Garrison?

[12strings]

I recently saw these at a music store for the first time...

what's the deal? plastic bracing? whats the advantage/disadvantage?

Garrison guitars...mmm?

-andy

[A Friend]

Yeah, I tried them. Tonally pretty all right, but playability was not that great. In fact the Yamahas hanging beside them were an easier play for me!!

Well, the deal with these Garrisons is that their bracings are not made the conventional way. They have somehow invented a way to make those bracings out of some glass and fibre material using machinery within 45 seconds or so...something which takes conventional luthiers hours to do! So because they save the cost of production tremendously with this process, they are able to offer solid tonewood guitars at much cheaper prices. But whether it suits you tonally and whether it is playable for you, you have to try it for yourself. Didn't do too well for me.

No matter what the arguments are, I would not go for a Garrison, although I do think that it is a great guitar with some ingenious technology in its manufacturing process. But when I held that guitar, I could not shake off the feeling that I was not holding an ALL WOOD guitar. So I just left it at that, and went to enjoy a good 15 minutes on those cheap Yamahas.

[Steve314]

Originally posted by A Friend
But when I held that guitar, I could not shake off the feeling that I was not holding an ALL WOOD guitar.

Undooubtedly, you already knew that guitar used a new type of bracing/vlock system. If you hadn't known that, though, I wonder what the odds would be of you knowing that the bracing and blocks were not wood...

Steve

[A Friend]

Originally posted by Steve314
Undooubtedly, you already knew that guitar used a new type of bracing/vlock system. If you hadn't known that, though, I wonder what the odds would be of you knowing that the bracing and blocks were not wood...
Steve

Good question...but not a possibility. Know why? Cos the moment I entered the showroom, the dealer had a model skeleton of the bracing hanging up beside the guitars!!

[Angelfire]

I like 'em. they sound good and except for the skeletal system, they are all wood. Good deal on an all wood guitar.

[rnjl]

Well, I'm NOT a good guitar player, I'm mostly a bad mandolin player, so guitar opinions should be taken with a large grain of salt- but I think my new Garrison G50- their most expensive, rosewood model- is as good as a lower end Taylor, if not better, and at least several hundred dollars less expensive.

I think the Garrison has a louder, fuller lower E than my Taylor 410 Koa, and yeah, the action is a little high, which is easily fixable, but the neck is very nice, the fit and finish are fine, and I frankly thought it blew away the Seagulls I've tried in the comparable price range. (Though I also found the Seagull neck way too wide, so I didn't spend too much time on them.)

I bought my Garrison "as-new", meaning no warranty, from the music store in Canada that serves as their outlet for demos and floor models, and paid only about $500 for it, which is a very large discount.

That's about what you'd pay for a Taylor 110 new, and less than you'd pay for a 214 new, and I think you're getting more guitar.

Again, the G50 is a top of the line instrument from a company which specializes in lower-cost guitars, so it's not fair to compare it to a top of the line Taylor- but I like it a LOT, and it's nice to know I'm only carrying a $500 guitar around to jams and outdoor retreats and such.

My opinion is worth every penny anybody ever paid for it!