Practicing on cheap vs expensive guitar

[Revel]

Hi, I'm new to this forum!
I recently got my first over $1000 guitar (Taylor 224ce-K DLX) during the Black Friday sale and I absolutely love it. Funny thing is when I went to Guitar Center, I was planning on looking at dreadnoughts since that's what all my previous guitars were. When I told the salesperson that I wanted to look at dreadnoughts, she kept pulling Grand Auditoriums and Grand Concerts off the shelf and shoving them at me. I was kind of off put at the beginning, but I decided that since she was so passionate and I had time on my hand, I might as well go through all of the expensive guitars and play them for free. After a dozen or so guitars, I was handed the Taylor 224ce-K DLX and I absolutely fell in love with it.

Anyway, so much for going off topic, but my actual question is: is it better to practice on my cheaper guitar (Seagull S6 Original) or is it okay to practice on my new expensive guitar. I found that playing on the Taylor to be a lot easier. Like A LOT easier. Maybe it has to do with me not bringing my Seagull to a Luthier for a setup, but I felt that playing on the Taylor a lot easier and may not help me develop my skills. It was also a lot easier to make my notes sound cleaner and more beautiful and this has me worried that it's not me that's making the music but the guitar that's making the music. I am a self taught finger style guitarist so I don't really have anyone to ask for help.
(edit: I should also note that I have not brought the Taylor to a Luthier as well.

Also any tips on how to get over worrying about doing percussion on my new guitar? Because right now, every time I do a slap or a drum, my heart jumps a bit because I'm so scared to damage this new guitar.

[RP]

Congrats on your new purchase and welcome to AGF. I can't imagine that anyone here is going to advise you to practice on your least enjoyable guitar, regardless of price. If you enjoy playing the new Taylor more, then that's the one on which you should do your practicing. Once you eliminate the discomfort from playing a guitar you can focus on your playing technique and style. And if you really think that your new guitar is doing all the work, try putting it on a stand across the room and see how much music comes out of it.....

[lowrider]

Absolutely, play the Taylor. That's why you bought it. It's a wonderful guitar, congratulations!

[hermithollow]

Do percussion on your old guitar. No sense in beating up your new guitar right away. There are plenty of fingerstylists who don't use their guitars as a drum.
Playing an instrument that is easier to play will allow you to develop better technique than using one that you have to work at getting sound out of.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Revel

....but I felt that playing on the Taylor a lot easier and may not help me develop my skills. It was also a lot easier to make my notes sound cleaner and more beautiful and this has me worried that it's not me that's making the music but the guitar that's making the music.

What that attitude, it sounds like you're way ahead of the game when it comes to learning to play guitar. Enjoy the Taylor.

[Birchtop]

Cheap or expensive, for the most part doesn't matter. It's the setup.

And like the others have said, play the one that you get the most enjoyment out of at the time.

And congrats on your new guitar!

[mr. beaumont]

Get a setup on your Seagull, then you'll have two great playing guitars.

As for slapping guitars...uh...not my universive, I can't comment. I wouldn't be banging on that new beauty, though.

Congrats on a great guitar. I too have played the 224kce and Taylor absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one.

[Revel]

Originally Posted by Birchtop

Cheap or expensive, for the most part doesn't matter. It's the setup.

And like the others have said, play the one that you get the most enjoyment out of at the time.

And congrats on your new guitar!

So I guess I'm just unnecessarily worrying?
Also, would you guys recommend me bringing the Taylor to a luthier even though I feel that playing on it is already really enjoyable? Does bringing your guitar to the luthier for a setup done on it make a big difference? I'm willing to spend money on my new baby to make it better, I just don't know if I need to since I've never played on a guitar with a proper setup done by a luthier so I don't know if getting a setup done on the Taylor will make any difference.

[redir]

If a guitar is easier to play then you will play it better. You will be able to pull things off on the easy playing guitar that you cannot with the more difficult one. So ditch the Seagull or at least go see if you can set it up. To add to that a bit, even if you got the Gull to play just as well now you will want to play the one that sounds better. When a guitar has that special sound in it then you as the player become more of a part of the instrument and as such can hear things from it and exploit those fine qualities in your playing.

