Adventures in guitar shopping -- seeking ideas

[nightchef]

I'm a semi-pro player looking for a new 6-string acoustic/electric. This will be my primary gigging guitar in both solo/duo and full-band contexts. I'm primarily a strummer, but I work some basic fingerpicking and occasional single-note playing into the mix.

My priorities are

(1) great sound both plugged and un-. By "great" I mean balanced: full, warm but not overly boomy bass, rich but clear midrange, sparkly but not ice-picky top.

(2) playability. I have small hands and struggle with thick blocky necks.

My budget: absolutely under $2K; strong preference for under $1.5K; "wouldn't it be nice" under $1K.

My first shopping foray over the weekend has left me a little surprised at what I did and didn't like. I looked at:

• Simon & Patrick Showcase Mahogany. Gorgeous used guitar in mint condition, lovely complex harmonics, but the bass was just not quite there. It was like a Hammond organ with the 16' drawbar at 3, where I wanted it at 6.
• Martin DCGRST (I think those are the correct letters). Road Series cutaway dread. This was pretty good. Sound was warm but with just enough shimmer on top, played nicely, just a little....ordinary. I could work with it, though.
• Martin GPC Special Ovangkol. The most expensive guitar I tried, and sure enough, the only one I really loved. Fabulously playable, and the sound was big and rich. My only problem with the instrument besides the price tag is that I hate the look.
• Gibson J45 Studio. I was really surprised by this one, and not in a good way. Playability was just meh, and the sound was the polar opposite of everything I tend to associate with Gibsons. Aggressive, clangy highs, no warmth underneath.
• Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500MCE. This was hard to evaluate because the strings were in dire need of changing. Playability was OK; neck maybe a tad chunkier than I like, especially for the relatively narrow nut width. Sound seemed like it might be promising if you restrung it. Definitely some depth there.
• Yamaha AC1R. Tried on a whim to see if I could go cheap and love it. Nope.

Based on all the above, I'd be very curious to hear anyone's thoughts on guitars I should be looking it in the $500-$1500 range. (The Yamaha LL16 ARE and Breedlove Stage CE Exotic Cocobolo are on my list so far.)

Apologies for the long post. I will greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks!

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by nightchef

....I'd be very curious to hear anyone's thoughts on guitars I should be looking it in the $500-$1500 range.

You might want to look at used USA-made Guilds in mint-excellent condition. Sound/tone is generally great. Many say even the MIC Guilds are outstanding....

[cmd612]

Originally Posted by nightchef

[*]Martin GPC Special Ovangkol. The most expensive guitar I tried, and sure enough, the only one I really loved. Fabulously playable, and the sound was big and rich. My only problem with the instrument besides the price tag is that I hate the look.

The price tag problem could be ameliorated by buying used. What do you hate about the look? The body, the finish, the bridge shape. . . .?

[Nyghthawk]

Blueridge BR-160 if you want a dread and BR-163 if you want an OM size. Both of these are rosewood back and sides.

Blueridge BR-140 if you want a dread or BR-143 if you want an OM size. These two are mahogany back and sides.

The Blueridge guitars would require the addition of a pickup so add $150-200 to the cost. Would still be under your budget and you'd get to pick it out.

Yamaha LL-16.

The DR-500MCE that I had sounded best (IMHO) with Elixer Polyweb 12-52's. Nice warm sound. Good dual pickup electronics.

[guitar george]

Yamaha AC3R

"Designed to be the ideal performance acoustic guitar, the Yamaha A-Series is crafted from the ground up to be perfectly suited to life on the road. With natural, dynamic plugged-in tone and stage-ready simplicity from the new SRT2 pickup system; played-in comfort out of the box thanks to hand-rolled fingerboard edges on a straight taper neck; a custom designed scalloped bracing pattern for an all-new powerful, expressive acoustic tone and Yamaha's legendary road-ready construction to make sure it's ready when you are, night after night, the A-Series is the perfect guitar to take your playing to the next level.

The AC3R features all-solid Rosewood back and sides with hand-selected premium Sitka Spruce top. Yamaha's original concert-size body style is matched to the flagship System 63 SRT pickup and preamp combination for the most natural, responsive amplified tone available."

[nightchef]

Originally Posted by cmd612

The price tag problem could be ameliorated by buying used. What do you hate about the look? The body, the finish, the bridge shape. . . .?

