What is your favourite acoustic guitar?

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Big Al Whittle
Date: 01 Apr 20 - 06:56 AM

https://soundcloud.com/denise_whittle/poem-to-my-favourite-guitar

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Gurney
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 04:29 PM

My favourite is the one that spends its time 'out' on a stand in the dining room, and that's a Jack & Danny. One of two.
I have other, and much more expensive, and possibly better, guitars.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: JHW
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 03:38 PM

Re my post above Edinburgh shop was Grants. They handed me Fyldes and Martins etc. then the Gurian. (thanks to gillymor for post)

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Brian May
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 02:41 PM

My Martin 000-28

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: gillymor
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 09:57 AM

Gurians are kind of legendary here in the U.S., at least they were where I came from. I played a jumbo at The Guitar Shop in D.C. back in the '70's and it was a winner. Michael Millard of Froggy Bottom Guitars came out of the Gurian shop and he now makes some of the best steel strings on the planet. I'm fortunate to own one of his F models.
Last year I acquired a Canadian-made 000 12 fret Boucher with an Adirondack top and it's the best fingerstyle guitar I've owned and it also works well for Old Time flatpicking.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: JHW
Date: 31 Mar 20 - 07:03 AM

Gurian, I'd never heard of them when I bought it in Edinburgh, near Bennets Bar but forget shop name, long gone. Over 30 yrs ago. Just the mellow not jangly sound I wanted. We all need different.
Gurian Wiki

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: kendall
Date: 13 Oct 13 - 04:34 PM

I also have a 1954 J-45 Gibson. Too much bass for recording, but a nice old box too.

I guess if I had to name my very favorite, it would be my Apollo 12 string.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,shayleen
Date: 13 Oct 13 - 02:12 PM

My gibson j200is my favourite, they can be hit or miss but a good one,,,wow :-)

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 03 Jul 12 - 05:48 PM

I too am a musical monogamist.

My 1972 vintage Framus Nashville dreadnaught six string (limited edition), which I bought in 1978.

Like a fine wine, the tone just gets better year on year.

Don T.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 02 Jul 12 - 07:22 PM

I came in to say( before I got accused of....something) that my new favorite guitar was the one my friend, Nick Apollonio built for Jacqui. This is one sweet box.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 02 Jul 12 - 07:20 PM

Peter, I wouldn't touch your cookie with Spaws fingers!

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Jul 12 - 06:23 PM

1969 gallagher 12 string for sale...... [e-mail]

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Little Hawk
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 08:29 PM

I'm very curious about the Rainsong guitars, but there are no stores around here that carry them. Any suggestions on which body style is best in those? Dreadnought? OM? Or...?

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Midchuck
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 06:43 PM

That "Guest" was me. If I find who stole my cookie, there'll be trouble. Bet it was Kendall, that greedyguts...

Peter

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 06:39 PM

I had to laugh at myself, looking back over this thread. If I were as changeable in my affections with women as I am with instruments, I would not have been married to the same lady for 43+ years. I doubt I would have stayed married for 43 weeks. All of the guitars I mention in any of my prior posts to this thread - the earliest almost 10 years ago - are gone, sold or traded off. Except the Collings 000-2H. That isn't leaving anytime soon.

I, also, acquired a Rainsong OM-1000, in August of '07, during a stop at Elderly on the way from Vermont to Montana. (Checking the map, you may see that Lansing, MI is not on a direct route between Vermont and Montana, and requires a substantial side trip. Yup.) That instrument has been the standard one for most playing outside of my own house, whether gigs, festivals, drunken brawls, or what have you. The sound is not as pleasing as the best wood guitars, but it's as good as 9/10 of them, and the instrument is very light, very loud for its size, and essentially immune to changes in temperature or humidity, and to impacts that would destroy a fine wooden guitar, and do noticeable damage to even a cheap plywood one.

For playing in the house, my favorite right at the moment is a little 12-fret slothead 00 size in Sitka and Mahogany, from Manuel & Patterson. That is, if I'm playing 6-string. The Apollo 12 is a category all its own.

