Guitar to complement HD28

stickyfiddle

I have a little bit of inheritance I'd like to put into a second decent acoustic. I already have an HD28 that I love, so looking at something smaller and probably mahogany-er. 

Originally I was thinking Martin 00 or 000, but have been looking at Gibson LG-types, and specifically the Atkin 47. 

Any suggestions or thoughts? I'm likely in no hurry as ideally I'd really like to pop into Coda next time I'm home, then get them to ship whatever I choose back to me in Abu Dhabi. But obviously not travelling any time soon....

Jimbro66

An Atkin 47 or 36 would fit the requirement very well.

stickyfiddle

Ya. There's also a little bit of me wondering about getting a natural-back, black-top custom 47, which I'm guessing would be a very fine thing indeed. Maybe now's the time. Trouble is their sunbursts are really pretty...

meltedbuzzbox

I really found the atkins quite underwhelming after the hype train on here. I tried several in coda and I just didn't get it.

TimmyO

I absolutely love the differences between my D28 and 00-17S both very very good and very very different 

VimFuego

if it was me, I'd be thinking something small bodied (parlourish) 12 fretted, that kind of thing. That Brook that was recently FS would be an ideal counterpoint to the HD28.

BahHumbug

Waterloo?

stickyfiddle

Cheers all. I've already considered all of those so good I seem to be on the right track

Still feeling the LG-2 type is top of the list so far, then a 12-fret 00 down the line as well, perhaps. 

Gandalph

You may have already seen it but if you haven’t Glenn’s guitars has just listed an interesting looking Lg-2 legend. 

TimmyO

Martin CEO-7 ? 

stickyfiddle

TimmyO said:

Martin CEO-7 ? 

I didn't know that existed - looks sort a halfway house between 00 an LG-2. I don't love the sunburst, but it certainly sounds good here:

TimmyO

I played a really good one in GV a couple of years ago 

I wasn’t impressed with the Gibsons I tried on the same visit. This, and the 12-fret 00 I bought sounded like whole guitars each with their own character, rather than a goose honking in a box like the other small guitars (including some oft-recommended ones) 

meltedbuzzbox

TimmyO said:

I played a really good one in GV a couple of years ago 

I wasn’t impressed with the Gibsons I tried on the same visit. This, and the 12-fret 00 I bought sounded like whole guitars each with their own character, rather than a goose honking in a box like the other small guitars (including some oft-recommended ones) 

You summed up the sound of the gibsons perfectly 

stickyfiddle

Yeah, that's what worries me around smaller bodies, and particularly about Gibsons. I can't see myself going for an actual LG-2 unseen.

The Waterloo stuff looks nice, but the headstock logo is fugly, and I'm afraid I'm that guy...

Current frontrunners are the Atkin 47 and Martin CEO7, I reckon. No hurry though.

Andy79

TimmyO said:

I played a really good one in GV a couple of years ago 

I wasn’t impressed with the Gibsons I tried on the same visit. This, and the 12-fret 00 I bought sounded like whole guitars each with their own character, rather than a goose honking in a box like the other small guitars (including some oft-recommended ones) 

I remember you commenting on a small body a while ago that surprised you for not sounding boxy, sure it was on the cheaper end of things. Can you remember??

Gandalph

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, that's what worries me around smaller bodies, and particularly about Gibsons. I can't see myself going for an actual LG-2 unseen.

The Waterloo stuff looks nice, but the headstock logo is fugly, and I'm afraid I'm that guy...

Current frontrunners are the Atkin 47 and Martin CEO7, I reckon. No hurry though.

Not all Waterloo’s have the same logo style on the headstock, yes it still says Waterloo but the wlk is a cool vertical orange design. 

Just my opinion of course.

I owned an Atkin l36 for a very short while and I’ve played a couple of the 47’s. In my opinion they didn’t even come close to any of the Waterloo’s I’ve played. 

Redlester

What do you mean by 'complement'? BTW I'm not asking you to be clearer on terms, in the manner of aggressive posters on US forums. 

