Art & Lutherie Legacy (and a bunch of other questions)

[personatech]

Thanks all, but my original post is now over 2 years old. My search ended with a Seagull S6 and I've since added an Eastman E1OM. Both are fine guitars!

[Wellington]

Originally Posted by personatech

Thanks all, but my original post is now over 2 years old. My search ended with a Seagull S6 and I've since added an Eastman E1OM. Both are fine guitars!

Oh wow I didn't even look at the date, haha. Love the S6, had one and miss it.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by personatech

Thanks all, but my original post is now over 2 years old. My search ended with a Seagull S6 and I've since added an Eastman E1OM. Both are fine guitars!

Glad to hear you stuck with the Godin family.

[Peter Leyenaar]

recently bought one of these, ordered from a store in Calgary,
when it arrived I was dissapointed, sounding dull and tinny, action was way to high on the nut, strings cheap light ones, one hour after I unpacked it ,I took it to Jamie Wiens , a very well known luthier here in Cranbrook, builder of high quality guitars and mandolins (very expensive)
Jamie worked on the guitar for over an hour, reworked the nut and bridge and did a bunch of other things, oiled the fretboard , cleaned the guitar , put on a nice set of Martin medium strings and voila : a new guitar , very nice sounding nice lows, sparkling mids and highs , a pleasure to play and listen too, even Jamie was impressed.


It is beyond comprehension that a guitar store thinks they can sell guitars
in this mediocre condition or a guitar building company (Godin) will let a guitar go to a retailer in such poor condition, had I demod the Guitar in the store, I would have never bought it , I don't think anyone else would.
So the guitar ended up costing me $80 more than the original price,
All in all a really poor reflection on the builder Godin and the store, Guitar Works.

[Rmccamey]

+1
And don't let one guitar sour you. Try the higher end Godin and Simon & Patrick. They make some incredible solid wood guitars at bargain prices.

Originally Posted by Wellington

My 2 cents, you love the way it looks, but if you want decent bass you'll hate it, small thin guitar does not have the bigger sound you want. The seagull is probably more up your alley. Someone commented on the small fret wire, that's not a bad thing, in fact it's one of the main reasons why I love godin brands, the smaller fret wire, i much prefer playing on guitars like that, which is why I own a couple and have owned a couple more and am buying another (S&P Woodland Cedar), it's just so much more comfy and easy to play.

[Quebec Picker]

Originally Posted by Peter Leyenaar

recently bought one of these, ordered from a store in Calgary,
when it arrived I was dissapointed, sounding dull and tinny, action was way to high on the nut, strings cheap light ones, one hour after I unpacked it ,I took it to Jamie Wiens , a very well known luthier here in Cranbrook, builder of high quality guitars and mandolins (very expensive)
Jamie worked on the guitar for over an hour, reworked the nut and bridge and did a bunch of other things, oiled the fretboard , cleaned the guitar , put on a nice set of Martin medium strings and voila : a new guitar , very nice sounding nice lows, sparkling mids and highs , a pleasure to play and listen too, even Jamie was impressed.


It is beyond comprehension that a guitar store thinks they can sell guitars
in this mediocre condition or a guitar building company (Godin) will let a guitar go to a retailer in such poor condition, had I demod the Guitar in the store, I would have never bought it , I don't think anyone else would.
So the guitar ended up costing me $80 more than the original price,
All in all a really poor reflection on the builder Godin and the store, Guitar Works.

To be fair, if it’s a pleasure to play and listen to, then that’s a reflection of Godin’s quality as well.

Pretty much any new guitar needs a setup. Pretty standard. And, certainly a string change. Godin uses their own brand of strings, probably to offset the cost of selling excellent guitars at great prices.

[JERZEY]

Originally Posted by countryblues75

Godin makes fine guitars for sure (I have a Seagull S6 Coastline cedar gt and i love it!).
On the other hand, I have to admit that when i tried the Art & Lutherie new parlor model, i was a bit disappointed: it sounded dull and thin and not as lively and punchy as the AMIs i had the chance to play before.
Anyway, may be it was just a dud.

My experience with those parlors as well. Not a fan..

[HFox]

[QUOTE=Steadfastly;5720544]If you want a good sounding acoustic, avoid a thin body style.


You obviously have not played a SCGC FTC Model

[Robin, Wales]

I've had an A&L Legacy for about 6 weeks and really like it. It is 000 size both in width and depth - and it sounds just like a..... 000 size guitar! I bought it to sing with mainly using a Carter style flat picking accompaniment. And, once we can gig again, I have plans to use it for the solo slots we have during our local MVC concerts. I'm sure it will carry just fine purely acoustically in the 50-80 person venues the choir regularly sings at.

It really is an honest little work horse guitar. The geometry is perfect; it set up easily; and it has quite a character to it's voicing. I've attached a sound clip of the guitar I recorded a month ago.

[Peter Leyenaar]

Really nice playing, Robin, any chance of getting the tab for the slower tunes? (some arthritis in my fingers, can't play that fast).

Some further comments on the Art & Lutherie roadhouse Q ;

It is actually a very nice instrument , the tone is good and pleasant even
in the base notes, the guitar is built well, the finish is very good, the guitar
is easy to handle, my Martin Dreadnaught always made me put it down after some 10 minutes of playing because of its size , I am an average sizeperson, 5'8.

With the smaller A&L I can sit on the couch and pick away (I know, bad form).
So I am pleased with my purchase and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg.

[TiffanyGuitar]

It is true that any new guitar need a setup and a string change. The manufacturers can't setup a guitar to everyone's liking. I disliked my Martin 000-28 out of the box. But, once I set it up and changed strings it was a different instrument.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by Peter Leyenaar

Really nice playing, Robin, any chance of getting the tab for the slower tunes? (some arthritis in my fingers, can't play that fast).

Thanks Peter.

I'm sorry but I have no idea how to read or write guitar tab? Those intros and breaks are from songs I'm learning at the moment. In order, they were: Little Annie, White Freightliner Blues, East Virginia Blues, Midnight on the Stormy Deep, Song of the South, and finally Annabelle.

I tend to learn tunes by ear off records or by watching videos of players in concert. My versions often end up being a mash up of different versions of a tune that I have heard or seen, that I then simplify down to fit my playing ability and style and in a key to suit my voice.

[CASD57]

Originally Posted by personatech

Soooooo... I'm still shopping for my first acoustic and had pretty much narrowed down my list to a Seagull Entourage Dread CW QIT, Alvarez AG70CEAR (love the bevelled arm rest!), or Tak GD20CE. These are all guitars that are available at area dealers since I'd prefer to deal with someone who's not just moving boxes, but the closest dealers are probably an hour's drive away.

Then I happen to stumble across this online:



It's an Art and Lutherie Legacy with a new (for Godin) pickup system - note the top-mounted controls! I'd been leaning towards larger guitars, dreads and grand auditoriums for the most part, but if a concert hall/folk model can give me good bass response then I could go that route. I do like that the Seagull I'm most interested in has the QIT preamp - sounds good, has a tuner, doesn't take up too much real estate on the bout - but that Legacy is calling to me. Hopefully, I'll come across one locally but, in the meantime, if there's anyone who's tried one of these out, I'd like to hear your impressions!

I've been through a lot of guitars looking for the "One" I finally found it in a backordered Seagull that showed up one day. You can't go wrong with a Seagull CH momentum best $499 I've ever spent....