Peter

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: JedMarum
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 05:58 PM

I am impressed with Rainsongs as well, Ian

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Johnny R
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 01:50 PM

For Flatpicking my 1943(?) Gibson J100 Super Jumbo has a great bass without being "boomy", For fingerpicking it's a toss up between my 1935 Martin 00-42, or my 1977 Martim SOM-45, both great guitars, with the 45 just a little more "bottom end"

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 07:51 AM

My £400 Crafter get's lots of admiration from owners of much more expensive guitars. Lovely deep loud sound, I'm not keen on being plugged and the sound carries so well I often don't need to

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 06:13 AM

My current favourite, without doubt, is an Ian Chisholm of Ditchling, Sussex, UK. His "number 30" of non-standard body size made to order in 2010 and bought second hand a couple of weeks ago:

Ian Chisholm


It's brilliant. Spruce top/ cocobolo back and sides. Lovely tone, easy to play, great action. Don't think I'll ever need to buy another acoustic.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: banjoman
Date: 30 Mar 11 - 05:55 AM

Current favourite is the Taylor 410Ce which my sons bought for me (I could never have afforded it). It has a totally different sound to the Lakewood D1 which I bought when Lakewood were just starting to sell guitars in the UK. Its a fine instrument . I also have an Ovation Folklore short neck which we bought in 1983 and it still takes some beating for tonal quality.I am told by she who must be obeyed that I own too many guitars and banjos so if anyone is interested in the lakewood D1 its probably up for sale complete with the original hard case.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Musket
Date: 29 Mar 11 - 12:15 PM

After playing my mate's guitar, last summer I went out and bought a Rainsong OM10.

it is a carbon fibre jobby with no timber at all on it. It therefore stays in tune....

Soundwise, the strength of carbon fibre means no bracing, so non dead spot frequencies, allowing a rather clean sound. Acoustically, it is loud despite being a thin body cutaway and plugged in it has LR Baggs pickups. Nuff said.

Very very pleased with it, so the Martin, the Jim Harley and the Yamaha haven't had an outing since.

If I had any complaint, it is that the sound is a bit too clean, so every mistake is heard loud and clear!

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: JedMarum
Date: 29 Mar 11 - 12:00 PM

I love my Larrivees! All of his models are beautiful - but my favorites are his Jumbos (sadly, no longer being made) and his L series. Great woods, great electronics, great craftsmanship, superb designs.

I still enjoy playing all the great new guitars in the music stores. As I travel I always find time to visit the local acoustic musical instrument stores - and try all the beautiful guitars. There are so many out there. I am a real "sound bigot" - much as I like a lot of guitars and appreciate their tonal qualities and playability, it is the sound that hooks me. I like a full, balanced range from a guitar, strong low end and full highs. But balance is the key for me. Larrivee's models all have a rich, full sound with balance. They look great, they play beautifully, they stand up to rigors of travel - and I am sure that they are the best sounding guitars out there.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,noel
Date: 29 Mar 11 - 11:50 AM

my january of 55 custom d-28... my uncle had a music store in LA w/ another LA cop... this was the guitar he had custom made from martin for the studio out back. i've yet to find a guitar that matches her... btw-been playing for 34 yrs. now. my second favorite would be a 65 d35-12... the best 12 string i've encountered to date. you just don't find many that will stay in tune anymore. especially w/ brazilian back and sides... it's 12 strings w/ an extra kick in the pants... my buddy's 5k taylor-12 is a toy in comparison...

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Commander Crabbe
Date: 04 Sep 09 - 09:57 PM

My Suzuki 3S.

CC

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: MissouriMud
Date: 04 Sep 09 - 08:08 PM

My current favorites are a 1938 Gibson L-00 for Old time and blues, and a 2005 Martin 000-28 Norman Blake (not Brazilian Rosewood) for nearly everything else (its not that great on really fast bluegrass but then neither am I).   The Gibson has a great punchy bass to cut through the other instruments and sounds gritty for blues - the Martin has wonderful sustain and warm tone.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Allan C.
Date: 04 Sep 09 - 05:20 PM

Some forty years ago I made it a practice to cover the brand stamp at the top of the headstock of my guitars with a Chiquita banana sticker. I was weary of all of the folks who made such a fuss about what brand of guitar one owned.

