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#106
09-26-2021, 04:44 PM
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[QUOTE=LakewoodM32Fan;6818990]"Wise words, Brendan and I know better than to never say never (especially in terms of moving guitars on). What I can say is that resale has never factored in to my purchasing decision. Maybe I’m naive in that, but every guitar I’ve purchased has to have moved me in some way. And over time with changing tastes and skill improvement, I may have moved away from what I used to love about an instrument. If I end up moving it on, I do try to “get what I can” for it but I’ve never regretted a decision because of difficulty reselling something.
I will say this. If I ever get to the point where I need to move this guitar on, either something extremely positive has happened in my life or something extremely negative. Either way the ability to resell this guitar isn’t going to be the make/break point..." LakewoodM32Fan... The mere fact that you have never used Resale Value as any criteria in your choice of buying or selling a guitar...ever...means you are clearly "A Player...Not A Polisher" {;-) duff Be A Player...Not A Polisher 
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#108
09-27-2021, 09:38 AM
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My last day in Chicago, need to check out in a couple of hours and will be wandering around the city until I have to go to O'Hare (flight leaves at night). I'll just start adding to this thread with my experience this weekend as I have time (and WiFi) throughout the day.
I won't have the NGD for a couple of weeks for a few reasons. First is, there's a little shipping time. Second, work is going to really occupy my next two weeks due to it being "the busy season" at my workplace (like March/April for tax folks). Third, once you get to the part of my upcoming posts where I reveal the guitar that I purchased, you'll understand that I'll want to put in quite a few hours and compare them with my current arsenal (especially the ones I foresee it will displace to consignment) before posting an NGD. Without further ado... Part I: Why I Got Myself on a Plane Despite Hating Flying Met me first to bring people up to speed with why I did this, I've sprinkled insights into my mindset throughout this and maybe a couple of other recent threads here. The first was coming across Down Home Guitars when I was doing a search for Brazilian Rosewood guitars after being impressed by a beat-to-heck 1967 D35 at a local shop. While it was so beat up (and glued back together) that I knew I wasn't going tp buy that, it was the first BRW experience I'd had where I thought "okay, that's what BRW does in terms of EQ'ing a spruce top vs. 'hog and EIR". It was a sound I wanted that seemed to have the properties of both that I most loved. But the other thing with Down Home Guitars' collection is the sheer amount of unique tonewoods and appointments that they have. It turns out, after now having spoken to the wonderful owner, Steve Haberichter, at first over many emails and now for several hours in person, that is completely by design. He carries many of the tried and true brands we all know and love: Martin, Huss & Dalton, Santa Cruz, Collings, Lowden, etc. But he's decided that, rather than try and compete his standard Adi over EIR H&D OM against someone else's version that looks near identical to someone else's identically spec'd guitar, what happens if he puts a beautiful piece of Ebony, or Flamed Maple, or Katalox (which I learned is pronounced like cat-a-losh with a long "o" and not like Maalox)? Rather than compete with ten other national shops for the customers looking for a standard Adi/EIR OM, find that smaller subset of us who might be willing to look outside of the traditional woods and who would be interested in beautifully figured alternate woods. But even those of us who are interested in alternate tonewoods will still want a fantastic sounding guitar that vibes with our play style. The only way I feel one can truly do that, is in person. Yes Steve (and others I contacted) was very generous in their time and creating sound and video clips using great mics (Steve used a Neumann TLM103!), but as I've said in a few other threads, the difference one feels and hears from the player's position is a markedly different experience than what one hears as an audience member. And that's why I dragged myself onto a plane to fly to Chicago. Part II: The Shop I'd been to Chicago for business a few times in the past, but never ventured into the surrounding areas. DHG is in Historic Frankfort. I admit I don't know the history behind it, I'll educate myself, but it really is a quaint little town that has, if my eyes didn't deceive me, tried to maintain it's old historic buildings. DHG is in one of those. I already showed the outside shot of 11 South White Street (where there are multiple businesses and a fantastic restaurant I tried before going to DHG). Here's a couple of shots from inside the building, DHG has an entry door from inside as well as a door on the outside of the building:   But you didn't come here for a Frankfort, IL history lesson (though I will just say the area is beautiful and the folks are friendly...I chatted with quite a few of them while here). Here's a few shots of the room that has most of the guitars we at AGF are looking at:    Basically as you enter the room, H&Ds and SCGCs are immediately to your left. As you go clockwise, there is what I'm going to call the piece de resistance part of the wall (my term, not Steve's) which holds some very high ticket items like the Sailor Jerry Martin and the 25th anniversary Huss and Dalton TD-R with BRW (#1 of only 8 made), and a suspicious looking black case which we'll talk about more in a future post  .The back wall has Collings and Lowdens. And the middle island had the Martins which I'm pretty sure are all Custom Shop builds (he had a beautifully figured sinker mahogany dreadnought there). All right, that's it for the intro post. I hear housekeeping making the rounds and checkout time is a little over an hour away, so I have to pack up, shower and hit the city. If I can find WiFi to continue the story, I will.
