#16
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Make sure to play all the Gibson slopes, the J-15 in particular is way under budget and may appeal. A nice Koa Taylor is worth checking out also.
Anyway, welcome, have fun picking, and let us know what you decide (with pics of course).
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EMTSteve a couple guitars too many |
#17
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Everyone else's comments are spot on, but possibly also irrelevant.
Dollar value has little to do with perception some times, it's just what feels good to you. What one person thinks will be perfect for you will sound like rubbish to you. This is where playing everything you can will fill in the blanks for you. I spent a whole afternoon playing every guitar in a well stocked shop several years ago, and the best guitar in the shop was a $300 Tanglewood!! One thing about perceived sound for the player compared to what the audience hears, try playing in front of a reflective surface for the sound to bounce back you, or look for a model that has a sound port fitted.
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1995 Maton EM725C - Solid 'A' Spruce Top, QLD Walnut B&S, AP5 Pickup 2018 Custom Built OM - Silver Quandong Top, Aussie Blackwood B&S, Fishman Matrix Infinity Mic Blend Pickup 2021 Faith Neptune Baritone - Solid Englemann Spruce Top, Solid Indonesian Rosewood B&S, Fishman INK3 Pickup 2022 Yamaha SLG200S Silent Guitar |
#18
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well, i was going to recommend one of the new Martin 00-18's, an amazing instrument with a lux tone and wonderful bass, but good string balance overall, then i skimmed thru your post and saw you were no longer interested in a Martin.
read on, here and there, and what i would suggest is one of the Japan built Yamaha's. Something like the LS36 or LS56. it might take you some time to find one of these for sale, but they might work for you quite well. d |
#19
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Quote:
Also, don't forget the classifieds here - there are always some very nice guitars listed at reasonable prices.
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EMTSteve a couple guitars too many |
#20
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You already acknowledged that playing more guitars is the answer.
You already possess enough experience and knowledge about what you want to be able to make an intelligent choice. Be cautious about overthinking it. It’s one guitar, I’m satisfied with one guitar, and for me as a singer songwriter, it’s all I want, but others who need/want more have multiple acoustic guitars. You may be in that camp and no one guitar will check your many boxes. I applaud your grasp of what you are seeking, so now go out there and find YOUR guitar.
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McCollum Grand Auditorum Euro Spruce/Brazilian PRS Hollowbody Spruce PRS SC58 Giffin Vikta Gibson Custom Shop ES 335 '59 Historic RI ‘91 Les Paul Standard ‘52 AVRI Tele - Richie Baxt build Fender American Deluxe Tele Fender Fat Strat |
#21
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Hello and welcome to AGF! We apologize in advance for the beating your wallet/bank account is about to take!
You are me, about 8-9 years ago. If I look back far enough, I posted the same thing back then. Here's the deal: You're overthinking it when it comes to tone. You're also spending way too much time worrying about it. First of all, you're never going to find the perfect guitar from a tone aspect. Even if you do, you won't realize it until after you've sold it off to buy something else while chasing down the perfect tone machine. What I ended up doing is buying a couple acoustics - always used - and I kept rotating them out. One in, one out. I'd always have a 'keeper' and 'trader'. The one that I currently liked the most was the keeper and would stay while the other would be sold or traded here in the classifieds for something new. In 8 years I've bought/sold/traded nearly 40 guitars trying to find that perfect tone. I now know that it really doesn't exist but it was (and is) still fun going though the process and I've learned SO much about guitars and what I do like. I started on small body, sitka/EIR guitars and slowly got to bigger body guitars with sitka/mahogany and all mahogany with some exotic wood offerings in there as well. What I did discover in the process is that ultimately the tone, while important, is not the end-all, be-all. Sure, good tone is important but what's most important is that the guitar is comfortable to play and fits you ergonomically so you want to play it. I've also discovered that specific things aren't nearly as important to me as it used to be. I used to be very picky with things like neck shape, nut and string spacing and body size. Now I know that I can and will acclimate to almost anything. As for practicing/playing/learning and burning out, the best thing for me was to form a little band which in my case was forming an acoustic duo with my wife on vocals. This made learning new songs way more fun. We went from the living room to open mics to gigging in about 5 years and we're still going strong. My guitar collection continues to grow and change. I now have a three guitar stable as my default that consists of my high-end, stay-at-home tone monster guitar, my live amplified gigging guitar and my busking/travel/beater/backup/take anywhere guitar. It's less about the delicate nuances of tone than about which guitar can fill that role the best. For the live amplified gigging guitar it's a guitar with a multi-source onboard proprietary pickup system (like the Takamine you dismissed, but in my case Cole Clark). For the backup busking beater it's a Rainsong carbon fiber with an LR Baggs Element Stage Pro (also an onboard barn door system). Neither of these guitars will win a supreme tone contest but they both fill their roles perfectly like no other guitar can for me. Last is my high-end tone monster. This can be any maker and comes down to your budget. I've slowly climbed the ladder and just this past December found my Zen guitar in a Froggy Bottom H-12 Deluxe in spruce/EIR. Back to where I started. So relax, buckle up and enjoy the ride. Check out the classifieds here and on Reverb and grab the one that you think you'll like. Get it used and in good condition for a fair price and you'll be able to sell it down the road for something else that peaks your interest. Good luck and have fun. And most important, make sure you keep us posted on what you buy with detailed NGD posts with lots of great photos! |
#22
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See if you can get your hands on a Eastman, either the 400 series (I love my 422 non-cutaway) or the E series - E6/E8/E10/E20. You'll either like them or you won't ... I recently picked up the AC422 after not playing it for quite a while, it's really a fantastic instrument.
