Acoustic guitars

[Phil-osopher10]

Ok I've had a nosey through the other guitar porn pictures and as lovely as they are most of them are electric. How about we get a thread devoted solely to acoustic guitars (semi's included). Oh and if you want to give a wee story about your favourite guitar and why it is all the better!

I would start off but mine is terrible, thus the reason why I am starting this to have a look at what is on offer! Sneaky sneaky.

[Big_Stu]

Yeah OK, do electro's count? A prezzy off Andy Scott (The Sweet) a couple of years ago. [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v476/Maddogcole/AndysWashburn027.jpg[/IMG]

An early Washburn electro, very quiet used as an acoustic, but plugged in it's got a lot of variety.

[RhysP]

My lovely Fylde Orsino has been posted before in the "Guitar Porn" thread, but as this is an acoustic only thread here it is again:

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/Guitars/FyldeOrsino-1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/Guitars/FyldeOrsinobody.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/Guitars/FyldeOrsinoback.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/Guitars/FyldeOrsinoheadstock.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k120/RhysP/Guitars/FyldeOrsinosidea.jpg[/IMG]

This is the only Orsino in existence that has herringbone binding like the more expensive Fylde models; usually the Orsino just has plain black plastic binding.
It's a superb guitar but it's going up for sale soon as I just can't justify keeping a guitar of this quality & just dicking around on it for 10 minutes every couple of months. It deserves to be played & enjoyed.

[KK Jale]

My Epiphone Texan.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/transalp1998/EpiTex1web.jpg[/IMG]

Put together by Gibson in 58, it's basically a J-50 with an older long-scale neck they salvaged from the Epiphone factory.

[Big_Stu]

[quote name='KK Jale' timestamp='1342892719' post='1742533']
My Epiphone Texan.

Put together by Gibson in 58, it's basically a J-50 with an older long-scale neck they salvaged from the Epiphone factory.
[/quote]

Nice - and presumably something of a rarity?

[Phil-osopher10]

Some very nice guitars! I must say I'm a fan of cut aways from an aesthetic point of view! I know all guitars will have different sounds but how does the cut away design the tone? I'm relatively new to the whole acoustic thing as I have had some bad westfield experiences! I have heard good things about fyldes though! I'm pretty self conscience about going into guitar shops and playing as I think the staff are secretly judging me. haha.

what is the difference between just solid tops and solid tops, back and side?

[Ancient Mariner]

A cut away craps on the tone a little and the volume a bit more, but it's usually an accepted trade off, even if only 1 out of 10 get played above the 7th fret.

The early observation about more electrics than acoustics is understandable, since few acoustics are desirable or impressive, most being a limited tool to accomplish the task of backing a vocal. I've only ever played a couple of acoustics that made me want to own them, but they are an useful item, like a cross head screwdriver, in the toolbag of a master carpenter.

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1342965762' post='1743205']
The early observation about more electrics than acoustics is understandable, since few acoustics are desirable or impressive, most being a limited tool to accomplish the task of backing a vocal. I've only ever played a couple of acoustics that made me want to own them, but they are an useful item, like a cross head screwdriver, in the toolbag of a master carpenter.
[/quote]

I'm not trying to be contrary, but my feelings about acoustic guitars are almost opposite to this! I guess it will depend where you're coming from musically. A cheap electric guitar can get most of the way towards sounding like an expensive one, if the setup and pickups are decent and it is played through a good amp, but a good handmade acoustic has something about its sound that a cheap one can almost never replicate. Consequently I have a couple of very nice acoustic guitars but my electric (which I gig with) is a cheapy AXL. I'll try to take some photos of my acoustics in the next couple of days and put them up here - they're a 1936 Kalamazoo (built by Gibson) archtop and a parlour guitar by my brother Pete Beer [url="http://www.petebeerguitars.com/"]http://www.petebeerguitars.com/[/url]

[KK Jale]

^ I agree with Senor Beer!

Phil-osopher, I think solid tops are hugely massively important. Sometimes people will say ‘Oh, well my '70s Yamaha has a laminated top and it sounds amazing,’ but I've never played a GREAT laminated top guitar, ever.

Back and sides are a different matter. There's an effect, but it's much less IMO. For instance the majority of Gibsons from the late '30s to the late '70s had laminated sides, and some of those (the early ones) are in holy grail territory. Some really good Guilds had laminated, pressed backs. Selmer Maccaferris had laminated rosewood backs and sides and they're fanatically sought-after and worth thousands and thousands.

