Guitars: What's In A Name?

Up until about a year or so ago I would have told you "a lot".  That was before I bought my Recording King that I play everywhere today.  I previously played (and still own) a 1998 Martin HD-28 VR which my dad helped me buy back in '98.  Even then I started realizing that the "quality" you pay for isn't always as good as you think it should be. 

After buying my guitar it was recommended by Rickey Wasson that I have it sent off to Don Teater (sorry if I spelled your name wrong) to have some bridge work done.  Don discovered then that the guitar had what he called a "soft finish" which basically means that the finish of the guitar never hardened up.  This definitely affected the tone. Just think about putting wet paint on your guitar; the vibrations would get muffled by the wetness right?  That's exactly what was happening to my Martin.

The Martin factory gladly refinished the whole guitar and sent it back to me.  The whole process took about 3 months or so and I was thrilled to have my new, better-sounding guitar back in my hands.

I wish I could say that was the end of my problems...

A couple of years after that I began to notice my neck was starting to become separated from the guitar body (imagine looking at the base of the neck where it meets the body when you are playing it.  You could see through the guitar in that section).  I sent this off to one of the few people I trust with my guitar, Frank Powell. 

Frank determined that the Martin factory had made a cut too big for the neck in the body of the guitar and attempted to shim the neck with paper.  I couldn't believe it.  PAPER?  I had paid almost $3,000 for that guitar and I had now discovered two separate, unrelated issues with it. 

I am happy to say that Frank was able to fix the neck as good as new and that guitar plays great.  I haven't had an issue out of it since.

The guitar I currently play; the "Dollar General", was previously owned by Richard Bennett.  He paid a very small amount for the guitar and did quite a bit of custom work on it.  I am really good friends with Richard and so I was able to watch (and listen) to this guitar transform from an average-sounding Recording King to a killer guitar.  He loaned the guitar to me for a while and eventually, I bought it from him.  So far, this is my favorite sounding guitar of the five that I own.

There are quite a few people that ask me about the guitar - many of them asking "Is it a Martin?".  I think it is largely due to the fact that this box has a herringbone trim just like many of the HD-28s that are out there.  I also think that it is because of the sound of the guitar.  Which brings me back around to the original question:  "What is in a name when it comes to guitars?".

I think it boils down to these things:

• The Warranty - Does the guitar have a warranty?  If so, how long does the warranty last?  What does the Warranty get you?  What types of defects/damage does it cover?
• The Reputation - Certain guitar names (Martin, Gibson, etc) are very respected just because of their name.
• The Dependability - How long has the company been around?  Do they have a good track-record?

Notice that quality is not one of these (not in my list anyway).  I do not feel that quality changes all that much from a Martin to a Recording King.  I feel that the quality comes from the setup of the guitar which changes from player to player.  If you think that only Martins can sound good I encourage you to pick up a Recording King (or something else) and give it a try. You might just find a better sound in an unexpected place!