Quote:
Originally Posted by Wade Hampton
My suggestion then is that you look for a used Martin D-18 or - if you can find one - a used Gibson Advanced Jumbo (AJ.) A Gibson model that might also do the job rather nicely is a recent J-35; these have the scalloped “advanced” bracing of the AJ adapted for the shorter scale.
Which is different than the scalloped bracing that the J-45 Vintage and the Eastman E1SS-LTD-CLA have: the AJ and J-35’s bracing is placed forward, hence the “advanced” designation. That’s what makes those guitars more projective.
There might also be other guitars in Eastman’s product line that will cut through the mix at loud jam sessions, but a short scale round-shouldered dreadnought modeled after the J-45 is not as likely to do the job as a J-35 will.
What’s at issue here, as I tried to explain in my earlier post, isn’t brute volume per se but projection. Getting a projective guitar will give you what you’re looking for.
Unfortunately, the average sales clerk at the average music store knows little about acoustic guitars to begin with, and their solution for being heard in loud situations is simply to plug in. So if you walk in and ask about acoustic guitars with projection as opposed to those with an enveloping presentation, they’ll probably look at you like you’ve got two heads.
Those are attributes that you have to figure out for yourself. It’s easiest to do that when you can stop by on a quiet weekday morning, not when there are lots of other people trying out guitars on the weekend.
But if you keep your eyes peeled for a Gibson AJ or J-35 or find a recent D-18, it’s hard to go wrong.
Hope this helps.
Wade Hampton Miller
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thanks yet again. I'm about ready to leave for an acoustic jam and will bring my "new" Epiphone AJ500MNS and see how it projects ... or doesn't. I still have the light-gauge whatever brand strings that came when I got the guitar so I haven't changed yet to my preferred mediums. I think your suggestions are good and informative ... but I just can't afford more than about $800 or so ... and that's stretching things a lot. So getting this guitar and a case for under $350 just made sense to me.