Best guitar you've owned yet...

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Auggie
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 03:06 PM

You got lucky with that '76 HD-28. I have a '77 D-19 that was just a total piece of crap until it spent a month with a really good independant luther who corrected a number of factory flaws including the bridge being installed in the wrong place (making it impossible to stay in tune up the neck). I love it now, but I sure would have liked to have had some of whatever they were smoking the day they put that one together.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 03:08 PM

Martin Carthy's working guitar is a 1959 Martin. He captures and harnesses unbelievable sounds from it using a C tuning based in part on an altered DADGAD tuning. The instrument is a proven machine. DHL

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 03:17 PM

Some 25 years ago I owned a beautiful Fylde Caliban, but I stupidly sold it to a girlfriend. Later, when she was living in Kenya, it was stolen. I often wonder who's playing it now. Lowden , by the way, got a lot of his ideas from the makers of Fylde guitars.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: shepherdlass
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 03:57 PM

The best guitar I've ever owned was my first - a student model East European nylon-string no-name for about 20 quid. I was lucky and got one of the rare ones that was in tune and with a good tone. I've since owned some really nice mid-price guitars, including a Yamaha semi-acoustic wih a great, jangly Fylde-like sound (fab for open tunings), but in terms of sheer value for money you've got to say it's hard to beat that first one. It's still what I keep out at home to work out chords, etc.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: GUEST,Obie
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 04:02 PM

My best sounding guitar is an old (1950's) Framus 5/85n.
If I were to buy a new guitar today it would be a Seagull or Norman.
At least here in Canada they, along with other Godins, are the best bang for the buck. A good one can match a high end Martin at a third of the cost.
         Obie

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Wesley S
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 04:11 PM

Martin - At various times I've seen the following playing Lowdens :
Vince Gill, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ricky Skaggs, Pat Kirtley, Richard Thompson, Pierre Bensusan, and yours truly. I have a wonderful Lowden 12 string that will outshine about 95% of the 12 strings I've put it up against. So - just because you haven't heard of them doesn't mean that they aren't wonderful and well respected guitars. Try one - you may like it.

My favorites are - for sentmental reasons - the 1967 D-18 I bought by saving my lunch money when I was a senior in high school. And my newest favorite is a Collings OM-2HG with a German spruce top. That's getting the most playing time currently.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Justa Picker
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 04:48 PM

Auggie,

I would NEVER recommend to anyone buying a 70s era Martin site unseen without the opportunity to play one. But, there ARE some good to exceptionally good ones, out there.

Further I would exercise EXTREME caution on purchasing ANY Martin that was made in 1977 - because for 8 consecutive months of that year, the entire workforce was on strike, and management (who hadn't make guitars in year, let alone remembering how to do it right) were the ones who were forced to roll up their sleeves and assemble them, so that some cash could roll in, and as a result so many of the guitars made during the strike were definitely not up to snuff. Sounds like your D-19 was one of these victims?

In the early 70s, they had switched to tone-killing larger, rosewood bridgeplates, and, quite a few bridges on many guitars were improperly installed, resulting in many repairs (remove, reattach and reglue the bridge) to correct some serious intonation problems.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: kendall
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 05:20 PM

I've owned most of them, and played all of them. Been impressed by Santa Cruz , Lowden , Larrivee and Collings, but everyone who plays my 1983 Taylor 810 reinforeces my belief thAT it is an outstanding guitar. As for a 12 string, my Apollo. Head and shoulders above all others.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: mooman
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 05:40 PM

In descending order:

1) 1994 Lakewood M-18 custom (current)
2) 1981 Manson Kingfisher
3) 1983 "Japanese" Lowden
4) Guild D25
5) Gibson J45

Plus the Regal Duolian copy I currently have which I use all the time but isn't directly comparable.

Peace

moo

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: The Barden of England
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 06:14 PM

I love my Fylde Oberon - but then of course I would. it was the first guitar that 'talked' to me. It still does, and no other has since - including other Fylde Oberons. On saying that I happened upon a Fylde Egyptian last year at Ely Folk Weekend - that was a bit special too. They make stunning guitars in my opinion - for what it's worth

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Big Mick
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 06:17 PM

I will offer a hearty second to Justa Picker's description of his babies. Each of them has been selected based on his love of Martin's, but he checked each out thoroughly. He is a pro when it comes to this stuff, and he sought these out. And they are spectacular sounding instruments, made all the more so by the fact that they are played by a master.

Sorry, Martin, but I don't buy your line. You attempt to justify your position by your experience. Now I don't know you personally, so I can't say if you are a pro or not. And I will admit that Seagull is not seen the same way as a Martin or vintage Gibson. But I stand by my contention that it is sound, action, and playability that makes the axe. And you may have been fooling around with guitars for a long time, but your arguments suggest you are anything but a pro.