Flash forward to only a very few years back when, after performing at the open mike at the Getaway, Rick Fielding and I had a conversation in which he told me that if I wanted to be a good guitarist, and he very kindly assured me that I was well on the road to being one, I should get a good guitar. This was undoubtedly due to the fact that the only guitar I had at that time was a Yamaha 12-string.

I took the advice to heart and when good fortune smiled upon me enough for me to afford one, I bought a Martin 12. It was the smartest thing I ever did. Thanks, Rick!

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Rick Buchanan
Date: 04 Sep 09 - 04:55 PM

Well, my second favorite is a hand made 1999 Buchanan (Richard Chellis Buchanan, not the cheap (Chinese?) Buchanan guitars)
19" non-cut away New Yorker. The hand carved top is about 90+
years old, and it is so loud, and sweet. Like having a grand
piano on your lap!

But, here's the story about my favorite. I was working in a
sporting goods store in '76. I had taken my guitar (B.C. Rich
B-20 dreadnaught) to work. My boss didn't know I played, and
he said his wife just bought new strings for her guitar, and
could I come over and string it for her. (Yep...I'd seen his
wife, but that's another story). When I got there Sandy pulled
out a well worn 0018. I put on the new strings, brought it up
to tune, and hit a chord. I couldn't believe the sound! I just
couldn't take my eyes off her (the Martin, not his hot wife).
I said, "Look, my guitar, and case are flawless, and I just had
Hot Dots installed. I'll trade you straight across. The guitar
had belonged to her dad who had passed away, so no deal.

However, e-mail me and I'll send you a few pics of the archtop.

                                  -Richard Chellis Buchanan

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Jayto
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 04:12 PM

I wish I had an electric that I love even half as much as my Langejans. I need an electric that I really dig the feel and sound of. My Langejans is really the only guitar that I actually play. If any other is strapped around my neck there is a paycheck involved lol (like someone hired me for an electric gig. Everything acoustic is my Langejans). You can see pics of it on my myspace page. It is an extension of me really. No other guitar feels right to me acoustic or electric. I love it. I call it Patch because it was busted and Del repaired it for me. I told him not to worry about how it looked just make it playable. He did a great job on the repair. There was a large strip of wood missing and he patched another in. It is a draker peice than the rest so thus the name Patch. I didn't start calling it that though. My brother did and then some people at a gig called it the same thing one night and it stuck. Now people are always asking me about Patch. It is funny they ask about my sons and the Patch lol. I guess that shows how much I love that guitar.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 04:03 PM

My favourite is STILL The D35 I bought new in 1970 !

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Wesley S
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 02:16 PM

Actually that's BRAD that has the aggressive guitar style. Not Bread.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Wesley S
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 02:15 PM

Bread has a pretty aggresive guitar style. Similar to Dave Matthews - lots of fast strumming.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 02:14 PM

It may be worth noting, if everyone is not already aware, that guitars actually improve in sound quality the more they're played. The more minutes and hours that the wood spends resonating, the more, or the better, it resonates as time goes on.

Second-best to playing, I've heard recently, is simply exposing the guitar to musical sound. Instead of keeping your instrument in a case, get a stand and prop it up facing the speakers through which you play recorded music.

Even TV sound is better than beign muffled in silence inside a case. My guitar lives in a stand next to my easy chair, in front of the idiot box. I certainly play more often now than when I used to keep it in a case ~ I'll mute the TV during commercials and play a few licks. For those short little stretches of 30-120 seconds, I don't play whole songs, don't even play anything I know very well ~ I'll use that time to get in a few repetitions of some new lick I'm still trying to learn, building muscle-memory in my fingers a little bit at a time.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Jayto
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 01:49 PM

I have a Tak without a pickguard and wore a hole right below the little E string within a year or 2. It is not playable now I'll spare you the story lol. It had a killer tone and alot of volume but man I wore through it in no time at all. I loved it though still do just can't play it.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 01:37 PM

Dang!

I've seen badly battered 1970s (post-lawsuit) Takamines that were manufactured and sold without pickguards ~ the big gaping hole is normally right where the pickguard should have been placed. (Glen Hansard's guitar, as seen in the movie Once, is a prime example.)

