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Atkin NGD

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  • Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet. 
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26750
    edited September 2021
    Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet. 
    No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…! 

    It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive. 

    I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • camfcamf Frets: 1190
    Very nice! Enjoy.
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  • VimFuegoVimFuego Frets: 15476
    Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet. 
    No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…! 

    It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive. 

    I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok
    guitar companies should sponsor wine and wives companies, they'd sell a lot more guitars.

    I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.

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  • I have one of these - LG47A - fabulous guitar - I had a Collings CJ35SB which I moved on because I couldn’t get on with the nut width - I actually prefer the Atkin. I am now gassing for his D37A or a pre war   
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  • Jimbro66Jimbro66 Frets: 2418
    wellsyboy said:
    I have one of these - LG47A - fabulous guitar - I had a Collings CJ35SB which I moved on because I couldn’t get on with the nut width - I actually prefer the Atkin. I am now gassing for his D37A or a pre war   
    I had a similar experience with a Santa Cruz OM which sounded nice but for my style of thumb-over playing the 1-3/4” nut was too wide. That was nearly ten years ago and at that time Alister offered nothing like the wide range of models that he does now. I settled on a OM28-H Retrospective model which sounded great and the neck was perfect. I still have it and always will as my number one acoustic. Now when I see all the other great guitars that Alister makes I find myself lusting well beyond my bank balance :D 
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  • J.PJ.P Frets: 44
    Congratulations man, I played a D37 a while ago and it genuinely gave me butterflies. It was aged and felt like the best old guitar you could hope to find. The timing was bad so it got away. I need some Atkin goodness….they’re only about 7 miles from me…hmmmm. Amazing guitar I’m sure, looks lovely. 
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  • Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet. 
    No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…! 

    It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive. 

    I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok
    I probably played this one so I hope they gave it a good wipe down before sending it to you. Fantastic guitar to play. Not quite the right sound for me at the moment or you wouldn't have got the opportunity to own this one. 
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  • Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet. 
    No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…! 

    It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive. 

    I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok
    I probably played this one so I hope they gave it a good wipe down before sending it to you. Fantastic guitar to play. Not quite the right sound for me at the moment or you wouldn't have got the opportunity to own this one. 
    Ah nice. I can only thank you for preferring the Gibson :D 

    New strings going on today. We'll see how it changes with monels
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet. 
    No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…! 

    It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive. 

    I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok
    I probably played this one so I hope they gave it a good wipe down before sending it to you. Fantastic guitar to play. Not quite the right sound for me at the moment or you wouldn't have got the opportunity to own this one. 
    Ah nice. I can only thank you for preferring the Gibson :D 

    New strings going on today. We'll see how it changes with monels
    I have a new 47 and love it. It’s due for a new set of strings and I’m going to take the saddle down a fraction.Please report back on your string change.
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  • Newtones work beautifully on mine
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  • Restring day! Martin retros now onboard. It's quite different, and i'm not sure if good or bad yet. I suspect I'd like to try some more phosphor bronze options before I settle on anything as these monels give it more top end than I expected and seem to have taken away a bit of the woody mid "thing". It still sounds great, but if anything a little more like my HD28, which defeats the point, so I'll investigate some other options over the next few months (cue "Acoustic Strings - A Second Journey"...)

    After a week or so and a good few hours of playing, there is nothing about it as a player and listener that I don't love. I do feel the ageing on the tuners is a little bit heavy handed, so I'll look at cleaning that up just a little bit. It's also slightly annoying that the A and B strings just touch the high & low E strings on their way from nut to tuning posts; that doesn't affect tuning so it's fine but is just a tiny bit of a shame it's necessary to maintain the otherwise very elegant headstock.

    Also worth noting the fretboard is "santos rosewood" which is apparently pau ferro by another name. I don't remember ever playing anything with PF but this one is smooth under the fingers and looks great. I'd been worried that it might be a bit anaemic based on some stock photos but no such issues here. Overall I'd happily recommend these to anyone and Atkin will be on my shortlist whenever I'm next looking at acoustics.

    I took a few more pics:












    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • I love that sunburst finish - it almost glows.

    Would it be very vulgar to ask how much it cost?
    & (leaving aside patriotism etc) is it really better than an equivalent Martin? 
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26750
    edited September 2021
    I love that sunburst finish - it almost glows.

    Would it be very vulgar to ask how much it cost?
    & (leaving aside patriotism etc) is it really better than an equivalent Martin? 
    @Smellyfingers ; Yeah, it's rather nice. The back has a lovely bit of hologram effect in the mahogany too. I'll see if I can get a gif of it.

