This old Washburn is really bugging me!!

[Martie]

I've just ordered a bone nut and saddle (even thought I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the existing nut, but the snob in me just can't help it!), mainly because I want to take the action down just a little and the truss rod is as far back as it will go. I have an Epiphone Masterbilt ef-500rcce, which I prefer over my old (sold!) Taylor 714ce, which just suited me more etc. and I just can't be bothered with £1000+ guitars, more so than ever after getting so much pleasure out of this old £99 Washburn - and I can't see the Epiphone getting picked up quite as much once I get the Washburn home. Those Epiphone ef-500rcce are mighty fine (fingerstyle) guitars for the money though, highly recommended.

[J Patrick]

...i once saw Joe Craven play his shoelace and everybody loved it...musicality is all about purpose and heart...and any instrument is just a means to an end....i love a good heartfelt tune on a humble instrument just as much as i love Duke Ellington on a Steinway...

[zombywoof]

Somewhere along the way, the word "cheap" has evolved from meaning less expensive to being a piece of junk.

[Jcamp]

I heard a story years ago that Ray Charles went in to a music store An his buddy was handing him guitars to play and they got to one and he just went on an on how good it sounded and that he had to have it and his buddy told him he couldn't be seen with it cause it was a harmony. No clue if that was a true story but every now An then a cheap guitar will surprise u. Loudest guitar I ever played was a junk Austin guitar. It sounded like crap but had a huge volume for some reason. In the last few years the best tone guitar I've played in a shop was a Fender Paramount acoustics. I probably should have bought it but couldn't bring myself to pay that price for a fender acoustic but boy it had a beautiful sound

[mtdmind]

I have a couple of all laminate guitars that sound good and play really good...Not great, but better than some inexpensive solid wood ones. But my best guitars happen to be all solid wood.

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by Jcamp

I heard a story years ago that Ray Charles went in to a music store An his buddy was handing him guitars to play and they got to one and he just went on an on how good it sounded and that he had to have it and his buddy told him he couldn't be seen with it cause it was a harmony. No clue if that was a true story but every now An then a cheap guitar will surprise u. Loudest guitar I ever played was a junk Austin guitar. It sounded like crap but had a huge volume for some reason. In the last few years the best tone guitar I've played in a shop was a Fender Paramount acoustics. I probably should have bought it but couldn't bring myself to pay that price for a fender acoustic but boy it had a beautiful sound

...not a true story...Ray did not play guitar...and he had a specific reason why...read more here...

https://music.si.edu/essay/ray-charles-and-disability

[fingerguy]

I used to own a Washburn acoustic and I actually miss it.

[Don54]

I have a laminate guitar. It sucks when I play it, but doesn’t sound so bad when others play it. Might be me. Might be the way the sound projects.

In any case, I’d LOVE to find a great sounding $100 guitar. I wouldn’t care if it was laminate or not. I’d get 2 of them.

[Martie]

Originally Posted by J Patrick

...not a true story...Ray did not play guitar...and he had a specific reason why...read more here...

https://music.si.edu/essay/ray-charles-and-disability

Ah well, for what's it's worth I took the Washburn home today, asked my son to close his eyes (and open his ears!) and played the Washburn alongside my Epiphone Masterbilt ef-500rcce (all solid wood, which I preferred over my old Taylor 714) and asked him which liked the sound of the most. He chose the Washburn, because he said it just had a fuller, brighter, punchier sound etc. (which it does). It's also nicer to play. Obviously the fact that the Washburn is a dreadnought and the Epiphone a cedar/rosewood OM is going to make a difference so probably not the best comparison sound wise. Still, I'm absolutely loving this old £99 Washburn

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by Don Liv

I have a laminate guitar. It sucks when I play it, but doesn’t sound so bad when others play it. Might be me. Might be the way the sound projects.

In any case, I’d LOVE to find a great sounding $100 guitar. I wouldn’t care if it was laminate or not. I’d get 2 of them.

All my guitars sound better when someone else play them. [emoji23]

[Martie]

Just a quick question:

I don't understand why manufacturers use laminated wood. To me, who knows nothing about guitar building whatsoever (and who's favourite guitar all laminated!) it just sounds like a bigger job than using one piece of wood - like, cut and shape one piece of wood or cut and shape several and stick 'em together! The former sounds straightforward, the latter like a pain in the ***!

What am I missing?

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by Martie

Just a quick question:

I don't understand why manufacturers use laminated wood. To me, who knows nothing about guitar building whatsoever (and who's favourite guitar all laminated!) it just sounds like a bigger job than using one piece of wood - like, cut and shape one piece of wood or cut and shape several and stick 'em together! The former sounds straightforward, the latter like a pain in the ***!

What am I missing?

...well its mainly because the guitar builder usually is not the one laminating the wood.....its made in sheets and then cut to size....larger operations might make their sides in molds where the laminations are built up in shapes.which is probably not much more work than steam bending and maybe less work...

...whether or not the laminating process is more labor intensive than producing solid plate stock for instrument building is something i don't really no the answer to but i have to think that in both cases most builders buy their top and side material from suppliers...at which point the laminate needs much less time and attention then the solid stock does..no doubt some larger companies do their laminations in house but the process is not strictly speaking luthiery....

...i am aware of the practice of fine builders laminating sides for guitars for specific reults....more common in the classical/flamenco world i think but these guitars are not be confused with mass produced instruments that are commonly found hanging at the local GC...

[Martie]

Just sent this link to my son, is worth adding here...


https://reverb.com/news/in-praise-ch...s-their-appeal

[firstrebel]

The only thing that makes a guitar great is the way it sounds. Period.

Bob

[TBman]

Recently I put a set of bluegrass strings on my Seagull folk. Tuned down to CGDGAD it's much different than it used to be. It's good to have an inexpensive guitar that sounds better than it should.