I'm just interested in the sort of criteria you have in mind. I was on a similar path myself a few years ago. I wasn't looking to spend big cash (over a grand), but I was willing to go up to £750 or so. 

I was after something to complement- and on reflection it ended up being more like 'contrast'- with a dreadnought. I ended up with a Taylor GS Mini, which is somewhat ubiquitous, but to me feels like a 'jack of all trades' but surprisingly is master of lots.  

But I tried quite a lot of guitars. It was a very open ended process to start with, but once I started playing and listening to things, my sense of what I wanted sharpened up a great deal and in short order. 

Cheers. 

TimmyO

Andy79 said:

TimmyO said:

I played a really good one in GV a couple of years ago 

I wasn’t impressed with the Gibsons I tried on the same visit. This, and the 12-fret 00 I bought sounded like whole guitars each with their own character, rather than a goose honking in a box like the other small guitars (including some oft-recommended ones) 

I remember you commenting on a small body a while ago that surprised you for not sounding boxy, sure it was on the cheaper end of things. Can you remember??

The one I bought was the 00-17SE - combination of the 12 fret (compared to the regular non-S version) and really light mahogany blew me away. 

There may have been others I liked in the same foray but don’t recall them all 

TimmyO

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, that's what worries me around smaller bodies, and particularly about Gibsons. I can't see myself going for an actual LG-2 unseen.

The Waterloo stuff looks nice, but the headstock logo is fugly, and I'm afraid I'm that guy...

Current frontrunners are the Atkin 47 and Martin CEO7, I reckon. No hurry though.

If you see a Martin 00-17 (or better still 17S ) Black Smoke or Whiskey Sunset used take a punt and flip
it if I’m wrong. IMHO they are/were very much under rated 

Andy79

TimmyO said:

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, that's what worries me around smaller bodies, and particularly about Gibsons. I can't see myself going for an actual LG-2 unseen.

The Waterloo stuff looks nice, but the headstock logo is fugly, and I'm afraid I'm that guy...

Current frontrunners are the Atkin 47 and Martin CEO7, I reckon. No hurry though.

If you see a Martin 00-17 (or better still 17S ) Black Smoke or Whiskey Sunset used take a punt and flip
it if I’m wrong. IMHO they are/were very much under rated 

There’s been a black smoke on Reverb for ages. Good price too

Gandalph said:

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, that's what worries me around smaller bodies, and particularly about Gibsons. I can't see myself going for an actual LG-2 unseen.

The Waterloo stuff looks nice, but the headstock logo is fugly, and I'm afraid I'm that guy...

Current frontrunners are the Atkin 47 and Martin CEO7, I reckon. No hurry though.

Not all Waterloo’s have the same logo style on the headstock, yes it still says Waterloo but the wlk is a cool vertical orange design. 

Just my opinion of course.

I owned an Atkin l36 for a very short while and I’ve played a couple of the 47’s. In my opinion they didn’t even come close to any of the Waterloo’s I’ve played. 

Doesn’t the WLK weigh , like, 3oz. I I’ll likely never own or even play a Kel Kroyden but I would dearly like to play that WLK

earwighoney

stickyfiddle said:

I have a little bit of inheritance I'd like to put into a second decent acoustic. I already have an HD28 that I love, so looking at something smaller and probably mahogany-er. 

Originally I was thinking Martin 00 or 000, but have been looking at Gibson LG-types, and specifically the Atkin 47. 

Any suggestions or thoughts? I'm likely in no hurry as ideally I'd really like to pop into Coda next time I'm home, then get them to ship whatever I choose back to me in Abu Dhabi. But obviously not travelling any time soon....

What's your budget?

Do you have a preference for body size. There's quite a difference between a 00 & 000 especially a 12 fret 00 and a 14 fret 000.

For the price of an Atkin 47 or so you could get a 50's 'Mystery Spruce' 00-18, or a 00-17. I played a 1951 or 1953 Mystery Spruce 00-18 in Wunjo a while back which was just over £2.5k which was exquisite.

I think occasionally 0-18 NY's crop up as well in that price range for a 12 fretter.