In 20 years of owning/buying/selling/trying good guitars this is what I've learned

[handers]

Thanks for your conclusions. In many respects I agree.

I do not agree that brazilian makes the best guitars. It is a very fine wood when the example in question happens to be high quality. I have played a best quality guitar in excellent quality mahogany (Circa, Sexauer). So yes, love brazilian but also so many other great woods. Micheal lewis has interesting things to say about this in the most current Fretboard Magazine (50th anniversary edition).

Thanks for your personal summation of years of experience.

hans

[Glennwillow]

Hi Adamski,

I'm glad you are feeling good about your guitar collection and what you have learned over 20 or so years.

I have been a pretty serious guitar player for 58 years, but I have only been paying attention to really expensive guitars since I came onto the AGF in 2008.

I do think there are a lot of good sounding guitars out there and I have been lucky to own a few.

Cheers,
Glenn

[Adamski]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi Adamski,

I'm glad you are feeling good about your guitar collection and what you have learned over 20 or so years.

I have been a pretty serious guitar player for 58 years, but I have only been paying attention to really expensive guitars since I came onto the AGF in 2008.

I do think there are a lot of good sounding guitars out there and I have been lucky to own a few.

Cheers,
Glenn

Thanks Glenn, I'm very lucky...but to get there I've played hundreds and owned dozens...

Still more to come in time though no doubt.

[Adamski]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi Adamski,

I'm glad you are feeling good about your guitar collection and what you have learned over 20 or so years.

I have been a pretty serious guitar player for 58 years, but I have only been paying attention to really expensive guitars since I came onto the AGF in 2008.

I do think there are a lot of good sounding guitars out there and I have been lucky to own a few.

Cheers,
Glenn

I just watched your videos...absolutely outstanding. Beautiful playing, lovely singing, great recording...I love to hear (relatively) simple songs played with such precision and delicacy. Clearly a lot of time has been spent in rehearsing and capturing these, thank you.

[PJ Rich]

I have enjoyed reading this discussion on this topic. I also agree with much of the Original Post comments. Thank you for creating the dialogue.

While I do not agree with the Brazilian Rosewood as the best tonewood comments as a blanket statement, I would offer a friendly amendment that getting the best tonewood possible leads to better instruments. I have a Taylor 814CE Deluxe V-brace EIR and a Yairi Dreadnought with the 50 year old Honduran Mahogany and they both are fantastic sounding instruments. I also enjoy the difference in sounds of those two guitars as they pair with my singing voice.

I would also add to the topic on great instruments and better sounding guitars is to not neglect great plectrums and finding the strings that pair with the player. Working through different manufacturers on picks and strings to find the best match can really enhance the sound, playability and overall experience.

[usb_chord]

You know, I’ve done something similar over the years. I’ve got a long list of personal guitar-related epiphanies I’ve collected for myself . The one thing I'll say is this - you've got A LOT more mahogany guitars to play!

[Robin, Wales]

The best (sounding) wood to make a guitar with is Brazilian rosewood.

I can't think of anyone who makes a guitar completely out of Brazilian rosewood. And, if they did, well, it would probably sound crap.

I quite like my cheap plywood back and sides with a spruce top myself. I'd take that over one with the top, back and sides made from Brazilian rosewood any day!

[Br1ck]

Some things I've learned:

If someone said, you are going to have to live with one guitar for the rest of your life, there would be maybe a hundred thousand guitars I could live with.

Once in every decade or so, you play something special. Usually it's a lot of money. You should try to buy it. Guitars I didn't buy: a 39 Gibson J35, the best guitar I've ever played. Also the most busted up and patched guitar I've ever seen. It was double my budget, and I picked it up thinking is was a 50 or so J 45. Another was another lived a hard life guitar, a 34 Martin 00. Another was a 22 0 18, Finally I was smitten by my 65 Epiphone Texan that came home with me.

If I had to choose between a new $6000 guitar and an old $6000 guitar. Old will win. Rationality has nothing to do with it.

Brazilian rosewood does not insure a guitar you will like. Brazilian rosewood can insure a guitar you will like.

To me, a $6000 new guitar, so far, will not get me to spend three grand more than I can get a $3,000 guitar for buying used.

No guitar is better than being able to play really well.

[rokdog49]

I picked two points by the OP to post about.
One of which I agree, the other I don’t.
First, there is no doubt I have played guitars that sound better than mine.
On that we agree.
Second, while Brazilian Rosewood makes a beautiful noise, I’m not a rosewood fan. I prefer dryer sounding guitars and they ain’t made out of rosewood.
Anyway, interesting read.

[tsmith28]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

No guitar is better than being able to play really well.

Yeah, but it's a hell of a lot easier to buy a new guitar than it is to improve your playing!

[Glennwillow]

Thanks for watching and for your kind response above, Adam! Much appreciated!

I also enjoyed watching and listening to some of your videos! Well done!

- Glenn

[Rick Jones]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

You're the perfect fit for a satin finish carbon fiber guitar!

I've been eyeing Emerald 12 strings, as it happens!

[Bob Womack]

After a few small years of playing guitar I came across this quote:

"If I had to make a living selling guitars to working musicians, I'd be sleeping under a bridge." - Boutique guitar maker Bill Collings

It made me laugh. I heard Paul Reed Smith quote that comment as well.

And a quote from me:

"Play what you like and like what you play."