You can get solid top guitars well below the £200 mark these days, but the trick is to find one with a good neck angle, as lots of them are in need of a neck-set right out of the factory. Lots of info on spotting that (and more besides) here:

[url="http://www.frets.com/FretsPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/NeckAngle/neckangle.html"]http://www.frets.com.../neckangle.html[/url]

Big Stu - Texans from that year are fairly rare I suppose, I've found I think traces of three on the interweb, and I've looked pretty hard.

Edited July 22, 2012 by KK Jale

[Phil-osopher10]

I tend to agree with the beer man! I have played some pieces of dung that will always be dung and i've played nice taylors and there is a significant difference. I'll keep that in mind! I was thinking of going for a taylor and i am unsure whether to go for the 300 series or the 200 series, do the electronics merit a £500 price increase? I played a lovely freshman apollo 2oc in a local shop it was £400 but was already sold!

[Beer of the Bass]

Here are a couple of photos of mine:
Pete Beer Parlour guitar


This was built by my brother, nowadays he's building excellent classical guitars but this one is from his college days nine years ago before he went professional. It's made from Cedar and Indian Rosewood and is very, very small! The size and proportions are based on some of the older Martin and Washburn models before larger guitars became fashionable. It's really sweet sounding though quite light in the bass and responds well to classical style right hand technique despite being a steel string.

Kalamazoo KG-21 archtop:


This is the one I play most. These were a budget line made by Gibson alongside their standard models, and this one is a small bodied Spruce and Mahogany archtop. The woods are solid but the arching is acheived by pressing the top over domed braces rather than by carving, so it's a kind of archtop/flat-top hybrid rather than a true archtop. The Order Number inside dates it to around 1936, and it's held up surprisingly well. It could probably do with a re-fret in the near future however. The pickup is a later addition, and since it mounts to the pickguard by a bracket at the side, there is no permanent modification to the guitar. The sound is midrangey and strident, and good and loud when played with a pick. It's great for old style bluesy things and for slide, even if that's not my main style.

[Ancient Mariner]

It's fine that we don't all like the same things.

I have played a couple of acoustics that I'd have liked to take home, but even more-so than a *great* Les Paul, they are a rarity rather than the norm *for me*. I've come to realise that the sound of an acoustic does nothing for me, and I hate it when good guitar players do unplugged concerts, because they seem to be wasting all that talent to create a few twangs and chings. Yes there are a few who can make them do something genuinely musical *to my ears*, but to me, the main use for acoustic guitar is backing singers as a chordally based percussion instrument.

Or as a wall decoration.

So I do have acoustic guitars, but it would be unusual for me to pick one up unless it was required.

Your brothers guitar looks lovely BTW - musical taste doesn't stop me appreciating fine craftsmanship.

[Ancient Mariner]

BTW on the materials side, lamination seems to produce characteristic sounds that, when combined in a particular design like a Maccaferri or some of the other small bodied 'blues' guitars help produce that very characteristic tone. Where would gypsy jazz be without that slightly dead, thuddy and mid-biased sound? A laminated bodied guitar will certainly be usable, but it will never produce a *great* modern acoustic guitar sound.

I did try some of those laminated Martins last year. It may be ecological, but it was not a good experience, and for a lot of money too. I'd still like to own an acoustic I actually wanted to play.

[Wil]

Not the best photo, but I have a Norman B18 which I'm very fond of. It was a bargain really, solid cedar top, nitro finish (which has picked up a bit of "character" in the last few years). Lovely warm tone - it only cost me £250 but I picked it over several £500+ instruments I tried in the shop on sound alone.

The Braguesa on the left sounds lovely too, but intonation is a bit of a problem. Budget instrument though.

[Len_derby]

I love acoustic guitars and have got a couple, nothing special though. What I am getting a bit bored of is the over-bright 'glassy' sound that almost all acoustics with piezo pickups DI-ed through PA seem to sound like. This seems to happen at festivals especially.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Len_derby

[Dave Vader]

1956 Hofner Congress, I love this guitar more than anyone should love a bit of wood.




Turner, got it relatively cheap brand new whwn I needed a back up guitar for gigs. kept this one and sold the main one.



Old 50s/60s nylon string thing I got given by a friend of mine a year or so ago, it's lovely, has blonde sides and back as well, which is unusual, and sounds pretty darn sweet.



My old washburn, survivor of a million gigs, and now sadly sold to fund me being able to eat regularly.

