JPF Home Page Forums Northeast US Chapter Message Boards Buffalo/Niagara Chapter Message Board Opinion: Best acoustic guitar??

So what's the best acoustic?

I say taylor...I think it blows martin out of the water on most models (I've played a few martins that were amazing though)

But seriously..I will never ever buy an acoustic other then taylor again I have a 410ce acoustic/electric...

Everytime I pick it up it sounds better...

cheers,
aj

Ah, dear, here we go again.

Taylor, Taylor, Taylor.

Y'all need to get out more.

Talk about Taylors generally mentions how "sweet" they are. Every Taylor I've played has been a little sweet sounding sissy guitar. Confections, trifles, cotton candy for the ear, will o' the wisps, ephemeral and without substance.

Give me a Jumbo Guild or a Gibson J-200 with - yes, wait for it - medium or heavy strings. For those that can wrap strong mitts around a grownup guitar, the sound is magnificent. In essence, they are pianos you can carry around. Instruments of Old Testament proportions. Axes that could have brought down the walls of Jericho with ease, had David only known. Nero could have extinguished the flames of Rome with the sound of my old neighbor's 1939 J-200. Of course, if you want a sweeter, lighter sound, the capability is there - and it's in your hands. Paris could have won the hand of Helen and the thousand ships would never have been launched, if he knew how to play on one of these "big-boy" guitars. Napoleon never would have left for Russia if Josephine could play in an open tuning on a Jumbo.

Let the flames begin! Sorry, couldn't help it - some of the folks around here are entirely too serious about their Taylors, and this "place" seems to have a Taylor fetish. To each his/her own.

But seriously, folks, there's a world of guitars out there. . . each with its own charm and magic and each one is the perfect tool for a particular job. Matching the tool with the job, now there's the task.

In this holiday season, shouldn't we drop by the Island of Misfit Guitars, perhaps, and rescue from obscurity an old Kalamazoo for swing guitar, dust off an old Regal and play some Mississippi John Hurt, and maybe polish up a Stella (my first guitar, sentimental favorite and choice of Leadbelly) for all-around?

If we really want to talk "best," there are smaller luthiers making incredible instruments. Even in the high end of what's readily available in the better shops, there are brands no one seems to mention here. . .

So maybe let's hear what you like as the right tool for the job if money were no object, versus practical, versus what do you actually play, or maybe if you had to have just one, and even then, what style do you play? You've condensed an entire discussion board into one question!

Besides, if my wife hears that one guitar will suffice for all the different ways I play, she'll make me get rid of the rest! (Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

I'm sure there's a place for the Taylors there as well, so don't fret. HA HA

SO which is best? That depends. What time is it? What are we gonna play?

Tag, you're it.



(can you guess that it's Friday morning and I don't feel like diving into my work!!??)

I gotta agree with Guild I have a Guild Twelve string that i bought new in '75 and it just gets better and better sounding
(I do regret that guild was not too good at finishes at that time but you can't beat the sound
Plugged in though I gotta go with Ovation/Adamas to me it's the best choice for stage

Martin- it must be a Love or hate guitar
I don't like them.

Taylor? my partner has a couple of them and loves them. I think they are "nice" but I feel my Adamas blows them away plugged in or acoustic I mean to me it seems absolutly perfect in playability, balanced tone, volume,intonation , every aspect that you want from a guitar.

and One can never have Too many guitars
But,
there seems to be balance between the number of guitars I have versus my wife's diamond collection
(hey what ever it takes)

Wow, diamonds, that's harsh. Well, as you say, whatever it takes - that's the spirit!

We had this "best" conversation recently when a group of folks in our neighborhood were all considering getting guitars for their 9th grade sons (they can take guitar in school - woo-hoo!) and wanted advice from the only guitarist they knew. Ovation, Takamine, etc. was the recommendation I gave - once again the right tool for the job. Of course, my son has recently been seen sneaking moments with my Guild more and more frequently. But he's figured out Travis picking (darn him!) and I haven't, so I guess I won't complain.

G

You obviously haven't played a Taylor Jumbo body guitar, it sings like an angel. I've played a guild jumbo, and it was awsome, but I felt like the taylor's notes were more crisp...I do have to say that gibson makes some incredible acoustics.

But Taylor is still the best in my mind...

cheers,
aj

They're all individuals, with their own voices (and feelings, too, I submit). Depends on what day of the week they were made, what the weather was like on the day the tree was cut down, where that particular batch of wood came from, etc. etc.

Your wonderful Taylor may have been put together on a Friday, and be better than the Monday Taylors from the same shop. Which is why I poke fun at any blanket statements of X versus Y. Now if you want to compare individual guitars, I'll retreat to saying it's a matter of taste, and I like a great big sound.

I want to stand on the bow of the QEII and dissolve icebergs just by playing. I want to part the Red Sea with an open D. I want to strum it at the beach to keep the tide from coming in, or stand on the levee and keep the Mighty Mississip from flooding the fields, while making all the little fishies jump out of the water and dance. Or stand in the intersection and stop speeding cars.

My mighty Guild with fat strings can do that. Really. No amplification required.

It can also cure cancer and stop the spread of the flu. And it's non-fattening and sugar free, and a safe alternative to Viagra.

Really.

aj, I'll make you a deal. Send me your Taylor (pack it up real safe first) and send it to me. I'll play it for 20 years and let you know how I like it! If I don't agree that it's better, I'll send it back. Otherwise I'll keep it. Sound good? You might make a Taylor believer out of me - wouldn't that be worth it?

