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I've purchased most of my acoustic guitars online, so I usually don't get to "try before I buy." And I believe that it takes some time to bond with a guitar, even if the initial impressions are favorable. With Sitka and Cedar tops, the bond is pretty quick, and within a few months, I can tell if it's going to work out or not.
But as I've made the transition into Adi tops, I'm learning that new guitars take much longer for their sound to evolve. Most of them are following a similar timeline and have become more responsive within a few months. But my E20OM-SB is on a much slower path, so it's beginning to test my impatient nature. It doesn't help that it's the same age as my E40OM, which is responsive and lush with overtones.
Anyway, I've read online where some guitars (often Adi tops) have taken (3, 4, even 5) years to blossom. And in some cases, the guitar transitioned from underwhelming to outstanding when it finally reached that stage. While I certainly don't expect any guitar to change so dramatically, this guitar has perplexed me for almost a year because it's almost as if I can hear there's more sound inside it that can't get out (some of you may know what I mean), and I do hear improvements (just more subtly than the others). The clarity on it is actually quite beautiful, but you have to drive the top more than the others to hear it.
So, I'm treating this as an exercise in patience. I'm trying different strings (brighter strings = metallic tone, warmer strings = dark tone), playing around with the Tonerite, and continuing to play it (although perhaps not as aggressively as I was). For me, the jury is still out on whether it will "catch up" to the others, or if I just got one that's not as brilliant as the others. I think it's going to take at least another year to know.
Bur all this raised some interesting questions. If you're not bonding with a guitar, how long do you wait to sell / trade it? And for those who own Adi tops, how long has it taken for your guitar's sound to get played in, mellow out, etc.?
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