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Old 04-27-2006, 09:33 PM
MarinerCross MarinerCross is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Minneapolis
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The Wechter is a different kind of guitar. From what I understand, there are the guitars that are somewhat mass produced which are OK, and then there are the ones that Abe Wechter builds himself that are much nicer. I believe that was true a few years ago, but I don't know if that is still the case.

The workmanship was very good on the Wechters that I played. I was really impressed. They seemed to be a little bit heavily built for my taste tonewise.

I was in a shop a few years back and just happened to be there with the Wechter sales rep who also happens to be an acquaintence of mine. He was going on and on about how the Wechters were the best thing in the shop. I pulled down a Martin Eric Clapton OOO28, and I started to A-B it with the most expensive Wechter they had. The Martin tone was much more open with better clarity, volume, balance, and overtones. IMHO, it sounded much nicer than the Wechter. Keep in mind that tone is totally subjective, so take my word with a grain of salt. Anyhow, the Wechter rep noticed the tone difference right away, and he started to make excuses for the tone of the Wechter, claiming that the strings were probably old and that the strings on the Martin were obviously brand new (it actually sounded that way). I pointed out the oxidation on the Martin strings and the fact that the Wechter strings appeared to be new. I called the shop repair guy in (he is also a good friend), and he verified that the Wechter strings were new and he apologized for the Martin strings. He then started to change the Martin strings on the spot.

In all fairness, there was a price difference in the two guitars being compared, and I usually feel that you get what you pay for. Also, I was actually more impressed with the materials and workmanship of the Wechter than the Martin, even though I preferred the style and tone of the more expensive Martin. As stated above, tone is subjective, and I'm sure you could find plenty of people who would prefer the Wechter tone. It is also possible that the Wechter I tried may have been a dog, and that not all of them sound like this one (I have played a few Martins that were dogs over the years). Some of it could be attributed to the fingerstyle technique that I use. Who knows? It was interesting (and kind of awkward) that you could tell by his facial expression and body language that the Wechter rep preferred the Martin. He seemed a bit embarrassed. He was very confident that the Wechter was going to blow away the Martin when we first started.

As usual, it is always best to try as many guitars as possible to find out what speaks to you.

Last edited by MarinerCross; 04-28-2006 at 01:02 PM.
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