Comparison: Adirondack vs Sitka Spruce, featuring Collings D1 and D1A
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- Whether you're choosing a dreadnought, OM, or other size guitar, one question you might be asking yourself is: Adirondack or Sitka? Jordan compares two of the most common spruces used for top woods in this video, using the ever-consistent Collings D1 and D1A as examples.
Tell us which you'd choose, and if you have requests for future comparison or educational videos, let us know in the comments!
Collings D1: thenorthameric...
Collings D1A: thenorthameric...
#collingsguitars #dreadnought #sitkavsadirondack
Either guitar will give a lifetime of happiness to its owner.
Absolutely true!
Sitka/Mahogany all day EVERYDAY for me! That's just how I roll, plain and simple. Adirondack's always been something of an "acquired taste" to my ears, think I'd rather have it featured on the D2 model that has the Indian Rosewood back/sides instead. That said, the Collings brand is definitely at the uppermost tier as far as high-quality tonewoods and QC standards go. Not even the big-name trio of Gibson/Martin/Taylor can hang with the likes of them consistently on a long-term basis, anyway. At least with Collings, you DO get exactly what you pay for everytime!
😉👍
Yeah Addy works well with Indian. I agree. With Mahogany, it's tough. I think I like Sitka and alpine better
a 5A Adironadack top w/Honduran or Madagascar rosewood back & sides is quite literally the grand piano of all tonewood combinations...........although I do love the punchy mid's & warmth of 3A Sitka & Mahogany. Honduran and Madagascar rosewood is actually more durable than Brazilian, and sounds very close in volume & tonal quality, but they too, are becoming more difficult to acquire. They blow away Indian rosewood.......and I do love Indian rosewood.
I have 8 acoustics -> 5 body shapes, 5 back/side woods, 3 (adi, alpine,sitka) spruce tops plus hog and koa tops, 5 body shapes, 12 and 14 fret, long and short scale, 4 builders. I recently picked up a Huss and Dalton TOM custom with baked Adirondack and sinker mahogany. I played it for 45 minutes. I took it home. I don’t like it better than a bunch of other guitars I own, but I sure do like it! Prior purchase was Furch Red Pure Alpine/Rosewood… amazing. I have 4 Sitka tops… 2 Martin, one Taylor. All lovable. Here’s the thing: if I slap on a set of Thomastik-Infeld Spectrum strings, or Nickel Monels, or whatever… it does more to tone than anything. I love the tonewood debate, but it’s not a debate. If you think the type of spruce you use for the top is what’s going to make your guitar special, you don’t play guitar, or you just haven’t played a lot of guitars.
Great comparison. I listened without watching and found I preferred the slight edge in warmth and bass of the Sitka when I saw it afterwards
I realize that some may prefer the Adirondack, but as this gentleman said, in many cases and by many sales people, it’s just assumed to be better because of the up charge and rarity, but I have always preferred the Sitka on many different brands of dreads. Thank you for the terrific video.
You wouldn't be saying that if you played or even heard my Shienmo with 5A Adirondack top and solid Honduran rosewood back & sides. Compared to my 3A Sitka topped guitars ( one with Indian rosewood and the other has Mahogany, and I do love them both dearly ).........the 5A Adirondack with Honduran is a virtual grand piano among my acoustics, and it's brand new. I can hardly wait for it to open up, more on that here in a moment. There's a reason why top builders like Collings and Boucher are using 5A Adirondack with Honduran or Madagascar rosewood ( both are very close to Brazilian, yet more durable than Brazilian ) on their top-tier guitars: they are literally cannons.......a cannon that's firing a grand piano at you. I'm about to purchase one of those newer devices ( I can't recall the name, but they really do work ) that attaches to your strings, then you turn it on and select all of the different keys/notes & allow it to vibrate the guitar for a specified amount of time, then go through every key/note selection on the device and repeat until every key/note has been used. It opens up an acoustic guitar in a tiny fraction of the time.......vs waiting years. Of course the more you play, the sooner it'll open up. I much prefer this fairly new device over the torrification of spruce tops, because the practice of torrification is SO new.........no one really knows what kind of effect in may have on a spruce top years down the road. I worry that it may cause the spruce top to start splitting or something. Like receiving a vaccination that hasn't had 20 years of testing done first. ( They would have to kill me in order to give me ANY vaccine, including any flu shot. )
Wow! I’m stunned that I prefer the Sitka!
I want to hear them compared at ten years of age to see which one opened up better. Lots of variables I know, but would be fun. Great video. Huge difference in my ears.
That would be great, wouldn't it?
Red Spruce is great (the best) for bluegrass and hard strumming in my experience. No discernible headroom. Prefer Alpine or Engelmann for finger picking. Nice comparison.
There are those occasional exceptions, but generally speaking, we'd agree with you on that!
Alpine is great with a flat pick ajd imo nothing like englemann. Alpine reminds me of Addy and Sitka combined
I'd take Alpine or Addy for flat picking, and finger picking at times. Just pop off top. Sitka for all around. And Englemann for finger picking.
