Guitar that changes your outlook on what the instrument can be.

[BrunoBlack]

I know what you’re saying Bobby. I’ve had the good fortune of playing a few jaw-droppers and have owned a couple that simply stand out among the great ones. My first experience was with a commissioned Froggy Bottom K Adi/Walnut. I expected that would be “it” as far as I was concerned, until I received a custom ordered SCGC OMG Euro/Cocobolo last year (Buidling thread here - https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=500843 ) I’ve played many SCGC guitars and have owned 3. All were excellent, and that’s what motivated me to see if SCGC could build the “perfect one” that matched my wish list in build and tone. Hoover & Co. nailed it! I still can’t believe how well this guitar plays. The rich, harmonic range of tones is unlike any other guitar I’ve played. Yes, it motivates me and expands my creativity.

[Prof_Stack]

I never loved any Gibson's I played at Guitar Center. Very few I liked. So I time traveled last week and played and bought a 1939 Gibson L-50, apparently their most popular acoustic archtop back in the day. Solid hand-carved wood.

It has amazing clarity, depth, and vibrations that go through the neck more than I've ever felt before.

If I'm in that good a shape at 80 years, I'll be amazed.

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by zombywoof

It took me a bit to figure out what worked for me. If I owned one guitar that though jumped up and had everything I ever wanted in terms of feel and sound it is my 1942 Gibson J-50. You hit a big fat open E chord and it just bursts out of the starting gate, blooms and then quickly gets out of its own way. Has that dry snap that only old mahogany will give you. It is the one guitar that no matter how long I have owned it, every time I pull it from its case and hit a chord my jaw drops open.

At the same time my musical trip also took me right back to where I had started. Back in the 1960s I had worked my way up to a used block letter logo Harmony Sovereign. Like many others, I reached a point where I figured these kinds of guitars were no longer good enough for somebody of my immense musical talents. Funny thing about that guitar though, the sound must have improved immensely over the years because I found myself really liking it. Fast forward to today and I now own three of them.

I recently saw Josh Turner (the youtube guy) playing those Harmony's that have been torn down, modified and rebuilt called Nature's Harmony and they sounded killer.

[jrb715]

After shoulder surgery seven years ago or so, I went looking for a relatively small body guitar. My HD28 was just too uncomfortable to play for more than a few minutes. I was a Martin fan, and anticipated bringing home a Martin 00 or OM. But when I was handed Collings 00s and OMs, I felt like I had come home. The tone and feel for what and how I played was a perfect fit. I played them alongside Santa Cruz and Bourgeois as well as Martin and even a couple of Froggys, but the Collings smaller body guitars were a revelation: vibrant, clear and simultaneously tonally complete--alive for me in ways the others weren't.

I ordered a custom short scale OM2 (Andy would have it a 14 fret 000) with a European spruce top and it is sensational. For me, the standard in satisfaction that my new guitar purchases need to live up to.

[Goodallboy]

I've played guitar for over 40 years and I've owned many guitars by most of the big names, and others by Goodall, SCGC, and others. Even many different models of some of those I've named. In addition, when in many of the major cities, rather than tour the iconic sites, I sought out the top guitar stores. I've been fortunate to have been to most of them and in each, I was able to try instruments above my budget, just to see how they compared to the ones I've played, and owned.

On one such chance outing, I took a guitar off the rack that I wasn't familiar with and was astounded at its tone and response. It was the first McCollum I'd ever seen and I had no prior knowledge of the builder or his instruments. It was one of those moments you don't think will ever occur, when the tone is the one you've been searching for your entire playing career.

That was a few years ago and that guitar has ended my acoustic guitar search and I'll never buy another, simply because I know there's no need. so certainly it changed my outlook of what the instrument can be.

[J Patrick]

...my realization of what guitars could be came oddly enough when I discovered the bottom feeders about 20 years ago...old Kay’s Stella’s and Harmony’s that I had previously snickered at found a place in my collection...difficult to play and lacking the luxurious feel looks and tone that I had been taken with since I was kid...I found a new way to put their unrefined voices to use...I realized that the tone of an instrument is all about context...how it interplays with the voices and other instruments it is surrounded by....really fine instruments are still a big part of my life but I am just as likely to be found playing a beat up Kay archtop at a jam or get together...or out on the porch at home...

[1Charlie]

Originally Posted by Prof_Stack

I never loved any Gibson's I played at Guitar Center. Very few I liked. So I time traveled last week and played and bought a 1939 Gibson L-50, apparently their most popular acoustic archtop back in the day. Solid hand-carved wood.

It has amazing clarity, depth, and vibrations that go through the neck more than I've ever felt before.

If I'm in that good a shape at 80 years, I'll be amazed.

+1 for a '30's Gibson. For me, it was a 1931 L-0 all-mahogany 12-fretter that completely changed my perspective.

Less string, more wood. Less sustain, more punch. Less chime, more guts.

[Steadfastly]

A well tune, practiced ear/brain makes that happen. You obviously have those.

[jaymarsch]

I guess for me it would be in 2003 when I attended my first guitar festival. Guitars by Jim Olson, Kathy Wingert, and Linda Manzer really stood out and gave me a whole other dimension in tone and playability. Then I started to frequent more guitar shops and would run across some fabulous guitars by Howard Klepper, Sparky Kramer, and Richard Hoover and I would feel fortunate to have stumbled into the shop that day to experience them since those guitars would never hang around for long.

Best,
Jayne

[zmf]

I've found that when I get a chance to sample guitars at a shop with a large high-end inventory, I'm almost always struck by what else there is to guitar world. And even more so when I bite the bullet and take one home. Some of the discovery takes time as you learn how to play the guitar, which can be a feedback loop on guitar playing in general.

I eventually figured out that the last guitar I bought (about 5 years ago) does just fine if I back off and let it do the work. Much like casting a good fly rod.

I'm not sure what else there is that I need to know. But I'm willing to give it a try.

[jpd]

Walked into Mighty Fine Guitars in Lafayette, Ca. on a quiet day and the owner let me play everything I wished as he gave a lesson outside on the patio. My ears went crazy...

[Brucebubs]

I was a young kid , knew about 5 chords, was handed a Yamaha 12-string one night, never played a 12-string before, boom, sounded like I knew 10 chords.

[Sloplay]

Ok, been playing for a couple of years, all acoustic except for one strat, which rarely gets playing time. I just recently acquired an Oscar Schmidt OE40N hollowbody, the guitar just "spoke" to me, ya know? Had NEVER played one before this. After a few weeks of running it both plugged and unplugged, I am simply fascinated with the range of sounds one can bring out of a hollowbody! I see now what all the hype is about these guitars, especially the blues and jazz styles, both of which this OE40 keeps pulling me into, deeper and deeper. I still play the acoustics...a lot...but there is just something about the way this guitar has motivated me to learn more about blues and jazz. Ricci

[jb83]

My 1945 J-45 checks all the boxes for me - not only a magnificent sounding guitar, but also a piece of American musical history. The tone out of that old mahogany and spruce is just so dry and direct. I call that guitar the Truth haha.

But I also played a friend’s Martin J-40 recently, and that big, lush tone was perfectly balanced-easily the best Martin model in my mind. And it would compliment the Gibson so well...

[CylinderBear]

Sungha Jung inspires me what a guitar could be.

The musician inspires me.. never the instrument itself.