Replicas of 20s and 30s Guitars

[jansch]

It's ironic that the replicas of the cheap catalogue guitars of the
20s and 30s can cost 1000s of dollars/pounds. The Waterloo
WL-14L, based on the old Stella-like guitars would cost over
£2000.

There are some cheaper versions though - the Recording King
dirty 30s range, Messer resonator guitars, Republic resonators,
Vintage Brett guitars and Recording King resonators being some.

My first guitar was a Kalamazoo, a budget guitar made by Gibson.
It was in shocking condition but when I mentioned it to a dealer
(Tim Nicolai, who sold Moondog Guitars on eBay) he bit my hand
off to get it, giving me £75, a lot in 1975.

I saw a renovated Kalamazoo in the London Resonator Centre for
sale at £2000.

Article -

https://acousticguitar.com/top-gear-...ment-beauties/

Statement from Bill Collings about making replicas of 20s and 30s guitars.

https://www.waterlooguitars.com/about/

[hat]

apparently you are either the only one to see the irony in this, or the only one willing to admit it.

[mawmow]

Original Gibson Lg-0 produced between 1955 and 1965 sold 30$ can now be found at over 1500$.
They were made of rejected Mahogany with a crappy "adjustable" plastic bridge that almost never survived
and have usually been replaced with a Mahogany bridge.

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by mawmow

Original Gibson Lg-0 produced between 1955 and 1965 sold 30$ can now be found at over 1500$.
They were made of rejected Mahogany with a crappy "adjustable" plastic bridge that almost never survived
and have usually been replaced with a Mahogany bridge.

The LG-0 was introduced in 1958 and never sold for $30. It sold for $75 in 1960 going up to $85 two years later. The guitar did not get the hollow plastic bolt-on bridge until sometime in 1962. Other models including the Southerner Jumbo got the same bridge. So while the plastic bridge was one of the worst ideas ever it was not something Gibson allocated only for use on its lower end instruments. Not sure where you came up with the rejected mahogany thing as the LG-0 approached the same quality as others in the LG series.

[zombywoof]

I do admit that for those of us who were playing Depression-era guitars when the Waterloos were introduced, it was not uncommon to smile at the thought of why would anyone pay $2K for a version of a guitar you got free when you subscribed to Oscar Schmidt's mail order music lessons. But that is not the guitar you are getting. If nothing else the Waterloos are built with a precision unheard of in a Depression-era guitar. Personally I would have no problem buying one of these updated versions at their price point. And the Waterloos come off as a downright bargain when compared to offerings of similar guitars by the non-factory builders. These may get you closer to the sound of an original but that proximity comes at a price.

[justonwo]

Yeah, it's a little bit ironic, but the Waterloo guitars are still quality guitars in the end. If you want to be outraged about irony, look at the prices being charged for high end Telecaster clones - a guitar that was meant to be completely utilitarian and is trivial to build in comparison to any flat top acoustic.

[Conomor]

Originally Posted by jansch

It's ironic that the replicas of the cheap catalogue guitars of the 20s and 30s can cost 1000s of dollars/pounds. The Waterloo
WL-14L, based on the old Stella-like guitars would cost over
£2000.

I believe that the Stella-inspired models are the WL-S and WL-S Deluxe. If you're looking for that particular sound, there are plenty of actual 20's/30's ladder braced, 12-fret parlour guitars out there. You might need to set aside part of your budget for repairs, but you'll still end up paying far less than you will for a modern copy.

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by GroovyException

I believe that the Stella-inspired models are the WL-S and WL-S Deluxe. If you're looking for that particular sound, there are plenty of actual 20's/30's ladder braced, 12-fret parlour guitars out there. You might need to set aside part of your budget for repairs, but you'll still end up paying far less than you will for a modern copy.

Vintage Parlor Guitars often has small rehabbed ladder braced parlors on his site. I will someday get one.

[Silly Moustache]

The irony ?
well, there have always been fashions in guitars.

I learnt about the benefits of pre 1934 Martin designs over 20 years ago, esp. those built in modern times to old specs.

