Adirondack - Worthy Upgrgrade?

[D35burst]

Originally Posted by docwatsonfan

I have an Eastman E10-OM
and an Eastman E6-OM
these are very similar, with the 6 having sitka spruce, and the 10
having an adirondack spruce top

I would say the 6 is like a 1969 VW beetle , and the 10 is like 1969 Camaro
with a 396

with that said, both guitars are awesome, both can accomplish the same thing, it is just what kind of "ride" you are after!

I'll take the camaro!

[FormerFoodie]

Only you can determine if adi is an upgrade that makes sense for you. As others have already noted, there is a variance in the wood that can make generalizations hard and different builders can coax different tones out of the woods. In general, the best spruce tops are going to sound great whether they're sitka, Englemann, adi, or otherwise.

For me, it's adi all the way. I've found that my ears gravitate towards adi. I'm not sure if it's in my head and I'm biased once I know it's an adi guitar that I'm playing but I do find myself tending to prefer adi topped guitars.

Trust your ears, they won't steer you wrong!

[HerpDerp]

What about adirondack bracing? Same thing?

[Edmond]

I sure hope it's worth the upgrade because I will be coming home to a D-18 Adirondack in about a week or so. I knew I wanted a D-18 but wasn't sure if I was going to spend the extra coin or not, decided I would go hard or go home so I went with Adirondack.

[FrankS]

The choice of top wood has much to do with the brand of guitar, style of guitar, and style of playing.

With my slightly more than handful of instruments, I have Sitka, European, and Adi tops. They are exactly the right tops for the particular instrument and the guitars would be less of what I was looking for if all were Adi.

I have a finger style guitar that is Adi but I prefer the guitar that is Euro. Sitka gives that classic sound as in the D-41/D45 that some popular songs were played.

But when you just want raw, unchecked power for the sake of in your face power (notice I did not say best sounding) then Adi is the choice. A D-18 that is going to be flat picked hard is one place that Adi is probably the best choice for those using volume as the number one criteria for a guitar.

Don't get me wrong, Adi is a great wood but it shines more through for clean, loud sound than the warmth and richness of other woods.

Frank Sanns

[Edbuff]

Adi is my preferred choice. The only guitar that probably would not sound as good with ADI is my Huss and Dalton Chechen wood OM.

[HHP]

If you need the extra headroom and clarity, its worth it. That said, pretty clear some builders get more out of it than others.

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by nkatsonis

For my style of playing, Adirondack generally doesn't work well and I would not consider it an upgrade.

What style is that?

[Phelonious Ponk]

It's no more "hype" than the difference between Sitka and Englemann, or Engelmann a cedar. The difference, of course, depends in the individual piece pf wood as much a type, but in general, Adi is stiffer, stronger when cut thinner, and that translates into volume, dynamic range, more fundamental tone. Is it worth the upgrade? only if the guitar has an Adi top that exhibits those characteristics, and those characteristics fit your playing style.

P

[Edmond]

Originally Posted by Sage97

What style is that?

I think you might call it the art of fighting without fighting...

[justonwo]

I don't know that Adi is an "upgrade," per se. It's different, and it depends if the difference suits your style. I have one guitar with Adirondack and I absolutely love the tone. Very powerful with lots of headroom. Though, as usual, it's hard to know exactly to what extent the Adirondack, in particular, is responsible for the sound I hear.

From my general experience, Adi is a good choice when power, projection, and headroom is of high importance. Those characteristics happen to work very well with my heavy handed fingerpicking style.

[geordie]

It's the instrument as a whole that I listen to and assess - the build / builder.
From my experience and playing style I don't actually feel I need the " power, projection, and headroom" Adirondack contributes to the overall instruments sound.
Your requirements may differ, I am happy I VW Beetle driver.

[fullsmile]

Yes it is better. It costs more. I don't know why some people like to pretend that you don't get what you pay for in guitars. A cheap Yamaha doesn't sound as good as a Collings just because you are too cheap to buy the nicer guitar don't come on here and try to convince everyone here that you just happened to find some miracle guitar for cheap. Go to work instead of wasting time in the internet and save up until you can afford a nice guitar then you won't have to delude yourself on how good your crappy guitar sounds or waste time reading my post which is complete nonsense.

So yes Adi is the best unless you make a guitar with Brazil rosewood top.

[00-28]

Originally Posted by fullsmile

So yes Adi is the best unless you make a guitar with Brazil rosewood top.

and how does that sound? ..............Mike

[dneal]

*sigh*

You pay more for Adirondack because it isn't anywhere close to being as abundant as Sitka. You also pay (a lot) more because there's this perpetuated myth that its got some magical quality and some business capitalize on that.

How it sounds is about the builder, the specific piece of wood, and what is done with it.

All those people saying Adi can't sound warm or rich, be used for finger style, whatever; obviously haven't played an Adi-topped Froggy Bottom or listened to any Will Ackerman. Dana Bourgeois builds warm and rich Adi topped guitars too. James Goodall builds very rich Adi topped guitars.