Hunting for a lower-cost rosewood b&s dread

[Dbone]

Seagull/Godin/Simon & Patrick/Norman

Such a strong value proposition.

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by Ralph124C41

...As I wrote I recently bought a Masterbilt AJ500MNS with case and I've really grown to like it..........I do prefer the sound of rosewood over mahogany/sapele,
.......You can see I own three Alvarezes and one reason I don't play them that much is because they all have 1.75-inch nut widths. In addtion the jumbo has a fatter neck profile so it's really uncomfortable for me to play for more than a couple songs or so. >.........So any thoughts or red flags would be welcome.

Yes Ralph. I see lots of red flags. You seem to have been buying guitars for many years....... You have many guitars you can’t play, but you keep.........You have a desire for a specific tone and build specs.......and you have enough experience to explain why you don’t want several suggested guitars and brands...... and yet you are asking Internet strangers to suggest more guitars for you to buy - that you haven’t played.

My thoughts are - sell everything you don’t like and/or can’t play. Then go out and play guitars for a few months to find something has a size, shape, woods and tone you love - and buy it. You state that you prefer Rosewood but you just bought a Mahogany guitar - and are now already looking for another guitar- in Rosewood. You seem to be spending a lot of good guitar PLAYING time searching for something you haven’t found. Those are the thoughts you requested. Good luck with your search.

[bryantjudoman]

Try out a Yamaha ll-16 that would fit your description.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan

Yes Ralph. I see lots of red flags. You seem to have been buying guitars for many years....... You have many guitars you can’t play, but you keep.........You have a desire for a specific tone and build specs.......and you have enough experience to explain why you don’t want several suggested guitars and brands...... and yet you are asking Internet strangers to suggest more guitars for you to buy - that you haven’t played.

My thoughts are - sell everything you don’t like and/or can’t play. Then go out and play guitars for a few months to find something has a size, shape, woods and tone you love - and buy it. You state that you prefer Rosewood but you just bought a Mahogany guitar - and are now already looking for another guitar- in Rosewood. You seem to be spending a lot of good guitar PLAYING time searching for something you haven’t found. Those are the thoughts you requested. Good luck with your search.

The reason why I'm asking "Internet strangers" is because you folks know more about acoustic guitars ... especially all solid-wood guitars ... than I do. I'm retired and have owned guitars for 50 years ... but only two of them have been all solid-wood guitars, my Guild D-55 (which had a lot of work done on it by its former owner) and my Guild D-25M. Everything has been all laminates or solid top/laminated back and sides until I got a great deal on my Epiphone AJ500MNS. Furthermore I can play all of these guitar listed ... I just prefer a guitar with a 1 11/16-inch fingerboard.

I know guitars but I'm primarily an electric bass player as I played in local bands for decades. But I'm too old to play more than a scattered gig so I've sold off three of my five basses and will be getting rid of most of my bass amps, speakers and cabs. I also have about 20 electric guitars ... solid bodies, semi-hollow bodies and full-hollow jazz types and an arsenal of amps and pedals. I think I am pretty well versed in discussing electric guitars, amps and equpment.

However I am trying to return to acoustic guitars to play in a few jams and I would like some suggestions on how I could maximize what little money I have left to buy an all solid body acoustic. I couldn't pass up the AJ500M and I think a mahogany-bodied (but not the top) guitar is a good instrument and now I am trying to add one with rosewood back and sides.

Furthermore I live in a small area where there are few shops and most of those have just Martins and Taylors. I've heard of Eastman ... I've never played one. But the opinions here help shape my buying decision. For example, I bought my AJ500MNS primarily because of the reviews I've read at this forum and I thank you folks for that. I had played one beat-up Masterbilt some years ago for about one minute and I think I remembered that I liked it. I have played several of the solid/laminated Epiphones and I thought they were dreadful sounding guitars so initially I didn't even want to consider buying a Masterbilt.

So I am sorry if my request for some information has offended you in some way. To you others, however, I thank you for your kind and informative help you have given me and I have now quite a few guitars in mind ... some of them I had never thought of but now thanks to your suggestions I have some other ones to consider.

[RalphH]

If you're primarily looking to a add second, differently voiced acoustic guitar I think the fractional difference between rosewood and mahogany will be completely drowned out by brand to brand, model to model, or even guitar to guitar variation. I suspect if you got an AJ-500R it would basically sound the same as your AJ-500M. Maybe in a back-to-back A/B test you could hear the difference, but I bet it would be less than the difference between your AJ-500M and a mahogony fender or tanglewood or taylor.

Your best bet is either to go to the local guitar store, no matter how small it is and just find something you like (take your AJ500 with you and find something that sounds very different). I would not go buying a guitar off the internet without trying it just because it's rosewood, no matter how well recommended by a well-meaning community on a forum. Even good brands have huge guitar to guitar variation in exactly the same model. When I bought my Taylor I played all 4 'identical' guitars they had in stock and one sounded much better than the other 3 to me - someone else might have walked out with one of the other 3 I had them put back in the stock room, having found the one that spoke to them.