This offer is also open to anyone with old Gibsons or Martins, heck, just about anybody.
At the end of the 20 years I'll let you know which one I like the best. I'll post the results here, anonymously, from an undisclosed location.

Cheers, and have a great weekend,

G

I have to agree with gunslinger...I would love to get my hands on an old Gibson, particuarly a J45. Just a bit outta my price range though. I do have an Epiphone J200 reissue, and while it's not a Gibson, it records great, has a huge sound, and is just damn pretty to look at. Never cared for Ovations...they just seem so 70's to me and the round back is uncomfortable. I play a Yamaha Compass Series for live shows, a CPX-8, which is a little smaller than my J200, which BTW doesn't have electronics. The Yamaha has a thinner neck, which took some getting used to after playing the Epiphone. The Yamaha is kinda similar to a Taylor, but I feel you get much more for the money from Yamaha. My guitar retails at $1300.00, and it has a Sitka Spruce top, Rosewood sides and back and has two way electronics, with a condenser mic mounted inside and a piezo in the bridge. The panel on the side has 3 band EQ with sweepable mids and controls to blend mic and piezo. You're lucky to get just the Taylor for $1300.00. I like it alot, it sounds fantastic plugged in and unplugged. I think the whole Taylor fad comes from the fact that they're so playable, and the transition for someone that plays mainly electric guitar is almost seamless. In the end, it's all a matter of personal preference...if I could just get a Gibson J45 with the electronics my Yamaha has, it'd be pretty close to heaven.

Davey O.

I've always thought that Yamaha made some nice motorcycles...
but guitars...
eh...
they'er "pretty" with the plastic finish and all........
and Sam's Club has them on sale
ha ha ha

[This message has been edited by deanbell (edited 12-16-2003).]

[This message has been edited by deanbell (edited 12-16-2003).]

that's cold.

I had to say something.....
he diss'd Ovation
but I guess
ignorance is bliss

P.S.
if it wasn't for Ovation
You probobly wouldn't be plugging your
motorcycle... I mean guitar in to an amp

Umm...whatever...Ovations have quite a bit of plastic on them. The nice thing about Ovations is that once you can't play 'em anymore, you can remove the top and serve chips and dip in the handy dandy plastic bowl...HA!!! Just riflin' ya Dean...how's the ME model doin' for ya???
Davey O.

[This message has been edited by 3daveyO3 (edited 12-16-2003).]

all in good fun Davey
I'm glad you took it well
You know I respect your music and what you do
dean

Dean,
BTW, as an aside to the Yamaha guitar/motorcycle argument, Yamaha has been making musical instruments (mainly pianos) for well over 100 years, long before the motorcycle was invented. Just something I thought I'd throw in to the mix!

Davey O.

------------------
Davey O. Music (ASCAP)
http://www.daveyomusic.freehosting.net
http://www.cdbaby.com/daveyo1
http://www.cdbaby.com/daveyo2
http://www.cdbaby.com/daveyo3

yeah I knew that
but actualy
Harley davidson just had thier 100th birthday and Indian was around before that
and I know yamaha makes great pianos
(my daughter has one)

it's everyone's taste and we are all right!

I do love my Adamas ME though
and I have never heard better, fuller, more perfect ring or tone
dean

Just to jump back in, a friend of mine had an Ovation years ago, when they were fairly new. My complaint (a minor one) was that when I tried to play it sitting down, it wouldn't stay put. It would literally slide away from me when I was trying to play. Of course this wouldn't happen standing up using a strap but most of the time we were just sitting around jamming.

More recently, as a choice for my 14 year old son, it was near the top of the list, since they're so durable. (Instead, he just borrows my stuff) I never really liked the strange little soundhole patterns on their high-end stuff, though. Too much of the aircraft-designer look showing through. . .
Definitely an option for high-risk gigging, though.

G

Oh man I had an ovation and yeah it sounded great (not as good as my taylor) but it is so annoying to have it sliding off your lap constantly...that's why I took the cover off of it and used it as a chip bowl. Thanks for the idea davey O.

cheers,
aj

yeah ya gotta give it to taylor
when i bought my BOAT at
"Dick's Sporting goods"
they threw in a couple of Taylors
to use as oars
the nice thing is they float if you drop one
and make pretty good campfire wood in a pinch
ha ha ha !

They make great flyswatters too.

that's not funny guys....there's no need to hurt anyone's feelings.

ok it was kind of funny...but I still disagree. Has anyone played the new entry level taylors or martins? I played a couple...and I have to say I was impressed.

Hi -
Regarding the lower end Martins - I bought one a while back - one of the "composite" ones. X-series. Price was right, and it was fun to play and sounded alright, but after a short time the top warped. (Stored in an air-conditioned house in a hard shell Martin case.) Totally uncool. To Martin's credit, they traded it out for a brand new one, but I would steer clear of that particular line. I then traded up to a "real" (i.e. wood) guitar.

Just one person's experience, but in my opinion that guitar should NOT have carried the Martin name.

I was totaly unimpressed by the entry level Taylors
I mean come on,
the big wood screws through the face of the fret board to hold the neck on?
and they feel like they could have used a little sanding
they too should not be called Taylors

Yeah I agree about the wood screws on the taylors...but I have to admit it played really well. Although I'm sure there are better acoustics for around $300-600, that's still not cheap.