Re: the electric/acoustic thing, acoustics all tend to look similar and less shiny. However, once you play a really great handmade one, you have to either try and forget you ever played it, or start selling kidneys.
I went for the former option, and claimed to like the "lofi" sound of my old boxes. Hence the hofner obsession

[Beer of the Bass]

That Hofner looks like a fun guitar. I'd be tempted to put some sort of really old-school magnetic pickup on it if it were mine, maybe one of the chrome Schallers or similar.

[Phil-osopher10]

I have an friend who is a truely phenominal guitarist and he played a taylor in a shop in belfast and was never able to forget it until he went for the 314ce a couple of weeks ago!

There is a hofner sitting in my local music shop that is usually full of chords etc. it's from 1958 or something, pretty rare i thought. I would love to play a Lowden!

Re: electric/acoustic My feeling is that a good amp is better than having a good electric! a good valve amp can make a guitar sound beautiful! We played through a mesa once and oh my word, tone to die for!

[Ancient Mariner]

Here's mine, owned since the early 80s - suzuki with one of the early piezo bridges. I may not like acoustics, but it's been played enough to need refretting 10 years ago.



And here's the melody - £25 on ebay. It sounds upsettingly similar to a typical older ovation.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v717/AncientMariner/Melodyside.jpg[/IMG]

Edited July 23, 2012 by Ancient Mariner

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1343063137' post='1744621']
That Hofner looks like a fun guitar. I'd be tempted to put some sort of really old-school magnetic pickup on it if it were mine, maybe one of the chrome Schallers or similar.
[/quote]

One day i will get round to it, i keep missing out on the proper old ugly hofner ones on ebay. Would kill for a proper dearmond to go on it though.

[Matt P]

used this to go take some better pictures of my baby, this is my best acoustic, (I've got a Yamaha cutaway dreadnaught too but i have hardly touched it in the last 4 years)

McIlroy AS25, Cedar top, solid claro walnut back and sides, bought 3 days before my wedding as a present to myself (with permission of course) that was 4 and a bit years ago, i still get a buzz when i play this guitar, i can't quite believe it's mine!

at the time the single most expensive purchase i'd made, but the finest acoustic guitar I've ever played (and I've played some really expensive instruments from some big names including Martin, Taylor Takemine and Collings)

Dermot McIlroy (pronounced mackleroy) learnt his trade at Lowden, and this shows in his guitars, i've played a few Lowdens and they're wonderful but the McIlroy has something special about it. a 40 year old (ish) Fylde has got close as well.

[attachment=114128:P1020970.JPG][attachment=114129:P1020973.JPG][attachment=114130:P1020971.JPG]

Matt

[MrFingers]

I have a 1970-something Martin D-35 acoustic guitar, which is my only acoustic at the moment, [url="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/600475_10150964910299870_1510359549_n.jpg"]here in the skilful hands of the singer of my band[/url].
Before that, I had a [url="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/197542_10150115225322020_3808080_n.jpg"]1962 Gibson LG-0[/url], which was in mint condition, with an extremely rare "stinger-headstock". I sold it to fund a part of my Rickenbacker 370/12 (which I swapped against the EB-2D).
When playing live, I use a [url="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/526087_10150859834702020_1908245085_n.jpg"]1964 Gibson LG-1 and a Guild M20[/url], the Gib beingfrom the bassplayer of the band, the Guild from the singer, as both has a piezo-system, and it has a really "in-your-face" sound which is nice for the flatpicking I do when playing "lead".

[janmaat]

Hopf instrument made in Germany 1952.

+cheap bottle of wine bought at Aldi in Berlin-Neukölln.

[Phil-osopher10]

I have heard about the Mcllroy but i never knew he used to be a lowden luthier, I once was taking to a fella who took his lowden back down to George to do some work on it and he was able to remember making it 20 years on, gave him a free strap and all! I think the personal touch in selling is being lost a bit, so I appreciate hearing good customer service!

[leschirons]

Always been a fan of Washburns so at last, I now have my two faves.

George Washburn Festival EA20 from the 80 (old headstock) Great sound unplugged and very easy to play.

A Millenium EA2000 which I'd been looking for for about 5 years. This one turned up in France and took a 13 hour round trip to get it back home. Never seen another in the flesh. Super slim body and a very 335 - like neck. The seller refused to let the case go with it. They were a special green plush lined job. Probably would double the value if I had the millenium case.

Both keepers for life.