How long does it take for a regular guitar to catch up with it's "aged" counterpart?

[schwa]

I have been around guitars long enough to know that guitars "age" over time. Some say that it's due to the wood drying out, some say that guitars "coalesce" - they forget that they are a bunch of pieces glued together - and act more as one.

It seems everyone now offers guitars with "aged tops". They promise to deliver the sound of older guitars out of the box.

How "old" are these aged guitars? 5, 10, 50 years?

I'm wondering how long before my 18 year old Martin is going to be comparable to the current aged guitars.

Sorry if this seems a silly question.

[brencat]

Try not to think of torrefied guitars as having a head start. IMO, it's a totally different sound. Me personally? I'm not sold on torrefied tops. I've had a few and the things they've had in common were a narrower cone of sound and less brilliance in the upper mids and highs compared with non-torrefied versions.

I don't have the patience anymore to break in Adirondack tops from brand new, but I'm not sure I like brittle tone and/or the mellow/subdued highs of a brand new guitar with torrefied Adi either. So I stick with used instruments now that have been played and well cared for.

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by schwa

I have been around guitars long enough to know that guitars "age" over time. Some say that it's due to the wood drying out, some say that guitars "coalesce" - they forget that they are a bunch of pieces glued together - and act more as one.

It seems everyone now offers guitars with "aged tops". They promise to deliver the sound of older guitars out of the box.

How "old" are these aged guitars? 5, 10, 50 years?

I'm wondering how long before my 18 year old Martin is going to be comparable to the current aged guitars.

Sorry if this seems a silly question.

I have a bought-new 35 year old Gibson J-200 which has a lovely patina to the top. I think it looks better every day, and it's all naturally aged. Sounded killer when I bought it, and let it do it's own thing, which seems even better if my ears aren't playing tricks on me.

Just me, but I wouldn't buy a torrified top guitar anyway. The last guitar I got was my Taylor 458 12 string and its top looks like it needs sunscreen when next to the Gibson. Sounds great though and I hope to see it look as great one day.

Don
.

[RalphH]

Originally Posted by schwa

I have been around guitars long enough to know that guitars "age" over time. Some say that it's due to the wood drying out, some say that guitars "coalesce" - they forget that they are a bunch of pieces glued together - and act more as one.

It seems everyone now offers guitars with "aged tops". They promise to deliver the sound of older guitars out of the box.

How "old" are these aged guitars? 5, 10, 50 years?

I'm wondering how long before my 18 year old Martin is going to be comparable to the current aged guitars.

Sorry if this seems a silly question.

Well martin claims to be able to target a specific period (year?date?time?) with their aging. So about another 65 years for a 1938... I suspect that's mostly marketing, however.

I suspect that at 18, your guitar is most of the way there. Or to put it another way, it'll change less over the next 18 years than it did over the last, and less the 18 after that.

Natural processes of breakdown (that don't involve a growing population of mold/bacteria) tend to start fast and slow down in a smooth curve. Eg Would there be any difference in a 1100 year old guitar vs a 1000 year old one due to the whole extra 100 years older? probably not, and certainly not like the difference between two guitars at 101 years old a 1 year old .

[JC.]

I wanted a Martin 1937 Authentic. Couldn’t afford it, so bought a 2 year old 1939 instead....

[AndrewG]

This assumes there comes a point where a guitar stops ageing. Does it?

[bunnyman]

at 18 yrs old, my bet is that you are ahead of the game vs any "aged" new counterpart. 15 to 20 yrs old would be my used guitar sweetspot for purchase.

[mawmow]

I do not want to pay the extra for torrefaction... except for my coffee !

I liked hearing my brand new guitar aged...

But most of all, I would buy less expensive used and opened up acoustics.

[llew]

I own both but I also like to find a well cared for older used guitar that has seen some play before it gets to me. Still not convinced your can truly age a guitar (top) to sound like another guitar that's 50+ years old. I have a mixture of Adirondack and Sitka tops and prefer one over the other based on the guitar they're attached to...if that makes sense?
Just keep playing it. It's a subtle change at best as you go along.

[Mr. Paul]

Originally Posted by RalphH

Well martin claims to be able to target a specific period (year?date?time?) with their aging. So about another 65 years for a 1938... .

I would be interested to see any evidence that Martin has made such a claim.

I have one aged guitar, a Martin Authentic. The appeal to me is the very thin finish, period correct bracing and rolled fingerboard edges. It has a VTS top but I couldn't tell you how that enters into the equation, just that it sounds fantastic. Pretty sure a production model of the same age will never "catch up" to it in either tone or ease of play.

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by schwa

Sorry if this seems a silly question.

It isn't a silly question, given the amount of marketing behind new "aged" guitars. Unfortunately, a meaningful answer requires data. As far as I'm aware, there isn't sufficient published data. If companies have done the testing - some, like Yamaha, might have - it hasn't been published.

To answer your question, one would have to develop response profiles on new guitars, on those same guitars as they age - to identify what, if any, objective changes in response occur as an instrument ages - and on new guitars.

One would also have to develop a "listener evaluation criteria" that identifies what changes a listener can distinguish and what changes matter to the listener that define a tone as being "better" or "aged". Not all changes are relevant to the listener, even if they happen: measuring equipment can identify changes but those changes are not necessarily distinguishable to listeners, let alone contribute to what is perceived as "better" tone.

[Robin, Wales]

I have some undisputable data on this - at least concerning the opening up of Seagull and Art and Lutherie guitars with spruce tops over cherry/maple/cherry plywood back and sides and maple necks.

I bought a Seagull S6 Spruce (dread size) a couple of years ago. After 6 months or so of playing my wife said "That guitar is way too loud for you". So I sold it and bought an Art & Lutherie Legacy (000 size). At first I thought it was a little tame and may not carry to the back of the room at the pure acoustic gigs that I wanted to play a few songs at. But soon the bass came in and the guitar livened up considerably. I'm 6 months on now and I was playing through some of my set songs in the garden over the weekend. I ended up with the neighbours as an audience. My wife came out the house and said and said "That guitar's loud". "Too loud for me?" I asked. "No, just loud". Apparently that's undisputable data. LOL!!!!

I have to admit it has become a punchy little guitar and sounds "old" (which I think comes from the plywood). I'm not sure if the tone will move any further than it already has?

So there you go. It takes the cheaper end of the Godin range of guitars 6 months to age to "loud" - definitively!

[printer2]

I would say six years, five months four days.


I would not put torrified wood and old wood in the same category, different animals.

[Tony Burns]

If it doesnt sound great from the get go , it wont be stellar with time
Ive seen great guitars become stellar ( with alot of playing )
But dont expect average to be more than that ( maybe somewhat )
The more you play any guitar the better it will sound - and trying different strings sometimes helps !
Good luck .

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by schwa

I have been around guitars long enough to know that guitars "age" over time. Some say that it's due to the wood drying out, some say that guitars "coalesce" - they forget that they are a bunch of pieces glued together - and act more as one.

It seems everyone now offers guitars with "aged tops". They promise to deliver the sound of older guitars out of the box.

How "old" are these aged guitars? 5, 10, 50 years?

I'm wondering how long before my 18 year old Martin is going to be comparable to the current aged guitars.

Sorry if this seems a silly question.

Your guitar will never catch up. Not a possibility.