Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

[PFDarkside]

Hey guys, it's been a while!

I'm looking for a nice acoustic guitar. I've been borrowing my brother's Fender Acoustic for a few months and I'm playing it WAY more than my electrics since I've moved. I'd like to get a nice, all solid wood acoustic, one that is worthy of keeping forever and passing on to a child someday.

I've really been getting into acoustic fingerstyle blues a la Robert Johnson. That's in addition to my typical Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young and other classic rock plus a little county strumming. Basically a great all-around acoustic for strumming and fingerpicking. I've played a few guitars and I think I'm finding I'm drawn to the classic acoustic tones... Rosewood Martin Dreadnaughts, Mahogany Slope Shouldered Gibsons, and of course the "King of the Flattops", the Gibson J-200.

At this point I'm sort of soliciting opinions... What do you own and play, and why?

 

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

I roll with Taylor myself (a 13 year old 310CE). Taylor's are great for live use as they plug and play well, the action is great so those 3 or 4 set nights go easier. The ones I've experienced have a present high end that cuts well through the din of a bar crowd. However some can't stand them for just those reasons. YMMV.

 

[LReese]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

Got my 1st acoustic about 18 mo ago - That's after playing since '75... err back when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Sunk a chunk of money after buying a nice older Martin but have something a little unique and really plays/sounds nice -

Sometimes you want to play but don't want to drag out the board...

 

[crusty philtrum]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

I play 000 body guitars because i fingerpick and dreadnaughts don't suit picking so well ... and conversely, 000 styles don't suit strumming, dreadnaughts are ideal for that and flatpicking.

I owned a great Blueridge 000-sized guitar (All solid woods), but I wanted a wider nut width, so i sold it and got a Guild GAD30, which has pretty much the same specs as the Blueridge but it has the wider neck/nut (again, this seems to suit fingerpicking better for me).

I don't like Taylors or Martins, for my tastes, Gibson and Guild make the better acoustics.

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

If you want to score an awesome, all-solid acoustic for less than $1,000 look for some Seagull, Simon & Patrick and Norman guitars. All three brands are made by Godin, and all of their solid-wood acoustics that I have played were well-constructed and sounded great.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

I was really interested in Taylors, with their electric-friendly necks and consistent construction. I still like them a lot, but something about the classic tones of the Martin and Gibson. I'd not be opposed to a Taylor as a secondary instrument in the future.

Actually, I "didn't like" Martin Dreads, because all I had played were the laminate side cheaper ones. Playing a D-28 really opened my mind! So many options in the rosewood Martin line though. (HD-28 with scalloped bracing, D-35 with thinner bracing, HD-35 with scalloped thinner bracing... Some of the scalloped ones are nice for fingerstyle, being a bit more responsive) Athough the Martin 00/000/OM lines are very cool too!

My only worry is that the Gibsons seem to be less consistent than Martins, and much less consistent than Taylor's! That punchy Gibson midrangey tone is attractive to me too....

I'll try out the Seagulls and Blueridge/Eastmans, but I'm budgeting for a Gibson/Martin.

 

[BrianS.]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

Have you been to Elderly Instruments in Lansing? You might be able to find a really cool sounding, well built vintage Gibson or Kalamazoo-made Epiphone for a decent price. I like smaller bodied acoustics, and Gibson/Epiphone made some neat ones back in the day. I own a mid 60s Epi Cortez that I need to fix up...

There is "something" about those slope-shoulder Gibson dreads...

Good luck!

 

[Matt42]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

Check out the Epiphone Masterbilt series. I have a the AJ-500R (a slope shoulder jumbo) and it's amazing. It blows anything else in the price range out of the water, and many guitars that cost even twice as much don't sound nearly as good. If I were to buy another acoustic, I wouldn't even check anything else out, I'd just buy another Masterbilt.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

Have you been to Elderly Instruments in Lansing? You might be able to find a really cool sounding, well built vintage Gibson or Kalamazoo-made Epiphone for a decent price. I like smaller bodied acoustics, and Gibson/Epiphone made some neat ones back in the day. I own a mid 60s Epi Cortez that I need to fix up...

There is "something" about those slope-shoulder Gibson dreads...

Good luck!

Funny you mention that... Planning to head there over Memorial Day weekend!

