Let's talk about acoustic guitars...

[Pearly Gator]

An acoustic guitar is standard faire on any worship team. In recordings, it adds that roundness that just makes a song come alive. I'm sitting here pondering the machine that any of us could lead worship with. Say for a congregation ranging from a group of two people, to twenty thousand people.

There are a few big name talents that lead worship from an acoustic. Christ Tomlin comes to mind, as does Paul Balouche and Steven Curtis Chapman. At a worship conference I recently attended, the acoustic guitar duties were usually covered with an electric acoustic of the mini-jumbo variety. Say, something along the lines of a Taylor 414. The mini-jumbo configuration allows easy access to higher frets and the smaller body is comfy. More so than say a dreadnought.

Alas, for us worshipers with day jobs and a family to support, a $2,000 acoustic electric is not a high priority item. Especially when our skills are done on a voluntary basis for the glory of God. I can barely afford the gas to drive to church. But..., I digress.

My current acoustic is a Seagull S6 CE. It's great for finger picking but performs less stellar when strumming with a pick. I sure miss that Yamaki Deluxe that was stolen in the 70's. It was modeled after a Martin D35. Solid spruce top, 3 piece rosewood back and mahogany sides.

Anyway, I'm thinking about a new acoustic. What acoustic do you own? What acoustic electric would you buy if you had $500 dollars laying around?

Yeah, like I have $500. :roll:

God bless,

Gator

[TheBigKevDogg]

I have a Taylor 710ce which I LOVE....but anyways for $500 I would shoot for a used 310ce/314ce (although I like dreads better). Sweet tone for the price range, and shines like a Taylor.

[kewlpack]

Hrm - hard to say. I want a great acoustic... there is a Taylor (dunno the model) for $2800 at GC - I drool over it every time I play it...

But I ain't ever gonna have that kinda $$$ to throw down on a single axe - unless I sell some CDs!!!

Erh - have to write some songs first... 8-[

The Ibanez AW and EW are good $500ish guitars. The Epiphone Masterbuilt are also good - more $$ tho - I think.

[jazzrat]

I'm mostly an electric guy but I play what the local mom 'n pop store has.
I really like the Seagull Artist's, especially the new ones since they change the way they set the neck. Much more playable. I also like the Garrisons which seem pretty nice (and loud).
They just started carrying the import line of Breedloves which are pretty nice. All things being equal I still think I'd buy a Seagull.
The acoustic player on the PM team has a Taylor 714, a Larivee Drednaught and a new Martin 12-string.
Nice guitars all, but for the money the Seagulls are no compromise at least to my sorry 120 decible fatigued ears.

[BoomXer]

In that price range you could get a Blueridge 140 or 160 (both solid wood dreadnaughts) and stick a K&K Pure Western pickup in it. I have a BR 143 (000 size) and think it's quite a good value. The BR guitars are based on Martin design spec's and generally get quite good reviews. I don't know that the finish is as good as a D28, but it comes at a fraction of the cost with a lot of the same tone.

[Barry]

I've got a Mitchell MD100S, which I got new around 2001 (after a long haitus of not playing at all) for about $270 (same time I got my Strat). It sounds great with good strings on it. The only thing I've used it for is recordings.

I've had a few other acoustics over the years, but I don't recall any details. All of them were inexpensive but sounded fine to me and served their purpose. Of course, I'd probably get something expensive if I really needed something high end, but I don't. Maybe I'd try for that Lakewood M54 that TheViking pointed out in this thread (http://guitaristsprais.forumsplace.com/message241.html). :cool:

Had a friend who had an Ovation back in the '80's. I liked the curved body design and the thing had a very nice, full sound.

Who knows, though. If the Lord leads me that way, I may wind up selling all the other stuff I have and just hang onto a decent acoustic when I retire. But, I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it. I've had a touch of GAS over some classical style acoustics I've seen out there.

[Teleguy]

...just hang onto a decent acoustic when I retire...


Not if your ears are like mine!

I need amps.
Big ones. :-s

[seagullplayer]

I think you have the right brand, might just need a different model.
I use an Seagull M6 Spruce top for everytime I don't plug in. I have used just a mic for about 200 people before. Otherwise I use an S6 Cedar CW with LR Baggs pickup. I was worried about the Cedar top and my strumming EVERYTHING, but it has not been a problem at all. I picked mine up used a couple months ago for about $350 =/- and that's with the Hardcase. (And don't forget a direct box)
I like the Seagull neck, seems much more forgiving. I can think more on leading Worship and less on chord changes...

