Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/08/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Gibson tops on many archtop electrics got thicker at some point, maybe the 70's. Less acoustic tone (Joe Pass did his "Virtuoso" albums with an older mic'ed ES 175, a plywood bodied guitar!) But they still sound sweet, and sweeter-and-sweeter each year. With pickups and microphones (on acoustics) for amplification, lots of working musicians actually welcomed the new materials and construction. Less stuffing their axes with old t-shirts to cut down on feedback. Hmmm, maybe some parallels in there somewhere with shifiting camera designs. But many boutique manufacturers still make guitars using a wide variety of materials and construction designs. Maybe the camera industry and/or manufacturing methods will evolve to support more boutique vendors - Alpa? Scott jon.stanton@comcast.net wrote: >"The difference is that technology has not influenced acoustic guitars as >much as photography. A Martin or Gibson from the 30's is pretty much the >same as what you will pick up today. The same can't be said of >photography." > >Actually, if you talk with a Martin or Gibson die-hard, they will insist >that the quality of acoustic guitars dropped dramatically after WWII. Folk >singer Steve Goodman (City of New Orleans) adhered to that observation >citing that Martin's made after 1945 were just "not that good" A few things >that validate this are the passing or retirement of master luthier's (I >know guitarists that can tell you what luthier built their guitar) The >availability of exotic hard woods, principally ebony and Brazillian >Rosewood. Martin began experimenting with bracing's, where Gibson began to >concentrate more heavily on electric guitars. Chris Martin IV seems to be >trying to restore the old Martin quality by going back to some of the old >construction patterns... > > > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >