Huss and Dalton TD-R

My TD-R is a '98 model, one of the early ones. It has a red spruce top and Honduras Rosewood sides and back. The neck is wide and thin, more like a 1960 Les Paul. This is -- as others have said -- your basic D-28-style guitar.

The earlier H&D guitars had a catalized varnish finish. It is extremely thin and seems impervious to abuse. The guitar has aged nicely with a golden-brown top. Everyone comments on how beautiful this it is.

When I got this guitar, it sounded incredibly tight. The tone was more like a good archtop than a dread. And it was LOUD! These days it has opened up, with a warm bass, more precise than a Martin, but as deep. The instrument has a wide dynamic range, and will even do a respectable job as a finger-picker. I've recorded some slide guitar with it, with excellent results.

There really is no contest playing with other guitars. It has the volume of a pre-war D-18 with the tone and subtlety of the same era's D-28. I'm not saying it is the best guitar on the planet, but in 40 years of playing, I have never heard a better sounding guitar.

Anyone who has spent time with an H&D knows they are of a very high quality. Fit and finish are unbeatable. There is a grain flaw -- a horizontal "wave" -- in the top of my guitar that I am not crazy about, but I've learned to accept it as part of the guitar's character.

The sides and back are gorgeous, and the neck is a work of art.

Perfect...

Another 10. These guys are great, and so are their employees....

I bought this guitar from Jim Grainger at his shop. Jim is the best, and he will go out of his way to help anyone, customer or not. He sent the guitar to me in Tokyo, and it arrived in perfect condition, well packed and ready to play.

I just turned 60. Don't let anyone tell you that 60 is like 40 usede to be. My joints hurt, I need glasses and I wake up every morning at five... -L- But I can still play. I also have a D-18GE, a 37 L-12 and some other guitars -- electric and acoustic -- which I like very much. I've owned literally hundreds of guitars since I got my first one in 1954.

But this guitar will smoke any other I've played, it's just no contest. Once these guitars open up -- and you need to play them alot if you want that -- they are in a class of their own.

I'm not much into using superlatives, but this guitar is the exception. A fantastic value at the price it sold for, and a guitar that will become your best friend after you put some time in with it.

-02' tdr with adi-top upgrade.
-beautiful wood throughout, grain, color, etc.
-waverly tunners
-tweed case
-herringbone trim

Very modern sounding dread. Not a boomy bottom end like so many traditional dreads. This guitar blew me away when I first strummed it. Its clear, crisp, loud, sustaining. Hats off to H&D. THis is a flatpickers dream come true.

This came with probably one of the best setups i've ever seen. I did have it lowered just a tad though. THere is plenty of saddle left too. It plays effortlessly.

I'm fairly responsible with my guitar. It seems to be a little lighter than a typical dread, however, I don't think I can draw a conclustion on its structural integrity on that alone. The top has a 25' radius built into the braces which will give it a little more strength.

absolutely outstanding. I called H&D with the serial number of this guitar to trace its history and make up. They were very helpful. We chatted a good 20min or so regarding some technical issues. actually, i haven't even looked at the warranty yet.

this is a monster sounding guitar for allround use. it fits well for various styles. i've been at this for 8 years, and this one will stay.

My guitar is an April, 2001 Huss and Dalton TD-R Custom with the Adirondack top and vintage "V" neck. Solid rosewood back and sides, Herringbone, Waverly tuners, ebony fretboard and bridge, great Huss and Dalton tweed covered hard case. The guitar has a traditional "D-28" look to it but with some nice touches added. The total package comes off as a very well made and tasteful looking guitar with a nod to the tradition that gave it life.

This is where the rubber hits the road. Let me just say "WOW". first you need earplugs because it is very loud. Ok, I'm exagerating a little but it is a very loud guitar. The sustain lasts longer than any guitar I have ever played and it has a very even, modern tone but with something that I call "dryness" to it that is hard to explain. It took me a couple of days to really fall in love with the tone but now I can't put it down. It puts my Martin D-41 to shame for my style of strumming and flatpicking. It can't be over driven. It just gets louder when pushed hard. The BEST sounding acoustic I have ever heard to my ears. Crisp, even, sustains forever, what more can you ask for?

Perfect, what you expect from a $3000 + guitar. beautiful figured rosewood and Red Spruce.

This guitar will be handed down for generations in my family along with other Huss and Dalton purchases I plan to make soon.

I bought mine used so I emailed Huss and Dalton for info on my guitar and within an hour Jeff Huss himself answered my questions.

Great guitar that I will cherish forever. I plan to buy a DS soon from Fingerboard Extension in Corvallis another H&D dealer that is very honest and fair. Buffalo Brothers were easy to deal with and made the purchase a pleasant and good experiance. Huss and Dalton build a heck of a hand made guitar for the price of guitars spit out by factories. I have a Taylor and Martin and I love them both but this guitar has an extra something that only guitars built one at a time by master builders have. These are very special guitars indeed!