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Santa Cruz | Huss & Dalton | Lakewood Fan (and customer) of: -Charmed Life Picks -Organic Sounds Select Guitars -Down Home Guitars
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#109
09-27-2021, 09:52 AM
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“Suspicious black case” !?!?
   I’m afraid this is going to be a long trip home. (Which is weird since I’m already there.) Looking forward to the follow up posts! 
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Furch Yellow Master’s Choice — Cedar over EIR
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#110
09-27-2021, 12:39 PM
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Sorry for the suspense, Aimelie, I'm trying to crank this out as fast as I can!
 Found one of my favorite coffee chains: Intelligentsia and am camped out in one right now. They have free WiFi so here goes... Part III: The Guitars Worth Flying Out For I had initially mentioned I had a "top 2" that I was holding out hope would still be here when I arrived. And they both were. I took pictures, but honestly, Steve's are better. You all know how notoriously difficult it can be to photograph guitars, especially in a foreign environment like a showroom I've just been to for the first time. I'll just link to his site: Huss & Dalton TD-R with Brazilian Rosewood and Baked Adirondack (2019, used in visually mint condition). I couldn't find a visual flaw or blemish anywhere. Adirondack bracing with hot hide glue construction, the whole package. Santa Cruz OM Grand Moon Spruce and Brazilian Rosewood (2015, used, pickup installed). This wasn't quite as mint as the H&D but I've seen many new-but-shopworn guitars that have been in worse condition. I spotted perhaps one or two extremely small finish impressions, visible only if you held it at the right angle under bright lights. I'm notoriously picky with my guitar's conditions and nothing I saw would have bothered me in the least. I would classify this as Excellent++ or Near Mint. Also has Adi braces and HHG. As I noted earlier, Steve was unable to be there on Saturday as he had let me know he had family obligations. The wonderful Molly helped me out. She was knowledgeable, genuinely friendly, helpful, patient, and as I would soon find out, a talented guitarist! I'll start with the SCGC OMG, as that was my #2. I was excited to try it. I have learned that my ears love the dreadnought sound, projection and "easy power". But I also love the note separation and articulation that great OMs provide in spades at the expense of dread volume. I had hoped the deeper body and slightly larger top would maybe give me that "best of both worlds". Also Moon Spruce. Very first time I got to try it. Read up on it, and was curious to see what that would add to its tonal quality. Short summary of the OMG: it is a great guitar but it wasn't what I was looking for. If I had to sum it up my feelings, I'd compare it to my SCGC OM with Adi over EIR. The OMG had less of a scooped sound and had that Brazilian "smoothness". It's not quite a flat EQ but the bass and very high highs were tamed in comparison to my OM, and the mids were definitely brought forward as a result. Though it did not have the warmth of say the best mahogany, it still had the note-to-note articulation on the OM size. Where it didn't fit the bill for me was this: while it did provide more volume and headroom than an OM, it still fell noticeably short of the dreadnought size. Being able to tell that in person already justified the cost of this trip. Anyone who wants a fantastic OM sound with moon spruce over BRW, and wants just a bit more volume and headroom than an OM, would do very well with this. Being used it's about 1/3 off of what it would go for new, and if you're in the situation where this guitar's specs and sound would appeal to you but $17K is too steep a price...well for $12.5K you can get this beauty. As long as you're not expecting dread power, you're going to love this. Here's the front and back of this gem:   Which brings us to the Huss & Dalton TD-R. Upon first strum it was exactly what I thought I'd hear. Just like the BRW on the OMG, it very much tamed the lowest lows and highest highs. But I'm intimately familiar with H&D's sound, not only owning one, but having auditioned probably a half dozen or more dreads of theirs. I love their sound, and they are all cannons at this body size. The one thing I'll say of my baked Adi/EIR at home is that it is the bassiest (without being overly boomy) cannon I've ever played. This one Steve has reigns it in a lot. But it's still got the H&D DNA so I'd say it still leans a bit bass heavy than say the other two BRWs (now three) BRWs I've had the pleasure to play. But it was so impressive, that I was tempted to work out the deal with Molly right there. Until that first fret dressing issue made itself known. We both confirmed we heard it. We tried to visually diagnose it. I'm sure she'll have their tech give it the one over. I'm no expert, but I do my own basic setups at home so I know how to set nut slot depth, relief, and action. