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Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic

81 by Krev
Krev wrote: Thu Oct 28, 2021 11:47 am I have a 1991 Seagull S6 Cedar. While not an expensive guitar, I had a luthier add a bone nut and saddle with rosewood bridge pins while getting the frets leveled. It really sounds and plays great. I just tracked with it. The EB Earthwoods strings seem to sound best.

They're hard to find, but BC Rich made incredible acoustics. That was their stock in trade prior to outlandish electrics.
I've come to hate this Seagull for some reason. I think I'm going to sell it soon. I've always liked the (overpriced) Gibson acoustics, as well as 60's Harmony.
We're headed for social anarchy when people start pissing on bookstores.

Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic

82 by eephus
eephus wrote: Wed Nov 17, 2021 9:06 pm If I needed a new acoustic, I'd ask Elisha to make me one. The little one at Electrical is terrific.

Other than one of Elisha's, I'd probably never buy a new acoustic. Too easy to find barely used ones or old ones that are good and less money.

My experiences mirror much of what has already been said, but it wouldn't be the internet w/o pointless redundancy.

My first acoustic was the cheapest Yamaha. It's pretty good. i still have it. Yamaha is the best bargain in acoustic guitars.

70s Guild F50, great guitar, doesn't have that bloated sound some big guys have. Andy Cohen and I were in the market for a small-body acoustic but couldn't turn it down when we found it. What Elisha said re neck set--it'll need one at some point, and they're a little tricky and not cheap to do

Old Martins can be amazing. It's tough to say how they are now b/c so many diff price points. Some are genuinely not good. Gotta play it and see. I have a Martin baritone 12-string that I'll never get rid of.

I'm not an expert, but Goodalls are my favorite nosebleed-level guitars. I have a baritone and love it.

The other acoustics I have are a little Spanish guitar that Geoff Benge fixed up that is neat and a little '30s Sovereign that a place in Seattle had underpriced. It's really really great, incredibly thin and resonant top. The plain old Sovereigns predate the Harmony Sovereigns--those are different, drier, boxier sounding guitars IIRC.

Setup really matters, more than an electric even. I brought the Guild into Geoff once for some basic intonation thing (I thought) and he said "I can tell you without looking at it that it needs a neck reset." And it did. And it played perfectly and sounded great when he was done.
Incredibly important updates below

Yamaha: I put new strings on my $150 Yamaha, and it sounds shockingly good. Relayed this info to various parties and heard other stories about used/abused cheap Yamahas that are beloved and have gotten better over time.

Martin: I fell in love with a 1927 2-17 and sold a bunch of stuff so I could buy it. Super light and fragile, sounds so great.

Goodall: One of the things I sold to get the Martin was my Goodall baritone, which I don't miss, as it turns out.

Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic

83 by elisha wiesner
Krev wrote: Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:56 am I've come to hate this Seagull for some reason. I think I'm going to sell it soon. I've always liked the (overpriced) Gibson acoustics, as well as 60's Harmony.
If you want a non-overpriced Gibson, I've been pretty impressed with the current Epiphpone Inspired by Gibson series J-45's. I've had 2 of them come through the shop for setups and both sounded and played like a modern Gibson J-45. I think they're $750 new and like $500 used are definitely worth checking out.

Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic

85 by penningtron
elisha wiesner wrote: Tue Dec 19, 2023 7:35 pm If you want a non-overpriced Gibson, I've been pretty impressed with the current Epiphone Inspired by Gibson series J-45'.
Yeah, I pulled one of the 'bird' models off the rack kind of recently and was surprised how much I liked it. Probably not the holy grail of toan or anything (besides the floor model strings were pretty dead) but it felt real good.
Music

Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic

86 by frighteners
I play the acoustic guitar maybe 1% of the time, but have recently felt the pull of a "real" acoustic (ie., am turning 40 in a few months). My current acoustic guitar is a Harmony H1265, which looks amazing, plays super well (has had a neck reset, etc.) and sounds... okay. Admittedly put the current pickup in there for the look - needed more tortoiseshell! - but even acoustically, the ladder bracing gives it a very particular kind of tone. It's also fussy as hell. Most temperamental instrument I've owned for sure.

Anyway. Had talked myself down from very fancy (Waterloo, Iris) to practical-fancy (Taylor AD, Martin 15 series). Found this Yamaha LL6M in a pawnshop a few days ago for $250 and I love it, gold tuners aside. Really balanced, full but not boomy, clear but warm highs. Plays great, zero fuss (so far). Not perfect but more than scratches the itch. Another cheer for the cheap Yamaha.

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Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic

87 by penningtron
frighteners wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 8:16 amMy current acoustic guitar is a Harmony H1265, which looks amazing, plays super well (has had a neck reset, etc.) and sounds... okay. Admittedly put the current pickup in there for the look - needed more tortoiseshell! - but even acoustically, the ladder bracing gives it a very particular kind of tone.
Yeah. It's kinda fun in a smaller guitar: all midrange 'honk', but could see it being a bummer for a big guitar you're looking to fill a room with. The Baxendale X brace conversions look cool, haven't had a chance to try one.
Music

Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic

89 by llllllllllllllllllll
I’ve gotten used to the Taylor my dad gave me a page or so back and recorded with it alot, and I don’t want to mess with it now. I think part of the issue I had was that its ‘harder’ to record than the other small bodied old guitar I have, if only because there is so much more low end on the Taylor - but you can also really ‘play’ the microphone, sort of like you can change sounds with a pickup selector or knobs on an electric or something. Note that I do not know what I’m doing.

The Hensel is great and does what it does and sounds like it sounds, but with much less work, even if it plays like a bear. Any mic I put on it sounds great, but a sdc has the sound in the room jumping out of the monitors. It also responds better to right hand microphones than the Taylor does. I really need to get the Hensel dude overhauled but I’ve got so much junk in line for repair. I haven’t even restrung it in god knows how long.

While I’m at it, if yall ever want to try a cheap-ish compressor for finger style acoustic, I really like the FMR PBC6A for that application. It does ok for cowboy chord strummed stuff, though it can do that 90’s hitting the tape hard sort of thing, which sounds beautiful mixed back in with cleaner sounds.
frighteners wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 8:16 am I play the acoustic guitar maybe 1% of the time, but have recently felt the pull of a "real" acoustic (ie., am turning 40 in a few months). My current acoustic guitar is a Harmony H1265, which looks amazing, plays super well (has had a neck reset, etc.) and sounds... okay. Admittedly put the current pickup in there for the look - needed more tortoiseshell! - but even acoustically, the ladder bracing gives it a very particular kind of tone. It's also fussy as hell. Most temperamental instrument I've owned for sure.

Anyway. Had talked myself down from very fancy (Waterloo, Iris) to practical-fancy (Taylor AD, Martin 15 series). Found this Yamaha LL6M in a pawnshop a few days ago for $250 and I love it, gold tuners aside. Really balanced, full but not boomy, clear but warm highs. Plays great, zero fuss (so far). Not perfect but more than scratches the itch. Another cheer for the cheap Yamaha.

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That guitar on the left is beautiful.
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