Which Acoustic Guitar??

[ShaneSelby]

am in the market for a new acoustic and my budget is somewhere around $1000. There are so many options in my price range so I am looking for a few recommendations. I have been looking at the Larrivees and I really like the way they play and love there sound. However, I don’t want to limit myself and make a choice without exploring other options.

I would like an Acoustic/Electric, although it is not necessary. However, the electric option would be nice. Are there any out there that really shine? I have not heard the Larrivee pick-up so any comments would be helpful.

I will be using this guitar for recording so I want something that is very even toned and not hyped in the low or high end. Just smooth and warm! I love the tone Jack Johnson gets from his acoustic but a Maton is out of my price range. The Larrivee has a similar tone and is more affordable.

Most importantly, it must be playable and well built. I want low action and a smooth neck. Something that sounds good either strummed or picked.

I plan to go to Guitar Center this weekend and play as many acoustics as I can so please make your recommendations.


Thanks for your advice!

 

[macafied]

Even tone, low action, and well built.... Taylor.

Got my 310ce (w/ fishman stereo blender electronics) for just over $1000 with a very nice hsc. Sounds great recorded even for a noob home recorder with very low budget gear like me.

But yea, you should play as many brands as you can. Martin, Larrivee, Seagull, I've heard good things about Carvin too.

 

[Light]

Play a bunch of guitars, and see which ones you like. I would recomend that you look at the Martin 15 style guitars, such as the D-15 or the OOO-15. You would need to add a pickup, but in the current under $1000 range, they are by far my favorite. They also have the advantage of being all solid wood, which no other under $1000 guitar has.


Light


"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Outlaws]

Even tone, low action, and well built.... Taylor./B]

Exactly.

I traded my Taylor for a Martin but for what you want I have to say Taylor. D series Martins are too boomy for that snapy sound of Jack Johnson. I mean, I remember his sound has a good bottom end to it, but you will really have to work at it to get the highs out of a Martin in the same manner.

If you really want the upmost quality guitar for the dollar, then you will really have to skip all forms of flash......finishes included. I guess this is where the lower end models of makers like Larrivee come into play.

But I second the Taylor 310.

 

[tdukex]

I wouldn't buy a $1,000 guitar off the shelf at GC. Those things get the fuck banged out of them.

And IMO Larrivee makes better guitars for the money in that price range than either Taylor or Martin. It really is a matter of taste though.

I always recommentd Buffalo Brothers. Good return policy. Great 100% trade-up policy. Great guitars. Great prices.

I've bought 5 guitars from them.


www.buffalobrosguitars.com

 

[ShaneSelby]

I have played a variety of Martins and they are to boomy for my tastes. The Taylors on the other hand can be a bit to bright. However, I plan on looking at the 310.

I need a happy medium and the Larrivees seem to be it!

Tdukex is am not planning on puchasing at GC just testing out a few guitars. They are overpriced.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Even]

absolute best bang for the buck.... Seagull.

Their quality matches the Martin/Taylor reputations for about 30% less cost. So A $1000 Seagull is a $1300 Martin in quality, materials and craftmanship. Bottom line is you of course need to compare the feel and sounds. Best advise anyone can give you is to not look at the headstock when you pick a guitar. Everyone wants a great guitar, unfortunately the greatness is not always decided by the name on the headstock.

 

[Light]

D series Martins are too boomy

Well, sure a D is going to be bass heavy. I mean, their huge. For the Jack Johnson type sound, I would much prefer an OOO (but then I usually prefer OOOs).

Personally, though I have a great deal of respect for what Bob has managed to do, and in particular his dedication to the growth of the craft of luthiery, I have never like the SOUND of Taylors. They are all just fine, but for me none of them are really special. Gibsons, for instance, are inconsistent, but when you find a good Gibson, it is the best guitar you have ever heard. Bob is a great guy though, and is amazingly sharing. Not many people running a major factory of any kind would share CNC plans and files with their primary competitors.

Larivee is also a good choice in that price range. The most important thing is to go out and try a bunch of guitars, and decide which one you like. This way you will get the sound you are after, and best of all, you get to spend your Saturdays playing guitars in guitar stores. What could be more fun?


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[SoundQuarters]

Go Taylor

Get the 310 series. My favoites are the 714 and 814 series, but they're out of your price range. If you were to turn off the lights and listen all three, you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart. The 310 has a beautiful tone that is well suited for recording.

Another brand you might consider is Tacoma. Good quality, good sound, good value. They're kind of scarce around here. The stores that have them only cary the Chief series (with the weird sound hole). DO NOT buy that one. Yuk for tone. Look for the ones in your price range and you will be plesantly surprised.

 

[onlyfingers]

Go to a few stores

Consider finding a store that specialzies in accoustic instruments, so you can look at more variety than GC offers. lLook on the web for stores that sell banjos, for instance. A store that sells banjos probably may have some guitar brands that CG doesn't. Even if they are out of your price range now, if you're spending $1000, look at Collings and Santa Cruz. And, as others have mentioned, Seagulls and the Seagull relatives.