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm 90% certain the bass side of the first fret just needs a little dressing. Just shave it down a hair. The fret buzz only occurs when you hit it pretty hard. Everything else about it was spot on. But as many replied to here, I wasn't about to spend nearly 10K without making sure they either had it how I liked it, or I could easily get it done at home, since I was likely going to leave Chicago before their tech would have a chance to diagnose the issue. I did call my local shop and spoke to the manager (the tech--who I trust with all my instruments--unfortunately wasn't in that day). While he said it's impossible to diagnose on the phone, what I was describing to him did sound like it was a fret dress issue and even if it wasn't, he was sure their tech could fix whatever the issue was. I was bummed because outside of this one issue, I thought I had found an amazing guitar that was 1/3 the price of new. It was still a tad bit more bass focused than what I would have considered ideal (I was chasing the almost even-across-the-board tonality of the beat up '67 D35) but it was much less scooped than my TD-R at home and would have made a suitable companion to it that didn't duplicate its sound. Here are the front and back of the H&D:   I think Molly could sense a little bit of my hesitancy and didn't push the issue. In fact that's what I would say was most striking about my entire experience. I never once received any salesperson push. They were extremely patient with me (I must have been there a combined 7 hours between Saturday and Sunday). Never tried to steer me in a direction. Let me play, left me alone when it was appropriate, checked in on me regularly to make sure I was okay and to answer questions. It's like when you go to those fancy $$$$ Michelin restaurants and the waiters just know when to leave you alone, but also know exactly when to pick up your plates and bring out the next course? Yep. That. And then Molly uttered the words that I did not know would seal my fate. "You were also interested in trying out the 34D, right?" I simply nodded in agreement. I mean, why not, I'm there. And it turns out I really didn't know what she was talking about. I thought 34D was something similar to the Martin D35 I had told her and Steve I was chasing. I imagined that as a good salesperson, she knew of something in their Martin inventory that was similar to the D35. I thought "well I didn't really come here for your Martins, but let's see what you hand me." She brought out a guitar from that suspicious black case and gave it to me. I recognized the telltale logo, but not on the headstock where I was used to it, but on the 16th fret. I should have run away, but I didn't. I should never have strummed it, but I did. My first thoughts were "Oh my!" and "Oh no!" Ladies and Gentlemen, the Santa Cruz Guitar Company 1934D, with customized options of extra-large soundhole (4 9/16") and sunburst finish. Master grade, old growth Brazilian Rosewood. Old growth Adirondack top. No bling. All tone.   To be continued...
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Santa Cruz | Huss & Dalton | Lakewood Fan (and customer) of: -Charmed Life Picks -Organic Sounds Select Guitars -Down Home Guitars
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#111
09-27-2021, 12:48 PM
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eagerly following :-) I see something is not in stock... and I'm anxious for the rest of the story :-)
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#112
09-27-2021, 12:52 PM
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Quote:
. But for my next post I'm going to "Stephen King, Dark Tower Book IV" you. King fans will get this reference.
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Santa Cruz | Huss & Dalton | Lakewood Fan (and customer) of: -Charmed Life Picks -Organic Sounds Select Guitars -Down Home Guitars
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#113
09-27-2021, 01:09 PM
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Quote:
I am seeing some truly gorgeous guitars here….wow.
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Furch Yellow Master’s Choice — Cedar over EIR
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#114
09-27-2021, 01:13 PM
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Quote:
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Santa Cruz | Huss & Dalton | Lakewood Fan (and customer) of: -Charmed Life Picks -Organic Sounds Select Guitars -Down Home Guitars
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#115
09-27-2021, 01:26 PM
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I’m afraid the books have all blended into a single epic tale in my mind. But, yes, they are possibly my all time favorite books.
So, did you really learn to play a guitar with the hawk that brought down Goliath? Because that would be awesome.
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Furch Yellow Master’s Choice — Cedar over EIR
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#116
09-27-2021, 01:29 PM
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Wow, I was wrong. I thought for sure you were gonna buy the 1934 OM but you got the D instead. Fricken spectacular.
I have more to say but don't want to interject until you've spoken. But I am curious how you like the smaller 1 11/16 nut neck as compared to your SC OMs with 1 3/4 nut.