Edit. I will say I prefer Martins with Adirondack, and Collings with sitka
I do a lot of hard, up-strumming, finger pick blues. It’s a unique technique that makes me sound like… me. I found that Mahogany loves it… and Spruce doesn’t discriminate - fresh Alpine, baked Adi, and new-to-20yr Sitka all sound great. I also found that Rosewood and Koa bring it to life just fine it, too. The sound is different (harmonics & mids in particular), but the sound is good. My Taylor was a “tad” too bright, so I gave it some double flat wounds. My Martin 0012-28 was too ‘something,” so I just kept changing strings until I landed on Thomastik Infeld Plextrums and fell in love. My Koa was like - this is me, love me - and I listened and do. My all hog was a pig, so I rubbed some bacon on the fretboard and went to 80/20s with a wood thumb pick. My 000-17 wants Nickels and vinyl mix down. This “tone game” is the best game in town. You can’t lose with a well built guitar, creativity, curiosity, and patience.
I'd be satisfied with either A or S tops. I've owned a 58-D-28 w/Sitka for many years and no complaints so far. Collings guitars are works of art. Thank you for the presentation. 🎧
A very good info I can confirm. 👍
You'll never find the final answer. From brand to brand, from wood to wood, from bracing to bracing, etc. - let the guitar speak to you....😚
It's true...there are many factors that determine a guitar's sound!
My response would be "it depends" largely on what I'm singing and the audience. I just got a used Collings (00) with Adirondack and Mahogany...Fantastic voice for a lot of what I do especially in open D and open G. BUT I have a Martin 000-28 Modern Deluxe (vintage tone system Sitka top, rosewood back and sides) and that is perfect for other tunes I do. So, yes, a to both.
Excellent comparison!
The power, clarity and tonal accuracy of Adirondack when you really dig in justifies, for me, its higher price.
Thanks Jordan!
Glad you enjoyed this!
Clarity is the right word. Sitka, to me, can sound muffled by comparison. Chime might be another useful tone descriptor for Adirondack.
I own the Adirondack Spruce top guitar with Indian Rosewood back and sides with mahogany neck. My Adirondack Spruce top has the VTS aging treatment and it sounds great as if it is 80 years old.
Pretty good comparison, except it's red spruce that's generally stiffer and harder (hence the bigger headroom and brighter, clearer overtones). Sitka, generally softer than red, is generally warmer. That being said spruce can vary a lot within each species!
I don't think Jordan said anything that would differ from that assessment, did he? He said, "Adirondack has a high stiffness to weight ratio" and "Sitka is softer, a little bit less elastic".
@@TheNorthAmericanGuitar He said red is “very flexible”, and sitka is “a little bit less elastic”, whereas red is the LEAST flexible of the spruces, and sitka is MORE elastic than red. Red is always referred to as the stiffest (that’s it’s best known trait). Sitka has more elasticity, it’s not brittle, hence it’s preferred use in airplane construction.
Can definitely vary. A TON
Very much enjoyed this. Would also dig hearing comparisons of sister guitars from different makers, especially a comparison of a Bourgeois Slope D, Collings CJ35, Huss and Dalton DS Crossroads, and a Santa Cruz Vintage Southerner with attributes as close as possible. Thanks for all y'all do !!!
We'll do more videos like this as we have comparable instruments in at the same time!
Truly a well-done demo
Thanks for the feedback!
If you want to be loud then go with the red Spruce, if you want a more complex sound and volume is less of a priority then go with Sitka Spruce.
Very good video. The D1A is like putting a 9V battery to your tongue compared to the D1..... it just zaps, pops, and awakens you.
honestly, close your eyes when listening. I could not tell the difference in a blind test, and I think few could.
Exactly. And any differences can be chalked up to the back, the bracing etc. People put way too much stock into spruce woods sounding sooo different. They all can vary and sound similar regardless of the species. I've heard Sitka sound thin and bright. Particularly the trebles and Addy sound round and warm. Depends on the piece of wood
Thank you! This was VERY helpful.
Great comparison, but you may have to isolate the string variable too as age, wear, and type of strings could override the subtle tonal differences between spruces.
Absolutely, but these two came in around the same time and have the same gauge and brand of strings on them!
yep I caught the difference for sure...well done thanks
Fantastic comparison.
sitka is sweeter
I prefer D1 on strumming and D1A on flatpicking
Great play. In case of Collings, Adiron has bigger and harder tone.
I like both tone. Why don't you own both if you have enough money. Me? Forget it.
Adirondack louder than sitka, but sitka more like old bluegrass. Booth good.
Thank you so much
with the addy the guitar began speaking.
Enjoyed comparison. Would also be interested in comparison with European top woods.
Would be interested in 'Why you need a 00 guitar.'
All of this is, of course,bad for My G.A.S. but I thoroughly enjoy your videos -- I am learning all about the next guitar I buy
Great comparison! BTW, what is the name of this fiddle tune?
Red Prairie Dawn!
adirondack 2:26, 2:47, 3:08, 3:30
sitka 2:14, 2:36, 2:57, 3:19
I wanted to enjoy this video as I’m in the market for one of these two but all I could focus on was pick click 👀
What the hell
how bout engelman top sound review
When we get another Engelmann model in, we'll try to do a side-by-side with Sitka or any others we have on hand!
Adi just feels so stiff to me. Not much compression with it.
I can't hear the the difference at all
MoSt people can’t they just like the one that they own already so they feel good. Both sound fantastic is the bottom line and very little difference. That’s just how I hear them. I just bought an Adi top. Waiting for it to deliver. I hope it sounds great.
Carl Miner has spoiled me completely. When i hear anybody else pick a flat top, it just sounds like a ratty mess. Much like this guy. It sounds a mess. Wherever Carl is, hunt him down and get him back. He was your best asset.