Official Luthiers Forum!

Greetings.
My first post. Great site.

I purchased a Tacoma Chief guitar recently and really liked the sound it produces. It has the off center sound hole, which I assumed was why it had this distict and full sound.
I later found out that Tacoma also has a less expensive line of guitars made in Korea under the Olympia brand name. They offer a model called the "Mischief" which looks just like the Chief, same offset sound hole, same wood (solid front, back and sides).
Well, I bought the Korean model and man, it sounds nothing like the Tacoma Chief. Very tinty, no bottom end.
Can someone tell me why two guitars that are nearly identical in design should sound so much different?
The Korean guitar is a tad bit smaller, but not much.
Could it be the quality of the wood, or is there something the Tacoma people do to their US built guitars that set's them apart?
I am not a Luthier (obviously), but I do like to know what makes things tick.
Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Get out your mirror, your flashlight, and your measuring sticks. You'll find out likely inside, not outside. Good luck, let us know what you find.

Come to think of it, you can't put your hand inside that thing now can you, much less all the other gear needed for the expedition. You may just have to wonder why.

My guess, the Korean is over built.

I bought my son an Ibanez with a real sound hole and solid spruce top a couple Christ Masses back. Then, since it wasn't up to speed sonically, I hot-rodded the bracing by scalloping it to Martin Pre-War specs for a dreadnought. Sounds just like a vintage D18 now.

Of course that's stretching the truth just a wee bit on the final comment.

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