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Merrill | Martin | Collings | Gibson For Sale: 2023 Collings D2H 1 3/4 Nut, Adi Bracing, NTB -- $4100 shipped
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#117
09-27-2021, 01:34 PM
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Part IV: The Other Shop (or Wizard and Glass, for Aimelie)
After my initial strum, and for the following thirty minutes with the '34D, I was shaken. I had a mental checklist of what an ideal guitar out of this trip would be. The power of a dreadnought. Nearly even EQ across the board like the D35. Sweetness in the mids but not quite as warm as a mahogany sound. Articulation and note-to-note separation. Present but tamed overtones (in comparison to my EIRs). A neck and string spacing that was extremely playable to my hands. A sunburst finish. Interesting or unique tonewoods, especially for the back and sides. I had said I was looking for the "best of both [OM and D] worlds" which the OMG fell short of. This one did not. It seemed to check off all the boxes. But I was not going to spend this kind of money on a whim. And I had wanted to go to Chicago Music Exchange, an AGF sponsor, and they closed at 6pm. I thanked Molly heartily and told her I'd be back Monday when they were open next. CME is closed Sunday and Monday so I wanted to make sure they didn't have anything that ticked off my boxes. We got back on the various Chicago freeways and an hour later was at CME. It was the opposite of DHG, which is to say it was very hip and modern as opposed to, well, that down home feelings. It was like if Guitar Center got all hipster, focused on its more high end inventory, employed only knowledgeable people, and without the metal shredders. They had not one, but two Collings CJ45 Traditionals, as well as a Carpathian over cocobolo SCGC OM, that I wanted to try. A friend of mine back home, who is a big Ghostbuster (I and II) fan, she wanted me to buy the OM, call it Vigo, and every time I brought it out she would proclaim "He is Vigo! You are like the buzzing of flies to him!" Unfortunately, like GC, they are extremely busy, and the acoustic showroom was loud and cavernous, so it was hard to truly judge the instruments. I did learn something of the CJ45 T though. They project fantastically, fit and finish is typical Collings (which is to say near perfect), but that neck is just a bit too chunky for my hands. Loved the tone, but it's difficult for me to play at my best on it. With regards to Vigo...well that was a little bit of a disappointment. I think being an OM and more delicate in its sound, the overly large room didn't do it any favors. And the nearly 1/4" action wasn't great either. I sighted down the neck, checked relief visually. Nothing seemed too out of whack. It had plenty of saddle, maybe "too plenty" of it. First SCGC I've ever played with a v-neck that my hands just didn't instantly fall in love with, and it was likely because of the high action. After talking to the salesperson a bit, and mentioning how the CJ45T was just a bit too chunky for me, he brought over a manufacturer I'd never heard of: Atkin. https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/collections/atkin I tried both the D37 and the Forty Three. They both had more comfortable necks for my hands than the thicker traditional neck on the Collings. They are aged but not relic'd. And they had an "older/more vintage" sound than the CJ45T which had a very modern, Collings take on the J45. Ironically, if I were to buy something from CME, it would have been one of the Atkin guitars. Which is why auditioning trips are always a great idea, every time I go on one, I invariably end up with something very different than what I had intended to get. I had earlier posted about my first Waterloo experience, and how I'd misunderstood what their sound was all about and ended up loving the one that I played. Same thing with Atkin. Very vintage sound that I didn't know would impact me the way it did. If the 1934D and the H&D TD-R BRW (if they could address the fret buzz) didn't exist, I'd have likely come home with the Atkin The Forty Three. Like the Waterloo, they produce a sound that isn't what the H&D, SCGC, Collings, Bourgeois or Martin are after. Who knows, one may still be in my future because like my Taylor cedar over cocobolo, it would sound like nothing else in my arsenal. The front and back of Atkin The Forty Three   The gentleman from CME who helped me, Karl Neurater, seems to have a close connection with Atkin and was extremely knowledgeable and helpful. If you are after that classic sound of the old J45s, you would do well to try out this maker.
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Santa Cruz | Huss & Dalton | Lakewood Fan (and customer) of: -Charmed Life Picks -Organic Sounds Select Guitars -Down Home Guitars Last edited by LakewoodM32Fan; 09-27-2021 at 01:41 PM.
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#118
09-27-2021, 01:39 PM
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Quote:
A while back you mentioned how you'd really migrated to the D sound, and I was really stuck in my "comfort of the OM" phase. Which I will definitely miss, and will still keep at least one of my OMs specifically for that comfort. But there is just something about dreads. Especially for someone like me who rarely ever plays mic'd up and often in large living rooms for friends and family whose dimensions and furnishings deaden the sounds of smaller bodied guitars.
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Santa Cruz | Huss & Dalton | Lakewood Fan (and customer) of: -Charmed Life Picks -Organic Sounds Select Guitars -Down Home Guitars
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#119
09-27-2021, 01:48 PM
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Quote:
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Merrill | Martin | Collings | Gibson For Sale: 2023 Collings D2H 1 3/4 Nut, Adi Bracing, NTB -- $4100 shipped
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#120
09-27-2021, 01:55 PM
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Quote:
 This is immensely helpful and explains why, when going back and forth between the H&D and this, as you say, it was more comfortable to play and hold, and I knew it had to be more than just the neck difference.
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Santa Cruz | Huss & Dalton | Lakewood Fan (and customer) of: -Charmed Life Picks -Organic Sounds Select Guitars -Down Home Guitars
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