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Old 02-28-2021, 02:10 AM
yoguitar yoguitar is offline
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Default Goodall TROM-A questions

Good morning Acoustic Guitar Forum Nation,

I am currently in the market for Goodall TROM-A (or maybe Dreadnought). I saved enough money to buy a good guitar that will spend rest of my life with me.

Unfortunately, I can't find any local shop that sells Goodall guitars around me and closet one is in like 8-9 hours drive (Western NY).

However, I saw/heard someone playing Goodall on the street and I fell in love with it.

My style is mostly strumming (think Christian artists like Shane and Shane/Chris Tomlin/Steve Curtis Chapman/Matt Redman) and wanted to ask if Goodall TROMA would be the good fit for me. Basically I am looking for versatility guitar. I currently have good ol' Taylor 2012 414ce (1 3/4 nut) that I got it from my friend for free before he got deployed. I am usually a person who do not collect guitars but just to have one guitar to enjoy playing it.

Also when I was looking into it, I was wondering about the neck as well... I have medium size hand yet my fingers are short... meaning, I can't wear small size gloves because of my palm yet when I wear medium size gloves, there are lots of rooms for the fingers... (Oakley/mechanix gloves).

Is Goodall neck comfortable to play with 1 3/4 nut sized neck and putting thumbs around? I really had to practice with 414ce to do it... I had used Martin D-1 before which was my first guitar and I was not able to wrap around my thumb (or I was just not good back then). If it is same or similar to Taylor feel I will be confident with Goodall guitar and not have to do custom order for the neck to smaller or slimmer (There are some used Goodall OM on the market, and trying to avoid doing custom order). When I did some research, Goodall has a popular soft V neck and wonder if it is similar to Taylor's neck ( I am assuming mine has standard neck).

As an experienced player(s), what are your thoughts on me buying Goodall guitar? Am I overthinking???

I know it was a long... so in order to shorten it;

1) Is OM good for strumming (medium to heavy strumming)?
2) Comparing to Taylor neck, how's Goodall neck feels? comfortable and can put thumbs around it with short fingers?

I know I was focusing on OM, but I am also kinda thinking about TRD as well but I am not sure I will like it... GA body size a bit big for my taste. I am a short guy 5ft 6in and want to have a comfortable guitar.

Thank you very much for reading and hope to hear from experts!!
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Old 02-28-2021, 03:01 AM
pieterh pieterh is offline
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I have a friend with a Goodall similar to the larger one you talk about. I haven’t played it but I know he loves it!

As for the OM model, I see more and more acoustic guitarists here and elsewhere going over to the OM shape. I have a Taylor 414 but these days my go to acoustic is my Furch OM34sr (equivalent to a Martin OM28 or Taylor 812). Best acoustic I’ve ever owned; the shape makes it deliciously playable and the disadvantages of the smaller body are minimal in my opinion.

Do you have the possibility of ordering and returning it if it doesn’t suit you?

Good luck and let us know how you get on!
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Old 02-28-2021, 06:24 AM
Goodallboy Goodallboy is offline
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The TROM is a great Goodall model. It will hold up to a pick and strumming quite well. At you size it should fit you very well and be a great choice.
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Old 02-28-2021, 07:19 AM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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You will find their build quality and the tone to be outstanding. Strumming is fine with them and they will respond to fingerpicking or flat picking should you ever get into that.

As I am blessed with "normal" fingers and most all necks feel fine to me, I cannot address that part of your question, but I'd think it would be the most critical concern. Most guitars will sound good when strummed, meaning it'll be harder to find a neck you like than the sound. A call to Goodall might steer you on the neck issue. They answer the phone themselves and are very helpful, good folks.
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Old 02-28-2021, 07:48 AM
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My 2 cents — I’ve owned and sold a TROM. I didn’t appreciate it as much as my GC or TR000. I play 50/50 fingers/flat pick, but I almost never strum heavily. Reading the OP, I think you might consider a Goodall CJ. It strums really well imo, yet maintains the ability to respond to a very soft touch. There are quite a few CJs out there being sold for fair prices. There are plenty of sound clips out there too. I don’t know enough about Taylor necks to offer any useful insights, but I find the Goodall necks to be far from chunky. They are comfortable to me, but I am not overly sensitive to neck profiles.
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Old 02-28-2021, 09:53 AM
hairpuller hairpuller is offline
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The TROM I owned had rosewood b & s...big mistake for me. When strummed there were just too many overtones! Had to strictly play fingerstyle, which is fine if that's all you do.

So, if you are a strummer I'd highly recommend one with mahogany. However, playing first would be my recommendation, if at all possible.

Beautifully built guitars.

scott
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Old 02-28-2021, 11:43 AM
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blindboyjimi blindboyjimi is offline
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When it comes to strumming, I don’t think of Goodalls. As hairpuller says they are very lush and overtone rich so you have to be able to control that. If you can, then there’s no better guitar made. There are more expensive guitars but Goodalls are universally fantastic. I’ve had 2 Concert Jumbos but I used them both for fingerstyle and dropped tunings. I’m mad at myself for selling them both, but I did so to get 2 Brazilian classicals. These is a reason a lot of singer songwriters play J-35/45s and you may want to think about a really nice vintage Gibson or a great copy like a Kopp or Fairbanks.

