Shopping for an acoustic...

[Theedge070]

I currently only play electrics. I have a '01 3-tone Sunburst single-coiled Strat with a maple neck. She's a beauty and I'm NEVER letting her go.

I also have an '03 Sunburst Epiphone Les Paul with dual humbuckers. I've had the LP for about a year now, and I'm ready to sell it. Selling it isn't the problem, I know what I'm doing in terms of getting maximum profit for it.

I've been on the market for an acoustic for a while and I've just now gotten around to actually playing some of them.

I've been playing a ton of Taylors and a few Martins. I've been going to the local GC and playing this one Taylor 110 that I've fallen in love with. Then my guitar teacher told me Taylors basically suck, they're not worth the money, yadda yadda. I guess he's had plenty of rough experiences with them in the past.

So today I played the same Taylor 110 and 2 other Martins that were priced around $750 each. I don't know the exact models of the Martins.

So what do you guys think? Since my teacher told me about all the problems he's had with Taylors, it seems I'm veering towards the Martins now...and it's confusing me and making my head itch. And I don't like it, so it definitely needs to stop...

 

[OnFire]

I currently only play electrics. I have a '01 3-tone Sunburst single-coiled Strat with a maple neck. She's a beauty and I'm NEVER letting her go.

I'm not a huge Taylor fan but I would take whatever your instructor says with a grain of salt. They generally are well built and suprisingly consistent. The reason most people fall in love with them in the store and hate them latter is because they are easy playing guitar out of the factory but the bright, jangly tone gets on your nerves after awhile.

The guitar I like at the $750 price you mentioned is a 3 series Larrivee. You also get all solid wood construction instead of laminated back & sides with the 100 and 200 series Taylors. I like those Taylors better than the competing Martin models in that price range though, but I tend to think of Martins as being generally overated anyway so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Also, avoid Guitar Center or any mega-box retailer if you can, your probably not going to get the best price there despite thier high volume and certainly not the best service. Check out Larrivee's website for a dealer in your area, they generally only deal with regional shops that are competetive and customer service oriented. Even if you don't want a Larrivee, chances our one of their dealers is going to offer you a better guitar for your money than GC.

http://www.larrivee.com/data/dealers/dealers.htm

Mostly, trust your own eyes, ears and fingers. You know how to play and what you like so the right acoustic should find you if you look hard enough.

 

[discothequeLP]

Theedge070, can i buy your guitar?

 

[Theedge070]

Theedge070, can i buy your guitar?

Are you serious?

 

[discothequeLP]

yeah, the les paul. i'm sort of interested.

 

[Theedge070]

yeah, the les paul. i'm sort of interested.

Hmm, okay, do you have AIM? If you do, my sn is taylor0110 (I'm anxious to buy a Taylor haha )

 

[DignityPassesBy]

Buy a maton they're heaps good ... i like them anyway ... dont know if you can get them in the US though

 

[OnFire]

Buy a maton they're heaps good ... i like them anyway ... dont know if you can get them in the US though

Those are Australian made right? Never played one or seen one in the US but I've heard nothing but good things about them from owners. Probably would be very pricey even if available in the US.

Larrivee! Check out the Larrivee before you buy that Taylor!

 

[Theedge070]

Those are Australian made right? Never played one or seen one in the US but I've heard nothing but good things about them from owners. Probably would be very pricey even if available in the US.

Larrivee! Check out the Larrivee before you buy that Taylor!

Yeah, I did. They're not exactly in my price range. I want a 110 series Taylor, which is around $500, maybe a little less.

I've officially put my LP into the want ads here, for $450 total, including case. The LP itself is in primo condition. Sunburst, perfect condition, plus SKB custom case.

 

[OnFire]

Yeah, I did. They're not exactly in my price range. I want a 110 series Taylor, which is around $500, maybe a little less.

That's a nice git for that price. The only thing I can think of that you might want to compare it to in that price range is a Godin acoustic, which go by the brands, Seagull, Simon & Patrick and Norman. I have a Seagull and like it alot but as an electric player you probably wouldn't like the wide neck.

http://www.godinguitars.com/

 

[DignityPassesBy]

Those are Australian made right? Never played one or seen one in the US but I've heard nothing but good things about them from owners. Probably would be very pricey even if available in the US.

Larrivee! Check out the Larrivee before you buy that Taylor!

Yeah they're Australian. Mine was $750 over here the expensive ones are the best guitars if i can ever afford one i'd definatly buy it they sound sooooo good they're about $3000 over here i dont think they'd be that much over in the US but if you ever get a chance to play one have a go you'll love it

 

[Theedge070]

I went to the local Guitar Center today with my friend (thefly418) because he wants to buy/learn how to play, too.

So he went through a bunch of guitars before he settled on a black-on-red Gibson SG with open humbuckers. I don't think he bought it, he's gonna pick it up in the morning, or something.

ANYWHOO!

I brought him to my heaven (the acoustic room) and we hung out in there for a few minutes. I picked up the Taylor and found it was just the way I left it, all tuned, looking pretty. I started to strum the verse of Angel of Harlem (C-C, F-F-F) and I said "you recognize this?" Before I finished strumming the first transition he goes "pft...Angel of Harlem..." And right away, I knew he had a good ear. I went through the song and got to the "she's got heart and soul" part, where you go Am-G-F and back into the verse, and he started to sing along, knowing exactly where I was in the song the whole time.

 

[discothequeLP]

can i ask where that guitar center was?

 

[Theedge070]

can i ask where that guitar center was?

Danvers, Massachusetts

 

[OnFire]

I hear you on the acoustic room, there's always just way too much over amplified wanking going on in the main rooms. Last time I was at Guitar Center though, I was leaving the acoustic room and came a cross a nice Epi LP sitting on a stand with a cord nearby plugged into a amp that was still on.

Since I don't own an electric yet I have maybe two or three electric guitar licks that I know, one of them being In a Little While which I started to play. Almost immediately, the song starts blaring over the in-store stereo system. I played along with it until the end and bolted before the sales rep found me.

 

[Theedge070]

I hear you on the acoustic room, there's always just way too much over amplified wanking going on in the main rooms. Last time I was at Guitar Center though, I was leaving the acoustic room and came a cross a nice Epi LP sitting on a stand with a cord nearby plugged into a amp that was still on.

Since I don't own an electric yet I have maybe two or three electric guitar licks that I know, one of them being In a Little While which I started to play. Almost immediately, the song starts blaring over the in-store stereo system. I played along with it until the end and bolted before the sales rep found me.

Yeah, I hear you on that last part. If you wanna play one of the guitars in there, you better have the skill and balls to do it, because everybody will be looking at you and if you slip up...well lets not go there....