JOSÉ ROMANILLOS 03 | SOUND of OLD guitars when they were NEW

[vgfigue]

Great talk! I especially enjoy your explanation on the controllable variable of the guitar. It is precisely the fact that we're dealing with an inhomogeneous material--each piece of wood with its own growth history--that makes it impossible to control all the variables that determine the sound of the guitar. Only those variables that are independent of the history of the wood seem to be worth controlling.

[TexasSizzle]

I personally think that the biggest difference between hearing old and New-old (restored or gently "cleaned") guitars is likely the strings. Silk or gut decidedly sound better, more romantic, and softer. New nylon tech strings sound markedly louder and somewhat less pure but more overtones. While for instance Torres guitar played and heard in 1863 or so was a fairly new instrument, sometimes obviously brand new,

[TexasSizzle]

so it is ridiculous to assume that that same instrument might not grow a much more mature sound due simply to 150 or some odd years even without being played much. Any guitar can be broken in reasonably well in 3 years with much playing and sometimes a bit less in my opinion. Of course there are many factors at play besides strings. Even the same guitar can be very finicky and not sound good at all one night, and yet play and sound marvelous another, much like a woman, ahem or any man as well.