Acoustic Guitar Recommendation

[MNAirHead]

Howdy.

I'm looking to buy an another acoustic guitar.

Reason I post here, is that we bass kids have a funky ear development.. also a strange sense of feel (when it comes to guitar land)

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I currently have a Godin A6 and Japan built Ibanez Thin Line'

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The bass feel I prefer are the thin (all dimensions) and flat.

For bass feel, I"m most acustomed to Conklins and USA Peavey.

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My preference is to buy used and domestic if possible.



Any suggestions?

[Fat.Mike]

If your looking at intermediate budget guitars ($500-1000), I would reccomend Blueridge. Chinese made, solid woods, well built, thin necks, and plenty available used. I would avoid the cheaper martins. Just paying for a name there, and the laminate necks are hidious imo.

What is your budget? What shape you looking for (D, OM, 0, 00, 000)? Features desired?

[erock0138]

I'd reccomend a seagull, our guitarist bought one, and i was skeptical about it because of never hearing of it. But it sounds AWESOME! found it on craigslist for i think 200.

[MikeBC]

In this economy you can get a good price on some used good guitars.

The other year I bought a used limited edition Taylor 414-k. I had an independent luthier inspect it. He thought it was excellent. It plays well, love the tone, the sustain, and the harmonics. The koa wood has a pleasant scent too. As a bass player, I appreciate the so-called darker tone.

I had tried some more expensive new and used Martins but I liked the Taylor better, personal preference I suppose. But there were some great deals out there on good Martins, not the cheap ones, out there.

You might be able to find some good deals on used Collings and Canadian-made Larivee.

[BassGen]

I have a Canadian made Garrison 6-string acoustic that I bought new for $700 (included hardshell case too). It's got a surprisingly thin body but with surprisingly big and full sound. Wired with pups and eq too. Plays and sounds fantastic!

I don't think Garrison is around anymore (Gibson bought the company) but I saw a show that covered the "backstage" part of a Rush tour and every acoustic in Alex Lifeson's guitar rack was a Garrison.

If you find one at a good price I'd give it a whirl for sure.

[SallyGrowler]

I play classical guitar (longer than I play bass).

Don't overlook some of the no-name nylon string classicals. There are a few Brazillian makes for under $300 that will do the job.

[CrUiSeR]

skip the "another acoustic guitar" and get a keyboard, that is if I'm understanding you're intentions

[NG51]

I'm currently taking guitar lessons, and I have a Seagull, which I really like. I think I paid about $550.00 for mine, and the transition from my Cirrus bass to the guitar is pretty easy. They're Canadian made- build quality is quite good. Good luck!

[MNAirHead]

Keys --
I can hear you. I already own a Victorian Era Grand...


Guitar Use --
I'm taking vocal lessons. I'm spending tons and tons more time with acoustics.


Nylon---
I can eventually see being called on to bring it out to a duo gig. Issue is this may limit the uses to some Placido Domingo, Willie Nelson or Zac Brown.


Godin (Plus any of the family Seagull etc) ---
I've own (and own) some of their gear --- I'll use any chance publicly to comment the gear is OK and the company Sux (PM me if you want an opinion of why - hint sell your A4 or A5)


Martin?
Dumb question... what's wrong with a laminate neck? Framus Texans are still arrow straight after all of these years.... As bass players we'll commonly pay a premium for 5+ laminates.


Taylor
One of the guys I play with just bought a high end one... it's very balanced and very Tin-like sounding in the mix. Nice guitar

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I did a recording time with a guy who had a killer Guild (newer import)... before this he had a Larivee -- both were great guitars.

OVATIONS -- Any opinions on the newer models? There are some recording options out there... kind of look silly.


ADDED Preferences
Looking for a finger picking guitar (with pickup and eq)... doesn't have to be a big buck one... I do prefer thin bodies (no jumbo Gibsons etc)


OTHER BRANDS?
Are there some under the radar brands domestically that I should look out for? Larivee used to be one.


Sincere thanks for the opinoins --- I'm reading.

Tim

[prd004]

Larrivee

[mikezimmerman]

A guy I play with a church just bought the bottom-of-the-line Taylor, a 114 (I think), and it looks, sounds and plays beautifully! I think they're going for < $800. They've been around long enough to be readily available used, too, so you could easily pick one up for less than $600 on ebay.