But Brad Thompson's Tak has a pickguard, but still has holes in a couple of other adjacent areas of the top ~ the same general areas where my guitar-top is darkened with multiple scratches, but is not nearly worn all the way through.

Were those guitars made with some even-softer variety of wood than the several species of spruce most commonly used used by Martin, Gibson, etc.?

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Wesley S
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 01:15 PM

Here's a well used guitar owned by local singer Brad Thompson

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Jayto
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 12:57 PM

I agree Poppagator. I love a well used guitar. The pristine brand new looking guitars don't do it for me. When I see a guitar that looks and sounds like it has had hours and hours and years and years of playing put on it I love it. An abused guitar to me is one that has not been played. Neglect for a guitar is not having dings and scratches it is having a 10yr+ old guitar with no dings or scratches. Neglect is leaving it in the case and not playing it.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 12:34 PM

"I only have one and I've had it for the last 12 years - a Lowden 010C."

A man after my own heart, an instrumental monogamist! We don't see to many Lowdens here in the states (not in area, at any rate), but I know how very nice they can be. The only guitar I've every played (when pretending to shop in a music store) that sounded as good to me as my own old Martin was a Lowden.

"Yes I could pay ten times the price and get 10% better sound, but I would not dare get it out of the case for a gig."

I certainly understand that sentiment, but for those of us who are true to one and one only guitar, we simply can't worry about it.

When I acquired my D-18 upon graduation from college in 1969, it was the very best instrument I could afford, the bottom-of-the-line choice among Martin dreadnaughts, priced at $299. It served to replace my first guitar, a no-name nylon string model; I never gave a moment's thought to keeping that instrument as an "extra" or "banger," and certainly not as the beginning of a "collection" ~ I needed whatever money I could get and sold it immediately. I then set out to refine and "re-learn" my technique, adapting to the steel-stringed instrument.

Within a year, I was playing incessantly and obsessively. The only performing I was able to do was outdoors, as a streetsinger. (I was not familiar with the word "busker" back then; we didn't use that terminology in the US.) Needless to say, that D-18 didn't look "brand new" for very long at all.

The first tiny little scratch on a new guitar can horrify you, since it is so very evident ~ it "sticks out like a sore thumb." My advice is not to fret, and to start collecting more little dings and dents. By the time the number of imperfections is more than you can count, most of them will appear in natural patterns and your instrument will have acquired a "patina" that certifies it as "vintage."

Of course, it helps if observers see your battlescarred guitar while you're playing it; if it sounds really good ~ as it should, if you and your instrument have been discovering each other's characteristics over the years ~ a well-worn appearance only makes it more impressive than any shiny new showroom model, or even more than an untouched, "preserved-in-amber" collector's item.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: theleveller
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 12:01 PM

"I have two guitars at present, which I wouldn't swop for a big clock."

I had to read that twice, Bryn!

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Suffolk Miracle
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:40 AM

A broken one?
A chocolate one?
A broken chocolate one!

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Amos
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:32 AM

ME auld D-35 Dreadnought is enough for me. Beautiful sound, especially when the strings are fresh!!

I would love to wander around finding some of these gems discussed on this thread and trying them out. Maybe after I retire... :D


A

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: alanabit
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:16 AM

I think it depends on what I am doing. I have a lovely Fylde Oberon, which I bought in 1980. She has been all over Europe with me and has a wonderful, balanced, warm tone. However, I was having problems getting in and out of tunings at gigs, so I have acquired a Martin C-16 GTE for stage work. The Martin has built in tuner and preamp, with automatic mute for when tuning. It does not have quite the warmth of the Fylde, but it is easier to play, because of the smaller neck and it has a cutaway. I intend to use the Martin for all the standard tuning stuff and keep Bessie (my Fylde) for the open tunings, which are an essential part of my sound. The Martin is a superb stage instrument, even though it is only a mid range model (by Martin standards). I am very grateful for both of them, but if I could only keep one, it would be Bessie.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Blackford John
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:14 AM

I love my Lowden F32C. Its particularly lovely for fingerpicking. Very balanced sound.