And BTW, it is almost pathetic that you would talk about taking bitterness and nastiness somewhere else. I have read comments from you that were cruel, vindictive, nasty, vulgar ...... you have simply been a very mean person. I for one have had enough of it. But if you are concerned with how you look, you look pretty silly complaining about how someone treats you. Especially since you openly brag about making people dance. It was very easy in this, and other, threads to make you dance.

Mick

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 06:22 PM

http://www.seagullguitars.com/specs.htm

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 07:12 PM

Brand names are what people rely on when they can't actually distinguish good from bad sounding instruments...or when they're just trying to get up someone's nose. I find it hard to believe that anyone's actually ignorant enough to believe a guitar's quality is solely based on a label. A label may give an indication of quality based on the maker's reputation and a person's experience, but that's all. If Martin's made a few dogs, Seagull is bound to have made some gems.

I have a (new) Martin 00-17 that's pretty good, and sounds better than other new 00-17's I've played. I've never owned anything really classy and probably never will, simply because I'll never be able to afford it. That said, I've played a lot of more expensive guitars that I don't like as much as this wee one. I've played other people's guitars that I've liked better. Rick's 00-18 was 'the one that got away' though. Kendall's right about his Appolonio 12-string - it's one of the (if not 'the') most awesome sounding guitar I've heard.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Dickie
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 08:27 PM

In my case it would be my lovely Gibson J50 that I bought 2nd hand from Selmers in Charing X Rd, London some 38 years ago. It never lets me down. I paid around £95 for it, which seems peanuts now but in 1967 must have been a considerable sum now I come to think of it. I love its easy playability & warm tones, particularly at the bottom end.

The J50 replaced a blonde Levin jumbo that was stolen from my Earls Court bedsit back in the mid 60s. Before the Levin, my best guitar to date had been a rather dreadful Gallotone ' Champion '(the sort that John Lennon owned in his Quarry Men days & which fetched some unearthly figure at auction a few years ago).

I also enjoy the luxury, for me at any rate, of a 2nd decent guitar ; a Gallagher. Lovely clear tones, great bottom end, so easy to play and very well made to boot. But, on balance I think it's the J50 that I would want to have with me on that proverbial desert island !   

Dickie

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Mooh
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 10:44 PM

Though they'd never replace my "best" noted above, I have owned Norman, Simon & Patrick, and LaPatrie guitars. The Norman was a used find for $100 that I immediately resold for $250. The S&P was my teaching axe for a time and it came to me as a factory second which I modified slightly and made a bit on when I sold it. The LaPatrie was a cheap clearance sale nylon I resold to help finance another guitar. They were all good, but the only one I regret selling is the Norman, as it was exceptional. It would have made a great "beater".

However, sentimentality has a lot to do with my loves, so I remain loyal to the Beneteau six.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: van lingle
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 11:22 AM

Gotta be a tossup between my Froggy Bottom F and my Collings OM-1A. There's something magical about the aidrondack/ mahoghany combination, to me. Incidentally, I've got two Lowdens for sale: A very nice recent O-32 and an almost 20 year old L27F at a very reasonable price (it's a players instrument). Anyone interested can PM me. vl

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Big Mick
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 12:23 PM

I was in Elderly yesterday. A Lowden came in, and was gone in less than 24 hours. The lads tell me that they rarely last more than a day or two.

Mick

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Justa Picker
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 02:02 PM

Mick, the check's in the mail. :-)

Jeri, it was HIS 1950 O-18 I believe you were referring to.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 03:24 PM

Woody? He said it was a 00-18, and it looks more like this 00-18 than a slotted head 0-18.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 04:22 PM

Then again, I seem to remember this discussion, and I seem to remember I was wrong the last time, too. 0-18.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Once Famous
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 04:25 PM

Big Mick, what I've made in money as a Pro over the decades you can only dream about. I am glad that you admit that Seagull is no where in the league of a Martin or Gibson. Yes, any guitar can have playability and tone. Different degrees, for sure.

My reaction to you has been the same as to the other self-appointed Mudcat elite like yourself. And that is to tell you to get off your high horse, realize that holier than thou pseudo-intellectualism is offensive to regular people, and really take a deep breath before you leave the bathroom to realize you are no better than anyone here.

If you are going to hit, be prepared to be hit back. Harder.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: GUEST,Sleepless Dad
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 05:03 PM

Jeez MG that sounds like a threat. Grow up. It's easy to sound nasty when you're hundreds of miles away in your own little room with just you and your computer. I hope that some day that you'll start acting like an adult. Can we please just talk about guitars and keep your nastyness below the BS line ??

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: number 6
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 05:10 PM

I have a Seagull S6 ..... and it is an excellent guitar. It my 'beater' but somehow it is the one I pick up most to play around the house. I would never let that axe go. By the sound of it in this thread, Seagulls and their family members Normans come off pretty strong.

