Most overrated tonewood?

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Goodallboy

Overrated tonewood.........What's next? A thread on "what's the most overrated tuners"? "The most overrated glue"?

Geeze.......Let's grind our axes on something that makes a bit more sense.

Hi Goodallboy, there are undoubtedly far more pressing issues - Global warming, Ebola, HIV-Aids, the increasingly useless antibiotics issue, obesity, National Health Services, Syria and Iraq, the Crimea/Ukraine situation, the attempts to break up the UK, the continuing federalisation of the EU - and of course - the world economy.

However this is neither a world affairs nor a political forum (in fact such subjects are banned).

It is, however an acoustic guitar related thread on a general acoustic guitar discussion forum, and so it seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable discussion.

Of course, not all threads will interest us and many seem pointless or trivial and we all have the option to ignore them.

I note that the OP titled the thread clearly so that we could all understand the subject matter before choosing whether or not to open it.

A simple strategy that many could helpfully adopt.

Best,

[riffmeister]

I like wooden guitars.

That is all.

[mymartind35]

I like cheddar!

[frank4001]

The one guitar I have with an Adirondack top is underated if anything... It's the best guitar ever made.
Period.
No one can prove otherwise because it's only an opinion and mine is all that matters in my house.

Seriously the top may or may not have anything to do with it.
All I know is it's great...
I figure this stuff is just like ingredients.
Put me and a great chef is the same kitchen with the same ingredients and I guarantee you'll want to eat what they're serving..

Overrated underated ? Really?

Aren't we passed this ?

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by ukejon

The sad thing, there probably will be these exact threads in the months to come.

Sad? Aw, c'mon, isn't that a little tragic?

I'm with 'Tache on this one. It seems to me perfectly reasonable on a guitar forum to chat about whether a tonewood that commands a high price is worth it. Come to think of it, I also think it's perfectly reasonable to talk about whether we think it's worth spending megabucks on an acoustic guitar. These are questions I might chat about with my brother, who also plays the guitar, without either one of us resorting to sneers and eye-rolling.

I think there's a danger of our taking all this a bit too seriously at times. When we start getting miffed that someone should even bring up a topic because it offends our specialist sensibilities, that is one of those times, in my view.

[ukejon]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Sad? Aw, c'mon, isn't that a little tragic?

I'm with 'Tache on this one. It seems to me perfectly reasonable on a guitar forum to chat about whether a tonewood that commands a high price is worth it. Come to think of it, I also think it's perfectly reasonable to talk about whether we think it's worth spending megabucks on an acoustic guitar. These are questions I might chat about with my brother, who also plays the guitar, without either one of us resorting to sneers and eye-rolling.

I think there's a danger of our taking all this a bit too seriously at times. When we start getting miffed that someone should even bring up a topic because it offends our specialist sensibilities, that is one of those times, in my view.

Sorry, guess without a goofy emoticon everything is taken as serious and without humor....my bad.

[J.acoustic]

Originally Posted by Rmz76

I think James Taylor is a great example of this. I prefer James Taylor's tone with his vintage Gibson J-50. Several years ago he switched to a high-end Olson guitar. His Olson is much brighter which which seems to have made James alter his vocal stylings to compete a bit more with it.

It was hard to get good live recording in the late 70s but here's one he did in studio for the BBC. You can hear those trademark Gibson round shoulder undertones. It's creates a calm lake for his baritone voice to sail on.



Contrast that with his much more expensive Olson, the guitar that has become his main instrument of choice these days. The guitar's tone is much brighter which puts him as a vocalist in a situation where he needs to alter his tone to complete. I love the way James Taylor sounds in the earlier video I really don't care for what he's doing in this one.

That was a really great comparison!

James Taylor is still great in the newer video (I saw him live this summer and he was amazing). However, IMO, the Gibson DEFINITELY sounds better when he sings over the top of it. Honestly, it gives an example to how I've always felt about acoustic guitars. I prefer the guitar to sound a bit more mellow, lush, and deep... it seems to give a better foundation (or, as you put it, a "calm lake") for singing over it. Whereas a brighter guitar, one that might sound fantastic for just solo fingerpicking (when you really want the guitar itself to have a voice of its own to shine), starts to compete.

Thanks for that!

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by ukejon

Sorry, guess without a goofy emoticon everything is taken as serious and without humor....my bad.

Okay, now you're talkin'!

[ukejon]

Although this obviously isn't possible, I'd find the JT comparison a tad more convincing if he were playing and recording the Olson through the same vocal/guitar signal chain that was used in the early recording.

Since "discovering" the Martin 15-series, I have arrived at the opinion that spruce in general is overrated.

[fuman]

Originally Posted by ukejon

Well, Chicago Bears fans are the most over rated ethnicity by far....that much is fair to say!

Whatch it my friend. Da Ditka will come for you in da night.

[J Patrick]

...its kinda funny how threads like these develop...folks chime in with their takes on what they believe is NOT what it's cracked up to be....others state that the same things ARE what they're cracked up to be....others start to question the validity of the question altogether....along the way some try to interject some humor....(though it sometimes has the opposite effect).... finally we always end up with "to each their own"...fortunately knowledge and understanding does come to light occasionally and thats valuable....

...i'm of the mind that we could share our knowledge and understanding more efficiently by posing our questions more directly instead of inviting people to take a particular stance on the subject at hand....i know thats not as provocative and doesn't seem to generate as much buzz but for someone who is actually trying to learn something the divisiveness of some threads is hard to wade through...

...i think its fine to relate your personal experience, good or bad, as it relates to a particular subject or topic...but starting a thread with the intent of soliciting negative experiences and responses is a recipe for dischord...in the end i know its just another way to explore a given topic but as the saying goes...you'll attract more bees with honey...

[AmericanEagle]

Originally Posted by 4Strings

HPL is pretty overrated in my opinion.

+1 on this

HPL is fake wood, it is basically formica, like a counter top
with a photograph of real wood
it does not sound good IMHO

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

...i think its fine to relate your personal experience, good or bad, as it relates to a particular subject or topic...but starting a thread with the intent of soliciting negative experiences and responses is a recipe for dischord..

Is it really? Would you get ruffled if someone asked, "Is koa overrated?" and you had a favorite guitar made of koa? It's so general that I think one would have to be very sensitive to feel offended. What can be inflammatory and insensitive, I think, is to nail a particular model. "Does anyone else think OM28s are crap?" is a very different opening gambit, I think, from, "Does anyone else think Adi is overrated?"

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Is it really? Would you get ruffled if someone asked, "Is koa overrated?" and you had a favorite guitar made of koa? It's so general that I think one would have to be very sensitive to feel offended. What can be inflammatory and insensitive, I think, is to nail a particular model. "Does anyone else think OM28s are crap?" is a very different opening gambit, I think, from, "Does anyone else think Adi is overrated?"

...i'm not talking about who is or isn't offended...i'm talking about an efficient exchange of knowlege and experience....and i don't see the basic difference between asking if anyone else thinks an OM-28 is crap and if anyone else thinks Adirondak Spuce is over rated...one question is more politely posed..kinda...its the type of responses illicited to either question that i find contary to meaningful discourse...to learn anything one has to sort through an inordinate amount of cyber-posturing when questions are posed in such a way....if one was to ask if there are any disavantages to Adirondak Spruce the responses would likely be more about personal experiences and less about personal biases