Yamaha L6 vs L16

[SecondCity]

I made the mistake of dropping by a guitar shop on Friday. They had a used LS6 sitting out. Never played on before. Man, it felt great. I know it’s laminate, but I think it was in the same tier as my all-solid Eastman. I may take my guitar back to A/B them. It also may have just been that the Yamaha neck felt “right” to me, while the Eastman doesn’t.

If the thing knocks my socks off, should I grab it, or look around for an LS16 and get all solid construction? I imagine some here have played both. I assume the LS16 will sound better (or at least different), but there’s something to be said for stability and durability too. I’ll admit, I’ve never taken any steps to humidify or otherwise look after my FS700s, and I rarely have to do much more than tweak the tuning. Don’t even adjust the truss rod during seasonal changes.

[martingitdave]

The solid wood Ls have more of a reverb shimmer that comes from the solid rosewood back and sides. I would argue that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If the guitar speaks to you and you can afford it, buy it. The durability aspect is interesting, especially if you intend to use it for travel and gigs.

[singlechange]

It sounds like you stumbled upon a very good sounding Yamaha L6 out of the factory batch of them.
Factory made guitars are limited compared to single luthier guitars. Your high end ones use the SAME process as the lower end ones, so on the L16 you are getting more expensive woods, tuners, and other parts. The trick to getting a very good sounding factory guitar is to play a lot from the same batch and choose the one with your best sounding tone.

[lowrider]

I've tried both and while the 16 sounds better, it's not ''night and day'' better. If the price is right, it should be fairly inexpensive, I say go get it!

[AndrewG]

I have owned a few L-series (the LL and LJ models), and at one time had both an LL6 and LL16. The 16 sounded marginally richer but in all honesty I'd have been happy with either, they sound so good. Whether the extra outlay for the 16 is worth it is entirely your decision. Either way these are lovely instruments and I chose an LS6 for a friend who wanted something smaller than a dread but with a big voice. He loves it.

[Dru Edwards]

Do any stores have the LS16 in stock? If not, then I would buy the LS6 now before you lose it. Sounds like you prefer it over your Eastman.