Page 2 of 11
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:21 am
by seby
losthighway wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:51 am
Dudley wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 7:05 am
Ta! I done learned sumthin.
Same.
So I suppose (perhaps obviously) a floating bridge means having a tail piece just like on an electric.
Yup. These are usually screwed into the side of the lower bout and fold over onto the top of the body. Being hollow, they cannot be screwed into the top of acoustics.
Very often archtops to get the right tension over the bridge, but not always. Big 12 string flattops will often have floating bridges as the tension of twelve strings in heavy gauge tuned to standard is fierce. Trying to counter it with a regular pinned bridge requires a lot of extra wood inside to guitar to stop the bridge from twisting outwards and tearing out of the guitar.
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:38 am
by motorbike guy
Ii had a martin guitar in the mid 90s, I forget what model it was. I paid about $1800 for it, so it was not the cheapest but it was no where near the nicest one.
it was a great sounding guitar. yeah, string tension was quite high, you had to work pretty hard to make it sing, but when you really bore down, it really sounded great and pretty loud. sold it as I needed the money for something else. that's all I got.
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:50 am
by cakes
You could get a great sounding acoustic for under a grand. I bet you could find something vintage no one else wants for a steal. One piece of gear that I wish I never sold was an acoustic guitar I bought off of a friend's brother for $150. I think the brand was Sigma. It sounded and felt amazing. If you want to drop the cash, I don't think you'd need to break the bank to find an acoustic that you love that sounds good and plays well if you spend the time looking.
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:55 am
by seby
losthighway wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:12 pm
seby wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 4:41 pm
What sort of stuff do you play? Plectrum or fingerstyle? What size guitar would you like? Pinned bridge or floating? 12 fret or 14? Fan braced or ladder? Brighter or darker tone? Wide or narrow nut? What shape neck do you like? Would an archtop be a consideration?
I suppose that's part of the mission. Although I've been playing acoustic guitar for two decades, I haven't learned the finer details of their construction.
Having a pinned bridge has been convenient, but I suppose I don't know the benefit of having a floating one (intonation sounds tough that way, if you mean the bridge is held in place by string tension like some hollow body electrics). I think I've mainly played a 14 fret guitar, which I suppose has been nice for doing occasional overdubs with a capo way up high, but I don't know that it's terribly important to me. I hate cutaways, aesthetically though.
As for fan braced vs ladder? No idea.
I'm pretty adaptable to necks. I don't play incredibly technically so my style has been pretty adaptable. I've played interchangeably on Gibson and Fender necks and different scale lengths in my electric guitar life, so I can adjust to anything that isn't too severe.
As for overall tone. I mainly play with a pick, but I fingerpick on occasion. I use guitar a lot to accompany singing. I've seen the appeal of both ends of the tone spectrum. There's something exciting about little parlor style guitars where the notes just project right out of the body with so much definition, but I've picked up a jumbo and felt the richness of root position chords and alternate/dropped tunings. But then with the parlor guitars I think they might feel a little tinny as a vocal accompaniment, and those big dark tones might be a little harder to capture well in the studio.
I suppose I use an acoustic mainly the way a lot of typical singer songwriters might, so a classic dreadnought approach is probably the best middle ground, but that's probably a terribly broad generalization about even 'classic dreadnoughts'.
Where are you based geographically?
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:08 am
by Nate Dort
cakes wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:50 am
I think the brand was Sigma. It sounded and felt amazing.
Sigma was Martin's MIJ budget line. My dad bought one (DM-5, I think?) new in 1974-ish and still has it. Plays and sounds like a much more expensive guitar.
Vintage Guild is still my go-to recommendation. I'm a fan of the louder/darker/fuller tone that a curved-back D-25 produces.
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:08 am
by tommy
Nate Dort wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:08 am
cakes wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:50 am
I think the brand was Sigma. It sounded and felt amazing.
Sigma was Martin's MIJ budget line. My dad bought one (DM-5, I think?) new in 1974-ish and still has it. Plays and sounds like a much more expensive guitar.
Vintage Guild is still my go-to recommendation. I'm a fan of the louder/darker/fuller tone that a curved-back D-25 produces.
Was coming here to say this. I also have a MIJ Sigma DM-5 I picked up two years ago on the cheap. Feels great. Sounds nice. My top does have a little lift behind the bridge (which still seems fully glued), but my action is still pretty low so I'm not super worried about it. There's also plenty of saddle left it it ever needs to be lowered. I mean, it was a $150 guitar.
Recommended if you can find one!
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:09 am
by turnbullac
If I were to get another acoustic I’d look into 70s-80s Guilds.
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:18 am
by penningtron
turnbullac wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:09 am
If I were to get another acoustic I’d look into 70s-80s Guilds.
Great guitars but definitely try one first, they can feel big compared to Martin-like models.
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:49 am
by brownreasontolive
Kniferide wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 1:26 am
I actually like cheaper Acoustic Guitars more than expensive ones, especially for recording (looking at you early 80's Yamaha!)
I've played some expensive acoustic guitars that felt beautiful(in terms of playability), but recorded like absolute shit, and were otherwise uncomfortable to use.
It's hard getting into a performance on a guitar I'm completely terrified of doing the slightest bit of damage to.
My Yamaha F310's and Matsumoku built Epiphone FT-120 still seem to be that best acoustics for my taste and use.
They may need a fresh pack of strings every other time they come out of the case, but nothing has every worked for me as well.
But you want to know about the spendy stuff.
I've always wanted a 00-15 Martin.
Guild d-40 is one I often think about as well.
Re: Buying a for real (i.e. expensive) acoustic
Posted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:51 pm
by Kniferide
brownreasontolive wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:49 am
Guild d-40 is one I often think about as well.
I also like Guilds. The necks are usually pretty nice.