I thought Lutz wasn't supposed to be that good for fingerstyle?

[TBman]

I played a 714ce lutz over rosewood last week and now my brain has a short in it.

Why? Because I really don't know my guitar tops. I have an all hog Guild, and a spruce top, hog back and sides Martin, Gibson and Larrivee as daily players.

I want a finger style guitar with a responsive, yet mellow top with decent bass and trebles that ring out. The 714 with lutz did all that, with the not so minor point that the bass is not what I expect from an almost $3,000 guitar. Could I live with that? Not sure.

But, that isn't from the top is it, that diminished bass? That is the build of the guitar and the bracings, etc. I've played cedar topped Taylors and they sound like, well, every other Taylor, lol.

So know I'll probably end up driving to Buffalo, and Pittsburgh (ugh) just to get my fat fingers on a cedar topped Furch to test drive. Hopefully the places I go to will have a new 714 to compare it to.

Then again, I'm told Englemann is something to consider as well.....

There's like a gazillion guitar stores in the area where I live and everything is spruce with the exceptions of the cedar topped Seagulls.... Which I already have.

[Brucebubs]

I wonder if that timber combination might work even better in the slightly bigger Grand Symphony body?
Just a thought.
I bet it would be great in the Grand Orchestra too.

[ii Cybershot ii]

Originally Posted by TBman

I want a finger style guitar with a responsive, yet mellow top with decent bass and trebles that ring out. The 714 with lutz did all that, with the not so minor point that the bass is not what I expect from an almost $3,000 guitar. Could I live with that? Not sure.

This describes my 714ce perfectly. However I find the guitar to have tremendous bass response for it's size. It's almost equivalent to my DN3.

[frankhond]

If you are posting from a Taylor owner perspective, i.e. you are comparing identical factory designs where the top wood is different, it's possible that such and such spruce variety will deliver different sound and response.

Otherwise, the idea that Lutz is not good for fingerstyle is practically meaningless, since the tone is so much a factor of the design, bracing etc.

As an example, my OM21 with Sitka top sounds completely different from a Collings OM with Sitka top.

But that's not what you were asking, was it. So my experience has been that the best overall wood for fingerstyle, the way I play fingerstyle anyway, is Sitka. European varieties (Lutz, Moon, Swiss, Emmenthaler etc) all have some strange midrange resonance that I don't like.

This goes for American style guitars. In a Lowden, which has become my go to guitar for fingerstyle, my favourite wood is cedar, because George somehow gets rid of all the boring aspects of cedar while keeping the goodness.

[gitarro]

I had a bown om with a lutz top that was excellebt for fingerstyle or anything else.

[geoawelch]

IMHO, people get too hung up on this or that type of wood instead of doing what you did and just playing a guitar and seeing for yourself. Sure, the individual species all have a perceived quality, but there are so many variables that go into the final sound we hear.

[lowrider]

Steve Denvir is making me this lutz/rosewood 000;



He suggested it. Said it would be a great combination for a versatile guitar.

[der Geist]

If I could give you my $00.02.....I tried a couple of 714 ce’s before I ended up with mine. I found that they varied widely from store to store. I have listened to many of your clips and I think that if you find the right one I think you would be very happy with it. I play mostly fingerstyle and the 714ce is my favorite.

[musicman1951]

Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to be that easy. I agree with everyone who already said that there are many factors that go into the sound of a guitar. Play a bunch until you fall in love.

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

I wonder if that timber combination might work even better in the slightly bigger Grand Symphony body?
Just a thought.
I bet it would be great in the Grand Orchestra too.

Don't know about Lutz, but I can relate to Sitka and Grand Orchestra models.

I only play fingerstyle (actually 'fingernail' style). My Taylor 818e Grand Orchestra is Sitka Spruce over Indian Rosewood. It is capable of excellent response from the lightest touch on any string, and is also capable of as much bass response as even the most jaded player could wish for. Overall I favor the Sitka / Rosewood combination as best for me. Half of my guitars are that wood combination, including a smaller bodied Grand Concert which gets a lot of playing time.

Don

[Misifus]

So far as this guitar lacking depth in bass, if this is a new instrument, the bass response may improve as it plays in. This has been my experience with other woods.

[Transylvania]

My understanding is that Lutz is fairly stiff, but a good "all around" tone wood. I had a McIlroy for years that I loved, but always desired a little more base. Easy fix: I used Medium/light strings. Top three are mediums and bottom three are lights. Lots of manufacturers offer this combo including Elixir, Curt Mangum, etc.

[zombywoof]

Seem to be a lot of "rules" floating around out there and seemingly just as many exceptions to them.

[Rosewood99]

Where did you hear that? I've never heard it was bad; just that there are other tonewoods that may be better in certain ways. One thing being better doesn't make the other bad.

[justonwo]

If you gave me two guitars - one with a cedar top and one with a spruce top - I could probably tell you which one was which. If you gave me two guitars - one with Lutz spruce and another with any other spruce - I probably couldn't tell you which one was which.