Choice

[RobboDH]

Hi everyone.
I am after a nice keep forever guitar to give my daughter on her 18th. She has fallen for a Gibson Hummingbird of which I have found a nice condition 2007 model for circa £1500 with factory fitted pickup. My gut feeling is that these are overpriced for their quality and my head has been turned by a beautiful Northwood r80 mini jumbo in maple for around the same sort of money this one fitted with a headway pickup. My question is should I go for the name ie Gibson or should I consider the rarer hand built Northwood.
Cheers in advance. Any other suggestions gratefully received as I do not play guitar myself.
Robert

[Teleman52]

If she wants a real lifelong keeper guitar, she needs to go try out guitars before she buys. If she hasn't played it, she won't know if she likes it or not. So your really just throwing darts.

That particular gibson your looking at might be outstanding compared to other hummingbirds, or it could be a dud. Same is true for the the northwood

[billgennaro]

I think it might be best to get the guitar that "she" wants (in this case, the Gibson). If she ever gets serious about the guitar chances are that whatever you buy her today won't be her last one.

Best of luck with your decision.

[44Runner]

Originally Posted by Teleman52

If she wants a real lifelong keeper guitar, she needs to go try out guitars before she buys. If she hasn't played it, she won't know if she likes it or not. So your really just throwing darts.

That particular gibson your looking at might be outstanding compared to other hummingbirds, or it could be a dud. Same is true for the the northwood

I agree with this 100%.

Also I love humming birds. I think they sound great. If that's what she fancies, there is certainly nothing wrong with that choice. They are great guitars.

[Bluewyatt]

The Northwood is an excellent guitar and if she's a serious guitar player I would choose that one. If she's a singer/songwriter the Gibson will more than suffice and it has a "cool" factor that may be important to her. Tough choice.

[Oldguy64]

I know nothing of Northwood.
I do know that some will refer to Gibson quality control, or lack of.
Truth is, Gibson makes a fine guitar.
When it is mentioned as one of the "Big Three"...there is a reason for that.

That said, a guitar hand built by a good luthier is almost always going to be better than any mass produced instrument.

I'm personally quite fond of the Hummingbird. I do find it to be a bit overly ornate. But they sound awesome to my ear.

If your daughter plays, she should pick her own guitar.
Blindfold her and have her play both.
Let her ears pick. I've picked up some guitars that visually didn't get to me...then, under coercion I played them. I have fallen for a number of ugly guitars by this method...

[Teleman52]

Originally Posted by Oldguy64

I know nothing of Northwood.
I do know that some will refer to Gibson quality control, or lack of.
Truth is, Gibson makes a fine guitar.
When it is mentioned as one of the "Big Three"...there is a reason for that.

That said, a guitar hand built by a good luthier is almost always going to be better than any mass produced instrument.

I'm personally quite fond of the Hummingbird. I do find it to be a bit overly ornate. But they sound awesome to my ear.

If your daughter plays, she should pick her own guitar.
Blindfold her and have her play both.
Let her ears pick. I've picked up some guitars that visually didn't get to me...then, under coercion I played them. I have fallen for a number of ugly guitars by this method...

That blindfold comment brings up another point. Has your daughter actually played a hummingbird? Or does she just like the way it looks. If she's only basing it on looks, she may go to play it and be disappointed with the tone or the neck profile etc. in that case I don't think its a good idea to just buy a hummingbird either without checking it out first

[jmjohnson]

If you want your daughter to keep it forever then have her get the one she wants, hopefully after trying a bunch.

" Keeping forever" to me means not settling...and not readily finding much else "better".

[AndyFrank]

I wouldn't worry about a life long keeper, peoples tastes can change, get her the guitar she wants, get her the Gibson.

[JamesStA]

Originally Posted by AndyFrank

I wouldn't worry about a life long keeper, peoples tastes can change, get her the guitar she wants, get her the Gibson.

Yep, definitely. If she's shown love for the Gibson, then that's the one to get, without a doubt.

[Villamarzia]

I would give her a nice letter and a "ticket" for the best guitar she wants, maybe in a shop which carries already many Gibsons. Then, you can spend a nice day together trying as many as you can and choose wisely the one. She needs to try it, not only for the sound, but also the playability.. I would never enjoy 100% a given guitar, even if it is the model of my dreams.. I need to touch it, play it, see if it speaks to me...

[barley]

Originally Posted by Oldguy64

I know nothing of Northwood.
I do know that some will refer to Gibson quality control, or lack of.
Truth is, Gibson makes a fine guitar.
When it is mentioned as one of the "Big Three"...there is a reason for that.

That said, a guitar hand built by a good luthier is almost always going to be better than any mass produced instrument.

I'm personally quite fond of the Hummingbird. I do find it to be a bit overly ornate. But they sound awesome to my ear.

If your daughter plays, she should pick her own guitar.
Blindfold her and have her play both.
Let her ears pick. I've picked up some guitars that visually didn't get to me...then, under coercion I played them. I have fallen for a number of ugly guitars by this method...

This comment about hand built guitars is simply not true. There are some horrible hand built guitars out there. I know nothing about Northwood so I'm making no reference to them.

[Br1ck]

Who hasn't fallen for a guitar's looks?

I was recently comparing a Martin 15 and a Taylor 322, and there were things I liked about both, but the Martin is so spartan. Now if I could put 30 years of wear on it, that might sway me, but new, much as I hate to admit it, the aesthetics leave me cold.

You need that delight every time you open the case. I do not like bling either for the most part, but I do like the Gibson's looks. It goes well with a Western shirt.

[brencat]

We all hear differently, so it is not wise to buy guitars for others. Give them a budget and set them loose at a good dealer for the afternoon.

[ross68200]

I have a brother that has a son that was very good at bump skiing and was placing high in all the freestyle events across the nation ... his dad was the money provider and also give much advice about what equipment to ski on and so fourth ... the boy quit and went on to do other things ... not to say that dad was the problem but when you get to do the thinking its fun-er!

I have always felt bad for the boy not being able to making his own choices, the boy would always fold to what ever his dad decision was ... he is a good kid and needed to make his own way ... (I feel! I'm not his dad)

That said my vote is to let her do the picking and for you to have fun letting her do it so that if she make the mistake it's not your bad .....

Lynn