    It would've been a hair over 3k in the UK, but I'm in Abu Dhabi so I didn't pay any VAT. I can't remember the exact number but mid-2's. As for the crucial "vs Martin" question, I don't know because I haven't AB-ed it and it's been a looong time since IO played any small hog Martins (or Gibsons for that matter). What I can say is it makes my HD28 not sound as big or impressive in comparison, and I love that guitar. Though I do think the Retros suit it less well than phosphors, so we'll see how i feel after a bit of string change merrygo-round...

    My "next steps" in acoustic ownership are thus:
    > Short term: try a few different string options (maybe on the HD28 as well, now it doesn't necessarily have to be a do-all guitar)
    > Long term: try a couple of Atkin dreads when I get a chance, though I wonder if something more jumbo and/or maple-y might be a good move as well. I also don't think I should buy anything else without trying some high-end US stuff as well; maybe Collings...
    > Long term: maybe a bit of consideration for a 12-fret 00 of some sort. Preferably with a black top
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • RicjoRicjo Frets: 20
    edited September 2021
    Beautiful guitar! I have an Atkin D37 on its way to me as I type. I A/B it with a Martin HD35, Martin HD28 and a Martin Custom D18 (Adi over sinker Hog) and it truly was better than them all. I didn’t compare it to the authentic Martins, which is - I think - a fairer comparison. But I’ve played a Martin D28 Marquis and that sounds more alike to the Atkin D37. Which tells me the golden era bracing is the difference (and perhaps the baked top).

    I’m a Martin guy and am selling my Martin D35 to make way for the Atkin D37… And until I played an Atkin, I never really believed the ‘better than Martin’ posts on here. But it’s true. 

    I still have a few other non-Dread Martins that I love and sound sooooooo good, I won’t dare compare them to Atkins, as I’m afraid it’ll spoil things for me
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  • MellishMellish Frets: 945
    @Ricjo. Nice collection of Martins :). Got mine in 2019. Got her set up professionally and we gig :) 
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  • ESBlondeESBlonde Frets: 3576
    Not sure how I missed your NGD but I suspected you'd go Atkin from previous posts.
    21 months in for my Atkin essential D now and it continues to impress me, it also gets a lot of compliments from other muses who look on as I plop my Rosetta preamp on the floor and proceed to deliver the beautiful full balanced Atkin sound even louder.
    I did notice a change in tone when I dumped the coated strings for lighter Martin PB and wasn't sure I liked it at first but it has come to ne a favourite. Indeed I'm gigging this Saturday night in a small RBL club and I'm mostly playing the Atkin in a 3 or 4 piece ensemble doing classic pop ditties, this thing is addictive. 
    I hope you making good progress on the string search, I'm interested in what you decide upon.
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  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Frets: 26750
    ESBlonde said:
    Not sure how I missed your NGD but I suspected you'd go Atkin from previous posts.
    21 months in for my Atkin essential D now and it continues to impress me, it also gets a lot of compliments from other muses who look on as I plop my Rosetta preamp on the floor and proceed to deliver the beautiful full balanced Atkin sound even louder.
    I did notice a change in tone when I dumped the coated strings for lighter Martin PB and wasn't sure I liked it at first but it has come to ne a favourite. Indeed I'm gigging this Saturday night in a small RBL club and I'm mostly playing the Atkin in a 3 or 4 piece ensemble doing classic pop ditties, this thing is addictive. 
    I hope you making good progress on the string search, I'm interested in what you decide upon.
    Cheers - they’re such fabulous guitars. You’ll see from my other thread that I also tried some Bourgeios and Santa Cruz stuff a couple of days ago. I can definitely see a new dread in my future but don’t want to go to that level without seeing what Atkin can do with that body shape first. 

    No news on strings yet a I’ve been away the last couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the little 47 again as soon as I’m home 
    The Assumptions - UAE party band for all your rock & soul desires
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  • BonzoBonzo Frets: 2
    crunchman said:
    Congratulations, Atkin makes great sounding guitars, the necks just don't suit me.

    I had a chat with Alister Atkin at the Guitar Show in 2020.  He said I could do a custom order with a different neck profile.
    That's great to hear (read).

    I was tempted by the 000-37 but favour a 1 3/4 nut and a chunkyish V neck and so didn't persue Atkin any further. I did email them with that enquiry but didn't get a response  :'(
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