Does age improve guitar sound?

[Ted Solesky]

Thank you all for your replies. I did forget to mention that Zane thought that playing the guitar subjected it to vibrations which in time, might have some affect on the tone. In general, he thought the age factor would create a slight difference in some guitars. I do agree that most of the new guitars sound good. Everyone has it's own response as we all know from experience. Another way of saying it, I sat behind 6 or 7 different guitars made by the same company, and found one out of the group to really stand out in response and sustain. This may be a different topic, but speaking of a special guitar, has anyone sold a guitar that you regret selling? Not for nostalgic reasons.

[Wayne Cox]

Zane Beck was a man, far ahead of his time, and far ahead of many people today. I still respect him and won't knowingly contradict what he said, but there is one aspect that no one has commented on, on this thread.
Pickups...Some of them were manufactured by "charging" the pole-pieces with an electro- magnet. In some pickups, this resulted in a slowly degenerating magnetic charge that would degenerate in "half-lifes",
much like radiation does. These pickups simply lose their tone over a period of time and go from a rich, full sound, to a thin, tinny sound, regardless of the body of the guitar/steel. One company, in particular, had this problem for years. They are still in business today, and are reputable, and respectable, therefore it would be inappropriate for me to name them here. Besides, some people like the sound of their old guitars,anyway;weak pickups and all!
W.C.

[Stephen Gambrell]

After sitting in with my old band last night, I've decided that age doesn't matter. I'm 47, and still sound terrible!

[Kevin Hatton]

I still like "Tone Shmone!". (I do play a72 Sho-Bud though).

[David Doggett]

Some old instruments sounded better to begin with, because they were made better, maybe better even than the new replicates. The same wood today may not be the same quality as yesterday. Even how the logs are handled and stored before milling matters (they think the logs used for Strattivarius violins sat in the water a long time before milling).

Wooden acoustic string instruments get better with age because the wood dries out and becomes more resonant. Also, the finish gets lots of hairline cracks that limber up the top (you can usually see these if you look close). Playing the instrument also increases the rate of the finish cracking. But instruments with non-wood resonators, like banjos and Dobros, may get worse with age.

Even solid-body electrics might develop a little more resonance as their wood dries out and their finish ages. But the wrong kind of resonance can dampen sustain, so that might work out differently on different instruments.

As for electrical and mechanical things, they will change with age and use, maybe for the better, maybe for the worse - it depends. I wouldn't want to make any bets on that.

I prefer older acoustic guitars, but newer electrics, they are still evolving.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David Doggett on 31 August 2002 at 04:04 PM.]</p></FONT>

[Stephen Gambrell]

Excuse me, David,but finish checking on old acoustic guitars is NOT caused by vibration, but by changes in weather. And this checking probably does not improve sound, rather, the drying out of that old nitrocellulose lacquer and the old wood absorbing that lacquer. I've played tons of old Martins that had very little checking, that would part your hair. And I've seen new guitars (with nitrocellulose)check like crazy, and still sound new.
And the same holds true with electrics, After all, if they don't sound good unplugged, they ain't gonna cut it when you do fire it up.
And the metallic content of old banjo resonators DEFINITELY has a great deal of bearing on tone. If you want to sell a banjo really fast, for top dollar, mention that it has a pre-war tone ring. A lot of people have spent a lot of time analyzing the content of those old tone rings, trying to duplicate it. Ask Jeff Sullivan, Curtis McPeake, Tut Taylor, or Steve Huber.
And lastly, it's Stradivarius, not Stratt, etc.

[Kenny Foy]

Just left Gnashville(Hi Terry)and heard 2 or 3 Great steel players. BUT the point I'm trying to make is they all played different brands and there wasn't a nickel's worth of difference in the sound.They all sounded GREAT. Strickly PROS all of them. They played new geetars and some old. Some wooden and some aluminum. Some played cheaper models and some played expensive models. Now as far as the sound the usual differences in the wooden vs the alum vs mica and nothin wrong with that. If you know what you're doin you can make them all sound GREAT. I believe it's in the technique of the player and his abilities. Pick any 3 pros that you know, put them behind a screen,to where you can't see them,just hear em.Set up 20 different guitars,some same brands, OLD to NEW,Mica ALUM, WOOD,run the gambit of varities of age, brands,materials made of, and YOU more than likely can't tell who is playing whatt brand but you probably CAN tell the difference on who IS playin, by tone, technique and style.OH be sure the PROS play exactly the same songs n the same order for this little test. It would be a nice little test, for all of us on the forum, to do.HAVE my reasons for statin that last sentence. NOT being a pro this is what I heard. This is my 2 cents worth and I'm stickin to it------until------- KENNY RAY- LYNNVILLE, KY. HOME OF THE BROKE AND THE BRAVE

[Bruce W Heffner]

Teddy, as you know wine, women and steel guitars all are thought to improve with age. What about steel players?

Your pal

Bruce

[Doug Seymour]

Age might affect the player more than the steel! Mellowing out!