Larrivees are also great guitars, and a the entry-level -03 series is a great deal for an American instrument that's readily available used. I've got an L-03R that I picked up used (with a lot of "honest playing wear") for $400. As a bass player/finger picker, I also like the fact that the necks on the L and OM models are just a little bit wider than the typical dreadnaught (1-3/4" vs 1-11/16"). Since you're looking for thinner bodies, I'd look for an OM model.

Don't forget Guilds. The newer Chinese-made GAD-30 and GAD-30R (rosewood) are great OM-sized fingerstyle guitars, though of course they're made overseas. If you're looking at the used market for US-made Guilds, it's harder to find OM-sized Guilds, since their jumbos and dreads were the really popular models, but there are some out there.

In general, the pickups on the older (60-70-80's era) guitars tend not to be nearly as good as what's available now, so that may be a consideration if the amplified sound is a big concern and you don't want to throw more money at a used instrument to add a modern pickup.

Mike

[BassGen]

Originally Posted by BassGen

I have a Canadian made Garrison 6-string acoustic that I bought new for $700 (included hardshell case too). It's got a surprisingly thin body but with surprisingly big and full sound. Wired with pups and eq too. Plays and sounds fantastic!

I don't think Garrison is around anymore (Gibson bought the company) but I saw a show that covered the "backstage" part of a Rush tour and every acoustic in Alex Lifeson's guitar rack was a Garrison.

If you find one at a good price I'd give it a whirl for sure.

Based on your reply I'll throw this at you again. When I was buying this Garrison I was planning to spend more. But playing it beside Taylors and Martins the choice was easy. The tone was warm, full and beautiful. It easily matched or bettered guitars that were twice the price for sound quality.

Mine is a model GGC-4-CE.

The body

Side view to show the electronics and how thin it really is.

[Tanner5382]

I would recommend Breedlove and Takamine. Guilds are nice also, but can be higher up in price.

[CrUiSeR]

Not necessarily a recomendation; just something for ya to think about
Gibson CEC or SST
Vintage Gibson Guitars: Gibson Chet Atkins

[Spino]

Lowden -it'll cost you though!

[screaminglucy]

doesn't have a pickup or eq but it's nice and small and the neck is awesome on a Yamaha FS720S

[mikezimmerman]

Originally Posted by Spino

Lowden -it'll cost you though!

Lowdens are awesome, but once you get into that price range, you can afford just about any of the high-end stuff.

[Octavian]

I've found acoustic guitar preferences are even more personal than our varied opinions on basses.

I used to love Martin until I tried a Dana Bourgeois. That's my dream acoustic but is way out of my current budget and what you're looking for.

Based on my tastes and going for a deeper sound with a nice full bass with a lot of resonance, I've drifted toward the Taylor OM over the Martin. The Gibsons, Takamines, Ibanezes and Ovations were too tinny sounding to me.

Most of my playing is finger style so this is what worked for me. Flat picking on those instruments might have changed my preferences a bit.

[P. Aaron]

I've had a Martin D-28 I bought new in 1995. I sold off a '66 Hummingbird because the new Martin sounded way better. I've revisited that and have no regrets.

Some Taylors I've played sounded & played just fine too, but being used to the dreadnaught, it's just a matter of getting used to a different instrument.

If I was to make a switch now, I'd go for a slightly smaller body size. I'd still probably go Martin though. I just like the depth, the old-style tone. Taylors are definitely a good choice for all-around utility.

It just depends what you need and of course...that all important tone.

[charlie monroe]

+1 on Seagull. Godin makes these. Over the years I have bought and sold four early '90's spruce tops. Not super loud, but they sing. The wild cherry necks on these things are like the Jackson version of an acoustic would be. Super smooth and speedy. The current one I have was $300 in a hsc, delivered from fleabay. All the ones I've own(ed) have been a matte satin finish - no fingerprints. This is my 'go to' soprano bass. Probably never be without one.

Guild D25M. Mahogany back, sides and top. These guitars from the '70's (maybe '80's also) regularly come up for <$500. Nice rich mids and low end on these guys. I think they are eyecatchers.

Posting a budget would be helpful in finding the right one