Best you've owned and best you've played?

axisus

I'm getting back into acoustic guitar at the moment, but I can't quite decide if I am happy with my current guitar. I thought I'd throw out two questions and see what answers come back 

1) Best acoustic you have owned?

2) Best acoustic you have played?

Is your best a keeper? How much better was the best you have played?

My current no 1 is a Taylor 814CE. It is very nice, but I still have a hankering after something else, so it is not 'perfect' for me. I have a very basic Takamine N10 which was much cheaper, but there is something about it that seems to make it very easy to play. I have always wanted a Takamine 2008 special edition, although I have never played one.

I think I may well end up keeping the Taylor - one of my kids knocked it over a few years ago and the headstock neck joint got a crack (expertly fixed by Feline guitars). It plays fine, but I would obviously take a big hit on the fact that it has been repaired.

So, anything to say on acoustics you have tried?

Hertz32

I've played every single acoustic in my local, and I walked away with a hog topped Vintage V400mh.

Then I played a Taylor GS mini, and bought the hog topped electro acoustic one of that and it blows the tits off the Vintage despite being 2/3rds the size. Clearly I like darker acoustic tones, but my GS is a keeper till I die. I love it a disproportionate amount really. I'm shortish at 5'7" ish and the smaller size of the mini fits my torso wonderfully, where a full dreadnaught just digs in uncomfortably and feels wrong.

So,
1) My 'Hog Taylor GS mini-e
2) er... My 'Hog Taylor GS Mini-e

ESBlonde

bAss ackwards
2:
Many years ago I played electric guitar in a folk band. The leader played a small bodied Martin which on a 6Ft 4" bloke almost looked like a toy/student guitar and stood in front of my amp I didn't really hear it properly. Then one day whilst passing time waiting for the punters to eat or some such I picked it up and played it. "Pick your own expletives and insert here" that was just monster, I mean mind blowing (more expletives) on this tiny old beat up toy guitar! I had long liked Martin dreadnaughts but the balance, tone, projection, ease of micing up, feel and playability of this guitar quite shook me. It is now 30 years since that day and I can still recall some of the details, sadly not the model number but the old folky still lives and performs locally a couple of times a year so I might go see him.
When I asked if he would sell it his words were something like "you can have a go on the wife but the guitars all mine". He got divorced some years later but the guitar is still his AFAIK.

1:
I own nothing like it worthy of mentioning in the presence of it's glory.

Hertz32

^worth adding that I have never liked a gloss finish acoustic. Even the nice ones feel horrid with a plasticky gloss finish to me.

crunchman

The best I've owned is my Martin HD28VE.  The OOO28EC that @Gassage now has is very good as well.

The best I've played was probably a 12 Fret slot headstock Santa Cruz OM.  A few others that stand out were a Santa Cruz Pre-War D, another Martin HD28V, and a Martin D42.

I've also played Furch/Stonebridge guitars that were not far behind even though they are a lot less money.

CHRISB50

The best acoustic I've owned / played is my current guitar, a Lowden O22C.

I tried it vs Martins in the same price range (3k) but I prefer the Lowden tone.

I haven't tried any other high end acoustic brands other than Lowden / Martin as I'm left handed and it's a nightmare finding guitars in stock.

The build quality of my Lowden is the best I've experienced in a guitar. The tone is perfect for me. I just wish they weren't so bloody expensive or I'd have another (I'd like a RW back and sides as well).

west

Lowden F35c  sitka spruce top, koa back and sides sublime, understated just fabulous, cant see me selling it unless something brazilian came along,  i have not played an olson a kevin ryan or a mcpherson  er yet ...

ICBM

Best I've owned and played are both my Gibson Dove. I was lucky to find it.

I think. The other candidate would be my former '61 Gibson J-45, which I foolishly sold many years ago instead of my Lowden O10 when I needed money, because the Lowden had electrics (which I needed, I was gigging with it) and the Gibson didn't. The Lowden was a nice enough guitar but it didn't suit me.

I also had a Martin OM21 which was fantastic sounding but I didn't like the wide neck and string spacing. A friend insisted on buying it off me . (She's a classical player so it suits her perfectly.)

Honourable mention: my '71 Martin D12-35 12-string. The best 12-string ever.

Lewy

Best guitar I've owned is a Collings D1A which is still my main guitar. I need acoustic volume and cut for the settings I play in, and the combination of adirondack top and mahogany sides and back, combined with Collings voicing, punches through in a real acoustic setting and is also very mic-friendly.

The best guitar I've ever played was a 1937 D-18. The notes literally seemed to jump out of the guitar at the slightest touch and I had to put it down because I knew it would ruin me for any other guitar.

usedtobe

Best I've owned is my current one - a Recording King rd26, from memory. Lovely, it is. Best I've played, is a friend's Martin. Can't remember the model, but it just feels and sounds 'right'.

