Official Luthiers Forum!

One piece sides too.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

John, you might think of trading your Gurian for a commission. I'm sure there are several people here that would be up for something like that.

I agree with Todd the big deal is the history and pre war Martins in perticular and a good bit of 20's & 50's Martin's as well. And if you ever get the chance to play one that has been through a custom shop, you will notice the diff instantly. I to, think That Taylor's and Alverez Yairi's are among the the best off the production line as far as set-up. Martin's production line guitars " that I have had experance with" tend to have uneeded neck relief imo that makes them play a bit firmer than I like.

I think like anything, you have to try out several before you get a great sounding guitar. I've played a new D-28 that sounded like a piano, it had such warm overtones. I've also played an HD-28 that sounded completely dead. Same thing with Taylors.

I think Gibson is the company that has the name recognition selling thier guitars. Have you played any of thier new acoustics? Whoof,what dogs! It's hard to imagine someone wasting thier money on that garbage.

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

Joe, your right there, about most Gibson's prod. line acoustics, but I got to say I did set-up on a J-200 Western Classic that was I was told came out of their custom shop, not the floor line. I have to say it was sweet. I noticed that they have beefed up their mustache bridge a bit, and the lesser J models don’t have the fancy cutouts in the mustache anymore.

We probably give the majors like Martin and Gibson a bit too much grief about there quality compared to the best of what independent luthiers builds. We should keep in mind that they build and sell thousands of production model guitars form $500-$1500. This brings product to a a part of the guitar playing public that can not afford $3K for an instrument. So our comparison may be a bit like apples to oranges. However there is still a good bit of truth that name is selling the guitars. Personally I feel if you to be known as an industry leader, you should produce a superior product. Truth be know, the fact that this is not the case is as much the falt of the consumers as the producer.

[QUOTE=MichaelP] ...... tend to have uneeded neck relief imo that makes
them play a bit firmer than I like.[/QUOTE]

Michael,

Newbie question here. Are you saying that neck relief makes them harder to
play? I was under the impression that, with proper relief, string height could
be lower.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Relief at the 8th fret, down-bow allows a lower string height at the 1st and 12th frets but progressive in the middle it is higher. This is a common pratice in production line guitars. To set a neck so that it has a buzz free, low action and no relief requires neck set, fretboard leveling, and set-up time the factories can't afford to spend. Many players like a relieved neck. Just Personaly I don't.

Maybe because of the work relation I like Bourgeois. He has a style called a "PJ" which a bunch of fingerpickers really like. Great guitars in bunch of sizes and very reasonable (still big bucks) On forum a bunch I would love to have. One guy is John Mayes. I played and really had a love affair, just no money. Probably the ones I liked the most are from a great builder John Slobod www.circaguitars.com. His guitars a feather light and the cleanest I have seen. That is one guy I will save and buy one from in the future

By the way I like Mayes and he is a friend, but the love affair was for the guitar. I had to clarify from pics of my pink lumber in the shop a year or so ago

You had us worried for a minute there, Stan.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

John,
Don't know if you have heard of Walden Guitars, but I'm sure the people here that were at the ASIA convention concert on the last night would agree that this guitar looked and sounded great for around $500. The guy playing it was an Ace finger style guitarist, but the guitar sounded fantastic, and I'm sure for the money can't be beat. I've never played one, but the sound was terrific!
Tracy

I've played 2 Martins I would of liked to own.
One was a 1930's OM45 that just blew me away but was like $30,000 back in the early 90's an a 1930 something 0028 I couldn't get my wife to stop hangin' around so I could talk to the guy about it.

I never did understand all the fuss over them big guitars with medium gage strings and action high enought I could park my F-150 under.

My 2 cents worth.

I've heard that all Martins come from the factory with a high action. As part of their customer service, they allow the original owner to get a free setup to adjust the action to their preference. I've also noticed the high actions in the showroom, but I was very pleased with my D-35's tone and action after it was properly set up. John Hall might have more info on this.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

[QUOTE=ToddStock] FWIW - The primary difference I see with comparable Taylors is in the mid-range where the larger bodied Martin D's take a while to fill in, versus the very balanced mids and high-end from 'Day One' with the Taylors. My own limited experience is that the Martin will ultimately end up the louder guitar with great tone and sustain as part of the package, but it just won't matter if you don't need the volume.
[/QUOTE]

Man... I don't know. I have a 914c that is a cannon. It is the loudest guitar I have ever owned. Imagine how it might be if it wasn't so over built.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I love discussions like this! I prefer Martin OMs over Taylors OM-like models. I think I like Taylors Ds more than Martins. I hate Gibson acoustics. They sound like someone hid their laundry inside. I have a friend who is a brilliant guitarist and he prefers Gibsons over Martins and hates Taylors. Is he wrong and am I right? These things are so subjective that it makes building a great sounding guitar so hard because we can't agree on what "good" is much less what great is.

BTW: He is wrong and I am right.

I own a Taylor 810C and it has served me well through counless Church performances. Especially when the mic is a good one and positioned right. It is a workhorse of a guitar, meaning that it has survived numerous dings, falls and such. It also survives the little guys (never girls) at church that like to come up before worship and "turn the shiney gold knobs'. That's always a wonderful discovery.
But having said that, I would take a "crafted in the workshop" guitar by one of these guys, and day.

[QUOTE=ToddStock] It's totally subjective...one of the nice things about this stuff. I do agree that the older Taylors (Pre-NT) seem to me to be a little more lively. Wonder if the trade is worth it?[/QUOTE]

See, I'd be tempted to attribute this to the guitars being more 'broken in', rather than a slight change in neck joint.

[QUOTE=stan thomison] Probably the ones I liked the most are from a
great builder John Slobod www.circaguitars.com. His guitars a feather
light and the cleanest I have seen. That is one guy I will save and buy one
from in the future[/QUOTE]

I agree 100% John builds one of the best guitars I've ever played. He is a
amazing luthier...way beyond my skills for sure.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com