Martin & Taylor Users

  • Thread starter Thread starter musikman316
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shit, they all sound good. It will have to be what sounds good to your ears for the music you do. It was a Martin for me. But I'm a bluegrass nut, so there you go. But I've found, with my very limited talent, that I can get other great sounds from the Martin with mic placement, pre settings, effects, etc, not just the big boom. And it pleases MY ears. That might be a key to a great sounding guitar. Being able to get different flavors out of it. Good luck picking out your box.

dtb
 
I have a Taylor 314ce and got it for $1200. I love it, and haven't found a single guitar in the price range that I'd rather have. I'll admit that the higher end Taylors aren't that good. I like my 314 more than the 714... I tried out the 714 and it seemed to have no mids, and the gloss finish on the rosewood was ugly IMO. The special edition Taylors sounded even worse.

Martins have pretty lousy action, but they sound real nice.

Gibson acoustics on the otherhand are the worst guitars ever.
 
I have fallen in love with a 714CE. I met her back about 6 months ago at my local Sam Ash. She's not a cheap date though... :( ...so unfortunately I can't call her mine... yet...
 
esun127 said:
The special edition Taylors sounded even worse.

Martins have pretty lousy action, but they sound real nice.

Gibson acoustics on the otherhand are the worst guitars ever.
Click to expand...
Hmmmmm......................Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........:rolleyes:
 
It's not that Martin's have "lousey action"........

The idea is that you just bought (hopefully) a high-end instrument and now you can have it set up to YOUR specs by YOUR tech. Personally, I like the idea. Why should I have to have the nut redone on a brand new guitar because the action is too low from the factory?
 
sight unplayed

Thanks for the links, Tree. There are several interesting adds at the Flatpickin' classified place. But how can I buy a previously owned guitar from a private individual through the mail without having played it? That is the quandry.


As usual, I am paralyzed by too much information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Slim- the answer is simple- NEVER buy a guitar you have not played.-Richie
 
Gibson acoustics on the otherhand are the worst guitars ever. [/B][/QUOTE]

I've recently played quite a few acoustics in preparation for next year's purchase. I've played a bunch of Martins and wasn't really too impressed with any of them. I played an HD28 not long ago that sounded very nice but it still wasn't $2800 great. The bottom end on most of them I played was whumpy and dead sounding to me. My Alvarez Yairi actually sounds at least as good or better than any Martin I've played. I played several high-end Gibsons and they all sounded like junk. Haven't liked a Gibson I've played yet. Once, after playing several very expensive Gibsons, I grabbed a Taylor 314 off the wall and was impressed. I will most likely go to Dallas and play a bunch of Taylors before I buy. A couple of weeks ago, I tested several Martins one more - and once again was not too impressed. The best playing guitar in the store was one of those Ovations with the sound holes on either side. Sounded really fine through an amp.
 
on a side note.....

please don't compare an amped acoustic to any real acoustic.
 
Re: on a side note.....

LocusLarsen said:
please don't compare an amped acoustic to any real acoustic.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure what that means. Personally, I don't like Ovations, but anyone who plays out needs to know what his/her acoustic guitar is going to sound like through an amp. While, first and foremost, I want my guitar to sound and play great naturally, it makes sense to me to buy an acoustic with an amplification system installed by the manufacturer. Some guitars, for reasons that are beyond me, just don't take as well to amplification as others.
 
LISlim

I can't really advise anyone to do it, but that's exactly what I did when I bought my 815C from Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan. Part of it is whether you have confidence in the seller; part whether you know that the price is good enough so if it doesn't work out, you can still sell the guitar. Part is perhaps confidence in your own ability to set up the instrument or find someone to do it to your liking.

The reason I forwarded the flatpick link is that, at this price, how could you lose? If you don't like it, take it downtown and put it up for consignment for a couple hundred over what you have in it and give the store a flat hundred off the top. It'll be gone in a week.

(Well, maybe).

I guess in the end you have to trust the seller.

You might want to nose around the 13th fret website as well; its a high end / custom build kind of crowd. Anyone selling a guitar over there probably took care of it.


OR:


Get in that car and take a run down to Staten Island like whatshername did. Mandolin Bros. is a huge place; not all that far from you...

http://www.mandoweb.com/1_Acoustic.htm


This one's $1450:



83-9796.jpg
 
83-6049.jpg


'96 Breedlove, $2050.


By the way, it's not the end of the world to install an onboard pickup; I installed a b-band dual source in the Taylor on my kitchen table.:cool: :rolleyes: :cool:
 
Yes, I've been thinking about a visit to Mandolin Bros. There is a lot to be said for getting a pre-owned guitar, of course. Assuming of course that the prior owner gave it good vibrations.....
 
LISlim

See if you can find any way to snark another five bills into that budget and then head down ... maybe take a day off and spend the whole day there. If you think of options in your head as you go, then you can deal with the pickup / no pickup issue easily while you're there.

Here's a link to a really solid product that is relatively easy to install yourself; your Baggs box should provide enough preamp punch to make it work just fine.

http://www.samusic.com/amplification/putw.shtml

If you have some issues about installing an endpin jack yourself, give me a phone call and we'll talk about it. I sent you a PM with a phone number.

---------------------
Gawd, I love spending someone else's money...:cool:
 
Some of you seem to think that I said that Martins and Taylors were total junk, and my original point was that there are a lot of other makers that no one takes advantage of especially younger buyers. I actually almost bought a 414 a couple days ago ($700). It had a couple of bad scratches, but it played nicely, I just didn't see a reason for it.

If you read my posts you would see that I said I wasn't impressed. Which means that so many people play these guitars, very few which warrant their price tag, and I expected the guitar to sound better and feel better.

Just stating my case...

Later,
Musik
 
StevenLindsey said:
Gibson acoustics on the otherhand are the worst guitars ever.

I've recently played quite a few acoustics in preparation for next year's purchase. I've played a bunch of Martins and wasn't really too impressed with any of them. I played an HD28 not long ago that sounded very nice but it still wasn't $2800 great. The bottom end on most of them I played was whumpy and dead sounding to me. My Alvarez Yairi actually sounds at least as good or better than any Martin I've played. I played several high-end Gibsons and they all sounded like junk. Haven't liked a Gibson I've played yet. Once, after playing several very expensive Gibsons, I grabbed a Taylor 314 off the wall and was impressed. I will most likely go to Dallas and play a bunch of Taylors before I buy. A couple of weeks ago, I tested several Martins one more - and once again was not too impressed. The best playing guitar in the store was one of those Ovations with the sound holes on either side. Sounded really fine through an amp.
Click to expand...

6 months ago, I would have agreed with you. I went to Elderly this summer and found an absoultely smoking J-45. I had them set it up there, and it is hands down the finest sounding guitar I own. I'll put it up against any spruce/mahogany d-style out there.

Maybe I just got lucky. 2 years ago I went looking for J-200's and couln't find one worth a crap. I bought a Guild. It weighs a ton, but sounds great.
 
I bought a new Martin D-41 about 2 years ago. I'll never ever sell it. Besides having a great tone that I like..... it is one beautiful guitar.

I've got a good friend that just bought a signature series Taylor. Another pretty guitar..... but with lots different sound. I guess everyone's ears are different and their preferences are different. But the guy that said his Alvarez sounds better......???? Give me a break.
 
I think a lot of folks think something is awesome and sounds good because it is expensive, has a Name and it has pretty little things on it. I haven't found that to be necessarily true. I just think Martins are overpriced and a bit overrated.
 
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