AuldReekie

The best acoustic I own is also the best I have ever played; it was made for me by Nigel Forster in Newcastle in 2005/6 and is his "Model C", basically a 12 great OM spruce/rosewood model.  It was £2650 back then which put it above price point of similar Collings, Santa Cruz etc, but it was more expensive for a reason.  Incredibly responsive, fantastic workmanship and a rich balanced sound with overtones.  A truly amazing instrument and well ahead of any other acoustic I have played.  The second best I have played was also a Forster, this time a Model J, made for DADGAD.  When I get some dosh together, might treat myself to one off these

Moe_Zambeek

1. Lowden o23. 2. All-Koa Collings OM. 5 grand of pure, light as a feather, sonic delight. If only I had the cash...

bluechargeboy

My Larrivee would be the nicest I've tried, but then again I never try guitars in shops unless I can somehow afford them! I know all too well what happens when you stray out of your price range....

mellowsun

west;690555" said:

Lowden F35c  sitka spruce top, koa back and sides sublime, understated just fabulous, cant see me selling it unless something brazilian came along,  i have not played an olson a kevin ryan or a mcpherson  er yet ...

I played a Lowden f35 Koa/spruce at a trade show, it was amazing, lovely low action, as light as a feather and wonderfully resonant.

BigLicks67

Best I've owned and played is my Martin OM18V.

When I bought it I had a Taylor 414ce which I decided wasn't right for me and tried loads of Martins, Taylors, some Gibsons, Lowden, Mcilroy, Guild etc.

Since then I've played a high end Sobell and stuff like Collings, but still I come back to the Martin with the proviso that the V neck sometimes gets on my nerves.

Best other guitar would probably be a nice Lowden if I could afford it : >

mgaw

best is Bill Tippin OM, jus t remarkable had Collings, tried Santa Cruz, Bourgeois, Martin, Lowden etc etc  Tippin does it for me, the most musical and well balanced guitar i have ever heard quite something

xmrchi

Best playing, was my early 90s Takamine EN20,
And the beat sounding, was not mine but a 70s guild d something all mahogany with an arched back, I couldn't afford it at the time, and it went when I could.

Gassage

1) My old Lowden LSE1 followed by my current Martin 00028EC

2) Huss and Dalton MJC - this exact guitar

http://www.chandlerguitars.co.uk/product_Detail.php?ItemID=5475

stimpsonslostson

bluechargeboy;690834" said:

 I never try guitars in shops unless I can somehow afford them! I know all too well what happens when you stray out of your price range....

Wisdom for that! I was acoustic hunting 2 years ago & played everything I could lay my hands on in my <£500 budget. <br />What did I buy?

A £400 Vintage Brett 12 string. I've never regretted it. It's quite an idiosyncratic guitar- parlour body, 12th fret join, slot head and satin finish. I love it.

A close second was a Faith parlour sized Mercury(?), but I love 12strings.

crunchman

Gassage said:

1) My old Lowden LSE1 followed by my current Martin 00028EC

2) Huss and Dalton MJC - this exact guitar

http://www.chandlerguitars.co.uk/product_Detail.php?ItemID=5475

That Huss & Dalton is very nice but if I was going to spend that kind of money I'd probably go the the Martin D42 I tried a while back.

I did like the Albert Lee OO they have.  The small body would make it ideal for playing on the sofa.

http://www.chandlerguitars.co.uk/product_Detail.php?ItemID=5476

Gru

Hertz32;690361" said:

I've played every single acoustic in my local, and I walked away with a hog topped Vintage V400mh.

Then I played a Taylor GS mini, and bought the hog topped electro acoustic one of that and it blows the tits off the Vintage despite being 2/3rds the size. Clearly I like darker acoustic tones, but my GS is a keeper till I die. I love it a disproportionate amount really. I'm shortish at 5'7" ish and the smaller size of the mini fits my torso wonderfully, where a full dreadnaught just digs in uncomfortably and feels wrong.

So,
1) My 'Hog Taylor GS mini-e
2) er... My 'Hog Taylor GS Mini-e

Being a person who struggles to justify spending over £4-500 on a guitar mine are as follows.

Best I have owned: Martin OMXAE
Best I have played: Taylor GS Mini Hog


The Martin is solid, with a very smooth sound.

The GS Mini was almost purchased instead of the Martin. I played it just as a comparison and it blew me away. For my style of playing it sounded amazing. However, I wanted a 45mm nut and had wanted an OM size for home use.

The GS Mini is still on my radar and I imagine will be purchased in the future, although my current rotation is 2 and not sure a third could really be justified.