Quote:
Originally Posted by drbluegrass
It is worth it to me. I've owned two D28 style Braz rosewood (BRW) guitars. They both were easily the best sounding D28 style guitars I've owned or played, hands down. And I've owned and played countless high end acoustic guitars. I do think great sounding BRW is becoming more scarce every year. But it's also a fallacy that there aren't any "new BRW" guitars that sound as good as "older BRW". I've played some outstanding sounding new guitars with BRW. Dana Bourgeois and Prewar Guitars (and Bruce Sexauer) are still turning out superb sounding BRW guitars. And, Bruce Sexauer, the outstanding luthier who frequents this forum has stated he still prefers it over any other RW (paraphrased).
However, I'm very curious about Granadillo "rosewood" and the instruments being built by Prewar Guitars that are using it. I've read that it is extremely similar in tone to "old growth" BRW.
Now, having said all that, I have a very slight preference for mahogany and D18 style guitars vs RW and D28 style guitars. As a bluegrass flat picker I like the stronger mids and drier fundamentals of mahogany vs RW. I know I'm in the minority with that preference as there are more D28 style guitars in bluegrass vs D18 style guitars. But my preference is not a strong one. A great sounding guitar is a great sounding guitar regardless of tonewoods used. Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth.
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I have a recollection of Bruce Sexauer commenting something very similar to what I have emphasized in bold text above. I seem to remember that in spite of all the forum comments about most of the Brazilian rosewood not being all that good that his response was pretty much that the worst BRW was way better than the best of other rosewoods. But memory after a number of years can be unreliable, so maybe I am making this up.
I have about a dozen really good acoustic guitars. I have 3 guitars made with BRW and they are certainly among my best sounding guitars. However, I have a great sounding Olson SJ made from cedar and EIR and a wonderful 2018 Martin D-45 made from sitka over EIR. From my viewpoint this tells me that a good builder can make a great sounding guitar without BRW. On the other hand, I have a 1967 Martin D-35 made with BRW and it has a much better balanced sound to my ears compared to later D-35 models built with EIR.
Older guitars built with BRW seem to be the bargains. In today's new guitar market, the upcharge for BRW seems to have gone to extremes.
- Glenn