NGD: Did a bad thing this weekend, Collings OM2H followed me home

[DrewPeterson7]

Went into my local high end acoustic shop with my Martin, a mid 90s MC16-GTE, to start the process of shopping for a nicer acoustic (I love that guitar, but it was the best thing I could afford 25 years ago, and I'd been putting cash aside for a few years planning on eventually buying something a little nicer) just to figure out what sort of guitar I was interested in, and maybe within a month or two take something home. I sort of overacheived, lol

2021 model, German Spruce top, cocobolo back and sides. I played a ton of different woods and body styles and was kind of gravitating towards either an OM-sized guitar or possibly another 0000 (same shape as my MC), which surprised me because at the start I'd have figured I'd have ended up with a dreadnaught... but within the first couple notes this one arrested me. It just sustained more on single notes than I'd expected from an acoustic, and sounded extremely articulate and balanced, almost piano like at times. I was going to put a deposit down on this one and come back this coming weekend (they're only 8 minutes away) but as I played the last few phrases it occurred to me that this was pretty much exactly how an acoustic sounded in my head, so what the hell.

Playing is a little rough here - I'm not used to uncoated strings anymore so my fingertips were raw, and I played this thing enough the night that I brought it home that the Martin phosphor bronzes on it were already losing some life. But, what an awesome sounding, playing guitar.



I should probably learn how to play an acoustic like an acoustic now, huh?

 

[RFR]

You say “did a bad thing”

I say not bad, not bad at all

 

[DrewPeterson7]

It at least wasn't unplanned, I just didn't think I'd be ready to buy for a couple weeks more. I'd been saving up for something nicer than my bare bones Martin for a few years now, I have a "fun" savings account that I transfer a little bit into with every paycheck and use that for fun, non-essential purchases. So, I guess it wasn't THAT bad.

The state of my fingertips today, though... lol. I'm stoked, though. That Martin is a great sounding guitar, especially for softer stuff, but the top end just compresses and gets kind of harsh when I dig in, and this one (and, to be fair, virtually all of the guitars I played before it) just breathes...

 

[TalismanRich]

An NGD is never a bad thing. I hadn't planned on buying a new guitar last summer, but it happened. Sometimes you just come across an instrument that just speaks to you.

 

[PorterhouseMusic]

Sounds rich in that clip.
Nice playing too.


What microphone is that?

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Thanks! Though, the playing IS a bit rough - first thing in the morning, aching fingertips, and probably too much coffee. :lol:

This was a pair of sE Electronics sE4400a's. One over my shoulder at ear level, and the other (not visible in frame) [pointed at the 14th fret from 8-10" away, which is pretty close to my starting point for a single mic recording. I was just going to do one, but I figured if it was just a single performance, spaced stereo was probably the way to go to give it a LITTLE more breadth.