Acoustics No One Guitar Fits All Needs Discuss

tonyrath

I was in our local and indeed only guitar shop today Mantilla Music in Chingford. Nice guy and good stock for its size and mentioned the very nice Vintage that one of my pupils bought for not much,  V800 or 8 I think. We both agreed that there is not an ideal acoustic that covers strumming - picking and flat picking Horses for courses in fact. What is the forum view 

fatherjack

I think it depends upon the circumstances - if you're just doing some backing strumming in a band in a pub and all you've got handy is a parlour guitar to plug in, then you'll probably get away with it in that setting, but it probably wouldn't cut the mustard in a more focussed environment.

bertie

depends on your requirements within those styles surely ?? -  but the large OM/Small Jumbos are pretty much there or there abouts.  Especially if the body is deep enough.

You'll never get an 000/OM to sound like a  hard strummed J200, or D28.......and a dread will never be as articulate or as comfortable as a small bodied  etc etc etc ad nauseum.  So a  'mini J'  or what ever the maker decides to call em,  is a very good compromise.

dindude

Agree a small Jumbo is a good bet. I personally like the Taylor GA body style - as a one-acoustic man, it does a very good job of being an all-rounder that sounds good picked, strummed, or belted, with string spacing that suits all situations. There are better specialist choices for sure, but it's a great compromise.

ICBM

My Gibson Dove does all three, and well.

It's a Dreadnought, but it has a long scale and maple body/neck so it's fairly bright and responsive when played gently but you can thrash the daylights out of it and it just gets louder rather than mushing out or sounding trashy. It's tighter and less hollow/boomy than a J200, a bit more mid-focused.

I'd also agree that a small deep-body jumbo, particularly in a harder/brighter wood will do a similar thing.

xmrchi

I play a lot of acoustic, be it in the studio or gigs, my trusty f 20 does everything, and does it well, I have never once thought, I needed another acoustic, unless I needed a 12 string sound, but again horses for courses, I like to stretch my guitar, as in I will make it work for me regardless if the situation, and if it does not hold up to that, then I would buy another, I did that until I found the guild and it's the best if the bunch, and more flexible than any other guitar I have.

IanSavage

The cedar-topped folk-sized Tanglewood I've just sold on made a very good 'jack-of-all-trades' acoustic, small enough to articulate fingerpicking but nicely raucous when strummed hard; I'd still want a dreadnaught for recording 'big' guitar and a parlour for acoustic slide though.

stickyfiddle

My Taylor 214 is a pretty good as an all-rounder, though a bit heavily-built. Excellent gigging guitar if maybe a little unsubtle. 

I do agree that there is no one acoustic that can do everything 99% as well as all other guitars. 

I'm after a proper dreadnought soon, probably hummingbird/dove/D28 but wouldn't mind trying a decent OM too, just in case.

richardhomer

I agree that OMs/000s are good all-rounders - similarly Taylor 14s.

I have a 20 year old D28 which finger picks surprisingly well but I wish I had a good OM as well.

As I get older, I can see more acoustics being purchased....

crunchman

If you are going to have one do it all acoustic then an OM/OOO size is probably the way to go.  Sitting on the sofa noodling with a dreadnought/jumbo isn't the most comfortable.

Having said that, there are times when I have to play out completely unplugged and having a dreadnought for that helps for volume.  I'm glad I have both options.  I also like having the option of Spruce/Rosewood or Spruce/Mahogany - they do sound different.

The gap in my acoustic collection may be for a maple bodied jumbo.

Should this discussion be moved to the acoustic section?

ICBM

tonyrath said:

I was in our local and indeed only guitar shop today Mantilla Music in Chingford. Nice guy and good stock for its size and mentioned the very nice Vintage that one of my pupils bought for not much,  V800 or 8 I think. We both agreed that there is not an ideal acoustic that covers strumming - picking and flat picking Horses for courses in fact. What is the forum view 

I think my Gibson Dove is pretty good for all those - that's the exact reason it's my favourite ever acoustic, in fact. It's a long-scale maple-bodied Dreadnought so it's both bright and punchy, thick and responsive all at the same time. I don't actually use a pick but most people who play one probably do.

Of course, I still need a 12-string, resonator, nylon-string, maybe a folk/blues/Hawaiian-style thing or combinations of that too .

xSkarloey

Gibson J-45/ J-50? 

Sound like real cannons when strummed hard, but have a lovely articulate projection for finger picking (think Davey Graham, Ralph Mctell etc). 

Slightly less cumbersome bodies than a traditional Dread as well. 

Must now stop writing: I am reminding myself of how great they are. GAS is bad.  

octatonic

Less thinking, more playing.

xSkarloey

Indeed. My best GAS cure is playing what I've already got.  

octatonic

Skarloey said:

Indeed. My best GAS cure is playing what I've already got.  

My comment wasn't aimed at anyone in particular.

xSkarloey

octatonic said:

Skarloey said:

Indeed. My best GAS cure is playing what I've already got.  

My comment wasn't aimed at anyone in particular.

Maybe not but it struck a chord with me, ayukka yukka yukka. 

guitarfishbay

My BSG Rosewood/Spruce Jumbo ticks all the boxes I'm interested in, so as far as I'm concerned there has been zero acoustic GAS for 5 years now.  I hadn't even heard of the brand when I bought it, I just knew I preferred it to the Martins and Taylors I was looking at by enough of a margin that the unknown brand entity didn't worry me.

Sitting with a Jumbo on your right leg isn't necessarily comfortable for a lot of people, but I play it on my left leg and have zero issues (as a right hander).  I'm 6 foot though, not sure I'd feel the same way if I was 6 inches shorter or had shorter arms.

They do give a very different finger picking tone to a smaller bodied guitar, but I still find it a pleasant one.

For a student though I'd steer them towards something comfortable for a beginner, a smaller body would probably be a preferable starting point for a lot of people (and a lot of people prefer to play on their right leg).