The finish. I'm not a fan of that kind of brown-black burst; for me, a sunburst needs to have some red in it to look pretty.

OTOH, I'm not buying it to look at it. And I'm sure I'd learn to love it given some time.

[cmd612]

Originally Posted by nightchef

The finish. I'm not a fan of that kind of brown-black burst; for me, a sunburst needs to have some red in it to look pretty.

OTOH, I'm not buying it to look at it. And I'm sure I'd learn to love it given some time.

Makes sense. Since you loved the Martin GPC, what about a Martin GPCPA4 Rosewood? (There's a thread here today by someone whose wife bought a used one for well under $1K.)

[Godfather]

Have you looked at Taylor? You could easily get into a 2XX DLX and have spare change for a lot of strings.

The 3XX series, used, are easily available in that price range too. The 2XX are made in Mexico and have a 1-11/16 nut, the 3XX are made in USA and have 1-3/4 nut. Both have the great Taylor playability.

[rstaight]

Check Takamine they play well above their price.

[nightchef]

Originally Posted by Godfather

Have you looked at Taylor? You could easily get into a 2XX DLX and have spare change for a lot of strings.

The 3XX series, used, are easily available in that price range too. The 2XX are made in Mexico and have a 1-11/16 nut, the 3XX are made in USA and have 1-3/4 nut. Both have the great Taylor playability.

Thanks!

My impression of lower-end Taylors in general is that their tone is more top-heavy than I like. This may be skewed a little by the one Taylor I've owned, a 114CE that I didn't like at all and was glad to find a buyer for. It had kind of a hard, scooped tone: boomy bottom, aggressive top, not much in between. It also had a serious fit/finish issue in the form of a top string that was way too easy to pull off the fret, and an action more sensitive to temperature/humidity changes than any guitar I've played (I live in New England, so this is a real issue).

That experience kind of soured me on their less expensive guitars. I know the higher-end ones, 400s and up, can sound gorgeous, but that's out of my league. The one Taylor I'm somewhat intrigued by is the new 317 Grand Pacific, which seems like it might be voiced more to my tastes than most of their sub-$2K guitars. A little more than I wanted to spend, but not out of the question.

[Bunny64]

Originally Posted by DCCougar

You might want to look at used USA-made Guilds in mint-excellent condition. Sound/tone is generally great. Many say even the MIC Guilds are outstanding....

I just recently bought a Guild D50 Bluegrass 2006 Tacoma. Would tick all your boxes.

[BT55]

Originally Posted by cmd612

Makes sense. Since you loved the Martin GPC, what about a Martin GPCPA4 Rosewood? (There's a thread here today by someone whose wife bought a used one for well under $1K.)

I second buying a GPCPA4. They’re really great budget conscious guitars. Good sound, not as much bass as a D18 but a really nice USA built guitar. Excellent electronics. I recently sold a mint one for $1k and there’s another one available on CL in NY for the same price.

[619TF]

Originally Posted by nightchef

That experience kind of soured me on their less expensive guitars. I know the higher-end ones, 400s and up, can sound gorgeous, but that's out of my league. The one Taylor I'm somewhat intrigued by is the new 317 Grand Pacific, which seems like it might be voiced more to my tastes than most of their sub-$2K guitars. A little more than I wanted to spend, but not out of the question.

I just jumped onto Reverb and I see 2 entire result pages of 414 Taylors under $2k. I didn't even search for other 400 series models or go to upper level Taylors. As a point of reference I just bought a used 2018(!) V-class Taylor 614ce for only a tiny fraction more that what your budget is. A TINY fraction.

Good luck and my best advice is, of course, keep trying out guitars until you find the one YOU like best (admittedly impossible via Reverb). Even within a brand's model line there's going to be variations. Hold out until you find "it".

[nightchef]

Originally Posted by rstaight

Check Takamine they play well above their price.

Thanks! Any particular Takamine models I should be looking at?

[Oldguy64]

I’m currently working out an arrangement with a lovely Takamine P3DC.
It’s still rather tight for a a Cedar topped guitar.
But it’s warming/opening up well.
The P1 is Spruce topped. And they tend to run around $11-1200 new.
Great electronics.
I think it may supplant my Alvarez Masterworks. Equal quality, but the electronics are a bit better in the Tak.