Bobby Swanson buys and sells lots of great Goodalls as a hobby and he’s got a lot of good YouTube videos with a pick and fingers. He’s a great guy too so you may want to email him. https://www.youtube.com/user/rockinb23
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Old 02-28-2021, 12:37 PM
JeffM JeffM is offline
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I have owned a number of Goodalls. Also, I did an article for Flatpicking Magazine on Goodalls a number of years back, thus had the chance to talk with James about his guitars. The TR models are his attempt to address the, well, traditional look. The guitars are braced, etc exactly like the other models. I have a Grand Concert Goodall, which is exactly the same size as the TROM. Goodalls are a bit deeper than a Martin OM but have the same length, etc. The necks are about as comfortable as one can find. The necks aren't Taylor necks, meaning thin and electric guitar size--I realize that there are many Taylor neck varieties, but most Taylors are thinner than say the typical Martin neck

On sound, Goodalls have lush overtones. They are hard to control if one is a sloppy player. There is so much sound moving around. I use my Goodall when I am looking for a fingerstyle piece with room to breathe. On the other hand, when I play swing stuff, I never use the Goodall--too much going on. It would be a good strummer, but one with a lot going on.

I would encourage you to buy a used one. The new ones are very pricey, but worth it. If you buy a used one, say on Reverb or such, you could work a deal to play it a few days or return.

My 2cents. Jeff
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Old 02-28-2021, 01:41 PM
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I used to own a TRD dread in Adi/EIR — Fort Bragg CA made, from 2013 or 2014. And also a Brazilian TROM (Adi top) made in 2008 from Kona, HI. Both were really great guitars that I bought used from a forum member here. The TRD was awesome but after a short period of time, the neck profile started bothering me (too thin — Fort Bragg made Goodalls have more slender necks) and I sold it. The TROM was a grail for me at the time and my first BRW guitar, but it never inspired me as a player. I loved the chunky C neck but it preferred a firm hand to sound its best. Found myself reaching for my Santa Cruzes most days and finally sold it the moment I took delivery of a Martin 000-18 Authentic.

If I have any advice for you, it is to buy used! Goodall resale value is atrocious. You can find near mint condition TROMs or TRDs for $3600 - $3900. Do not buy new for $7k and take that resale hit. Let someone else do that.
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Old 03-01-2021, 09:27 PM
yoguitar yoguitar is offline
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Default Thank you guys

Thank you for very thoughtful replies guys, I really appreciate it!

Base on your comments, I think I should not just jump right in and maybe 'purposely' go to vacation somewhere near shops that have Goodall guitars to try them out. I am thinking Nashville for my next vacation (lol). Never been to that place so it will be good for me!

Once again, I truly appreciate every single one of you!

I may practice some spider walks on guitars to may get into fingerstyles as well lol. Somehow y'all kinda encouraging me to do so!
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Old 03-01-2021, 10:09 PM
Goodallboy Goodallboy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Haasome View Post
My 2 cents — I’ve owned and sold a TROM. I didn’t appreciate it as much as my GC or TR000. I play 50/50 fingers/flat pick, but I almost never strum heavily. Reading the OP, I think you might consider a Goodall CJ. It strums really well imo, yet maintains the ability to respond to a very soft touch. There are quite a few CJs out there being sold for fair prices. There are plenty of sound clips out there too. I don’t know enough about Taylor necks to offer any useful insights, but I find the Goodall necks to be far from chunky. They are comfortable to me, but I am not overly sensitive to neck profiles.
To second his point, when I auditioned the TROM and a Goodall GC, the GC came home with me and through a lot of other mail order Goodall brides, it stayed until a McCollum unseated it as “the one”.

I came to believe the GC was the ultimate guitar shape for performance and comfort.
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Old 03-02-2021, 08:08 PM
Graylocks Graylocks is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Haasome View Post
My 2 cents — I’ve owned and sold a TROM. I didn’t appreciate it as much as my GC or TR000. I play 50/50 fingers/flat pick, but I almost never strum heavily. Reading the OP, I think you might consider a Goodall CJ. It strums really well imo, yet maintains the ability to respond to a very soft touch. There are quite a few CJs out there being sold for fair prices. There are plenty of sound clips out there too. I don’t know enough about Taylor necks to offer any useful insights, but I find the Goodall necks to be far from chunky. They are comfortable to me, but I am not overly sensitive to neck profiles.
I suggest considering a Concert Jumbo also. It's been a good fit for this 5'6" female. I had a Goodall Jumbo for a year or two and absolutely adored the sound but eventually I realized I felt like a kid with an oversized bike.
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Old 03-02-2021, 08:30 PM
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I had the opportunity to play a handful of Goodalls but none of them followed me home due to being bright and too harmonically rich for my ears. Visit some shops when you can and play a lot of guitars. Even then, most of us have gone through a dozen guitars before finding one we can't live without.
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Old 03-06-2021, 04:41 AM
yoguitar yoguitar is offline
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Thank you all of yall inputs. I can see that I was way to scoped to OM rather than seeing other options from goodall. Well, aesthetically, I like TROM (of course, the sound is superb). I like how they designed with minimal inlays on fretboard and not having inlays on rosette. But who knows, in the journey of finding a guitar, what i want may change and how yall broardened choices of goodall guitars was exactly what I needed it and thank you so much!

I guess Nashville is the place I need to go to have a great vacation and finding guitars.
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