I've often wondered how the old guitars played and sounded. Thanks for the demonstration. I imagine the musician himself had a lot to do with how well the instruments sounded.
for instance, if he could keep tempo i could have concentrated on the guitar tone
I used to have an 1867 Ashborn. Had it repaired and set up to handle silk and steel. Gave it a good sound.
I’ve played many parlors over the years and I can say with certainty that John Pearse silk and phosphor bronze are BY FAR the best sounding strings.
I don't think we can generalised. Some guitars, even the well-known brands, can deteriorate through time without any identifiable physical defects. We just have to check it thoroughly if we are going to buy one, especially if it is expensive, unless you buy it just for nostalgic reason.
I own a Paulino Bernabe hand made Concert Flamenco Blanca that does bring a tear to your eye. 65year old cypress back and sides, 45 year old German Spruce soundboard, mohagany neck, ebony fretboard, bone nut and saddle. This thing is loud, bright and plays really fast. I paid way too much for it, but if the house caught fire, I would save this guitar, for sure. I will NEVER give it up.
Wow. Sounds like an incredible guitar!
How wonderful to hear those old guitars. If only they could talk, the stories they could tell.
As a classical guitar player, I over stretch my strings and tune them a step above what tuning I want to cut down tuning time. It may seem a bit rouge, it works.
Wou;
Would've liked to hear more playing together like you did at the end of this video. Otherwise I was amazed at the richness of that 1872 Martin with those last strings you had on it. Thanks for sharing guys!
Looking good, Dan! Really cool video. Thanks for sharing with us.
WOW!!! I think this is one of the best demos I've seen!!! Thank you!!!
9:33 That Ashburn is only 2 years older than the Martin from the time it was built, but it's actually way too lightly built to handle the Tension of Silk & Steel Strings it would have to be strengthened to help it. You could use Thomastik KR116 Rope Core Strings.
I play my dad's Martin 00-16C and it sounds nice. I haven't played any other classical guitar so I don't really have a good reference.
amazing tones from those instruments in headphones, especially with the silk & steels
This was a lot of work.. Very cool and Thank You! Best Regards and Best Wishes!
Hey! My name is Joakim and I come from Sweden. I have an East German musima from the late 70's. When I mounted new savarez hard tention on it, I can play indefinitely without getting tired. I love Willy Nelson's Trigger and I think it sounds a bit like it. In fact, I think CF Martin has its origins in Markneukirchen where Musima is made. That's enough for me😉
Very cool! Thanks so much for the comment!
The Martin with the gut strings were a real surprise, really like how it sounded, but both sounded great on Nylon.
I like the silk and steel, however I would like to know the difference in the fret scales of those two guitars, I think that would make a difference in the sustain for each! thanks Tom
I hear your "Deal" riff there Blake!
The three different strings each have their own "flavor," but ALL sounded great.
Nope... you need to choose one...🤨
@@jamiemorgan4146 I manage...
I’m not a guitarist but I love guitar. I have five of them. I know a few chords and I pick sometimes. The best one is the Bjärton that my dad gave me. It was forgotten, beaten up and unplayable, but we turned it in to some pros that made it tick beautifully again. And it sounds so warm and lovely. But maybe I’m biased.
Nice comparison. I own a CF Martin 1:21 from around 1872 ish since 2003. I would love the silk and steel sound but was always afraid of putting them on. So the best sounding nylonstrings in my opinion that I have found have been the Savarez Alliance Cantiga normal tension for that guitar.
Good choice! Always best to play it safe with a guitar THAT old.
I'd be afraid of the silk&steels too if you planned on leaving them on for any amount of time. I have a no-name from at least the very early 1900's(when my grandpa bought it) no truss and very little bracing. I've put silk&steels on it, but I tuned them a full step low and was afraid to bring them to full tension, and only had them on for about five hours before putting some nylons back on it.
I've got one of the earliest models of a Martin SIGMA guitars. It's awesome.
Thanks for this comparo - well done. I've got a dozen or so guitars. The oldest is from the 1950's, so 70 years old or so ... They all have a personality.
I have one Korean made classical that has unholy sustain. It's spooky. I have a French classical that is a dud until it's exactly tuned, then it's chimy and crystal clear. Won't tolerate drop tuning or anything. But standard concert tuning is pretty amazing. Had my hands all inside these and looked at all the woods. So many nuances. But synergy is real, and when it comes together, it'll sure put a smile on your face : )
the Ashbourne has such a thick attack.
The martin definitely sounds more martinee. Thank you for this video.
I always liked Dan....I hope he lives forever. I guess in a sense , he will. I like the Gut strings for their authenticity , in the right hands they can be quite nice.
Best Acoustic I've ever played was at the Alembic guitar factory last August. It was just a prototype but oh my goodness did it sound beautiful. I don't know if they have started making them yet.
Oh and how about a numbered Strat neck please Dan. Pretty please...
I was flabbergasted to see that John Ashborne guitar. I have a #1 in perfect condition and all original. I wish you would have shown more how it was made but that was not your purpose. I love that guitar but I haven’t tried different strings. Thanks for showing it. I don’t no how to date it other than the company ended in 1867.
Very cool!
I’ve got a guitar I bought at an antique mall for $12.50. My wife was shopping and I saw this thing, picked it up and tuned it. I walked around playing it while the wife was shopping. It had black nylon strings on it, and it’s OLD. There’s no markings, no numbers, it has a floating fret board.
It has the sweetest tone ever.
Sound like possibly a mid 1800s era guitar! Does it have a black neck/peg head as well?
@@jacobralph1442 black neck and headstock. It doesn’t have friction tuners though, it has open geared
Sounds cool! If you ever want to sell it I’ll be glad to double your money 😂. Wish I could find a 12.50 find like that!
@@jacobralph1442 I ended up putting a fishman mic in it lol
$300 mic in a $12.50 guitar……and they say guitarists aren’t smart!
@@jacobralph1442 I’d just like to know what it is!
i bought a pair of those same gut strings. I enjoyed them.
I have a 1866 NY Martin, and I agree with pretty much everything you say. It has dried out so much I doubt it even weighs 5 pounds. It's cool to fingerpick, but I pick up the D18 9 times out of 10
Wow - that's incredible! Hang on to that thing 😎
@@stewmac my great, great grandfather bought it brand new. I'm just the custodian, till it gets handed down to my son.
Wow that Martin with the silk and steel string sounds amazing. 😍