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  #31  
Old 11-26-2017, 07:03 PM
baimo baimo is offline
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Originally Posted by jimmybcool View Post
I have owned 4 McPhersons. I still have two.

The tone debate is always based on personal objective opinion so I won't comment on this area other than to say mine all sounded like high end guitars. If you are looking for a clean sound through a PA bingo. Bobs you uncle (British slang for you found what you want).

Build quality is excellent. Lots of touring pros get them because they hold tune, don't react much to temp and humidity, and aren't finicky plugging into PAs. Hard to go wrong with a guitar that sounds nice, keeps tune, works well with PAs and the neck doesn't move.

Having said all that, I bought my McPhersons back when they were priced starting at $4400 up to I paid $9000 for a Brazilian/flamed redwood unit. Current prices get you into the realm of Ryan and Olson and other small luthiers that I personally would rather have at that price point.

So end of story, IMO, they are great guitars. But the new price point doesn't make them a value in my eyes.
I also bought mine new for under 5000 from Mandolin Bothers a couple years before they closed. I was shocked to see the new prices. It did not work for me probably because of the reasons it is good for touring. It was built like a rock and the neck was a little much for me. I would rasther have something with a lighter build and for that money I would rather own a great Froggy Bottom
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  #32  
Old 11-26-2017, 07:14 PM
jimmybcool jimmybcool is offline
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Originally Posted by baimo View Post
I also bought mine new for under 5000 from Mandolin Bothers a couple years before they closed. I was shocked to see the new prices. It did not work for me probably because of the reasons it is good for touring. It was built like a rock and the neck was a little much for me. I would rasther have something with a lighter build and for that money I would rather own a great Froggy Bottom
At current prices froggy probably wins here too.
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  #33  
Old 11-26-2017, 07:47 PM
gitarro gitarro is offline
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Originally Posted by rogthefrog View Post
If unusual designs are your thing, maybe I suggest looking at Klein? They're being built again, and their tone is fantastic.

Kleincommunity.com

https://www.dreamguitars.com/shop/builders/klein.html
For hi tech guitars on the cutting edge of technology, tw luthiers who immediately come to mind are Kevin Ryan and Sheldon Schwartz.
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  #34  
Old 11-26-2017, 10:55 PM
Racerbob Racerbob is offline
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I've come close to buying a 4.5 as I liked the sound for vocal and group work. But I usually tune down a half step and the McPhersons have the Buzz Feiten tuning system. What I found was they don't like that tuning and picked up a couple of noticeable "wolf notes" right where I play a lot. I have the carbon sable model and it does the same thing but I leave that one in standard tuning.

As to fixing the issue I got no reply from the Buzz Feiten people and McPherson said they could "fine tune" the saddle and nut to accommodate any tuning but didn't address the half step down tuning specifically which I find a lot of guitars struggle with.

They are great guitars for touring and plugging in which is the main focus it would seem. More a pro's guitar than the average acoustic player.
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  #35  
Old 11-27-2017, 06:22 AM
jazzguy jazzguy is offline
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I do not own a McPherson but on the two occasions I played on (I believe a 4.5 and 3.5), I thought they were both exceptional. In fact, it kind of bothered me because I was thinking, "how can an offset sound hole guitar sound this good?" I don't know that I would necessarily buy one in the future, but I can say that my experience was a good one. For guitars in this price range, I would only consider buying in person. Good luck.
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