[Pearly Gator]

Regarding the Seagull S6 cedar & cherry, mine is fine. I have two problems with it tho' - it's big and is thin sounding when strumming with a pick. I'd also prefer the looseness of a 24 3/4" scale acoustic, ala Gibson.

Garrison is a fine guitar. Another guitarist at church has one and it well made, good woods and great tone. Alas it's still a dreadnought.

I checked out the Blueridge 140 and 160. Nice looking acoustics.

What "mini-jumbos" are out there? Does Takamine make one with a solid top? Washburn?

PG

[Kitty]

Hi guys,

I think if I had $500 and could buy just one acoustic guitar to live with, I'd test drive several Seagulls and try to find one with a more rich and mellow sound. And of course, a nice pickup.

Speaking of pickups, I like the fact that I don't have to take the strings off to change the battery in my Martin, but then again, sometimes the battery compartment vibrates. It doesn't come through the pickup, but it annoys me. :???:

I kind of like the sound of Guild, but the neck feels too fat and flat to me. Some people are sold on Takamine, but I don't like them and I can't even really tell you why — I just don't. I had an Alvarez for 20 years before the headstock cracked and I was ready for something new by then so I didn't fix it (if that can even be done). Now when I play an Alvarez I just can't get used to the shape of the neck any more. It's sort of triangular or something.

Seagulls come the closest for me in how they feel when playing. And they have a really decent sound for the money.

But I don't really know that much about a lot of different brands. I don't drop in much on the gear topics around here because most of the time, I don't even know what you guys are talking about! You're rattling off brands of acoustic guitars that I've never even heard of. :-)

Kitty

[TheViking]

.....some of you guys know that my dad and I run a music store, we also do repair and setup on acoustics and electrics. That means I am getting to play quite a lot of acoustics in almost any price range. I have made some observations during the last years on acoustics.
1. The brand is by no means validation for a great sound, playability or feel.
2. Most brands are extremely uneven when it comes to the tonal qualities.
3. Most brands are extremely uneven when it comes to finish, craftsmanship and setup.
4. Price level and quality are often not matched, expensive guitars can be crappy and fairly cheap guitars can play and sound like a dream.
That is why I don’t pay much attention to what brand I am playing and more attention to what it feels like, sounds like and looks like.

My all time favorite is a Lakewood at $5800, I have played about 4 of the same make and model and one of them stood out like a gem between rocks. The were all more than good guitars but one of them had everything right

Then again I just worked through about 10 Martins, setting them up for 2 different customers, and the range in tonal quality and playability was enormous. Some were decent, others were great and some were right out crap.

The two biggest surprises I have had lately have been 2 second hand guitars at approx $300 and $250. The first one is a Washburn, about 5 yrs old, minimal play wear, a couple of dings and scratches but that baby sounds like half a zillion bucks plugged in. The other one was a Jasmine (Takamines cheap brand) I compared it with a several times more expensive Takamine and everything about the cheap one was better.

[Micter]

Well I have a Takamine G series that goes for about $1000 new. I got it for $300 and it is as good as anything I've played. Rosewood back and sides, sitka spruce top, great piezo and pre amp. I would also say look at Carvin's Cobalt series. They are made in Korea at the Cort plant but pretty good for the money.

[Pearly Gator]

Rosewood back and sides, sitka spruce top... all yummy tone woods Micter. Sounds like the ingredients for a Martin D35. Anyone making a cool D35 clone now days?

Viking, I've heard from reputable sources that Washburn has some excellent acoustic electrics. What model did you like? And a hearty AMEN to variations within brands and models. I'll be pondering that on my trip tomorrow. Mrs. Gator bought me tickets to see the king this weekend and on the way I'll hit a lot of music stores and pawn shops.

Huh? Wha..? Oh, not THAT king. I have tickets to see BB King Friday night. :cool: That means I will have seen two of The Blues Kings in my life - Albert and BB.

Report to be posted after I get back.

Later,

Gator

[Crunchyriff]

Okay- we have classical (very close to my heart) and steel-string, and I take it we are covering the latter...

Kitty- I hear ya on the Takamines. I've been a Takamine player for 30 years, and I much prefer (to a large degree) the 70's Martin clones they made to the new ones- the former were absolutely superb guitars.