 

[mrface2112]

i'm with Light

i think you'd behoove yourself to look at a smaller bodied Martin. Check out an 000-15. Or check out one of the 16 series guitars, like the RGT (and they come in a variety of body sizes too). it's hard to imagine not finding one of those that'll be to your liking.

my D15 is a lot of things, but boomy is not a word i'd use to describe it in a hundred years. it certainly can get that neil young/martin drone (and the whomp, too, if i need it) when i've got it in double dropped D, but it's definitely not anywhere as close to as boomy as my buddy's HD28V. that thing's a freaking hand cannon. it's mostly a function of the d15's all mahogany versus the HD28V's rosewood/spruce (among other things, notably the bracing, etc).

i personally have never played (let alone heard) a taylor i've liked. IMO, they're guitars for girls and born-again christian ministers. or at least for people who prefer low action over good tone. i've played 314s, 714s and 814s and have been less than impressed on any of them. they're consistent, but they're consistently lifeless to me. to me, it's as if taylors are more suited for those who are used to playing strats.....where martins are more like playing a tele.

i'm also a firm believer in that an acoustic's action directly affects its tone. when you lower the action of a guitar (like is the case on a taylor), you lose a lot of the tone, since tone is largely a function of the way the strings' vibrations interact with the top. if they're too close/low, you don't get the full range of vibration--and thus the full range of tone.

i've played seagulls, larrivees, c.foxs (love them), santa cruz, alvarezes, yamahas, fenders, gibsons and matons (played a couple when i was in Sydney last feb), and none of them, in the sub-$1000 range, can come anywhere close to touching a 15 or 16 series Martin. i really have loved some of the CFox's i've played, but i don't have $1700 for one. ;-) every time i'm on the left coast, i make SURE to make a trip to Buffalo Brothers. What a fantastic shop, and a fantastic group of guys to boot!


in the end (and at the risk of turning this into a taylor vs martin thread), this it a lot like asking "what mic is better". there's no real answer beyond "go play every guitar you can get your hands on and make your own decision".


seriously, though, bring a guitar-playing friend with you. find a guitar you like the sound of, and then have them play and you go stand 6-10ft away. you hear a guitar considerably differently when you're playing it than you do when you're listening to it.


pick the one that sings to you,
wade


PS--the guitar that sounds best in an acoustic situation (be it a jam, your living room, whatever) may not always be the guitar that records best. sometimes guitars that record real nicely really suck as acoustic instruments.

 

[freshmattyp]

I would definitely check the Larrivees. IMO, the best guitars for the money. The L series record beautifully.

The bottom line is, when you find the right guitar, you will know it right away. I got one of the great Gibson's that Light refers to, a J45 that I got at Elderly. 10 seconds after I hit the first chord, I knew I had to own it. Even my wife, who knows bupkus about guitars told me I needed to get it. I have a wonderful Guild Jumbo, and a D15, but they just sit in the case most of the time while I give all my love to the Gibson.

 

[stonepiano]

I have a Gibson J-100 Ext I got right around a grand. you gotta like big guitars, tho.

The only other nice box I've had was an '82 Taylor 815 Jumbo with no cutaway. Stopped making them a while ago. Mine was stolen out of my car.

All in all, I like Taylors for the sound and gibson for the image. Hey, it may be vain but at least I'll admit it.

Miles

 

[tdukex]

Re: Go to a few stores

...Even if they are out of your price range now, if you're spending $1000, look at Collings and Santa Cruz...

Sure, by all means, play them as a reference, but you will not find a used Collings or Santa Cruz anywhere near $1,000, or we'd all be playing them. As a matter of fact, you will be lucky to find one under $2,000--except for the Cruz PW Series.

 

[Outlaws]

Re: i'm with Light

...taylor...IMO, they're guitars for girls and born-again christian ministers. or at least for people who prefer low action over good tone.

...taylors are more suited for those who are used to playing strats.....where martins are more like playing a tele.

I couldn't agree more.

hey whats this....?

I play a Martin AND a tele


I still gotta give Taylor props for when you need a slick sounding acoustic guitar solo. My hand doesn't go above the 15th fret for any reason anymore. I don't want a case of that carpletunnlesyndrome stuff......

 

[mrface2112]

<<I play a Martin AND a tele >>

funny that......so do i. i seem to recall there being several threads (both here and over at the UMGF) where it's pretty uncanny how many Martin players also favor Tele's over other electrics.

we must have gotten the "smart" genes

<<I still gotta give Taylor props for when you need a slick sounding acoustic guitar solo>>

very true. and they sound pretty good plugged in. both of those i attribute to the height of the action. and we do owe Bob Taylor some credit--he's certainly helped make a lot of strides in keeping guitars (and necks in particular) consistent through the use of CNC machines (which Martin now uses as well). and i hear he's a friendly enough guy, much like Senor Martin.

i play above 12 on my Martin, but not all that frequently. i don't have (or want) a cutaway (keep those things away from my acoustic!), so it makes it difficult, and yeah, the action gets a little outta hand.....although the intonation is perfectly fine. if i want an "up high screamin solo" on a track, i reach for an electric. it's just easier that way.


a co-conspirator of mine plays (and swears by) fender acoustics. i've never dug plywood guitars, but his fender's got absurdly low action on it (lower than my tele, it seems) and plugged in, it sounds closer to a hollowbody electric (he's got some sort of no-name soundhole pickup).


wade

 

[jt93]

get a good martin. the 000-15ce is great for recording, built in pickup, cutaway, mahogony body (really softens the sound compared to a 000-1). i got mine for about 8-900.