Am I nuts?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MrLip
  • Start date Start date
M

MrLip

New member
For the past few months I've been saving up to buy a Taylor that costs roughly US$1200. When I tell ppl about this (both guitarists and non-guitarists) they tell me that I'm crazy to spend that much money on an acoustic guitar.

I'm wondering: Am I?

Have I lost my mind? Because, to me, it seems worth it. I've tried over 20 acoustic guitars in the past few months and the Taylor was the only one that I really liked. Some of the others were OK but none of them caught my attention (and made me drool) the way the Taylor did.


It's either the Taylor or a mixer+monitors. I decided to get the Taylor because if I get the mixer+monitors, I will still be stuck with the shitty sound of the shitty acoustic guitar I have now. (Most - if not all - of the music I record has acoustic guitar parts.)

It just seems strange how *everyone* I talk to responds very negatively to the idea of spending $1200 on an acoustic guitar.


Am I nuts?
 
I don't think its nuts !Taylors sound and play great!
If you are gonna create music then its always a plus
to be inspired by the sound of your instr.Every time I get a new instr.I'm good for at least 4 songs right off the bat,
and I'm not very prolific! Good luck with it !
 
Obvisously these people don't know what quality costs these days. Sometimes certain products have jacked up prices because of the name, in a lot cases the jacked up price doesn't reflect the quality anyways. In the case of Taylor your paying exactly for what your getting and want. And actually $1200 is a great price for a well crafted quitar. There are lots of quitars for less that aren't that bad, but they don't have that extra something that makes you "drool" and after playing around with less, it can make all the difference.
 
Guitar!!

get the guitar - you'll have it for a lifetime - the mixer is probably already out of date. :D
 
I have two nephews.

Both play the guitar.
For one of them, the guitar is a nice pastime, he's learned a few chords and a few songs and he plays them (reasonably well) at gatherings of his teenage friends.
He has fun.

The other has a spiritual need to play. (I have it, too, so it's kind of exciting to see him make discoveries and revel in them :) )

Those of you who know what that means need no further explanation.

For those of you who don't know what that means, no amount of explanation can make you understand.

Mr. Lip, if you understand, then BUY THE GUITAR!

If you don't, then maybe the mixer is a more functional way to go.

foo
 
Have you tried playing a Seagull acoustic?
Awesome tone and playability for a VERY reasonable price.
That would leave you plenty of $$$ left over for a good set of monitors. ;)
 
Buy the guitar!!!

I've only bought two guitars that were over $1000. I had spent about $5000 on recording gear before I bought either and regret that I didn't spend the money on a better guitar sooner. I play them each about 25 hours a week, and will never part with them. Sometimes, things are expensive for a reason, and with guitars, trust your fingers and ears.
Jeff
 
OK so I guess I'm not nuts.

Thanks.

Buck: does Seagull have a website? I've been looking around and haven't been able to find one. I wanna see if they have local dealer.
 
Definitely buy it. I want a Music Man bass which costs around £1000 ($1500 US equivalent) and if I could afford it I would have one in an instant. In fact I nearly took one on a year's interest free credit but a friend of mine dragged me from the store before I signed on the proverbial dotted line.

Buy the guitar. You will be a happier person.
 
Mr Lip.

I have a Seagull and love it. For the price you can't beat it. I do wish I could afford a Taylor. Everytime I see one I druel. I would also like to have a Lowden and a Martin and a .... The list goes on and on.

Go for the guitar dude. What ever you choose it needs to be the guitar that sends chills down your spine every time you strum it.

By the way, here is the link to Seagull

http://www.seagullguitars.com/
 
Something I just thought of

Problem with spending all that money on a Taylor is that I'd be afraid to take it anywhere.

1. Accidents happen. What if something happens to it?
2. You take it out for a gig, everyone wants to touch/play/try it. People are drunk... see #1

I'm worried that I'll buy it and won't be able to take it out of my house without having a nervous breakdown.

But then again, this is my first expensive acoustic guitar. When I bought my first expensive electric guitar (a Gibson Les Paul) a few years ago I was pretty protective of it, but over time I got more lax.
 
Insure it.
Dunno how available this sort of service is outside the UK but I know the local music store has flyers advertising a company that insures your equipment (not just instruments but mixers, pa, etc) for gigging or just in home or whatever.

Would be worth investigating methinks.
 
You will baby it and protect it until one day it will get a knock or significant scratch -
... and then you will start to treat it like 'your' guitar and life will be good!

Buy it now - you're burning daylight!

Of course, if I was you I'd save up another $1,000 and buy a used Collings.
Then you'd really be blown away every day by how good it sounds.

foo
 
MrLip,

Of course you are nuts, but that has nothing to do with you wanting a $1200 Taylor.

I have heard you play, and man, your sound is awesome now, I can't wait to hear what you do on a Taylor.

I am that little devil on your shoulder: buy it! buy it! buy it!

When you record something with that bad boy, let me know when you post it.

Brad
 
My guitars are all mid range, Tacoma, Larrivee, and Yari. I payed an Average of $600, probably becouse I am impulsive and lack the abilaty to save for the best guitar.
Any way. I love my guitars.
If you covet the guitar. why torture your self. Get it.
You will love it and play it with respect. It will make your music better. All that matters is tone. Tone, Tone
ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
 
Go for it: good guitars make you play better. I started out with a $35 used Ventura flattop -- back before the civil war -- and now have a handmade $$$$ flamed maple jumbo with abalone butterflies inlaid on the peghead and fretboard. When I die my oldest son gets the guitar and when he dies his oldest son will get it. I bought it in 1986. By contrast, the only recording/performing gear I am still using from 1986 are my guitar and bass amps and a power amp. I've been through 3 mixers, several multi-tracks (currently using a computer). See, the hardware is just that: hardware. An instrument is something that (assuming you get the right one for you) becomes part of your music.
$1200 for a one-time expense for a guitar you may spend the rest of your life with is nothing.
By the way, I still have the Ventura -- but now it's got a $300 solid spruce top by the same luthier who built the jumbo.
 
Try some of the Larrivees,they have models at,below,and above that price and I've yet to play on a bad one.
 
I've seen two Taylor testimonies...one was on CNN,in a short 5 minute blurb on Taylor guitars where they took some wood out of a garbage bin outside and made a guitar...you could see the nail holes in the finished product.It sounded good (well,over the TV it did).They stress that the constuction is as important as the wood.The other story is more local...a Taylor guitar was run over in the case by a car,and rebuilt by a local luthier.120 inches of repaired cracks later,and the guitar sounds and plays great(belongs to one of my students).
 
The question isn't really, are Taylor guitars good? -- but, is THAT Taylor guitar the one you want?
Every instrument sounds and reacts differently and we all know, for example, of Les Pauls that are pitiful and others that are to die for. You're not statistically sampling the population of Taylor guitars -- you're picking one like you'd be picking a wife.
John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top