I currently own a Tak. EF341C (named the 'Bruce Springsteen model' for awhile, I guess- pfft! ); and though it sounds & records FABULOUS, I just can't quite take a liking to the neck shape on it, not even after 10 years... I bought it in 1995. I like some of their more recent guitars (the Santa Fe, etc); but if and when I buy another steel-string I'll go elsewhere.

Seagull makes a great bang for the buck guitar, as does Carvin.

I'm not going to get into other uh, 'boutique' models like Santa Cruz, Larrivee, etc. here. I haven't spent enough quality time with any of those to give a real honest assesment aside from the obvious.

As far as classical guitars, Takamine's upper-end (Hirade I think) sound great, I found one that was just mind-blowingly gorgeous sounding; but again, the shape of the back of the neck feels un-natural.

OTOH, Ramierez sounds great and fits my hand great- feels like home.

[ptrallan01]

Try a washburn EA36, particularly if you're looking for an acoustic electric. Its a discontinued model made in korea but a very nice acoustic. Birds Eye maple with grover tuners and instead of your normal sound hole 7 slits for openings. The electronics have a three band graphic equalizer, contour and volume. and will work with both 1/4 inch and XLRs.

They go for anywhere between 350 and 500 dollars on ebay or pawnshops. Not tremendous volume unplugged but okay. Plugged in they sound very good.

Peter

[stephen]

I'm so acustomed to playing electric, I have a hard time finding an acoustic I can be comfortable with. I used to be a Martin D-15 fanatic. I love the tone, and if you find the right one, it plays nice. I think there about $750.00 .

Notice I said used to be a Martin D-15 fanatic. If I had the $650.00 bucks, I'd pop for an Epiphone Masterbuilt Rosewood. Sweeeeeeet! Great tone, excelent projection, with lots of sustain and clarity, but most of all, I could play it for hours! It is so comfortable in my hands.

The bad draw-back: no pick-up. I dunno, I'd hate to have to pay for a pup bein installed, and risk loosing any of the tone.

[Barry]

The bad draw-back: no pick-up. I dunno, I'd hate to have to pay for a pup bein installed, and risk loosing any of the tone.

Why install one? There are decent acoustic pups out there that you can attach to the sound hole when you need that kind of thing and remove it when you don't. I got one for my acoustic. I should've shopped around a little more before I bought 'cause what I got makes it sound like a cheap electric. But then, just a SM57 angled at the sound hole works well, too.

[Brian]

I don't have a stable full of high end acoustic guitars and haven't seriously test driven acoustic guitars for a LONG time but some rambling comments...

As Kitty and Viking noted, even amongst identical makes and models, (acoustic) guitars each have their own unique voice. Like our own voice they will sound different depending on the style, emotion, and technique we use to fit the piece we are playing. Many great players use effects to get a different voice. Other than a pretty transparent touch of reverb and sometimes delay, I don't; my loss I'm sure.

When I bought my Taylor DCSM in 1996 I purchased it for it's acoustic voice. I then began find a system (ex. pickup, preamp, eq, amp) to try to faithfully amplify the guitar's voice. At the time I bought a TrueTone M7 3-way pickup system (bridge plate transducer, hi & lo mics, mono out, no cut). I have to loosen the strings to change the battery but not remove them. Today I completely agree with BXr's comment about K&K Pure Western. K&K provides great sound and extrordinary value.

During my 8 month search while I diligently saved up the money I carefully compared literally dozens of guitars in all price ranges. It was a marvelous journey! The best sounding guitars I played were a Martin M-36, D16-SPR (Special rosewood), and most of the Taylors (8xx, 7xx 510). Runner ups included the Martin D-18, D-28, 2-HD-28s, D-35, Taylor 514C, and a believe it or not a Gibson Blues King Electro. The Gibson J-200 and Guild Jumbo made honorable mention. All of the Asian imports I test drove at the time sounded like they were stuffed with socks in comparison. So did the other Guild models I played. Things may have changed since then.

My DCSM has the thinnest neck of any of my guitars. It's also the most fatiguing to play barre chords on. I like to play as much open voicing as possible on a flattap though. Conversely the nearly baseball bat-sized non-reinforced neck on my acoustic archtop is very comfortable with the same gauge strings and a higher action. The V-neck is also supposed to be less tiring to play barre chords.

We are in a golden age of lutherie today and there are budding luthiers selling incredible hand-built instruments for just $200 - $400 over the $500 PG wants to spend.

