Just spoke with Dan at Eastman

[AndrewG]

Originally Posted by FLRon

I've never owned an Adirondack top dread, though I would love to, but what I can attest to is I do not care for Engleman over East Indian Rosewood. I have a dread with this wood combo and while loud enough, it seems to be easily overdriven when I really dig in to it.

Yes, I noticed this with a couple of L-series Yamaha dreads. Lots of blooming harmonics with the combination of Englemann and EIR, but pretty as they sound they can result in a 'blurring' of notes and lack of clarity. Superb guitars overall though.

[leew3]

I'm not sure whether this helps you Wade but I absolutely love both of my guitars with Adi tops. One has mahogany b/s and is a 00, the other has rosewood b/s and is an OM-thus my opening statement that it may not be helpful to you. Each of them have complex overtones and are loud for their size. I also like it that regardless of how much I dig in when picking they can handle the volume without breaking up like my sitka topped guitars would.

[FingahPickah]

I have an Eastman Grand Concert with Adi/Sapele

https://sunvalleyguitars.com/product...v=e748b7c8fd06

Surprising "cut through" sound... Great flatpicking and/or fingerstyle projection.

[Dbone]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

Yes, I noticed this with a couple of L-series Yamaha dreads. Lots of blooming harmonics with the combination of Englemann and EIR, but pretty as they sound they can result in a 'blurring' of notes and lack of clarity. Superb guitars overall though.

I don’t experience any of this kinda things with my LL.

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

I just got off the phone with Dan at Eastman. He’s a product specialist for their guitar division.

Dan told me that the E1SS-LTD that I have has a sapele back and sides and an Adirondack top. “We had some Adirondack that wasn’t as cosmetically attractive and we decided to use it up in this special run with a dark finish covering up the imperfections,” he told me.

I do know that the sunburst version I have is a better sounding guitar than the natural finish example down at my local Eastman dealer....

Anyway, with the Adirondack top and the sapele back and sides there’s a nice enhancement to the treble response on my guitar. Although I try to avoid “tonewood determinism,” I have come to the conclusion that I like Adirondack tops on dreadnoughts, this guitar and my D-18 alike.

So what are your experiences along these lines?


Wade Hampton Miller

I think this is pretty common practice. Most guitar companies aren't going to take their prettiest tops and place a burst finish over top. The Sapele/Adi surprised me and exceeded my expectations. I thought it would be too bright and harsh, but they seem to complement each other nicely. Brighter than Rosewood, but more overtones / less fundamental than Mahogany.

Originally Posted by ewalling

I have an Eastman E100-Ltd - that's a small-bodied 12-fret guitar with an Adirondack top and sapele back and sides. It's possibly the best-sounding guitar I've owned, with bright trebles and a rich bass. The top is gorgeous: very pale, clean-looking wood in a satin finish. My wife will occasionally take stock of the appearance of one of my guitars and suddenly comment on its fine looks. This was one such case.

The weak spot on the guitar are the slothead tuners. They are a little imprecise and not the best quality, I think. One of these days I'll get them upgraded. The guitar is definitely worth that investment.

I got this same guitar for my daughter in 2018, and it's great. Similar to yours, the natural top is light color with uniform grain lines. It's gotten a little golden color over the last 2.5 years, but still pretty blonde. The 12-fret 00 body shape really impresses me. It helped take her playing to a new level.

The tuners are fine on her guitar, but the electronics (and open pore finish) are clearly to hit the price point. If she plugged in anywhere, we'd perhaps consider an upgrade, but it's fine for the home.

[gmel555]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Dan told me that the E1SS-LTD that I have has a sapele back and sides and an Adirondack top. “We had some Adirondack that wasn’t as cosmetically attractive and we decided to use it up in this special run with a dark finish covering up the imperfections,” he told me.
Wade Hampton Miller

Reminiscent of Leo Fender painting solid colors over the bursts that didn’t turn out. Decades later, the cool factor on these is off the charts when the solid color partly wears away. Re the spruce, my experience when playing dreads without first knowing the spruce variety is both Adi and Euro- spruces have wowed me more often than Sitka. Not saying Sitka is a never, I’ve got a great Sitka topped Larrivee D, but generally I seem to prefer Adi or Euro for dreads.

[UncleJesse]

I've been through a bunch of dreadnoughts and have found I prefer Adirondack or Euro/German spruce over anything Sitka. I only own one Sitka topped guitar and that's really just here because it was inexpensive. I need headroom and clarity and I haven't been able to find a Sitka topped dread that can keep up with Adi or Euro.

[Tony Burns]

Wade , IMO it depends on the individual piece of wood -
Yes I am a very big fan of adirondack / Red Spruce ( My Mike Franks is an amazing instrument ) But a master grade Sitka top is also an amazing wood .
Plus depending on the Luthier -some can optimize a particular piece of top wood with the best back and side combination -

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Although I try to avoid “tonewood determinism,” I have come to the conclusion that I like Adirondack tops on dreadnoughts, this guitar and my D-18 alike.

So what are your experiences along these lines?

Wade Hampton Miller

As you know, Adirondack is a Red spruce. Another Red spruce is Austrian Red spruce(high elevation)-- by some termed as Moonspruce. It is a red spruce supposedly harvested at a certain time of the year, when the sap level is the lowest in the tree.

I have also come to Love Red Spruce and own two guitars with it, and a third on order.

I have also found that it helps with the trebles and projects more of the fundamental notes being played.

This is extremely helpful for the style of music in which I play that has a lot of open chords and heavy strumming. It is important for the trebles and the fundamentals to stand out in this kind of a situation. In soft fingerstyle where more individual notes are played than chords, Sitka may produce more ambience. However when Red Spruce is matched with Rosewood, I find it gives me the best of both worlds.

[TwangGang]

I used to deal with a small shop that sold Taylors way back in 2007 when they came out with their Grand Symphony size and I was shopping for one. The dealer had taken a deposit for a special order GS with rosewood and an Adi top. For some reason the guy walked away from the deposit and so the guitar was for sale. I played it and it was the most fantastic sounding acoustic I had ever played. I couldn't afford the $8K price tag and purchased a Sitka top that I was happy with for many years. But I always lusted after an Adirondack top because it had sounded so good.

Fast forward 12 or 13 years and I am in a position to buy a Collings Adi top dread. I go to a shop that has a couple (a mahogany and a rosewood). I tried them both and they didn't do it for me. I decided on a German spruce w/Adi bracing instead. So like we often say it depends on the individual guitar and how it's braced etc. I still like the idea of an Adi top, but I haven't found 'the one' for me so far.