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

Elderly is a great place, and one of the things I miss about living in Michigan!

The two high-end mainstream brands these days seem to be Martin and Taylor. Both are amazing. Martin is perhaps a bit more traditional, and Taylor a bit more innovative (I tend to be more traditional in my tastes, so an HD-28 is on my very short list!). One personal bias that I have: I 100% agree with what you said in regards to buying a nice acoustic guitar - I want to be able to keep it, and pass it on at some point. And great guitars made of great woods age very well, and actually sound better the more they are played. To that end, I would absolutely NOT get a guitar with a cutaway or a built-in pickup. IMHO, a cutaway is an extra area of tone production that is chopped out of the guitar. And built-in pickups are going to be something that you're most likely stuck with, especially when they have that big awful hunk of plastic controls on the side, putting a big dead spot on body resonance (I'm happy to see that some companies are starting to put the controls in the soundhole, not cutting a hole in the side). Buy a great guitar, and pour 100% of your budget into that (the wood, construction, etc., vs. say an $1000 guitar which is $800 for the guitar and $200 for the electronics) - you can always easily add an aftermarket pickup (and then easily replace that if/when something better comes along!).

 

[dotsdad]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

These days, it is very difficult to find an acoustic that's not made out of laminate (a nice word for plywood). They use clever wording like "solid spruce top with mahogany/rosewood/saepele back and sides. " You assume that the back and sides are SOLID mahogany/ rosewood/ saepele but, unless they specifcally say SOLID mahogany/rosewood/saepele, its only going to have a solid spruce top. The mahogany/rosewood/saepele back and sides are sawdust and glue. Also look for BS like "select rosewood;" WTF does that mean? NOTHING!

The really sad thing is that even some of the $1k+dollar Martins are plywood these days. So much for "“Non Multa Sed Multum" ("quality over quantity"). *sigh* :guilty:

 

[Securb]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

I picked up an Ibanez EP5 Steve Vai model last year and I love it. The neck and body joint is at the 14th fret and it has a florentine cutaway giving you more access to the higher frets. The neck is almost like the electric wizard necks so you will find yourself ripping scales up and down the neck. It is a beautiful guitar for under $500

Here is my review of the EP5

 

[BrianS.]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

These days, it is very difficult to find an acoustic that's not made out of laminate (a nice word for plywood). They use clever wording like "solid spruce top with mahogany/rosewood/saepele back and sides. " You assume that the back and sides are SOLID mahogany/ rosewood/ saepele but, unless they specifcally say SOLID mahogany/rosewood/saepele, its only going to have a solid spruce top. e mahoganyTh/rosewood/saepele back and sides are sawdust and glue. Also look for BS like "select rosewood;" WTF does that mean? NOTHING!

Well...all solid wood guitars are pretty easy to find, actually. Even Seagull makes their SWS (solid wood series) guitars that are truly all solid.

I do agree that many companies are not really up front about their back/side construction, but it cannot really be argued that the top is the most critical part of the acoustic guitar (for sound production and tone) and therefore the focus of most of the attention. AND, there are many guitars with laminate sides/backs that do sound really good.

Most laminates in decent to good guitars are much better than "sawdust & glue". What I've seen are 3-ply laminates of decent quality wood. Godin apparently makes their own ply & I would guess is a cut above what other inexpensive guitars may use.

The sad fact is that the world is running short of instrument grade wood. In my opinion, it is a good thing that large companies are looking at ways to best utilize what is left & explore non-traditional options that sound good and are sustainable.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

I have a variety of acoustics in different sizes. My favorite size for fingerstyle is OM or OOO. I have a Dana Bourgeois OM in flamed koa that is exquisite and probably gets played more than all my other guitars. My other is a Martin OM-15, which is the all mahogany guitar. It's a sweet sounding axe (and James Taylor played it once), but it doesn't compare to the Bourgeois for dynamic range or volume. I like dreadnoughts for playing in ensembles. They have the punch and volume to be heard. The one I play the most is a Gibson J45. Actually, it gets played around as much as the Bourgeois. My experience with Gibsons is that you have to play each one to find "the one." This J45 is "the one." I also have a USA-made Breedlove C25/CRH that I like playing on stage because it's easy to play, has a cutaway, and sounds great amplified. Of course, I use D-TAR electronics in all my acoustics except the Bourgeois which has never had a pickup installed. For vintage, I have an early '70s Yamaha (my first guitar) and a '60s Del Vecchio resonator that I bought in Brazil a few years ago.