I also play a Guild D15 which is less "pretty", more bassy and less "punch".

I feel blessed to be able to own one of these let alone both.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Jayto
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:09 AM

My favorite is acoustic guitar is my Del Langejans. I have had it since 1994 and it is the best acoustic I have ever played. Del is in Holland Michigan (US) and is a gret person as well as a great luthier. Del made the Dualette Guitar (2 sided guitar one side is steel string and the other is nylon) for Thom Bresh. He also made Muriel Anderson's Harp guitar. I totally love my guitar that he made me and never really plan on playing any other full time. Harvey Leech makes some very good guitars as well. I don't have one but 2 of my cousins do and they are excellent. I would not mind getting one of them but I will always be a die hard Langejans fan. Del IMHO makes the best acoustic guitars in the world.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: Bryn Pugh
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 10:47 AM

I have two guitars at present, which I wouldn't swop for a big clock.

They could both have been hand luthiered for me, so comfortable are they to play.

The acoustic is a Tanglewood, the elctric a Gretsch Electromatic.

I used to play Epiphones - I have had four or five, can't remember which ; but believe me, much as I loved them at the time,(and thought they couldn't be bettered) the last one I had sounded clunky compared with my Tanglewood. There are those who rave about Gibson J45s and J50s, but they never did anything for me.

I think this is so subjective as to be a matter of personal taste.

I did play an Epi, endorsed by the Everley Bros, some years ago, and if it had been made out of an old wooden packing case, it couldn't have been worse - there was nothing, nothing there at all.

I have never played a Statocaster I liked, nor ever played a Telecaster which I didn't.

The only guitar I regret having parted with - PXed on my first Epiphone - was a small bodied Harmony Sovereign.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: theleveller
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 08:50 AM

I only have one and I've had it for the last 12 years - a Lowden 010C. I wouldn't part with it for any other guitar (although a friend has an early Frank Bown that I like a lot) as nothing suits my style of playing and type of music as well. I think it's a particularly good example as most people who try it, love it. David Delarre of Mawkin spent half an hour playing it recently and only gave it back when I promised to leave it to him in my will (fortunately, he's a young bloke so there may just be a possibility of his getting it some day!).

I would like to try a Mcilroy, made by the bloke who was one of Lowden's luthiers before setting up on his own - but give up my wonderful, full-bodied, dark-voiced Irish beauty? Never!

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Old Terry
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 08:38 AM

Well there's only one really. It is a Maton made by a small family company in Australia . I borrowed a Gibson to test it against and it was no contest. Mind you a lot depends on the strings. La bellas are hard to find here so I use Martin SP's.
Yes I know it sounds pedantic but I'm old and I know.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: mattkeen
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 05:09 AM

I have a Brook Lyn (00 type size) with Rio back and side and an Engelmann spruce top.

It has a breathtakingly beautiful sound


Again www.brookguitars.co.uk

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 04:20 AM

Maybe I am not a trend follower.......but no one is ever going to part me from my Crafter J15.
Maybe I just got lucky, every so often you can get a pearler that is just so much better than all the rest of the batch, and I reckon I've got it. (And it was a bargain price).
Yes I could pay ten times the price and get 10% better sound, but I would not dare get it out of the case for a gig.
Favourite for me means the one I just love to play for real, every day, and I do love it.......dents, scratches and all.

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 03:50 AM

I have a Martin D-21, and had a Martin FG 65(hollow body electric)at the same time. I tried hard to trade them both for a Larrivee Presentation model. If you ever have a chance to play one..by all means do!!

Subject: RE: What is your favourite acoustic guitar?
From: PoppaGator
Date: 29 Jul 08 - 10:01 AM

"Over the years, I've posted three or four answers to the original question in this thread. I've had a different favorite each time."

I'm of a different persuasion entirely. I check into this thread whenever it pops up, enjoy reading the various answers, and sometimes yield to the temptation to post a message. It doesn't make much sense for me to continue doing so, because I always have the same answer, and it's probably kinda silly of me to participate at all.

This time, I figure I can add a little something, in the way of being just a bit more specific:

Martin D-18 #245998