This guitar is designated a TD-R Custom. The custom features are sunburst finish and an adirondack (red spruce) top which are $375 and $550 options respectively. It's an expensive guitar, total list price with options $3815. That's a lot of dough for an Indian rosewood dreadnought, but it is a fine guitar in every way. Fit and finish are as good as anything I have seen from Collings, Santa Cruz, Goodall, and the boutique builders. Waverly tuners, Brazilian rosewood peghead overlay, bone nut and saddle, black binding on the fretboard. It comes in a faux tweed case of decent quality.

It is a modern sounding dreadnought - powerful, loud, and really strong midrange and trebles. Doesn't have the big bottom that a Martin has, but has a crisp bass and real fat trebles. It's more of a flatpicking guitar than a rhythm guitar. The adirondack top is still stiff. Conventional wisdom is that the adirondack takes longer to "play in" than sitka. This guitar sounds great now. Can't wait to hear it as it gets better.

The action is great, about 3/32" at the twelfth fret. The neck is a nice medium wide 1 and 23/32". It's a nice in-between size for someone who has trouble with the 1 and 11/16" necks. Fit and finish are flawless.

It's a fairly lightly built dreadnought. Not so feather light as to be concerned about top bellying, but a nice light feel and good balance. I'd call it just right. I'll take it to festivals and gigs.

I have traded e-mails. They responded with helpful info within eight hours. It comes with a lifetime warranty to the original purchaser. I bought this one second hand.

I have had several good guitars. Gibsons, Martins, Collings, Bourgeois, etc. This ranks up there with the finest acoustic guitars being built today. New, this thing wnet for around $3400 since dealers only discount H&D about 10%. I was able to buy it used for $2450. Still a lot of dough, but that seems to be the going rate.

This is a review of a 2001 Huss and Dalton TD-R. It's a "traditional" dreadnought so it has the cosmetic appeal of a 1930's Martin. It has open back tuners, aging toner on the top, square headstock, ebony bridge pins, fine vintage-style ivoroid and herringbone trim and a long (through) bone bridge saddle. Great quality lacquer finish. The guitar looks and feels great.

Even though it's a traditional model, it has a more modern tone. It has clear articulate bass and a strong midrange. It does not have any of the thudiness or muddiness of so many scalloped brace dreadnoughts. Individual notes ring clear and the chordal blend is rich and full. The "G" string rings like a pistol shot and the bass growls.

I bought the guitar used. The setup was not great, but it had been done by the previous owner. He had lowered it for extremely light fingerstyle playing with XL gauge Elixers. It was easy to adjust for bluegrass style flatpicking, and with medium gauge phosphor strings, really came ot life. The finish and finish are perfect. I can't find a flaw anywhere.

It appears to be very solidly built, but it is a light guitar. It vibrates nicely when played.

Just a marvelous guitar. Sound, appearance, vibe. Keep an eye out for these guys. They have made about 500 guitars, and they compete very favorably with the best builders out there.

TD-R stands for "Traditional Dreadnought-Rosewood", and it is the only guitar Huss & Dalton Makes that has a traditional flat top (the others have radiused tops). This particular guitar was made in 1999, serial number 167. It was built in the old Huss & Dalton shop in Stuart's Draft, VA (they have since moved to Staunton). The top is sitka spruce, while the back and sides are East Indian Rosewood, with a gloss finish all around. It has your standard 20 frets with 14 frets clear. Rosette is black/white/black, with herringbone purling. It has Waverly tuners, an ebony fretboard, and an ebony saddle. Most TD-Rs have adjustable necks, but as mine was custom built as a show piece for the 1999 Merle Watson Festival, for some reason it does not.

The sound on the TD-R is booming and clear. Before I purchased it, I played it with thin, medium, and heavy picks, as well as fingerstyle, and what really sold me on this guitar is the fact that no matter what style I played, this guitar was loud and clear without ever losing each individual string's definition. The bass just BOOMS, and the trebles are crisp and clear. This is the finest sounding acoustic I have ever played, with a full Koa Larrivee coming in a close second.

Thre construction is sold and done with obvious care and attention to detail, just as you would expect from a custom luthier's shop. The action is just a tad high for my taste, making it a little difficult to play. I don't gig with it, but that is only because I don't want it to get hurt. The finish is very sweet. This guitar even smells great -- I can't place it, but it smells like cedar (perhaps from the case).

As noted above, this guitar is very strongly constructed, and would deal well with any amount of playing, for performance or just for fun.

I have never had any customer support needs, but I did contact them to let them know I loved the guitar, and they responded very quickly and even invited me for a shop tour.

I have been playing guitar since 1981, but only got serious about it again in 1998. I also have a Larrivee Koa and a Bourgeois Slope-D, as well as two Les Pauls and a PRS McCarty. I would definitely replace this guitar with another TD-R -- the sound is just too sweet, it's beautiful in an understated (old Martin) way, and soothes my soul. If I could change anything, I'd have gotten one with an adjustable neck. Huss & Dalton is a fine shop of custom luthiers; you will pay a lot for their guitars, but they feel like they will last forever and Jeff Huss and Mark Dalton care deeply about making a quality product. They make only about 80 guitars a year.