When was or is the golden age of acoustic guitar making?

[mmasters]

I think it's today.

[N+1]

So do I. We've never had it so good.

[NotValid]

I vote both.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by NotValid

I vote both.

Had that been one of the options on offer, I would have voted that way, as well.

It's not a zero sum situation, where can be only ONE Golden Age. Both the 1920's and 1930's were decades of immense technical progress and artisanal advances in steel string acoustic guitar design, and right now we're in the midst of an even longer period of progress.

To illustrate what I mean, let's think about ukuleles for a minute. With that instrument, there are at least three golden ages:

1.) The 1910's through the 1920's, from between about 1914 and (let's say) 1930 or so;

2.) The early to mid 1950's, when Arthur Godfrey was a hugely popular star on television. Godfrey played uke, and that propelled a second golden age of uke building and playing - though to be fair, that era was driven more by making lots of ukes for as cheaply as possible, not advances in uke design;

and

3.) The current uke revival that's happening now.


So my point is that instead of there being just one "golden age" of steel string acoustic guitar designs, there are at least two; the 1920's through 30's and the renaissance we're enjoying right now.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[jazzguy]

I say both too. Since Martin started it all, think of all the wonderful guitar companies that provide incredible diversity in tone and options for every taste...including Martin still today.

[1Charlie]

Your poll results will inevitably be badly skewed by one thing:

Most AGF members have not experienced the joy of playing a '30's Martin. There are only 30,000 or so in existence, many in the hands of collectors.

There are reasons that Martin and other builders today are borrowing heavily from Golden Era designs. They produce better guitars, because of the innovations that were employed back then (scalloped braces, lighter builds, wider necks, etc).

The other key element is wood. The Golden Era guitars were made from wood that was first-generation, old growth. Unfortunately, the bulk of that wood is gone forever.

[jim1960]

Today you can get a guitar built exactly the way you want it, and made from whatever woods you prefer. You have your choice of hundreds of talented luthiers. It's an absolutely amazing time to be a guitar player.

[HHP]

Thing is, "now" is the only time players have even considered there is/was a "golden age".

In the 30's, guitar playing was not at a point where the unique properties of those Martins would be taken advantage of. Same with mandolins, the Lloyd Loar F5's were not wildly popular as the playing styles that really showed them off would not develop for decades.

The instruments were built perfectly for a music that had not been invented yet.

[zombywoof]

I would say we are in a second "golden age." Every guitar on the face of the planet owes a debt to the guitars of the 1930s. The builders experimented and played around until they settled down at the end of the decade. The transition from the Gibson J-35 to J-45 is a perfect example.

On the other hand, guitars involved far more handwork back then. A part was considered finished when it looked "close enough." Those days are long gone. Guitar building is a precise process and the CNC router is a precision machine.

[Toby Walker]

Although I voted for "Today," I can't wait to see what comes around the bend Tomorrow!!!

[rokdog49]

I can certainly understand why some would pick a bygone era as their choice, but I think of the sheer numbers of great acoustic guitars being produced today at every price point.
The innovations of the past are still being employed today as well as new and better innovations. Hand-constructed guitars are still available and in larger numbers than ever and with virtually limitless possibilities regarding materials, design etc.
IMHO it's today.

[Steadfastly]

We will never get there. They will continue to get better and better. That is the way of things.

[s2y]

I keep getting amazing new guitars.

[Silly Moustache]

I would certainly say that the best era for producing designs wuod be late 19thC to about 1934/5 .

A good point was made that few are able to experience vintage '20s to '40s instruments and of course even if we have (I have) we only see the ones that were looked after enough to become good (I've played some Fine vintage dogs too btw).

Today we have new names enter the market like Bourgeois, Collings, Santa Cruz, who I would say have managed with expertise and technology to make superior versions of the instruments we old Baby Boomers lusted after since we couldn't afford decent guitars.

And now we even have artificial aging to make new ones sound (and/or ) look old.
All these makers have to keep finding ways of re-selling the same product to us (like the motor industry - gotta have the new improved version etc.

I know we all have different views but for me if it doesn't lok like a '20s to '40s design , it doens't look right, but I prefer it to have been built in the late 20th, or early 21st C.

[kiva238]

Originally Posted by zombywoof

I would say we are in a second "golden age." Every guitar on the face of the planet owes a debt to the guitars of the 1930s.

I think that's about right, and more specifically 1934-1939.