Atkin NGD

wellsyboy · September 2021

Newtones work beautifully on mine

stickyfiddle · September 2021

Restring day! Martin retros now onboard. It's quite different, and i'm not sure if good or bad yet. I suspect I'd like to try some more phosphor bronze options before I settle on anything as these monels give it more top end than I expected and seem to have taken away a bit of the woody mid "thing". It still sounds great, but if anything a little more like my HD28, which defeats the point, so I'll investigate some other options over the next few months (cue "Acoustic Strings - A Second Journey"...)

After a week or so and a good few hours of playing, there is nothing about it as a player and listener that I don't love. I do feel the ageing on the tuners is a little bit heavy handed, so I'll look at cleaning that up just a little bit. It's also slightly annoying that the A and B strings just touch the high & low E strings on their way from nut to tuning posts; that doesn't affect tuning so it's fine but is just a tiny bit of a shame it's necessary to maintain the otherwise very elegant headstock.

Also worth noting the fretboard is "santos rosewood" which is apparently pau ferro by another name. I don't remember ever playing anything with PF but this one is smooth under the fingers and looks great. I'd been worried that it might be a bit anaemic based on some stock photos but no such issues here. Overall I'd happily recommend these to anyone and Atkin will be on my shortlist whenever I'm next looking at acoustics.

I took a few more pics:

Smellyfingers · September 2021

I love that sunburst finish - it almost glows.

Would it be very vulgar to ask how much it cost?
& (leaving aside patriotism etc) is it really better than an equivalent Martin?

stickyfiddle · September 2021

Smellyfingers said:

I love that sunburst finish - it almost glows.

Would it be very vulgar to ask how much it cost?
& (leaving aside patriotism etc) is it really better than an equivalent Martin?

@Smellyfingers ; Yeah, it's rather nice. The back has a lovely bit of hologram effect in the mahogany too. I'll see if I can get a gif of it.

It would've been a hair over 3k in the UK, but I'm in Abu Dhabi so I didn't pay any VAT. I can't remember the exact number but mid-2's. As for the crucial "vs Martin" question, I don't know because I haven't AB-ed it and it's been a looong time since IO played any small hog Martins (or Gibsons for that matter). What I can say is it makes my HD28 not sound as big or impressive in comparison, and I love that guitar. Though I do think the Retros suit it less well than phosphors, so we'll see how i feel after a bit of string change merrygo-round...

My "next steps" in acoustic ownership are thus:
> Short term: try a few different string options (maybe on the HD28 as well, now it doesn't necessarily have to be a do-all guitar)
> Long term: try a couple of Atkin dreads when I get a chance, though I wonder if something more jumbo and/or maple-y might be a good move as well. I also don't think I should buy anything else without trying some high-end US stuff as well; maybe Collings...
> Long term: maybe a bit of consideration for a 12-fret 00 of some sort. Preferably with a black top

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Ricjo · September 2021

Beautiful guitar! I have an Atkin D37 on its way to me as I type. I A/B it with a Martin HD35, Martin HD28 and a Martin Custom D18 (Adi over sinker Hog) and it truly was better than them all. I didn’t compare it to the authentic Martins, which is - I think - a fairer comparison. But I’ve played a Martin D28 Marquis and that sounds more alike to the Atkin D37. Which tells me the golden era bracing is the difference (and perhaps the baked top).

I’m a Martin guy and am selling my Martin D35 to make way for the Atkin D37… And until I played an Atkin, I never really believed the ‘better than Martin’ posts on here. But it’s true.

I still have a few other non-Dread Martins that I love and sound sooooooo good, I won’t dare compare them to Atkins, as I’m afraid it’ll spoil things for me

Mellish · September 2021

@Ricjo. Nice collection of Martins

. Got mine in 2019. Got her set up professionally and we gig

ESBlonde · October 2021

Not sure how I missed your NGD but I suspected you'd go Atkin from previous posts.
21 months in for my Atkin essential D now and it continues to impress me, it also gets a lot of compliments from other muses who look on as I plop my Rosetta preamp on the floor and proceed to deliver the beautiful full balanced Atkin sound even louder.
I did notice a change in tone when I dumped the coated strings for lighter Martin PB and wasn't sure I liked it at first but it has come to ne a favourite. Indeed I'm gigging this Saturday night in a small RBL club and I'm mostly playing the Atkin in a 3 or 4 piece ensemble doing classic pop ditties, this thing is addictive.
I hope you making good progress on the string search, I'm interested in what you decide upon.

stickyfiddle · October 2021

ESBlonde said:

Not sure how I missed your NGD but I suspected you'd go Atkin from previous posts.
21 months in for my Atkin essential D now and it continues to impress me, it also gets a lot of compliments from other muses who look on as I plop my Rosetta preamp on the floor and proceed to deliver the beautiful full balanced Atkin sound even louder.
I did notice a change in tone when I dumped the coated strings for lighter Martin PB and wasn't sure I liked it at first but it has come to ne a favourite. Indeed I'm gigging this Saturday night in a small RBL club and I'm mostly playing the Atkin in a 3 or 4 piece ensemble doing classic pop ditties, this thing is addictive.
I hope you making good progress on the string search, I'm interested in what you decide upon.

Cheers - they’re such fabulous guitars. You’ll see from my other thread that I also tried some Bourgeios and Santa Cruz stuff a couple of days ago. I can definitely see a new dread in my future but don’t want to go to that level without seeing what Atkin can do with that body shape first.

No news on strings yet a I’ve been away the last couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the little 47 again as soon as I’m home

Bonzo · October 2021

crunchman said:

malcolmkindness said:

Congratulations, Atkin makes great sounding guitars, the necks just don't suit me.

I had a chat with Alister Atkin at the Guitar Show in 2020. He said I could do a custom order with a different neck profile.

That's great to hear (read).

I was tempted by the 000-37 but favour a 1 3/4 nut and a chunkyish V neck and so didn't persue Atkin any further. I did email them with that enquiry but didn't get a response

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