For $500 I suggest playing a LOT of guitars in all price ranges to get an idea of the voice you are looking for, a lot of prayer, and trust in the Lord to provide and guide you to the guitar that will be your testimony to glorify Him. :angel

[Teleguy]

I've searched far and wide for an acoustic that floats my boat, ever since I traded off my '61 J-45 (that's a Gibson round shouldered mahogany/spruce job there Kitty) for a trombone for one of the kids.

My present acoustic ride is a solid cedar topped Art&Luthiery, that sounds great and plays fine.
It isn't fancy, $185 dollars, slightly shop worn but new.

Like Brian, I play mostly electric these days.

Acoustic guitars are boring. :sprint:

[Kitty]

I traded off my '61 J-45 (that's a Gibson round shouldered mahogany/spruce job there Kitty)
Hey, you can be my interpreter! :lol:


Acoustic guitars are boring. :sprint:
Ummmm.... it ain't the guitar, bro. :angel

[UncleMarker]

Why install one? There are decent acoustic pups out there that you can attach to the sound hole when you need that kind of thing and remove it when you don't. I got one for my acoustic. I should've shopped around a little more before I bought 'cause what I got makes it sound like a cheap electric.

All of the sound hole pickups I've heard have that characteristic "almost electric" sound, even some rather expensive ones. Bridge pickups seem to have a much more natural sound... I'll stick to my Ovation for plug-and-play!

[Teleguy]

Acoustic guitars are boring. :sprint:
Ummmm.... it ain't the guitar, bro. :angel


Ow!

WaaaaaaH...

[SAguitar]

That comment would apply to me, too. I don't know what it is, but I'm just comfortable on electrics, and feel so limited when I pick up my acoustic. Last time I restrung it, I played it for about ten minutes, and the poor thing went back in its box. A shame, I used to log a lot of hours, and lots of Sunday worship sets, on it. Maybe I've just gone over to the dark side... :dunno

[Crunchyriff]

Acoustic guitars are boring.

HA! another swizzle-stick!!

You know, I'd have to side with you Tele-guy to a degree. I think because the nature of an acoustic guitar is fairly narrow in scope, I mean, let's face it, you have a body, bridge, soundhole, pick and strings- that's it to shape your tone...whereas the electric can be WAY more tonally flexible; what I'm saying is, this limitation makes the acoustic guitar's voice even THAT much more important. There are only so many tonal directions to go with on an acoustic, that ya better have real 'moving', quality tone to work with. At least for me, that is.

Again, for me, if what I hear & feel out of the instrument doesn't inspire me, my playing may not be as impassioned- it's like trying to talk and all the words coming out of yer mouth are wrong, so you eventually keep your talking (playing) to a minimum, or just shut up entirely.

I've played acoustic 6 and 12-string guitar for so many years that I have to have a REAL GOOD acoustic guitar "feel and sound", to hold my attention for very long.

Otherwise I'll fire up my electrics & Marshalls and fahghetaboutit..

[Pearly Gator]

Careful, kids! Robert Johnson played the acoustic guitar exclusively.

http://www.srv.net/~wako/robert_johnson_medium.gif

Alas, if I only had half his talent.



Gator

[OlsonAcoustic]

I am sorry I missed this! I have been on a mission trip so I am a bit out dated.

$500 range? I second the vote for a Seagul, and do so without a doubt. A typical Seagul dread with an LR Baggs pre installed is a top notch guitar that I would hold up against any Martin for tone and playability. I no longer own one but have played various seagul guitars that blew my mind.

Also, a Big Baby Taylor with an I-Beam is an unreal combo. I have 3 Big Babies and the one I use the most is the I-Beam/Rare Earth combo soldered to a stereo plug that I drilled and installed all myself.

I have had guys with $4000 Martins drop their junk and beg to know what I had when they hear it live.

I use a Taylor 315ce as my primary stage guitar and swear by it above any other stage Taylor I own or have played. It just got back from a Navajo reservation tour (our mission trip) and did very well. All it has is a standard Fishy Prefix preamp, and thats about all one needs to belnd into a worship mix effectivly. Taylors are a mess of numbers that represent prices and prestige, but mean nothing when compared with each other by ear. My 315ce is by far the best sounding acoustic unplugged of any Taylor I have ever played. Ritchie Furray dropped his 914ce in favor of my 315ce the last time we played together. Now that says something, especially when a 315ce and a 914ce have about a $2,500 diff in price. I think he got his for free though, just so Taylor could stick his name on the Taylor sightings list. :roll: