Huss and Dalton TDR Decision

[Wild Bill Jones]

Just to throw a some more fat in the fire, my TDR is Sitka/ EIR. I’ve played my friends Adi/EIR. Both guitars have some years on them, mine is 16 years old. His a bit less. I really preferred my Sitka sound over his Adi. So did my brother and wife. Just saying. Huss and Dalton TDRs are wonderful guitars.

[jrb715]

I have an H&D TDR cocobolo/adi. It's a spectacular guitar, rich and clean at the same time. I know it's a combo that Mark Dalton is very fond of, and he finds the enveloping effect of cocobolo like that of Brazilian. But it isn't a less expensive Brazilian. It has its own voice in my experience (which is a pretty limited experience with Brazilian: just a handful of guitars, all demoed, none at home). It's fuller than Brazilian, without Brazilian's relatively cleaner lower mids and upper bass--and without what folks describe as a "glassy" quality to the mids and lower treble. Cocobolo/adi still retains a great clarity and a rich seductive midrange.

I didn't vote because I don't know how I'd decide without hearing the guitars; and I don't know what you're looking for tonally. I have an H&D cocobolo/adi DS, so I obviously love the combination with H&D. But I'd probably be most tempted by the Brazilian (assuming all things are equal--and of course they're not, and can't be) just to have another sound with my two cocobolos. Instead of? Not sure until I hear the guitars.

And weight is not an issue at all for me with my cocobolo guitars. I'm not sensitive at all to it, and while it weighs a little more than my other dreads and slopes, the only time I notice it at all is when I take the guitars out of the case. I am, however, sensitive to nut widths. I strongly prefer the 1 23/32 width. That's ideal for me. Don't know if the 1 3/4 would disqualify the Brazilian until I played it. You might have the opposite problem.

[J Patrick]

....just make sure you have a return policy in place before buying any guitar sight unseen....

fwiw I custom ordered a TDR in 1998...I chose Honduran Rosewood and Sitka Spruce with a 1-3/4” nut...and CM cosmetics......it was a darn fine guitar and sounded terrific...but I swapped it for a TDM because I gravitate towards Mahogany guitars....and I wasn’t wild about the neck on the TDR...but I still listen to recordings I made with it and am always impressed with how great it sounded...

....if I were in the market for a Dreadnought or any body style today really...I would not limit myself to a single maker although I have done that in the past...but I’m more or less done with brand sampling these days and tend to concentrate on specific guitars that I may be hankerings to try...doesn’t matter to me who made it...

[jaymarsch]

Yes, make sure they have a return policy. A friend of mine purchased a used Huss & Dalton TOM in Adi/EIR. She had a 48 hour trial period. Playing the first 5 frets was fine but playing above revealed a pesky wolf note. She returned the guitar. H & D make fine instruments but you never know what you might encounter. Barring anything unforeseen, any of the guitars that you are considering should be great with small nuances in sound and feel. Let us know what you decide.

Best,
Jayne

[Brucebubs]

opps - wrong thread.

[jw3571]

Return policy's are getting harder with stores and Covid. A few of the shops I've bought from in the past have got rid of their return policy.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by Erithon

Which one is newest? Huss & Dalton builds have noticeably improved over time. I have found this to be true in general, but here is one specific example: a couple years ago I was looking for a TOM-R and I narrowed it down to a new Cocobolo model and a 10-year old Brazilian model. I played them back-to-back and the store manager and I both agreed the Cocobolo model far outshone the Brazilian.

So again, which one is newest? Probably the "new" build, not necessarily. And if they are all within a few years of one another I don't think it matters. But if a couple of those builds are 5 or 10 or more years old, I'd eliminate them from consideration.

This is a very interesting take to me, and one I've had experience with (not with H&D but with Collings and SCGC) just recently.

First of all: I love my two SCGCs and Collings. When auditioning guitars, I played many other wonderful examples of the two brands, all built within the last 1-2 years (new, in local shops).

A couple of my local shops have recently taken in a lot of consignments (unfortunately due to the original owners passing away and their estate selling their guitars) for both of these brands, along with Martin, Gibson, etc. These shops serve a high-income area in Los Angeles, so for example one person who passed...their estate is consigning 70-80 guitars. Yeah and you thought you had a lot.

Anyway, I was surprised when I picked up a few SCGC and Collings from the early to mid 1990s that I was...less than awed by. They were in near immaculate condition (as DuffNW would say, this guy must have been more of a polisher than a player). Setup was fine. Strings were new. But they were both noticeably heavier than current versions of the build...and the tone...was fine. But not great-to-amazing as the more recent examples I've had the chance to play. In case they'd "fallen asleep" from disuse, I played the guitars for 20-30 minutes each, over several visits, and the tone didn't really improve. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't anywhere near what I would consider current SCGC/Collings quality.

I went into the shop thinking this was my chance to score some near-new-looking SCGC/Collings that already had some age to them...and walked away disappointed. The sales manager I do business regularly with opined that different builders hit their peaks at different times, and perhaps those few samples (I think there were 2 SCGCs and 1 Collings) may have significantly different build DNA than current models.

[jw3571]

Original poster here, i've been researching what used Huss and Dalton TDR's sell for on Reverb and have been pretty shocked at how bad the resale value is. It seems like i'd be lucky to get $3k for an Adi/EIR combo. Does that seem right?

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by jw3571

Original poster here, i've been researching what used Huss and Dalton TDR's sell for on Reverb and have been pretty shocked at how bad the resale value is. It seems like i'd be lucky to get $3k for an Adi/EIR combo. Does that seem right?

As I mentioned earlier, due to less name recognition, resale value as a general rule will be lower on H&D than the other better known boutique builders.

I would only buy an H&D if you had a chance to play it and love it's sound. That's what I did. I have zero concerns about its resale because outside of my first acoustic (which has sentimental value to me), the H&D is probably the least likely of my guitars to ever get put on the market. I love it's sound that much.

[brencat]

Originally Posted by jw3571

Original poster here, i've been researching what used Huss and Dalton TDR's sell for on Reverb and have been pretty shocked at how bad the resale value is. It seems like i'd be lucky to get $3k for an Adi/EIR combo. Does that seem right?

Yes it does. As I mentioned in my earlier post, H&Ds have among the worst resale of all the boutiques.

[llew]

Originally Posted by brencat

Yes it does. As I mentioned in my earlier post, H&Ds have among the worst resale of all the boutiques.

I wonder why that is? It's not like they're building inferior guitars?

[Matts67]

Originally Posted by llew

I wonder why that is? It's not like they're building inferior guitars?

I think it's solely because they haven't been a "big" name boutique brand for as long as Collings, Bourgeois, Santa Cruz, etc. The instruments certainly aren't inferior, and I feel their quality control is right at the top of the list.

[llew]

Originally Posted by Matts67

I think it's solely because they haven't been a "big" name boutique brand for as long as Collings, Bourgeois, Santa Cruz, etc. The instruments certainly aren't inferior, and I feel their quality control is right at the top of the list.

Could be Matt? Name recognition is a big deal. "What's on the headstock?"

[Bill Ashton]

Owner of a DS Custom (adi/hog) and a TDR Custom (adi/EIR "Pilgrim").

I voted for the used Adi/EIR.

[llew]

Never had the chance to play a "Pilgrim" but it has to be a stellar guitar!