One thing I've learned about the Yamaha is that plywood tops do open up over time. Also, I second everything above about Godin (Seagull, Norman, Simon & Patrick) guitars. I've been to their factories and my son owns a Seagull S-6. It's amazing the value they offer. My experience with Taylors is that they are very consistent. We have three 410s in the SD sound room and they each sound exactly the same. If you have the money for a high-end Martin or something "boutique" like a Bourgeois, go for it. Those are heirloom instruments that only get better over time.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

One of the most expensive lessons I've learned as a guitar player is that you cannot fake the tone and sound of a good acoustic guitar that really sings.

From your description, you are looking for pretty much what I was searching for. I ended up finding a really, really good J-200 last year, and I have not looked back since. They have a character to their sound that just gives me the resonance I expected to hear from a guitar when I want to convey dynamics in my playing. It's extremely unforgiving, but it's one of the rare pieces of gear that I can say made me a better musician. The sustain, range and character have made me explore the acoustic guitar like never before.

The thing with Gibsons though, like Evan said, is that you need to find ''the one''. This specific J-200 is REALLY good, and that apparent from the second I picked it up (and I've picked up a lot of acoustic guitars). It's a lot of cash for a guitar, but it's worth every penny. I'm gonna go pick her up right now actually.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

HArd to beat an HD-28, or a J45.

Get both.

 

[BRHGM]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

If you like warm guitars, the Seagulls are really well made. I find that the vintage Gibson, and Martins sound better than the newer models. Not that the new ones sound bad. They just aren't made like the old ones. Same goes for the Yamahas. Some of the Ibanez acoustics are good value for a reasonable price. Taylors are well made and vary in tone from model to model line because of the different woods Taylor offers. I agree Dana Bourgeois makes some of the best acoustics around. You really just have to play as many guitars as it takes until you find a winner. You can find an old Yamaha at any pawn shop in the world. My first acoustic was an old tenth anniversary Sigma D-18 clone. It's still a great sounding guitar.

 

[Bludave]

Re: Looking for an Acoustic Guitar

Hey guys, it's been a while!

I'm looking for a nice acoustic guitar. I've been borrowing my brother's Fender Acoustic for a few months and I'm playing it WAY more than my electrics since I've moved. I'd like to get a nice, all solid wood acoustic, one that is worthy of keeping forever and passing on to a child someday.

I've really been getting into acoustic fingerstyle blues a la Robert Johnson. That's in addition to my typical Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young and other classic rock plus a little county strumming. Basically a great all-around acoustic for strumming and fingerpicking. I've played a few guitars and I think I'm finding I'm drawn to the classic acoustic tones... Rosewood Martin Dreadnaughts, Mahogany Slope Shouldered Gibsons, and of course the "King of the Flattops", the Gibson J-200.

At this point I'm sort of soliciting opinions... What do you own and play, and why?

Martins are great guitars and if you do your research toy won't be disappointed DONT BUY THIS GUITAR ONLINE.... Seek out a reputable dealer that has decent inventory and play as many guitars as you can

Now larger body guitars are typically boomy in rosewood, they are also more suitable for strumming then fingerpicking and they have a longer scale(24.9) then smaller guitars do and the nut is usually 1 11/16ths vrs 1.75.

Smaller guitars such as s triple o or Om are a more versatile guitar IMHO. The respond to fingerpicking very well but can also be strummed effectively with great results If you choose to go larger consider Mahogany back and sides over Rosewood. It actually has a much better balance from string to string. The D18 is a very underrated guitar. The ooo28 or Om 28 are two of my all time favorite Martins. BUT IF you want an exceptional guitar consider a Santa Cruz or Collings. These will cost more then a Martin but they are a considerably better guitar. I own two Santa Cruz guitars and they are by far my two favorite acoustics very well made(basically by hand) and they play like a dream. My OM is an amazing finger picker and my Tony Rice is a killer D guitar. It has a wider neck and oversized sound hole and is voiced to NOT be boomy. It's a grey guitar but my OM Is my favorite of ALL my acoustics