Hi,
Brand new EGF member here...
When I saw this thread and the curiosity about the difference between the Adirondack and Alpine Spruce tops, I felt like I had a story to offer. I have been shopping for a nice OM for fingerstyle for a while now... and recently stumbled on Eastman. I played a standard (non-torrified) E10 OM that I was ready to buy on the spot... but I went home to sleep on it and it was gone the next day. I find it impossible to buy a guitar (especially an acoustic guitar) without playing it in person... internet shopping is great, but not for guitars... : )
So I ended up going to a shop that had two OMs in stock: An E10OM-tc and an E6OM-tc with the alpine spruce. I really came in to buy the E10, but the shop owner said I owed it to myself to try the E6 too... Well, it was really close, and there was much to love about both... but I ended up liking the E6 just a bit more... I find it difficult to describe these things, but I will try:
The Adirondack top over mahogany back and sides has a lot of punch and clarity to the notes... as a finger picker, this is what drew me to the Adirondack in the first place... The immediacy and detail in the strings was exceptional.. as was the brightness... but there was also this glassy shimmer that's hard to describe... kind of a really high harmonic on the upper strings... between the shimmer on the top end and the directness of the bass notes, it was a formidable fingerstyle guitar! Then I tried the Alpine Spruce E6, expecting it to sound like a Sitka top (warmer, rounder, softer attack compared to the Adirondack)... Instead, I found that it was actually pretty close in tone and attack to the Adirondack... Maybe a tiny bit warmer all around... The high end was nice and bright... it didn't have a hard, glassy high end, but definitely a beautiful singing high end that, to me, seemed a little more musical... But it was the bass that sold me. I have played rosewood guitars for most of my life, and only recently changed over to mahogany ... mostly because I find it suits my playing style best and sounds better on my fingernails. But I do miss the bloom of the low end you get with a rosewood guitar. The Adirondack topped OM had plenty of bass, but it was kind of direct and focused ... The Alpine top delivered big round bass notes that, although not quite what you'd find with a rosewood guitar, took several steps in that direction.. with a nice bloom and harmonic to the bass end... I could have come home with either guitar and been thrilled.... but I suppose I found the alpine top more musical, or maybe more balanced...
Please take these impressions for what they're worth... one person's fleeting perceptions ... and trying to describe how a guitar sounds is as futile as it is impossible. The only way is to play them, and see if they speak to us
Brand new EGF member here...
When I saw this thread and the curiosity about the difference between the Adirondack and Alpine Spruce tops, I felt like I had a story to offer. I have been shopping for a nice OM for fingerstyle for a while now... and recently stumbled on Eastman. I played a standard (non-torrified) E10 OM that I was ready to buy on the spot... but I went home to sleep on it and it was gone the next day. I find it impossible to buy a guitar (especially an acoustic guitar) without playing it in person... internet shopping is great, but not for guitars... : )
So I ended up going to a shop that had two OMs in stock: An E10OM-tc and an E6OM-tc with the alpine spruce. I really came in to buy the E10, but the shop owner said I owed it to myself to try the E6 too... Well, it was really close, and there was much to love about both... but I ended up liking the E6 just a bit more... I find it difficult to describe these things, but I will try:
The Adirondack top over mahogany back and sides has a lot of punch and clarity to the notes... as a finger picker, this is what drew me to the Adirondack in the first place... The immediacy and detail in the strings was exceptional.. as was the brightness... but there was also this glassy shimmer that's hard to describe... kind of a really high harmonic on the upper strings... between the shimmer on the top end and the directness of the bass notes, it was a formidable fingerstyle guitar! Then I tried the Alpine Spruce E6, expecting it to sound like a Sitka top (warmer, rounder, softer attack compared to the Adirondack)... Instead, I found that it was actually pretty close in tone and attack to the Adirondack... Maybe a tiny bit warmer all around... The high end was nice and bright... it didn't have a hard, glassy high end, but definitely a beautiful singing high end that, to me, seemed a little more musical... But it was the bass that sold me. I have played rosewood guitars for most of my life, and only recently changed over to mahogany ... mostly because I find it suits my playing style best and sounds better on my fingernails. But I do miss the bloom of the low end you get with a rosewood guitar. The Adirondack topped OM had plenty of bass, but it was kind of direct and focused ... The Alpine top delivered big round bass notes that, although not quite what you'd find with a rosewood guitar, took several steps in that direction.. with a nice bloom and harmonic to the bass end... I could have come home with either guitar and been thrilled.... but I suppose I found the alpine top more musical, or maybe more balanced...
Please take these impressions for what they're worth... one person's fleeting perceptions ... and trying to describe how a guitar sounds is as futile as it is impossible. The only way is to play them, and see if they speak to us