need serious advice about acoustic guitar choice (martin, taylor, blueridge, fender)

jasonbmerrill

jasonbmerrill

the end of unreality
I have had 3 acoustic guitars -

a fender acoustic with a neat california headstock which had a nice sharp tone but eventually fell off of a cliff, kinda killing the intonation permanently.. Its now in montreal with my ex-gf (symbolic eh?)

then i got a bean blossom acoustic to fill the gap. Its an acoustic electric and sounds nice, sure - but its thin in the bottom end and doesnt play anything special.

then someone gave me an alvarez acoustic, which i dont have the model number.

The neck was cracked on this, i got it fixed but it buzzes at different frets every now and then. I love the sound on this one, nice and big and deep - and where its not buzzing it plays nicely.

What i am looking for NEEDS to be under 1 grand. Preferrably around 600.

I want something that plays easily. I want to have that resistance to the strings so you can hit hard and yet not hear that annoying initial "buzz" on the attack. Full, rich tone is nessecary, moreso on the low end than the high end. (think hard like richie havens)

I am mostly concerned about how this guitar will react in a recording situations.

The acoustic guitar sounds i like are:

Neil Young Live @ massey hall, 1971

Radiohead paranoid android

pearl jam - daugher

....

im sure theres more but i cant think of it now.

basically i want this to be as inexpensive as possible. i dont need acoustic/electric, i DONT need ANY frills or good looks.

i plan on getting a decent case and possibly a humidifier for it. Anything else i might need to maintain it?
 
You're going to have to sit down and play a bunch of guitars - it's good that you have such a clear idea of what you want - that should speed things up.

Check out the Seagulls, and the others made by that Canadian company. I've always been impressed with the price/niceness ratio on those.

Check out the used market, too. How about a fret leveling job on the Alvarez? Can you get it done cheap? (in my neighborhood, it's $80-$100, so I'm not sure if you'd want to put that much $ into it).

I recently got some perspective on the value of a good luthier (sort of off-topic, but sort of not). My father inherited his brother's Martin D-28 in the mid 70's (it was in your price range back then!), but didn't play. I picked it up in the early 80's and have played it regularly ever since. Always loved the way it sounds, but it was kind of torture to play - I just figured that's the way it was. Then, a couple of months ago, I got it set up by a Martin-authorized service shop, and WOW!! It plays like a dream now. I felt like an idiot. It was a total of about $150 between the setup and some minor repairs.

Anyway, the point is that if you find one that sounds fantastic and is in your price range, but is hard to play, it might be fixable.
 
yeah and thats the hard part. I just cant order one and THEN try it...

so tomorrow im going to a guitar center (cause there really isnt anything else around here) and a couple of pawn shops...

but i doubt they carry blueridge.. seagulls? Ill look them up.

thank you.
 
antichef said:
How about a fret leveling job on the Alvarez? Can you get it done cheap? (in my neighborhood, it's $80-$100, so I'm not sure if you'd want to put that much $ into it)
Click to expand...

i would, actually. I really like the tone. But the ppl around here just arent up to it methinks.

I gave it to one guy locally, and he fixed the crack good, but it buzzed... thats 100 bucks down the drain.

then i gave it to a guy in scranton and he didnt do ANYTHING to it... another 50 bucks down the drain...

not sure if northeastern PA is just bereft of competent guitar ppl or my guits just unfixable.
 
I was in the same spot about six months ago. had about a grand to spend and tried a LOT of different guits. I ended up with one of the new Martin DX-1's. It's sound beat every other guitar, including other all-wood Martins, hands and feet DOWN. It has absolutely nothing aesthetically, even fret markers on the fretboard, but I was determined to get the best sounding acoustic that I could and not be swayed, as I admit sometimes happens, by appearance.

Just my two.

JC
 
Larrivee "D" series would be my choice--around $800.

Also look at the Seagulls.

Guild GAD series.

Breedlove Atlas series.


Play before you buy.
 
jcrouse said:
I was in the same spot about six months ago. had about a grand to spend and tried a LOT of different guits. I ended up with one of the new Martin DX-1's. It's sound beat every other guitar, including other all-wood Martins, hands and feet DOWN. It has absolutely nothing aesthetically, even fret markers on the fretboard, but I was determined to get the best sounding acoustic that I could and not be swayed, as I admit sometimes happens, by appearance.

Just my two.

JC
Click to expand...


+1 here too...


I was in the same boat about the same time and ended up with the DX1 also. I had narrowed it down to Taylors or Martins in the sub-$1000 price range. It was a toss-up, I chose the Martin. I don't care if it's made from high pressure laminate. I don't care if it was made in Mexico (I call it a Marteen!) and I actually like the fretboard with no inlays. The guitar plays nice, sounds nice and feels right.

One thing I noticed is the bridge is set a little high and I sanded it down to a comfortable level. Still might take it in to get a pro set up.
 
I am a repeat promoter of Seagulls; I would suggest you consider Godin Guitars' other brands. Art & Lutherie and Norman are from the same company, and less expensive, Simon & Patrick and Godin Multiac are up-market.

http://www.godinguitars.com/

One does pay for embellishments, and they usually have no discernable effect on sound or tone, but personally, I find guitar like the Martin D-15's to be way to plain looking, bordering on ugly. But then, there is the guitar equivilant of this...

"If you want to be happy for the rest of your life,
never make a pretty woman your wife.
If you go from my personal point of view,
get an ugly girl to marry you..."
 
IMG_0146.jpg
 
I second the recommendation of the Breedlove Atlas Series--Especially if you're looking for that early 70s Neil Young acoustic sound.
I picked up an AD20SRPlus about six months ago and never regretted it.
When I was in high school a friend let me play his 1969 Martin D-35 and the Breedlove is the first and only guitar I've played in the past 35 years that has matched that sound. This model has been discontinued but some dealers still have them in stock.
The MSRP was around $1200 but the street price is usually less than $900 and given the current economic conditions, the dealer might even knock another $100 - $200 of the price if you're polite.

Other makes in your price range would include Walden....
 
acousticism

Man, I just picked up a Masterbilt AJ-500R and I couldn't be happier. The AJ body size is great and I played it in comparison with a couple of J-45's in the same store and mine was close to par with tone. Not quite as much bottom end but I'm not really into real bassy guitars, doesnt fit my playing. I'd suggest trying a few out if you can find them.

I don't recommend the 500M though I played 4 of them and was thoroughly disappointed in every one. I wanted the darker finish but went with a natural satin due to lack of options.
 
YeshuasFan said:
I second the recommendation of the Breedlove Atlas Series--Especially if you're looking for that early 70s Neil Young acoustic sound.
I picked up an AD20SRPlus about six months ago and never regretted it.
When I was in high school a friend let me play his 1969 Martin D-35 and the Breedlove is the first and only guitar I've played in the past 35 years that has matched that sound. This model has been discontinued but some dealers still have them in stock.
The MSRP was around $1200 but the street price is usually less than $900 and given the current economic conditions, the dealer might even knock another $100 - $200 of the price if you're polite.

Other makes in your price range would include Walden....
Click to expand...

ive tried waldens and to me, they are nothing more than the same budget crap im used to.

breedlove, is was interesting, and around the same price, but nowhere near as good.

again, totally IMO.
 
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