[murdude]

I have a 1970's Ibanez Concord. I have been thinking that I would like a Godin Seagull.
Well, when I try a Godin at a music store I find that I am disappointed. The sound quality just does not match what I hear from my old Concord.
So..is that why? The Concord is old and has mellowed over the years? If I live long enough, will I find that a Seagull might improve as well? Or..are they just two different sounding guitars and nothing to do much with age.

 

[bw66]

Could be either, but it could also be the room you are playing in. If you are in a small "live" room at home your guitar may sound better than it would in a large room in a store. Ideally, you may want to take your Ibanez with you when you shop so you can do a head-to-head comparison. I'm not familiar with 70's Ibanez guitars, but it may be that you have a spectacular guitar there. Generally speaking, Seagull are great guitars for the money but even within the brand some of the lower end laminate models aren't going to compare to the higher end models.

 

[Steadfastly]

What BW66 said ^^^^^^^^^. Either or a bit of both.

 

[mawmow]

Not an easy issue, no real rule of the thumb since two identical guitars built side by side may not sound exactly the same.
If your oldie sounds great, keep it until you actually find another one that appears to sound better. Then, keep both for a while if you can and play both with new strings for a few months. The brand new one may take some years to fully open up.

 

[bluesguitar1972]

Solid top guitars improve with age, especially when played a lot. But there could very well be other things at work here.
As other said, acoustics of the same model don't always sound the same, so I lower end Seagull won't likely be a full as a higher end one. Plus there are guitars that are kind of duds of most any make. Plus, a dryer guitar typically sounds better. The Seagulls could be over humidified, or yours could be under humidified. Lots of possibles.

But like they said, if you like the one you have, keep it until you find something you like more, or something that compliments it to add to the collection.