It works for me.

Bob

[Russ C]

Originally Posted by lar

What I've learned: if you have a guitar that sounds great with dead, corroded strings, then you don't have to change strings as often.

Also off topic, and regardless of how seriously you meant it this comment there is wisdom to it that I hadn’t noticed until I had one D45 replace another for a warranty issue.
One that wasn’t as zingy and immediately impressive to me still sounded good when the strings weren’t new but the “better” sounding with new strings was more dependent on them - it lost more and was the lesser guitar imo.

I’m open to that not being a rule.

[iim7V7IM7]

1) In general, your concept rings true other than in my experience better quality factory guitars have an extremely wide range of results for a given model from “absolute dud” to “sublime”. The “sublime” being every bit as good as the very best luthier made guitars. On average, the luthier made guitars will be better and the distribution of results narrower.

2) Yes, each maker has their own timbre once they have enough mileage to establish consistency and mastery of how to manipulate elements in their system. This will be consistent across models and tonewoods.

3) I do not agree with you here. I have come to believe the difference between a good guitar and a great guitar from a builder has to do with the top. A luthier friend of mine told me “the tone is in the top”. I also believe is old wood. Brazilian Rosewood is a magnificent tonewood when used properly, but it really depends what a player is looking for. There are MANY great back and side woods depending on what you are looking for.

4) On average yes, but as I said in my first response there are some exceptionally great factory guitars but they are at the tail end of the distribution.

5) There are a wide variety of playing styles and tonal preferences. We all like our own instruments for obvious reasons. That said, I have played many stellar instruments that were not mine.

6) Yes, it does become a burden to change strings and individual instrument time does get diluted. Whether you like multiple guitars with a similar sound or a variety of tones is a personal choice. I own more guitars than I practically need and some day I suspect that I will go shopping within my own collection and pick out my favorites (this changes all the time) and down size. Picking among guitars after years of play will result in more informed decisions than buying and flipping.

Originally Posted by Adamski

I have owned 3 guitars made by Tom Sands, 3 guitars made by Stefan Sobell, 3 Avalon Guitars, 5 Martin guitars and have played multiple guitars each by Jason Kostal, Kevin Ryan, Taran Guitars, Ralph Bown, Nigel Forster, Yamaha, Nick Benjamin, Ted Astrand, Froggy Bottom, Dana Bourgeois, Michael Greenfield, Taylor…and many more.

What I have concluded from my travels is this:

1. There are good/average/poor guitars from every builder/company and what you are buying with a higher price/quality builder is that the “average” of their performance is better than the average from a lower skilled builder. This doesn’t mean that every Ryan guitar is better than every Martin guitar but what it does mean is that the “average” Ryan will be better than the “average” Martin. The best Ryan will be better than the best Martin and the worst Ryan will be better than the worst Martin.
   
2. Guitars from the same builder tend to sound similar. I owned a Tom Sands OMc in wenge, an MMD in quilted sapele, and a 00 in Koa. All amazing instruments. I had my favourite and least favourite but they were (not surprisingly) very similar in sound, personality and feel. The same with the Martins, the Avalons, the Sobells… of course there are differences between models/woods and even between identical instruments…but generally they are similar. There is a “Sobell sound,” a “Taylor sound,” a “Somogyi sound,” etc… You may own two very different sounding guitars from the same maker but they will not be as different as guitars from totally different makers.
   
3. The best (sounding) wood to make a guitar with is Brazilian rosewood. If it wasn’t for Cites, every top flight guitar would be made with this wood. The best guitar in the world (whether you deem that to be a Somogyi, a Traugott, a vintage Martin or a Hauser) is made with Brazilian rosewood…and the worst guitar isn’t.
   
4. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. The reason a guitar is more expensive is because it can command a higher price. If it wasn’t better it simply wouldn’t sell. I know that you love your 1973 Martin 000-15 but it isn’t as good as a Circa OM, no matter how much you try to convince yourself that it’s the exception to this law...it isn't!
   
5. The best guitar I have ever played is…my guitar. That’s what everyone seems to say. We all need to keep an open mind. You might love your guitar, you might “prefer” your guitar to more expensive instruments (which is fine because, as Jules from Pulp Fiction said “personality counts for a lot”) but it doesn’t make the instrument better. I have owned some instruments with fundamental floors...but have loved them nonetheless because they did some special things too.
   
6. Having too much duplication means that I personally swap instruments for the sake of swapping or always pick-up the same one. "Too many" guitars also means that the time overhead of changing strings means there's not enough opportunity to actually "play" as I change strings every 2-3 weeks (possibly more in the hot weather). So managing the number of instruments I have is important.

I haven’t played instruments from every top flight guitar builder but I have played many and I have been constantly searching for not only great instruments but a great mix of instruments which has led me to where I am.

I have a great pallette of sounds and feels hanging on the wall. Of course I still “need” a decent 12 string (probably a Martin D12-20) and I still need a parlour/small instrument, I still need a carbon fibre guitar and I still need a really top-flight luthier-made traditional Martin style OM/000 style instrument (perhaps a Circa, a PreWar, a Bagnasco & Casati or similar - which will probably replace my Martin OM28 Authentic), a harp guitar and I still need to explore some more electrics (principally a good Les Paul and a Strat).

Other than that…I’m sorted!

So what have you learned on your travels?