Acoustic Help

C

CryogeniX

New member
I've been doing some more research in my long trip of looking for a good acoustic in the 600ish dollar range, preferable lower but I'm willing to push a little depending on the deal. I tried a lot at my GC and was blown away by the Breedlove AD25 SM. Out of any guitar i picked up that wasn't over 1000, this guitar blew everything away. Instantly fell in love but unfortunately didn't have the cash to spend at the time

My most recent trip to GC (yesterday) i found the same guitar and played it again, still in love. I also tried out a seagull coastline S6, and i actually really liked the sound and feel of this one too. I really liked having a bit more in the highs and note clarity with the seagull.

So now I am torn, as the breedlove is about 100 more (600 at GC since that whole series was redone and pricedropped). The Seagull I can probly get for around 500, but it has a laminate back and sides, where as the breedlove has a solid mahogany back to go along with the solid spruce top, just laminate sides. I like the solid back, and i love the different sounds that each guitar gives, so im torn in between the two. Does anyone have experince with either of these guitars that would be helpful?? My decision is probly going to come from one of these two guitars, any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Re: Acoustic Help

Both guitars are in the same store?

Go there, or call ahead of time and ask the salesweasel to restring both guitars with the same set & same brand of strings.

I've been led down some bad paths before with acoustics, with impressions based on whatever strings are on there. They're a HUGE factor in the tone of an acoustic. Phosphor bronze vs. 80/20 makes a large difference... as does brand & age.

Spend some ample time playing both & have someone else play the guitars while you listen...

Walk out with whichever one really speaks to you.
 
Re: Acoustic Help

J Moose is on target. ask them to restring both guitars with a string you generally like... (I'd suggest something like a 12 phosphor bronze, maybe in D'Addario as a neutral starting point) and buy the one that speaks to you. Both are reasonable guitars in that price range
 
Re: Acoustic Help

Don't be afraid to shop used. I receintly pickup up an Ovation 1778 Elite LX for $699. It needed a little set-up work because it had 10s on at the store and once I got it home I realized that someone had removed the saddle shims so that it would play like an electric.

After shimming the saddle, glueing down the nut and laying out the neck with a new set of 12s the guitar sounds, plays and looks like a brand new guitar.

With the ecomony the way it is you should be able to find a killer deal on a nice instrument for $600 cash.

Take the re-string advice.

Another suggestion is to have them crank the truss rod until the neck is flat. It's a good idea to check truss rods before you buy guitars and flattening out the neck will help you check for good fret work.
 
Re: Acoustic Help

Ideally, you put down a credit card as security and tell em' you will be returning one of them, take both home and play em' for a couple of days. You return the one that lost out.
If you don't by the Breedlove when you know it's the one with "the magic" then you'll always have "if only I'd forked out a bit extra for the Breedlove" syndrome.
An acoustic is a highly personal and critical purchase and a good one is for life.
+1 to buying used if you can play it first.
 
Re: Acoustic Help

Robert brings up a very good point. Used guitars offer a great value.

I recently played some of the Chinese made Guilds & I was very impressed. I think they run about 6 to $700. With a visit to the Luthier to have a few upgrades this can be a great guitar. What it will need is a bone nut & saddle. Once this is done it will compare to guitars that cost much more. Out of all the acoustics I have played in recent years these offer the best value IMHO. They play & sound really very good, and after the above mentioned upgrades I would compare them to a much more expensive guitar.

http://www.guildguitars.com/

I believe the guitars are called the GAD series. Very nice guitars.
 
Last edited:
Re: Acoustic Help

Id stick with the breedlove purely for the solid back and sides. Laminate is just an excuse to use crappy wood and then cover it up with something pretty IMO. Take the restringing advice and then unless the seagull blows the breedlove away...go with the breed. They have fantastic customer service too.
 
Re: Acoustic Help

I have a Seagull S6 with Cherry back and sides and a spruce top, and I really love it. It's got great lows and very articulate highs, kind of the best of both worlds tonally.

Acoustic guitars are very personal instruments, and it's important to find the right one if you're gonna have just one. Take your time, trust your ears and don't be afraid to shop used if you need to.
 
Re: Acoustic Help

Bludave said:
Robert brings up a very good point. Used guitars offer a great value.

I recently played some of the Chinese made Guilds & I was very impressed. I think they run about 6 to $700. With a visit to the Luthier to have a few upgrades this can be a great guitar. What it will need is a bone nut & saddle. Once this is done it will compare to guitars that cost much more. Out of all the acoustics I have played in recent years these offer the best value IMHO. They play & sound really very good, and after the above mentioned upgrades I would compare them to a much more expensive guitar.

http://www.guildguitars.com/

I believe the guitars are called the GAD series. Very nice guitars.
Click to expand...

x2, they walked all over the USA Taylors I was playing them against in my local store. Never expected that!
 
Re: Acoustic Help

I wish I had the option to play something that was a little less robust than Ovations (Taylors would be wonderful), but I don't. I'm a bit ham fisted when it comes to playing acoustics and Ovations are the only things I've found that I can beat to hell, but will still deliver. They're solid, even response instruments that you might want to consider.
 
Re: Acoustic Help

I am not particularily fond of Ovations but I do like them and my Elite really is an exceptional guitar. Before I owned the Elite I had a Takamine Supernatural, another Ovation before that and a Martin D-28 before that.

Anytime you find a like new Tak, Ovation, Martin, Taylor or simular guitar with some throat and a good neck with $1000 knocked off the tag, you buy it.

Thats the guitar you should be looking for. They are out there in numbers right now.

Werdz Bro!
 
Re: Acoustic Help

With only $100 between the two, I'm not sure price should become an issue.

Hopefully a slow economy will coax GC into swapping strings for you. They typically outright refuse to restring instruments. They even went so far as to tell a friend of mine that they would be willing to put new strings on a guitar if he paid for the strings. Yeah, so good luck with that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top