[JERZEY]

Originally Posted by Revel

Hi, I'm new to this forum!
I recently got my first over $1000 guitar (Taylor 224ce-K DLX) during the Black Friday sale and I absolutely love it. Funny thing is when I went to Guitar Center, I was planning on looking at dreadnoughts since that's what all my previous guitars were. When I told the salesperson that I wanted to look at dreadnoughts, she kept pulling Grand Auditoriums and Grand Concerts off the shelf and shoving them at me. I was kind of off put at the beginning, but I decided that since she was so passionate and I had time on my hand, I might as well go through all of the expensive guitars and play them for free. After a dozen or so guitars, I was handed the Taylor 224ce-K DLX and I absolutely fell in love with it.

Anyway, so much for going off topic, but my actual question is: is it better to practice on my cheaper guitar (Seagull S6 Original) or is it okay to practice on my new expensive guitar. I found that playing on the Taylor to be a lot easier. Like A LOT easier. Maybe it has to do with me not bringing my Seagull to a Luthier for a setup, but I felt that playing on the Taylor a lot easier and may not help me develop my skills. It was also a lot easier to make my notes sound cleaner and more beautiful and this has me worried that it's not me that's making the music but the guitar that's making the music. I am a self taught finger style guitarist so I don't really have anyone to ask for help.
(edit: I should also note that I have not brought the Taylor to a Luthier as well.

Also any tips on how to get over worrying about doing percussion on my new guitar? Because right now, every time I do a slap or a drum, my heart jumps a bit because I'm so scared to damage this new guitar.

If you have never set up your S6 then its long over due. Seagulls ship with very high action. They are not meant to be played out of the box and require a setup. Taylors usually come with pretty medium action and are more playable out of the box.

If you are used to a 1.8 inch nut on the S6 Original(One of the largest in the biz for acoustics) or the 1.72 on the S6 Original Slim(larger then the standard 1 11/16 standard) then moving to the standard 1.6 inch nut on the Taylor is going to feel faster. The coated strings and the slim nut sure do feel slick.

[fazool]

You will be more inspired, do better and have a better and more productive time playing the better guitar....always.


That said, I bought a, Ibanez AC240 (inexpensive guitar) because dimensionally it's identical to my Taylor GC7. So that's my back porch guitar which I sometimes leave outside (on nice days) without worrying about it.

[Revel]

Originally Posted by JERZEY

If you have never set up your S6 then its long over due. Seagulls ship with very high action. They are not meant to be played out of the box and require a setup. Taylors usually come with pretty medium action and are more playable out of the box.

If you are used to a 1.8 inch nut on the S6 Original(One of the largest in the biz for acoustics) or the 1.72 on the S6 Original Slim(larger then the standard 1 11/16 standard) then moving to the standard 1.6 inch nut on the Taylor is going to feel faster. The coated strings and the slim nut sure do feel slick.

Wow I didn’t know the nut size had that much of a difference. I remember buying the Seagull online after reading a bunch of reviews and never tried playing it before buying it. Also didn’t know that seagulls had what was considered a high action because it was already a lot better than the cheap beginner guitar I found in the basement that used to be my dad’s. Thought the Seagull would have a pretty standard setup. I think I’m definitely going to go get the Seagull setup because it is my first guitar I actually enjoyed playing. The ones I had before were 3 random guitars I found in the basement that supposedly belonged to my relatives before being given to our family (1 acoustic, 1 electric, and 1 classical).

[Willie_D]

If you beat on the Taylor it'll open up sooner.

[Revel]

Originally Posted by Willie_D

If you beat on the Taylor it'll open up sooner.

Does open mean it will literally crack open or does it mean that it will open up to me and become better sounding?

[Ed66]

Practice on whatever inspires you at the moment. For me it's the new guitar that inspires, at least for a few weeks. If it's not setup well (which doesn't appear to be the case in your situation) it will usually fall out of favor, especially if you have another that is set up well. All that said, you do owe yourself to have the Seagull set up by a good luthier. While I haven't found (and I've owned 6) that they are set up unusually high, if you like low action and/or are generally a fingerstyle player, they do benefit from some work to bring the action down. Enjoy.