Atkin NGD

stickyfiddle · September 2021

Something just arrived.

Unfortunately it’s 40C outside (and in the UPS van!) so I’m going to have to let it sit and cool down for at least an hour or two before I open it… AAARRRGGH

Hottubes · September 2021

Oh Sweet, i know you've been gassing for one.

TheMadMick · September 2021

At least you know you've got a box

VimFuego · September 2021

nice box!!!

stickyfiddle · September 2021

I’ll, well I gave it an hour and the outside of the case felt room temp for half of that. Considering the finish is already aged I opened it…

First impressions: honestly quite possibly the best acoustic I’ve ever played. It’s utterly immaculate and sounds like an old friend.

I’ve bought this with some inheritance from my grandmother, who we lost on my birthday last September. We have a weekend away for this year’s birthday and I’ll be bring this one with me. It’s just wonderful

tone1 · September 2021

Is that a 43? Looks amazing

stickyfiddle · September 2021

tone1 said:

Is that a 43? Looks amazing

Forty seven - a tweaked LG-2. I was tempted by the 43 but I already a Martin HD28 so wanted to get further from the dread thing

Better pics and more comments later but I have a lot of work to get done this evening

DB1 · September 2021

Very nice. I had a 43 which was a nice guitar, and I have an LG-2, which I think is a really sweet, manageable size. Lovely!!

stickyfiddle · September 2021

I just read the tag - it's strung with elixirs. I can only imagine how good it'll be with proper strings

malcolmkindness · September 2021

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

crunchman · September 2021

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.

stickyfiddle · September 2021

Man this thing is so good. I've played it enough in the 18 hours it's been here that my fingers are hurting. Which is actually a little odd as it's got 12s on and a shorter scale than my Martin. Anyway, will throw some Reros on this evening and see how those feel. I could probably bring the action down just a smidge as well but I won't look at that until after it's settled with new strings in case the tension is any different

In any case, I'm super happy. Better pics to follow after new strings

Chris Stapleton on the stereo this morning...

TimmyO · September 2021

Nice. I first played some of them in Ivor Mairant's in London where they also had a fair few Collings and preferred pretty much all the Atkins over the Collings - lovely guitar

stickyfiddle · September 2021

Yeah, I've never played a Collings acoustic (I think..) but did try a few electrics in Nashville a while back. They were really nice instruments but really genuinely perfect. I know it's stupid but I like guitars to feel a little more handmade. Not to the point of obvious defects, but a little unevenness to binding, hand-sprayed bursts, etc.

This thing definitely does that very nicely. Everything mechanical is basically 100% but the ageing also helps just nudge it towards having a little more character I guess.

Arktik83 · September 2021

Saw them when I was looking for like a pre-war Gibson style last Christmas. Sounded bloody brilliant, sadly £2,600 outside of my price range but unlike most guitars north of £2k it sounded like it was worth every penny!

Happy NGD!

meltedbuzzbox · September 2021

TimmyO said:

Nice. I first played some of them in Ivor Mairant's in London where they also had a fair few Collings and preferred pretty much all the Atkins over the Collings - lovely guitar

All the collings acoustics I have played all felt and sounded very stiff for want of a better word.
I was surprised as I was expecting them to sound glorious with the easiest of actions

stickyfiddle · September 2021

It's only been here not-quite 2 days and already I feel I know it super-well. What's really impressed me is this little thing is sweeter and louder (?!) than my HD28.

I might have to see about trying an Atkin dread next time I'm in the UK...

octatonic · September 2021

Very nice.
A friend of mine does the finishing for Atkin.
He's is super detailed so I am sure it is immaculate.

stickyfiddle · September 2021

octatonic said:

Very nice.
A friend of mine does the finishing for Atkin.
He's is super detailed so I am sure it is immaculate.

It's genuinely astonishing. I went for the aged one largely because I'm shallow but it's a really impressive finish, down to the way the yellowed topcoat is worn down and the edge slightly softened on the binding at the natural contact points when you sit playing it. I also love the wider burst they're doing at the moment over the smaller tighter one in the models on the Atkin site.

I was terrified before I opened the case in case it wasn't quite what I was hoping for but somehow it seems to be even more than.

AND.. the case has blue fluffy insides!