MG's statement about artists holding their Martins and Gibsons on cd covers does not cut the cake when declaring they are the upmost in guitars. If I was making the 'money' most of them are I most certainly would in all probabilty be playing one of them also. Most people in the Mudcat such as my self are not professional musicians but people who luv playing music as a hobby or semiprofessionaly. In most cases we do not have the excess cash to throw into expensive instruments. Being expensive does not manifest itself that they are actually superior instruments.


sIx

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Terry Allan Hall
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 05:50 PM

Well, my favorites among my many acoustics are:

6-string: Guild JF-4
12-string: Taylor 355
5-string banjo: late 40's-early 50's Chicago-made Harmony
Mandolin and mandocello: Eduardo Brazos (late local builder and dear friend)

While I own more expensive instruments, as well (a couple of '50's era J-200s, a '97 Custom-shop Martin D-42, a Gibson Granada, etc.), the ones listed above sound so wonderful at my gigs and feel so good under my fingers!

BTW, Martin Gibson, I've met many "pros" like you in the 27 years I've made my living as a singer/songwriter...Your ego is so loud, no one hears anything useful from you...

Why not just save your breath.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: GUEST,punfolkrocker
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 06:00 PM

besides which..

the guitars big name artists are seen posing with in publicity photos
and on album sleeves etc..
even playing at high profile concerts..

may often merely be 'props' strategically positioned
to appease corporate sponsors and honour lucrative endorsement deals..

not necessarily the artists favourite most used studio recording guitars..

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Midchuck
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 09:38 PM

Van Lingle said:

Gotta be a tossup between my Froggy Bottom F and my Collings OM-1A.

I wonder how many people on the Cat have a Froggy and a Collings. Prob'ly not all that many.

(H-12 and 000-2H in my case)

Peter.

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 22 Jan 05 - 09:57 PM

In the last 52 years I've owned four guitars. One at a time.

My first one was a mistake. I'm sure it was a perfectly good guitar, but I didn't know what I was even looking for. I wanted something to do finger style playing along with my singing. I bought flat-topped a steel strung guitar, and the salesman threw in three free lessons with it, which was plectrum playing. I learned something from it, of course, but not the finger approach I wanted. The sound with fingers (even if I had known how to play that way) was not very loud, and the steel strings tore up my fingers. I don't remember what brand it was, but it was not cheap for the day. This was in '49 or '50.

I had it maybe four to six months. I learned that it was not what I wanted, and I traded it even up for a used student classical guitar. Again, I don't remember the brand, but it had a nice sound. I started classical guitar lessons, and after maybe a year of watering at the mouth looking at better guitars, including some at my teacher's store, I traded up to a better classical guitar, new.

It was a Regal. Now Regal made perfectly awful steel strung guitars, I was told, but this guitar was wonderful. It played so easily, and had such a sweet tone! It came packaged with a case, a big rectangular case, rather than a guitar-shaped case, and included the little footstool that classical guitarists use. The price for the guitar, case, and footstool in 1951 or '52 was $210. That doesn't sound like all that much today, but in that time that was a pretty fair amount of money.

I proudly took it to my next lesson, and was scolded by Mr. Belson (Who had started life as Signor Bellisoni), my teacher. He didn't say it just this way, but I know he had expected that I was going to buy my next guitar from him, either a Spanish classical guitar he had, which was $500, or a guitar-tuned lute, in the same price range. As I say, he didn't SAY that as part of his lecture; he pointed out that the Regal was shorter in the neck, lacking I think two frets that classical guitars generally and even my student guitar had, and that I would never be able to play the full classical type repertoire without the upper range that it lacked. That was all right with me, because I didn't intend to be playing that sort of music anyway; I just wanted to accompany my singing.

THAT was the nicest guitar I ever had, or ever played for that matter. So smooth, so easy, so sweet!

That guitar lasted me MANY years, but finally gave up the ghost, mainly a victim of dry air.

So in about 1995, knowing that the Regal could not be repaired to be even playable, let alone a decent instrument any more, I trashed it and bought a Montana MI6-4 (or maybe it's M16-4). It was described as being a second, and was on sale, as I recall, for about $150, but I may be mistaken on the price. Certainly wasn't more than that, in any case. If it was a second, I never could find the flaw that made it so. The Montana is not the sweetheart that the Regal was, by any means, but has served me pretty well for about nine years now.

But oh, if I could have that Regal back as it was when new! It was wonderful.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: van lingle
Date: 23 Jan 05 - 06:40 AM

Right Peter, I'm in guitar heaven with these two (sounds like you are,too) and they've cured me of G.A.S. Well, for the moment, anyway :) vl

Subject: RE: Best guitar you've owned yet...
From: snork
Date: 23 Jan 05 - 09:53 AM

Not really decided yet, but an interesting entry would be a Tacoma Baritone guitar (Thunderhawk BM6c) (what a lame name) that I strung the treble top three in gut (tennis racquet gut, actually-- yeah, they still make gut for tennis racquets) and the acoustical properties of the gut are are pretty good--and zero string winding noise up sliding up the frets. I thought the metal trebles sounded a bit twangish, and the gut filled the bill.
   The guitar fairly cries for alternate tunings, as strung b-B its really too low to sing from.