Replicas of 20s and 30s Guitars

[zombywoof]

The point is when it comes to say Waterloo versions of Schmidt guitars, they start off basing their instruments on top grade Stellas and Sovereigns so spruce tops and mahogany bodies rather than all-birch construction, rosewood fingerboards imported from Germany as opposed to dyed hardwood, pin bridges instead of tailpieces and floating bridge, and such. But even these guitars had spruce bridge plates which ran the width of the instrument, no bracing around the soundhole and other elements not considered the best thing for sound and survival. And so Collings fine tunes the bracing and does what they need to do to make these guitars meet all of the expectations of a modern guitar buying public which more than likely has never been closer to a Schmidt Sovereign or early-1930s 12 fret Gibson than the pages of some vintage guitar magazine. I have been playing a number of the guitars the Waterloos are based on for decades and so have no real desire to own a dead bang reproduction. Ladder bracing done right though is a joy to experience and Collings has that one down pat.

And for the record, these old guitars were not just slapped together and once you have any initial issues taken care of are generally no more of a problem to take care of than a new guitar.

[BluesKing777]

Yes, there have been many wild claims of authenticity over the years by vacuum salesman etc....

I didn't know it at the time but what I have been doing without knowing it is to buy both the oldies and the newies with probable intent of keeping the best one....

So the first flush announcement for Waterloo Guitars when they started was read with jaded interest and the thought: "Yeah right, ha ha".

And then I played a couple of the plentiful in store at the time Waterloo WL-14 X and L........... "Hmm, nice but a ...err...err..pokey" was the thought.

And a few days later I went back to buy the L and it was sold and then the X was gone too!

Getting feverish........ From previous experience, the chance of another L model arriving here anytime soon had about the same odds as a moon rock or Mars rock landing in my garden, so I bought the only other one in country here at the time - online, broke all my new rules and ordered it online from the next state over from me! L-O-V-E!!!! Love!!!love love love. But it was the X braced and at the back of my mind was the L braced....hmmm. Oh well.

2 years back about now, I was selling 2 guitars at a shop on consign...sold one quick and the other hung around like a fly. I may have gone to the shop to take it home, admit defeat and I spied in the rack - the Waterloo WL-14 L ladder braced in burst... Guitar fund was kaput or I wouldn't have been selling the others. The shop owner kindly swapped my hard to sell unit for this unit and I came home with the L......

Here is a link to a thread I posted last week playing a blues on my L:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=592821

And just yesterday, it came home from the luthier with a belated setup and a K&K dual source pickup system - Trinity Pro! Wow!

Togetherness:






BluesKing777.

[J Patrick]

I started buying old Stella’s Kay’s and Harmony”s in the late nineties on eBay...I bought several dozen over 3 years or so....I paid as little as 20 bucks and not much more than a hundred for the very best examples...they probably averaged less than 50 dollars...some were amazingly playable and some needed work....I repaired and gave away a couple dozen of them and sold all but the 5 or 6 I still have...


....I was intrigued when the Waterloo line was introduced....my first thought was that it was bound to happen but never saw it coming from Collings...a company known for exquisite fit and finish..when I got the chance to play through the Waterloo models I was impressed by how much they felt and played like the guitars they were based on...but also like the very choicest examples one was likely to encounter....

....I continue to prefer guitar designs from yesteryear and although I like Waterloo’s just fine I am more into new guitars that are based on iconic higher end Martins and Gibsons...

[Conomor]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Interesting outlooks here. I haven't found may of the old guitars for sale. The desirable ones are horded and the prices are high. You can find undesirable cheap old guitars and if you are ignorant of the differences you will assume they are the same thing. Allot of the old guitars were slapped together and had birch back and sides. And ladder bracing. Waterloos are nothing like that. Even their ladder braced guitars have gone through experimentation for the best result.

I haven't seen any direct comparisons between a Waterloo WL-S and an old OS Stella. The nearest thing I've come across is this Toby Walker video comparing an old 30's Stella to a modern replica built by Michael Hauver. The Hauver may be the superior instrument, but the tone is very similar and the Stella has the 'mojo'. I happen to own an almost identical guitar to that Stella, but mine is a Marcia (one of Stella's less well-known sisters). I picked it up on Reverb last year for about $300. It needed very little work, sounds great and is really easy to play. You can certainly pay a lot for an old Schmidt guitar, but there are still bargains to be found if you know what to look for. I would still love a Waterloo, but they're just not available in my country. I do notice that used examples of the WL-S/WL-S Deluxe models seem to be harder to find and more expensive than the Gibson/Kalamazoo inspired ones.

[pegleghowell]

Many who have not had the opportunity or chance to play/own a top of the line Oscar Schmidt Stella would probably be surprised at how nicely they`re put together....and they sound great.

[Robin, Wales]

Martin 00-17 all hog was $35 in the 1931 catalogue and still $35 in the 1940 catalogue. That's about $650 in today's money.

Martin still make a copy of that 1931 00-17 they used to make up to 1940 and list it at a staggering $5,999 in the 2020 catalogue.

Given modern tooling and manufacturing efficiency Martin could easily still be banging those guitars out at $650 a pop. But, essentially, choose not to do so.

[hat]

I was quite surprised recently when I picked up a very old Princess brand ( Stromberg) at a yard sale - it was actually factory X braced !! After a lot of repair work, it's a pretty cool little box. 24" scale, small body, I keep it tuned to either open D or a half step down standard tuning.

[A Datts]

I think the 'irony' is in the eye of the beholder.

From my perspective, I previously owned a Collings C10 - it was my main gigging guitar, and as expected, was perfectly put together. I used it for many years, but when I tried a Waterloo WL-14, I felt I finally found the guitar I'd been looking for (that sounds cheesy but hey). The Collings sounded nice yes, but the Waterloo sounded more alive, resonant and interesting (to me).

Fast forward to now, and I currently own three different Waterloo's, and have since sold off my Collings...

Yes there are many more budget friendly guitars based on similar depression era instruments, I've played many and own a lovely Recording King - but the Waterloo's are a WHOLE different league in my view.

I've also played an equivalent Kalamazoo KG-14, and it was fantastic - but in the example I had, I much preferred the playability of the Waterloo.

As much as they're seen as blues boxes, I use mine for all sorts, and in a variety of tunings. And I don't think I'm alone - there's a whole slew of people playing them in all sorts of settings now.

[Nctom]

I didn't buy any of my Waterloo's because they sounded like old guitars or were "replicas" of cheap guitars of the '20-40's. I bought my WL14 and WL12Mh because of their tone, playability, and build. Both of them, and the JK I regrettably sold, were simply beautifully built and had the tone and quality I was looking for at the best price I could find. That they also were patterned after older guitars was a wonderful occurrence.