Best Acoustic Brand right now - who gets the balance right??

[R J Luther]

Ok so there’s the super premium super cool
Ed Claxtons, Greenfields, Jangs of this world and the obvious Martin & Co

Then a ton in the middle like Collings, Huss & Dalton, SCGC and the like

They’re always being pushed to up their volume. But as seen lately with brands like X when you do that you can lose what made you great in the first place

So has anyone held on to that mojo that made them rightly famous yet managed to grow without just churning out average guitars that all look the same (back to brand X)

My shout would be Santa Cruz - Rich Hoover has managed to make enough guitars to keep us all happy without them becoming a one side fits all plave

Also Lowden with George steering the ship, the volumes are never going to be shooting up but the quality design and craftsmanship remains second to none

Anyone??

[Boozehound]

Santa Cruz might get my vote, at least in terms of producing guitars with a diverse group of tonal signatures and doing it well. They make bluegrass-capable dreadnoughts as well as excellent fingerstyle instruments.

[HFox]

As said by others SCGC seems to be extremely consistant with very high quality ,both in sonic and build, instruments. This high standard has been a hallmark of Richard Hoovers guitars for 47 years......not an easy feat in the age of MORE FOR LESS.
I have owned 8 SCs of 5 different models and wood combos dating from the late 1990s birthdates to new in 2022. All are wonderful both in tone and apperance and playability.
I think that Hoover's high standards and continuous introspection as to what he expects from his creations are the reason for the well earned reputation of Santa Cruz Guitars.
Richard brings very few new luthiers on board his Ship....he picks his crew carefully.

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by R J Luther

Ok so there’s the super premium super cool
Ed Claxtons, Greenfields, Jangs of this world and the obvious Martin & Co

Then a ton in the middle like Collings, Huss & Dalton, SCGC and the like

They’re always being pushed to up their volume. But as seen lately with brands like X when you do that you can lose what made you great in the first place

So has anyone held on to that mojo that made them rightly famous yet managed to grow without just churning out average guitars that all look the same (back to brand X)

My shout would be Santa Cruz - Rich Hoover has managed to make enough guitars to keep us all happy without them becoming a one side fits all plave

Also Lowden with George steering the ship, the volumes are never going to be shooting up but the quality design and craftsmanship remains second to none

Anyone??

Santa Cruz has done the opposite—they have cut their production dramatically (more than half?) to focus on custom (individual and dealer) guitars. Their quality was already exceptional, but I’m sure they are always making improvements.

My vote would actually go to Martin. They are producing some of the best guitars they have produced in decades, despite the increases in volumes. I’ve spoken with numerous luthiers at guitar shows who are in awe of the precision of certain of Martin’s processes. Has any of Collings, Huss & Dalton, Bourgeois, etc. actually increased production in recent years?

[warfrat73]

I mean, Collings produces about the same number of guitars in a year that Santa Cruz, Bourgeois and Huss and Dalton make combined.

And, I've never heard a bad word said about their build quality or consistency. And while some people aren't a fan of their tone, that's just a preference thing.

[sinistral]

According to this article, Collings made around 1,200 acoustic guitars in 2017. Do they make much more than that today? Which builders are actually growing?

[capefisherman]

Although I am pretty much a Martin guy to my bones, I have to say Bourgeois in terms of covering all the bases. I presently own one of his OM-150's - (Euro spruce top, EIR sides and back, Adi scalloped braces, ebony fretboard & bridge, bone nut and saddle, understated elegance in looks, and the sound, oh my: rich, even, resonant, crisp and clear for finger style and virtually unlimited headroom if I dig in with a pick, plus I love love love the shape of the neck, with slightly rolled edges on the fingerboard. It may be the most comfortable guitar I've ever owned or played.)

I had the extreme pleasure of hanging out at his display at NAMM a couple years ago and tried examples of just about every guitar he makes in terms of size and materials. Every one of them positively sang but had their own individual voices. Since then I've played about a dozen other Bourgeois guitars (owned by students & at The Music Emporium) and have been equally impressed. And the fit-and-finish on EVERY Bourgeois I've seen or played has been impeccable, something that - sad to say - Martin has been sliding backwards on for at least ten years, and remember, I LOVE Martin! I could give personal examples of that and we all know the big one re: binding.

If Mega Millions god shines on me (right...) I have no doubt at least a few more of Dana's guitars would live in my studio.

And yes, I've played a few SCGC instruments, also Huss & Dalton, many, many Taylors, a couple Larrivee's, and Gibson's (a J45 would also have a place along with all those Bourgeois in my fantasy collection, although they too - like Martin - seem to have a few "issues" in the last few years.).

My point here being: I'm posting this after careful thought and lots of experience with various guitars. I confess I have very limited experience with well-respected boutique maker's instruments. But being the cheap swamp Yankee that I am, I look at a guitar with a $20k price tag and my old brain defaults to - How many Bourgeois could I buy with that amount of money?