DavidR · September 2021

Stickyfiddle. For what it's worth - I bought an OM28 in 2018 and drove it from Colchester to Boston on an extremely hot day in an unairconditioned car where the external temperatures were 34. The OM28 has been fine since.

One wonders just how many other of the carriers packages might have been vulnerable to the temperatures you describe!

Nice guitar. Have fun.

stickyfiddle · September 2021

DavidR said:

Stickyfiddle. For what it's worth - I bought an OM28 in 2018 and drove it from Colchester to Boston on an extremely hot day in an unairconditioned car where the external temperatures were 34. The OM28 has been fine since.

One wonders just how many other of the carriers packages might have been vulnerable to the temperatures you describe!

Nice guitar. Have fun.

Good to know. This has settled in nicely and the relief just needs a very slight increase, but that's probably more a humidity issue than one of temperature. It'll be kept at a pretty consistent 22-ish in our apartment now so it's all good.

dean111music · September 2021

Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet.

stickyfiddle · September 2021

dean111music said:

Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet.

No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…!

It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive.

I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok

camf · September 2021

Very nice! Enjoy.

VimFuego · September 2021

stickyfiddle said:

dean111music said:

Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet.

No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…!

It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive.

I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok

guitar companies should sponsor wine and wives companies, they'd sell a lot more guitars.

wellsyboy · September 2021

I have one of these - LG47A - fabulous guitar - I had a Collings CJ35SB which I moved on because I couldn’t get on with the nut width - I actually prefer the Atkin. I am now gassing for his D37A or a pre war

Jimbro66 · September 2021

wellsyboy said:

I have one of these - LG47A - fabulous guitar - I had a Collings CJ35SB which I moved on because I couldn’t get on with the nut width - I actually prefer the Atkin. I am now gassing for his D37A or a pre war

I had a similar experience with a Santa Cruz OM which sounded nice but for my style of thumb-over playing the 1-3/4” nut was too wide. That was nearly ten years ago and at that time Alister offered nothing like the wide range of models that he does now. I settled on a OM28-H Retrospective model which sounded great and the neck was perfect. I still have it and always will as my number one acoustic. Now when I see all the other great guitars that Alister makes I find myself lusting well beyond my bank balance

J.P · September 2021

Congratulations man, I played a D37 a while ago and it genuinely gave me butterflies. It was aged and felt like the best old guitar you could hope to find. The timing was bad so it got away. I need some Atkin goodness….they’re only about 7 miles from me…hmmmm. Amazing guitar I’m sure, looks lovely.

BenSirAmos · September 2021

stickyfiddle said:

dean111music said:

Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet.

No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…!

It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive.

I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok

I probably played this one so I hope they gave it a good wipe down before sending it to you. Fantastic guitar to play. Not quite the right sound for me at the moment or you wouldn't have got the opportunity to own this one.

stickyfiddle · September 2021

BenSirAmos said:

stickyfiddle said:

dean111music said:

Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet.

No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…!

It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive.

I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok

I probably played this one so I hope they gave it a good wipe down before sending it to you. Fantastic guitar to play. Not quite the right sound for me at the moment or you wouldn't have got the opportunity to own this one.

Ah nice. I can only thank you for preferring the Gibson

New strings going on today. We'll see how it changes with monels

Warblington · September 2021

stickyfiddle said:

BenSirAmos said:

stickyfiddle said:

dean111music said:

Lovely guitar! Did you try the guitar out before you purchased or did you just bite the bullet.

No. I would’ve but had a fuck it moment. Took a bit of a punt after a bottle of wine and an encouraging chat with the wife…!

It was the Guitar Village photos of this specific burst that finally sold it to me as worth trying this specific one after looking at the model in general for a year or so. Guitar Village got it to me in Abu Dhabi in 3 days over a weekend too - hugely impressive.

I won’t make a habit of buying unseen but I don’t have so many options living out here. I’ve bought 4 unseen over the last few years and 2 of those have turned out to be all-time favourites so I’m doing ok

I probably played this one so I hope they gave it a good wipe down before sending it to you. Fantastic guitar to play. Not quite the right sound for me at the moment or you wouldn't have got the opportunity to own this one.

Ah nice. I can only thank you for preferring the Gibson

New strings going on today. We'll see how it changes with monels

I have a new 47 and love it. It’s due for a new set of strings and I’m going to take the saddle down a fraction.Please report back on your string change.

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