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Post by guitarove on Jun 29, 2013 20:25:47 GMT
Nice! Oasis music is a nice shop, I tried the Larrivee there when my friend was picking up a new acoustic for £210 - A Stagg James Neligan 00 size which actually seems really good value for money. Maybe not in woods used but the sound and playability are pretty good. Also tried a small Blake acoustic that day which was about 2 grand, just for the fun of it.
Faith do look a nice brand, I'll have to give them a try along with Seagull as I'm curious to see what those are like. After doing a bit of measuring (all be it with a crappy ruler, but it still showed the differences) the easiest guitar to play chords on is my Ibanez RG2620 electric, which has either a 43mm nut or 44. It does seem that there actually is a big difference as the worst guitar for playing chords I have is a 42mm. The combination of the small nut width and the extra jumbo frets make chords a nightmare on that guitar. The last time I buy a guitar without trying it.
If I can get up to Portsmouth some time then I will, however there may be no need as Music Is Life in Southbourne sells Faith and Seagull guitars (and some other brands) according to the website, which is great considering the other guitar shops within a reasonably short space of where I live only really stock Martin, Taylor, Takamine, Tanglewood, etc.
Thanks Robbie
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Post by matt on Jun 30, 2013 18:07:30 GMT
I'd recommend testing Martin 00, 000 and OM guitars; you'd be looking for one with "modern" or "slim" neck, and Martins below 1500£ tend to have a modern neck... I had a 000-16 a couple of years ago, nothing bad to say about that! I'd say that anything that is called "vintage" (don't mean the brand but styling!) is unlikely to fit your bill, as typically vintage models have quite chunky necks. Which is actually a bit fun, as I have a 40-year old Martin 00-18 that has the narrowest and slimmest neck of my guitars --- it's my only guitar with which I occasionally wrap the thumb. Scale length is another spec worth looking --- maybe a 24.75 intead of 25.5? One hour at a good guitar shop, focusing only on chords and playability, will help you much further with the specs with respect to the neck and scale length. When you know what specs make the guitar tick for you, you can then optimize for the tone and looks (...and end up paying at least 50% more than you planned to ).
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Post by guitarove on Jul 1, 2013 10:07:32 GMT
Thanks Matt in all honesty I am being a bit picky without actually trying many out. My hands are reasonably big, particularly my left hand (must've grown more from playing guitar when I was younger)but this Freshman I own although I can play it to an acceptable level it doesn't really agree with the way I hold the neck (thumb over the top mostly except for with barred chords). I believe it is a thick C shape which I just find uncomfortable to have my hand around. I will definitely try out a few Martins, but I suspect I would be partially paying for the name (although my ears will be the judge). I have really liked some of the Martins I've tried so I will not dismiss them. Hahaha I certainly hope I don't end up spending more. I'm building a new PC to do recording on after this someone's buying my 4x12 cab later today (which is way too loud for a small bedroom). It's good to have everything falling into place - all that's left now is finding a really nice good value guitar that fits my playing. After doing some research those Faith guitars really do look great for the money. I really look forward to trying one out.
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Post by matt on Jul 1, 2013 10:34:28 GMT
^ In addition to the neck shape, also the fret profile has an effect...
I don't think that you would pay for the brand, if you went for 000x, 0M1, 00016 Martins --- you might be paying a bit for tested design and production methods and some extra for the high-price distributor. I don't know the selection here too well, but in my experience, in budget range of non-far-east-made instruments the basic Martins have had a good bang for the buck.
There are not many new European or American new instruments in your price range, but I would anyway pay a bit premium for a guitar made in the EU or US. Second-hand instruments are harder to find, but Furch, Stonebridge, Lakewood or Brook might fit the bill?
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Post by guitarove on Jul 1, 2013 13:12:05 GMT
Thanks for your input, yeah my comment about 'paying for the name' was a little narrow minded. I'm not desperate for a US or European built guitar, although it would be a bonus. I did play a brook guitar which was very nice, but was £2000 new and didn't have the full sound I was after as it was a small body, I think it was an 00 or parlor size. Any ideas where I could find used guitars? It's hard to try out used ones because most shops sell new, and I might have to travel quite far to find the exact guitar I'm after used. Would you recommend buying used online? Perhaps I could try ones out new in store and search for used online.
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Jul 1, 2013 13:40:47 GMT
Local Gumtree ads (online) can occasionally produce realy great deals, and you generally get to try before you buy.
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