IMO, electric guitars are MUCH more tonally consistent guitar-to-guitar as most (yes, not all before anyone objects to the statement) of the tone comes from the pickup, which are fully man-made and highly consistent (no-one goes through a pile of identical pickups looking for a 'good one'). I would still be worried about finding a 'good one' in terms of playability ordering from the internet, but I would not expect two 'identical' electric guitars to have the potential to sound as different as two 'identical' acoustics can. This is coming from someone that played electrics for 24 years before getting their first decent acoustic 2 years ago, not from an acoustic player that's never picked up an electric guitar

...Or to just play what you have; I will also add that I bet using a nylon vs celluloid pick on your AJ500M will probably produce more tonal variation than using the same pick on an AJ500M vs AJ500R.


With all of the above said, it is nice to know what you're looking for sometimes, and so long as you're not going to be buying it based solely on our advice, I see nothing wrong with gettings ideas from a forum, however I did not plan to buy either of the guitars I ended up with - they were just what I liked best in the shop on the day.

[Cool555]

You can consider a used Eastman E20-OM. Nut width is 1 3/4” but read somewhere that string spacing is slightly closer than normal 1 3/4” nut.

Video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de53...&feature=share

[reeve21]

Ralph, you mentioned a used Martin MMV but don’t say whether or not you ever played one. I was in a similar situation many years back, and played a bunch of guitars......and this is the one I chose for similar purposes to what you described. I still have it and more importantly, still play it often. If you are anywhere near a Guitar Center give them a shout.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by reeve21

Ralph, you mentioned a used Martin MMV but don’t say whether or not you ever played one. I was in a similar situation many years back, and played a bunch of guitars......and this is the one I chose for similar purposes to what you described. I still have it and more importantly, still play it often. If you are anywhere near a Guitar Center give them a shout.

That MMV is listed near me by a private seller with a case for $1,000. I've emailed the seller but haven't tested it. And with the holidays coming up I probably won't have the cash to buy one. I don't feel right testing one if I don't have the money to buy it.

The MMVs are all used and there is no one at any GCenter anywhere near me for me to try.

Moreover there is a used Masterbilt AJ 500RCE near me for $350. I just called Epiphone and asked why the model's description for the back and sides woods is blank. The rep said the guitar has solid rosewood. I'm thinking about that as I have the money for that. It's a bit of a drive for me but still ....

[erhino41]

Originally Posted by Ralph124C41

I've never played one so I know absolutely nothing about it the model at all but I've checked the used market and it seems possible.



As for the sound spectrum, I would like more of a bass-heavy or warm-sounding guitar, I guess somewhat Martin-ish at a non-Martin price, although I can , as I said, get an MMV online or even locally for about $1,000.

Those mmvs are sweet guitars. You shouldbe able to find an e20d on reverb for well south of 1000. The e8d is an excellent choice as well.

Personally I would stay away from the masterbilt with the ust pickups. They are not as good unplugged as the pickupless versions, imo.

[Ralph124C41]

Originally Posted by erhino41

Those mmvs are sweet guitars. You shouldbe able to find an e20d on reverb for well south of 1000. The e8d is an excellent choice as well.

Personally I would stay away from the masterbilt with the ust pickups. They are not as good unplugged as the pickupless versions, imo.

I pretty much agree.

1) I'd like to get the MMV because I'm 71 and I have never owned a Martin ... not an "X" series, not a Backpacker. I've bought Martin strings. I still haven't gone to the Martin factory which is only a few hours south of me but I plan to go. Maybe it's silly but I've wanted a Martin all my life. It's my bucket list guitar actually.
2) Both of those Eastman sound good and as I said I plan to go to that shop to try out what they have. No ED8 there however. But it will give me an idea what to expect.
3) I'm still holding out for a Blueridge BR160 because I've played some and I know what to expect. Close to a Martin sound I think. And it has the slimmer nut width that I'm favoring.

[guitararmy]

I have several rosewood dreads, but my favorite is a Larrivee D-03R. It has just the right combination of midrange growl with a touch of Martin bass and Taylor highs. I also have an Eastman E20D, which is very Martin-ish.
If I was going to buy another dread today it would probably be a Larrivee D40R...

[docwatsonfan]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

I have several rosewood dreads, but my favorite is a Larrivee D-03R. It has just the right combination of midrange growl with a touch of Martin bass and Taylor highs. I also have an Eastman E20D, which is very Martin-ish.
If I was going to buy another dread today it would probably be a Larrivee D40R...

my '98 knocks my socks off....well, maybe my sandals, I'm in the desert

[DenverSteve]

I’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t love their MMV - OM or Dread. They are excellent.

[guitararmy]

One of my favorite Epiphone Masterbilt guitars was an AJ500R. In a moment of weakness I gave it to a friend who needed it more than I did.
It was a very full sounding guitar, with nice bass and a subdued top end.

[PTL]

Orangewood. $675 free shipping, and returns.