I had long wanted a Gibson L-0 or L-1 (y'know like the supposed Robert Johnson one). A frind who ran a specialist guitar shop refused to order a Gibson for me s he siad they were too variable and couldn't be returned.
In the end I got a luthier built version with Cyprus back and sides which was a lovely guitar, but 24" scale and such - not exactly loud.

So, pretty much forgot about it until a friend came to my club with a Kalamazoo that he had pretty much rebuilt from scratch and it was simply wonderful.

I resolved to get me a little Gibson again, and in november 2016 went to a shop to buy a Gibson L-oo -they had a few versions.

I came home with my Waterloo.WL-12.

[SuperB23]

I too think those Waterloo guitars are quite an interesting product line. They seem to be selling. I played a few of them at Gryphon a while back and they seemed like decent sounding instruments. Santa Cruz started that by making the 1929 00 and 000 all mahogany guitars which were the Martin cheapies back in the 20s and 30s. But a Martin cheapie was quite a bit more expensive back in the day than the ladder braced stuff that Waterloo is copying.

[Conomor]

Originally Posted by davidbeinct

Vintage Parlor Guitars often has small rehabbed ladder braced parlors on his site. I will someday get one.

He seems well-regarded here. There are other sites and sellers offering restored vintage parlour guitars that are worth checking out, such as Jake Wildwood, James Ralston (Roadtoast Guitars), Ed Dowling and of course https://www.vintagebluesguitars.com/.

[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. Then there is the question of how much money it took to buy a Martin back in the day compared to a Stella. It's quit obvious the Waterloos are not replicas. I have two 1931 Martin replicas. Now they are real replicas.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by jansch

It's ironic that the replicas of the cheap catalogue guitars of the
20s and 30s can cost 1000s of dollars/pounds. The Waterloo
WL-14L, based on the old Stella-like guitars would cost over
£2000.

There are some cheaper versions though - the Recording King
dirty 30s range, Messer resonator guitars, Republic resonators,
Vintage Brett guitars and Recording King resonators being some.

My first guitar was a Kalamazoo, a budget guitar made by Gibson.
It was in shocking condition but when I mentioned it to a dealer
(Tim Nicolai, who sold Moondog Guitars on eBay) he bit my hand
off to get it, giving me £75, a lot in 1975.

I saw a renovated Kalamazoo in the London Resonator Centre for
sale at £2000.

Article -

https://acousticguitar.com/top-gear-...ment-beauties/

Statement from Bill Collings about making replicas of 20s and 30s guitars.

https://www.waterlooguitars.com/about/

The RK I purchased new had the bridge come off after it was a year old. My friend's Waterloo still has the bridge attached.

Does that mean anything? I think so.

[thunderboltfan]

Hi everyone, new cohort here on AGF, been enjoying it.

As a long time believer and owner of Martin and Gibson flattops old and new for many years and far too many dollars (hey, no regrets), I have to say the offshore and Canadian '20s and '30s homage parlors have got my attention. The Collings, not so much. They're too pretty sounding. I want a guitar that sounds hungry.

I have an A & L Roadhouse parlor delivering tomorrow as my first foray into "foreign" builds as well as buying a guitar I've never held and played first. I call it my $500 experiment. I'm also going to try a low-end Recording King Dirty '30s at some point at my local GC. I suppose I could get an old Stella/Oahu/Kay etc. instead but I don't want to deal with maintenance.

[Br1ck]

The SCGC 1929 is a fabulous guitar, but certainly not audibly nailing the old blues guitars that were played in the 30s. Neither does the Waterloo, but the Waterloo is a close approximation and built at a higher standard. The imports are really more in the spirit of the originals. Least we not forget, there was probably not a bluesman playing in the thirties that would not have prefered playing a Martin, but could not afford it.

So here we are all trying to emulate the sound associated with the poor depression era blues guys. Jimmy Rodgers was making good money and playing good instruments. The blues guys not so much.

I must admit, I thought no one would be foolish enough to buy a Waterloo. Wrong again.