Seagull S6 Spruce Vs Yamaha LL6

Forge

Has anyone tried both?

The Seagull is laminate wild cherry b/s with solid sitka spruce top while the Yam is laminate rosewood b/s with a softer solid Engelmann spruce top...tone wise they should be in the same ballpark, maybe with more brightness from the Seagull due to the materials?

In terms of playability both necks are wide-ish and have a comparable scale/radius. If think the gull has a deeper neck...so which one would you go for? The refined Asian or rustic Canadian?

meltedbuzzbox

whats your price range?

Personally I dont like any steel strung acoustic Yamaha do under £1500

The seagulls are great. 

Faith are always worth a look too. 

Forge

The budget is about £400, I don't want to spend too much as I always end up selling my acoustic.

BigLicks67

I've got an LL6 it's a fine guitar for the money. Ebony board as well on the old models.

I've never played a Seagull though sorry. My only negative on the LL6 is the scale length of 650mm, I would have preferred the Martin style of 645mm, but that is a very minor gripe. The LL6 is basically a modern version the LL11 :

.

Samgb

I have an LL6 from 03/04 i bought new. Its fantastic. Also, i appear to have lucked out and got a surprisingly lovely looking piece of wood on mine but obviously i dont know if theyre all like that. Apparently, their sound is an aquired taste but i cant say ive noticed it being that different     

SRich

I've had a Seagull S6+Spruce for 10 years and it's a terrific all-rounder - the spruce gives it more projection and, now that it's well played in, it retained the projection and has 'mellowed'. Nice woods too. Mine has a very sparse finish to it - it now looks much older and vintage. 

As far as the neck goes, you'd really have to play one. For a while the width gave me trouble and I thought it would have to go, but I'm cool with it now......nowadays mine lives downstairs to pick up when I'm watching TV.

Plus they are relatively inexpensive..or were then.....? I think I paid £200 from the Banbury dealer.

Never played a Yam though......

Forge

SRich said:

I've had a Seagull S6+Spruce for 10 years and it's a terrific all-rounder - the spruce gives it more projection and, now that it's well played in, it retained the projection and has 'mellowed'. Nice woods too. Mine has a very sparse finish to it - it now looks much older and vintage. 

As far as the neck goes, you'd really have to play one. For a while the width gave me trouble and I thought it would have to go, but I'm cool with it now......nowadays mine lives downstairs to pick up when I'm watching TV.

Plus they are relatively inexpensive..or were then.....? I think I paid £200 from the Banbury dealer.

Never played a Yam though......

They're about £400 now, I need to drag my ass in Leicester to try both. I used to have a Lakewood which sounded great but was not particularly enjoyable to play and a Takamine EN which was the exact opposite!

Forge

Ok, I picked up a nearly new Seagull Coastline Spruce S6, action is a bit high with a light bow so I'll have to tweak the truss rod and the bridge a tad. Tone wise it is as nice as I have heard from my previous high end guitars. I have read they come with a pretty high action from the factory and usually need a setup to be to the owners' taste.

SRich

Congrats.......HNGD

Forge

Truss rod sorted, now the neck under tension is near straight with a touch of relief. The saddle has been delicately sanded resulting in an action of 2.8mm E 12th fret and 1.8m e 12fret. There is still margin to lower further but I will let the guitar settle for a few days before adjusting but it sounds good and does not buzz at all even under heavy strumming (sorry had to do my rendition of fake plastic trees...). The pins are plastic and that annoyed me so I got a set of Tusq pins on the way to match the Graphtec saddle and nut. So far so good, I like the Seagull much more than me old Lakewood.