Gene

Cape Cod Acoustics

[Coler]

Bang for your buck, guitar for your money and having regard to covering all the bases your typical guitarist wants, it's Martin by a mile for me, if you are in North America.

Play it before you buy it, but man they make fabulous guitars for the money you'll pay.

In Europe Martin are still right up there even with the import taxes you'll pay. In terms of the relationship between what you pay and what you get, it's still Martin and it's really not that close until you get to about 4,000 - 5,000 euros at which point you have some nice options from local luthiers.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by R J Luther

…They’re always being pushed to up their volume.

Hi R J L…

Thankfully many solo builders choose not to bow to this pressure.

[Guitars44me]

“They’re always being pushed to up their volume. But as seen lately with brands like X when you do that you can lose what made you great in the first place”

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi R J L…

Thankfully many solo builders choose not to bow to this pressure.

Well, IDK. I have asked John Kinnaird to build EVEN LOUDER guitars, and he has continued to deliver for me. (Thus upping his VOLUME!!!). Hahaha
And, these guitars sound fantastic at low volume as well. Plus they sport nifty ergonomic and structural features that do not exist in manufactured instruments

Check the action on the Custom Shop sub forum for an eye and ear opening blast of Luthier Goodness. Some of our sponsors prices are UNDER High End Martin range too. Way, way under the 20K mentioned above… Thankfully!



Paul

[abn556]

Unless you have played every boutique build out there and are extremely well versed on all the factory guitars, I don’t know how this question is answered. Even if a few people had played everything available, there’s no quantifiable way to answer without an extreme level of subjectivity. Everyone has their favorites and their favorite tones and feels. Bias is inevitable.

+

[SRL]

Best Acoustic Brand right now - who gets the balance right??

I don't really think there's a "best" brand. I spend way too much time in guitar stores playing new and used instruments, and I've found good and ho-hum guitars from pretty much every brand, including a lot of the high end ones mentioned above. There are also many threads on this forum where someone bought from a famous boutique or solo builder and had a bad experience.

That said, I do think there are diminishing returns to sound quality, but as you spend more you can certainly get a fancier build. I've played some expensive high end builds that didn't sound any better than a Martin with Golden Era bracing (which is a high bar, IMO), but cost way more because the level of detail and artistry in the woodworking was off the charts.

Mostly it comes down to "how many labor hours are you paying for". Time spent planning the build, customizing things, doing the woodworking and finish, and especially voicing the guitar. A really high end guitar, especially a bespoke custom, requires a lot of time from the builder at each step of the process. A factory guitar is designed to be made quickly and consistently based on a blueprint. For example, a solo luthier might spend a full day (combining the hours across the build) just voicing your guitar. On an assembly line at a factory, they might spend 15 minutes, 5 minutes, or 0 minutes, depending.

So I'd ask myself, what voice do I want the guitar to have? What amount of fancy woodworking and artistry do I need? Can it be off the rack, or does it need to be bespoke just for me?

For me, the sweet spot is a high end guitar from one of the bigger brands. You get a good build, good voicing, and you don't have to pay a ludicrous price for it because there are plenty on the used market and good market liquidity. Personally, I'd say some of the best values out there in the used market are a Martin with GE or Authentic bracing, a 1990s Taylor, a Ren Ferguson era Gibson, a 36 or 56 series Yamaha, and at a higher price point, the older Goodall or Bourgeois guitars, which never cease to impress me.

[TennesseeWalker]

Originally Posted by R J Luther

Ok so there’s the super premium super cool
Ed Claxtons, Greenfields, Jangs of this world and the obvious Martin & Co

Then a ton in the middle like Collings, Huss & Dalton, SCGC and the like

They’re always being pushed to up their volume.

I don't think Martin & Co should be in the super cool world with the likes of Greenfield, Jang etc.
It does fit nicely with the middle group of producers such as Taylor, Collings, and the more boutiques such as H&D etc.

H&D, SCGC and others are smaller shops and I do believe they want to stay that way with zero internal pressure to push up their volume.
The attitude there is "This is what we do and this is how we do it"

High volumes of guitars from factories such as Martin and Taylor comes at a cost to guitar quality and generally results in heavier builds -
so they will often offer 'Custom Shop' options for individual builds -
I believe these are to compete with smaller shop offerings.

[6L6]

If you want the best balance across the strings, go get yourself a USA-built Guild.

[warfrat73]

Originally Posted by sinistral

According to this article, Collings made around 1,200 acoustic guitars in 2017. Do they make much more than that today? Which builders are actually growing?

I don't think they've scaled up lately, but they certainly upscaled at some point without any appreciable drop-off in quality.

Though I personally prefer Bourgeois and Santa Cruz, Collings has been one of the the standard bearers for consistency and quality, and have continued to do it while building about 3x more guitars per year than either Bourgeois or Santa Cruz.