guitarboy2828 wrote
X-rated Bob wrote
guitarboy2828 wrote
Soo... After much work and no time to go to guitar stores, I finally got the chance.. Spent around 2-3 hours today playing acoustics, and i played some great ones.. But, my findings were more confusing than anything.. ?
I went to coastals, first guitar i picked up was a Tanglewood and i LOVED the sound of it, was super amazed, expected it to be an 8-9K guitar.. It was R2600.. I was flabbergasted.. I NEARLY bought it, right then and there.. But i wanted to first find out what you guys thought of those guitars.. For that price, i've NEVER played a guitar like that.. Wow..
Tanglewoods can be great value for money. I find them to be a bit inconsistent, but this can be a good thing, because it means that if you play a few then you could find a really good one. Sounds like you did - or the guys in the store had played them all and knew which the good one was. Did it have electronics at that price?
It included electronics, indeed. It had a VERY basic fishman.. but actually sounded great, figured at that price i could get a decent DI box and use the eq on that to tweek my sound! ?
THEN.. and this changed my life.. The guy bought me a Martin (they have one in stock).. It was a DC-1E.. I fell in love.. Big, bright sound, AMAZING playability, crisp tone, just awesome.. However, this was marked at 18k and i could get it for 14k. So quite a bit.. ☹
Now you're getting into the lower reaches of serious acoustic guitar territory. The DCs are Martin's budget line. You'll have noticed how unadorned that guitar was - and it seems you weren't put off by it. If you were in Jo'burg I'd tell you to try out the 3 series Larrivees which are the same level of trim but still have one piece necks, wood bindings are all solid wood and will cost a little less.
I really wish I could try some Larry's, i'd hate to buy a martin only to find that there is a larry at the same price that blows me out the water. As to the unadorned guitar, i think that's awesome, just has a nice wood sound and i really do like the look of it. The Ibanez that i played was very well finished. It looked smart, but i quite like the simplicity of a wood guitar! ? I definitely do think though, after playing that martin that i'm going to wait a little longer and get a slightly more expensive guitar.. One in this sort of range. I may try and take a trip to Jo-burg when i have the money and just play some other guitars first. But that'll be in a couple months time.
Did you get to try any Taylors? You should be able to get a Big Baby for a bit less than that Martin. I had one of those that I still regret selling (though it found a good home). They don't come with factory electronics, but you can get some good stuff fitted and probably still have change. Mine had Baggs kit fitted to it and it sounded pretty good plugged in or unplugged. A slightly smaller body than a regular dreadnought and very plainly appointed, but it sounded and played real good. You probably don't want to go heavier than 12s on one of those.
Actually, i played 2 taylors a 110ce and a 210ce. Both were cheaper than the martin, the 210 was around 14k retail price i think. They had nothing on the martin IMO. Something the taylor lacked was attack. It was a very mellow guitar with a great sound, however, it just wasn't bright enough for me. It lacked that grit that i love in an acoustic. I was surprised at that actually, as I know taylors are big names. It could just be the ones I played. Or possibly just not what I'm wanting in a guitar.
I mention string gauge because IMO unless you are planning to do a lot of fast runs and bending then heavier strings generally make for a bigger, richer sound on acoustics. I always liked my Morgan and used to put 12s on it. But I was doing lots of fingerstyle stuff and decided that the bottom end needed a little more punch so I went for a "bluegrass" set which has the bottom 3 strings from a medium set ("medium" in the acoustic world is 13) and the top 3 from a light set. Which was better but then, for my ears, a little unbalanced. So I went to 13s and boom! The sound just started pouring out.
OK... one man's tone is another man's toxin, but maybe you want to experiment with strings. Different compounds will give different tones as well. Phosphor bronze sound different than 80:20. However some compounds weigh more and thus exert more tension gauge for gauge. If you fit medium PBs then think of them as like medium and a quarter. Some makers or shops will put lightish strings on the guitars so that they're easier to play and so you go "I want that one". But they may be giving up some tone in doing so.
Ask if a setup is included in the price. This may be a bit cheeky with the Tanglewood, but the worst they can do is laugh, if you're buying a Martin then that should be part of the deal.
Interesting that you mention string gauge, never thought to ask about that. hmm, my yamaha now has 12's on it and it plays well, i can even do a semi tone bend on it if i brave. But i agree, i really enjoy fat strings, they're bright and have a lot of body to them.
As to the setup, i think that is what I was most impressed about, I really don't know that I'd change anythin on the martin, set up was perfect. all the way down, no fretbuz, the action was amazing. (I'm not sure what else a set up does ?)
The tanglewood was pretty great to play too, may be worth a couple hundred to set up, but i would be quite content the way it was..
My 2 cents on this...
I tried out that exact Martin DC-1E on saturday and was totally blown away. I had my doubts when they handed it to me since it was an entry level Martin, but once I strummed a few chords I couldn't put it down. I've played a few other Martins before, but there was something special about this guitar, everything was just right. It blew away the 2 Taylors there (110ce and 210ce) as well as the Artwood Studio Ibanez, they really didn't even come close. I had my Takamine with me, just for a sound comparison to calibrate my ears and overall volume wise, my Takamine and the Martin were pretty close, however, the Martin was strung with Martin SP Lights and I play with 80/20 mediums on the Tak. But the real difference was the sound, the Martin just seemed so open. The bass notes were clear yet deep, while the trebles rung on forever. My Tak just didn't have that and seems more compressed and mid-rangy.
After that, I took a drive to another shop and tried out something I've been dreaming about for a long time: A Taylor 814ce. Wow, this thing looked hot. I sat for about 5 minutes just looking at it and admiring the workmanship and build quality. Then I strummed a few chords, picked a few notes and to be honest I was a little let down. Don't get me wrong, I sounded nice but that's where it ended. There was no "wow, this thing is amazing, I need to take it home now!", it was just "nice".
Then I tried out a 410ce, which IMHO sounded better than the 814, but still didn't have the same "wow" factor as the lowly Martin DC-1E!
One thing for sure, is that the Taylors had fantastic playability; really smooth, low action with no buzzing, but that's not to say that the Martin had a poor setup, just that I was so blown away by it's tone that I didn't really take much notice of the playabilty, which was just as good as the Taylors.
I think I now understand why some people tend to say that Taylors can sound a little "thin" when compared to a great Martin. :-\
Then again, maybe it was just a bum 814ce... ?
Will I be buying the Martin anytime soon? Unless I find a comfy couch to sleep on indefinitely, probably not...
Will I be going on a GAS trip to Jo-berg to sample some other top guitars? Absolutely!
