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Post by Onechordtrick on Jun 25, 2020 13:21:49 GMT
When I've sold the Lakewood and the AC I'll do that. Of course if you do that you'll need to change your user name....
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2020 14:02:57 GMT
When I've sold the Lakewood and the AC I'll do that. Of course if you do that you'll need to change your user name.... Done. I think it was about time anyway. I called myself New Dave because I'm assuming there's at least one other Dave around. There usually is. It's not because we're common. It's because we're popular.
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Post by slartibartfarst on Jun 25, 2020 16:38:25 GMT
Thanks to everyone, there's a lot of good advice here and I will take time to try a range of guitars. It will take time to sell all of my electric gear anyway and for now I can always use my existing acoustic, which I've now discovered is a Takamine GN30CE. It wasn't particularly expensive but I do like playing it so it's fine for now.
I find it hard to believe that I could get a guitar made for me for no more than £1,000 but I could ask if you think it's possible.
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Post by scorpiodog on Jun 25, 2020 17:57:13 GMT
Thanks to everyone, there's a lot of good advice here and I will take time to try a range of guitars. It will take time to sell all of my electric gear anyway and for now I can always use my existing acoustic, which I've now discovered is a Takamine GN30CE. It wasn't particularly expensive but I do like playing it so it's fine for now. I find it hard to believe that I could get a guitar made for me for no more than £1,000 but I could ask if you think it's possible. Speak to Francis, slartibartfarst. He’ll give you an idea what you can get within your budget.
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Post by PistolPete on Jun 25, 2020 17:59:40 GMT
Welcome to the forum slartibartfarst . There's not much about acoustics I can add to this conversation, but I just wanted to say how much I admire your work on Norway. Lovely crinkly edges & a nice baroque feel
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2020 18:56:32 GMT
I thought the fjords were lovely.
Shame about that bypass thing but that's just life I suppose.
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Post by chris501 on Jun 25, 2020 19:23:44 GMT
Don’t overlook Yamaha guitars either, great instruments for the money. Always used to come out of the box and go virtually straight on to the wall with minimal tweaking, excellent quality control. Definitely worth picking one up if you’re in a shop and there’s one to try
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2020 20:11:42 GMT
Don’t overlook Yamaha guitars either, great instruments for the money. Always used to come out of the box and go virtually straight on to the wall with minimal tweaking, excellent quality control. Definitely worth picking one up if you’re in a shop and there’s one to try If you're near London then try the Yamaha store there.
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Post by slartibartfarst on Jun 25, 2020 22:35:45 GMT
I contacted my old electric guitar teacher as he mostly plays fingerstyle. Like many others he thought the Taylor 214CE was an excellent option. He also highly recommended Eastman guitars so I'll try to find some of those to try too.
Part of my problem is that each manufacturer seems to use different terms to describe the size of the bodies. They only seem to have Dreadnought in common so it's very hard for me to tell which model is a similar size to my Takamine Nexus.
So pleased many of you like my work on the fjords of Norway. I got an award you know but it's not about awards for me, I just like doing the lovely crinkly bits around the edges.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2020 8:13:36 GMT
Is it one of these? If so it looks like a grand auditorium / mini jumbo to me. That's one size down from a dreadnought. In Yamaha terms it would an LJ (if you go for the L series of acoustics) or an FS if you go for one of the Red Labels. But once again, the thing to do is try them. When you can compare different sizes directly you'll be able to hear and feel the differences and cboose the one you like best.
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Post by slartibartfarst on Jun 26, 2020 8:49:24 GMT
Yes, that's the size! I have very limited experience of acoustic but I know a Dreadnought is too big and cumbersome for me but I was fine with this size. It's comfortable and still seems to resonate well. I suppose I'm thinking 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2020 9:29:55 GMT
Yes, that's the size! I have very limited experience of acoustic but I know a Dreadnought is too big and cumbersome for me but I was fine with this size. It's comfortable and still seems to resonate well. I suppose I'm thinking 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' I agree with the bit in bold but I humbly suggest that while you have the opportunity to try smaller instruments too you might as well take it. One thing, don't wear a belt with a buckle or a top with zips or buttons when you go to try guitars in a shop. They can mark the back of new instruments and the sellers, understandably, don't like that. Wear a t-shirt or sweatshirt or something and the shop assistants will be much more helpful.
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Post by vikingblues on Jun 26, 2020 9:42:43 GMT
It's a tough one to know whether a guitar you have is a good one for you. Over the years I've ended up as my guideline that if I play an instrument frequently and pick it up with enthusiasm and no reservations then it's good, but if I don't then whatever the sound, whatever the brand, it's very likely not the one for me. As long time regulars on here will know I even jettisoned a Lowden on that basis - a guitar that sounded very good, and was of high quality, and was very resonant - but I was picking up my cheaper guitars to play as the Lowden and I just weren't connecting and working together well. Not wanting to muddy the waters, but as well as body size being critical for comfort, so too can body shape have a big influence. I had for example ruled out the Vintage Gordon Giltrap range for a long time as the guitars body was so much bigger than the parlour or similar size that I find most comfortable when playing sat down (I have a small frame and anything above OOO is a struggle, and even OOO is often tricky). But I tried one out of curiosity just over 4 years ago and found that the unusual body shape - a more pronounced narrowness of the body waist - meant that it sat much lower on my leg and therefore was fine on comfort for the rest of me. To illustrate my parlours have upper bouts of 25.8cm and 24.5cm, waists 21.2cm and 20.7cm, and lower bouts 35.2cm and 35.5cm. The Giltraps are 28.2cm, 20.5cm, and 40.5cm. I've seen it described as Upper bout OOO size, Lower bout Grand Auditorium and Waist a parlour. That big lower bout does make couch playing impossible though! For some reason apart from the Vintage Giltrap only bespoke makers seem to go in for this type of body shape - of course the Vintage is based very closely on a Rob Armstrong bespoke model he first did for Gordon Giltrap 30 years ago. The other factor in comfort that I find is vital is the neck shape and how it combines with whatever the fretboard width is. With two guitars of identical fretboard width one may be very comfortable on the left hand and the other to be uncomfortable enough to discourage playing it. So many variable factors that sometimes combine in unexpected ways. Mark
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2020 10:06:28 GMT
Also remember that you don't have to buy on your first visit. You can go back several times and try the same guitar to make sure it's what you want. And you can go to as many shops as you like. You're going to spend maybe £1k. You might as well be as sure as you can that what you buy is what you want.
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Post by ocarolan on Jun 26, 2020 12:06:25 GMT
Also remember that you don't have to buy on your first visit. You can go back several times and try the same guitar to make sure it's what you want. And you can go to as many shops as you like. You're going to spend maybe £1k. You might as well be as sure as you can that what you buy is what you want. This is good advice. I'd also add, don't be afraid to haggle - even if they won't budge on price try to see if they'll throw in any ancilliaries - case/bag, strap, chooner etc, and do ask if you can have a week or so as a trial period, after which you can return/exchange it if you aren't completely happy. Keith
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