In the 2000 to 3000 dollar range, probably the nicest guitar I've played was a Huss and Dalton dreadnought (don't remember the model).
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Just Keep Moving -- 2023 Gibson J-45 50s Faded 2022 Taylor AD17e Blacktop 2016 Yamaha FG820 Autumn Burst 2015 Eastman E6D 2011 Eastman AC422 2008 Taylor Big Baby 1977 Alvarez 5059 -- no longer with us 2018 Taylor 324CE V 2013 Takamine P1NC 2010 Eastman AC420 |
#23
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OP: I suggest buying the guitar, not its price tag. And there seems to be a strong interest in electronics. Maybe upgrading an already-in-the-house guitar with no-cost-spared electronics would do the job. That and an expert's setup.
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#24
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Welcome to the AGF!
The advice you get here will be as diverse as the members themselves. Remember that someone else's opinion is as good as the paper it's not printed on ... Having said that, my advice is to keep playing but use your ears rather than the statistics of the guitar. Guitars are made to be played so play a bunch and pick the one that SOUNDS best to you. I have never understood people saying, "Buy XXX model of XXX brand. There are hundreds of used ones available" without any acknowledgement that this specific model simply may NOT be available in your area. There are few guarantees in life but along with death and taxes, I feel that you will end up buying and selling several different guitars as you search for the "ONE" Best regards and have fun in your search, PJ
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A Gibson A couple Martins |
#25
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Sounds like you should focus on these sizes: 000, OM, GA and L (Concerto also).
Rosewood B&S brings more bass to the game, but also tend to add a lot of overtones. I had a very nice OM w/RW but felt that Hog/hog and Spruce/Hog fit my ears and voice better. If you liked the 414 but the tone just wasn't quite there for you, you should give the 424 a try. Very full and warm without what I sometimes hear as brittleness in the Taylor line. Larrivee's can be difficult to find in the wild. They are well built and a great value. The tone is very even from string to string and you should test drive their OM's and L's if you get a chance.
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Roy Ibanez, Recording King, Gretsch, Martin G&L, Squier, Orange (x 2), Bugera, JBL, Soundcraft Our duo website - UPDATED 7/26/19 |
#26
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Cheap, all solid wood, very balanced and loud. If you want electronics as well, go for Yamaha A5/AC5 series. Increadible value for money. If you haven't tried a Yamaha yet, you are missing big time.
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Many acoustics and a cheap electric guitar |
#27
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I play a concert-size Breedlove and find it comfortable. Great playability, good acoustic balance.
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1 dreadnought, 1 auditorium, 1 concert, and 2 travel guitars. |
#28
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I've bought a couple dozen guitars over the last 10 years or so, and I played exactly one of them before buying it. They were all bought used online. I guess I've had good luck once I decided to sell some of my less expensive guitars to fund a higher-end guitar. Of course, I did my research and always asked the seller lots of questions, but by golly, higher-end guitars do usually sound better (but not always in direct proportion to their cost). I don't know, but I wouldn't get too caught up in the wood thing. It's hard to beat a good sitka top. Guild makes plenty of solid-back models, but they also put out these unique models that have a one-piece, arched, braceless fine laminate back, often in maple but also using mahogany and more rarely, rosewood. Yes, laminate. These kind of blow away the prejudice that all-solid guitars are always better. Guild's arch-back models are cannons! And they maintain that excellent balance between the strings. Problem is, you'll probably have a hard time finding a USA-made Guild to play in one of your local stores. You'd likely have to take a leap getting one used online. Fortunately, Guilds are very consistently good, so you just want to ask about the action and neck angle, etc. I really like the jumbos, and I think the sound produced is well worth getting used to the ergonomics. Alternatively, I second the suggestion to check out a Gibson J15.
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2018 Guild F-512 Sunburst -- 2007 Guild F412 Ice Tea burst 2002 Guild JF30-12 Whiskeyburst -- 2011 Guild F-50R Sunburst 2011 Guild GAD D125-12 NT -- 1972 Epiphone FT-160 12-string 2012 Epiphone Dot CH -- 2010 Epiphone Les Paul Standard trans amber 2013 Yamaha Motif XS7 Cougar's Soundcloud page |
#29
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One thing that just came to mind..
Taylor also has a 414RW (rosewood b&s) that might be worth seeking out.
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Martin D18 Gibson J45 Martin 00015sm Gibson J200 Furch MC Yellow Gc-CR SPA Guild G212 Eastman E2OM-CD |
#30
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Ears, hands, wallet. (And, given later posts, shoulders.)
That's pretty much it. Oh, and a recognition of the playing environment--a gigging guitar has its own subset of desiderata/practicalities. But that primal trio remains, and the ears/hands experience precedes the vocabulary that attempts to describe it. I feel strange writing that last bit--I've spent my entire adult life sharpening my descriptive skills (teaching and writing, including writing about guitars and guitar music). But when I'm evaluating an instrument, it's the unfiltered experience that matters, not whether I can put words to it. (Nevertheless, the writer side of me will eventually give in to the urge to turn the non-verbal into the verbal.) It's not unlike buying footwear--I can rough out what I'm looking for when I talk to the salesman in the store, but the final decision comes from the (literal) ground up when I walk around in the candidates. And like a footwear purchase, a guitar acquisition is highly personal, which means that outside advice tends to diminish in usefulness as it increases in specificity. And long-winded, quasi-philosophical essays are perhaps least useful of all. |