Huss and Daltons sound better than Collings or Bourgeois. Change my mind?

[LoveWins]

Good Morning!

It seems like Bourgeois and Collings get a lot more love than Huss and Dalton.

Every Huss and Dalton I’ve played has sounded better. When I say better, I mean the lows sound warmer and fuller, and the highs sound crisp and clear.

Every TDM I’ve played has sounded on par if not better than Martin Authentics.

I guess I’m just writing this post (my first one at that!) to give a shout out to Huss and Dalton.

If you ever get a chance to play a H n D, I highly recommend it. I think they are finally catching on and guitarists are seeing it. Maybe I should shut up before they start raising their prices

[Scotso]

Agreed...BUT.. if you are a Martin lover(like me) then you are probably more likely to enjoy H&D over the other brands mentioned. Tonally H&D is closer to Martin. Bourgeois gets close to Martin at times...Collings has their own "thang" going.

[llew]

I've owned guitars from what I consider the big four boutique builders...Santa Cruz, Collings, Huss & Dalton, & Bourgeois. I think H&D's build quality and voicing is on par with the others. They're all different. Not sure any one of them is particularly "better" than the other but it seems that H&D doesn't get talked about quite as much. Not sure why? They certainly build some fantastic guitars. Especially their Traditional models.

[J Patrick]

...I have owned three nice Huss&Dalton guitars...I do not believe that they sound better than Collings Bourgeois or any other similarly priced guitars built by small shops...that said...I have no desire to change anyone else’s mind...we all hear what we hear and that’s the bottom line...

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by LoveWins

Good Morning!

It seems like Bourgeois and Collings get a lot more love than Huss and Dalton.

Every Huss and Dalton I’ve played has sounded better. When I say better, I mean the lows sound warmer and fuller, and the highs sound crisp and clear.

Every TDM I’ve played has sounded on par if not better than Martin Authentics.

I guess I’m just writing this post (my first one at that!) to give a shout out to Huss and Dalton.

If you ever get a chance to play a H n D, I highly recommend it. I think they are finally catching on and guitarists are seeing it. Maybe I should shut up before they start raising their prices

How could anyone change your mind about what you hear? With words? I don;t think so. Stick with the H&D’s.

[jklotz]

I really like my TOM-R. It sounds great. I can't say it's better than the other builders you mentioned. They are just different. I wouln't mind having one of each, honestly.

[Rev Roy]

Glad you love your Huss & Dalton! I haven’t had the pleasure of playing one. I’m sure they are fine guitars. But “better” is so subjective as to be almost meaningless. I think of guitars as different from one another, not better. All I know is when I played my first Collings it rocked my world. Soon after I snagged one (see sig). Is the tone better than the Martins and Gibsons I usually gravitate to? Nope...just wonderfully different. Making me a very happy boy.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by LoveWins

It seems like Bourgeois and Collings get a lot more love than Huss and Dalton.

Every Huss and Dalton I’ve played has sounded better.

Congrats! You found the sound you like.

Gotta admit I've only played one H&D. They've been harder to find (for me) than other boutique brands. But I'll pay more attention.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

As the proud owner of a TD-R (you can click on my sig if you want the sordid and overly-long buying trip details) I can definitely say it was the dread that spoke to me the best on that particular trip. But tone and playability is so much tied to personal preference, it's really an exercise in futility (and arguably hubris) to try and proclaim Brand X is always better than Brands Y and Z.

I have learned to step back and look at guitars and their voicing holistically. They are like human voices. No one human is "the best singer" who can do it all. I love Andrea Bocelli's voice. Would I want him singing Chris Cornell's songs in his style? Nope. Sometimes you want Bocelli, sometimes Cornell.

Luckily, unlike significant others, you can have more than one guitar to satisfy those desires without them getting jealous of each other, or doing harm to you in your sleep.

As far as being hard to find: in 2014 they had a blog post saying they now could make 20-25 guitars a month. I don't think they've grown substantially since then in terms of factory size and employees, so even if you estimate high (let's say 30) that's 360 instruments a year. If you look at their dealer network, it's quite small even by boutique builders standards. They just are difficult to find. And I fully understand people not wanting to drop several thousand dollars without first hearing and playing their instruments. Classic Catch-22.

[rstaight]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

...we all hear what we hear and that’s the bottom line...

Yep, couldn't agree more.

[Dyson Guitars]

I worked for Jeff and Mark at H&D for almost 5 years. Great people and they build great guitars. I owe a bunch to them. I'm a huge fan of their OO and OM guitars. I think they are on par with the other boutique small shop builders as well.

[Tnfiddler]

Huss & Daltons are FANTASTIC guitars! Do they sound better than Collings and Bourgeois? To me, no! To you, yes! It's all a matter of what we individually like. I've been at some festivals and know several people who think their guitar is the stuff and can't be beat and to me, it's just so-so! I'd take a H&D in a heartbeat if I found one that called out to me and the same goes for Collings. So far, Dana has the look, feel and tone I prefer.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by BalekSydon

I worked for Jeff and Mark at H&D for almost 5 years. Great people and they build great guitars. I owe a bunch to them. I'm a huge fan of their OO and OM guitars. I think they are on par with the other boutique small shop builders as well.

Oh wow that's awesome, I'm sure you have stories you could tell

I will have to hunt down their OM and 00 for a listen-to.

[bil40272]

How do you feel the Road Series H&D stack up against the standard H&D lines?

[TennesseeWalker]

After having owned and played many Taylors, Collings, McPhersons, Martins, Goodalls, Santa Cruz's - they were all very good.
I am now down to just two, both Huss and Dalton TD-R's.

Personal preference - - -

(I may add a Ryan Nightingale someday)