The Guitar Pron Thread

[Mojo Hand 4580]

20 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

Seven Corners isn't far from Fairfax.  Of course, here we measure our drives in time and not in miles so depending on the time of day the drive could suck.  Fortunately, I can pick the time when I want to go.

Thanks for the heads up on GC guitars.  Melodee Music is local to me and about four miles away.  If I can work it out I'd like to buy from them as I can see myself spending a fair amount of time there over time.

That looks like a great guitar shop, I'll have to check it out sometime.  To be clear, I've only heard that about GC from a couple of people, and opinions are like assholes.  If others here have had good experiences with acoustics from GC, I wouldn't worry.

[VABuckeye 2472]

The shop was nice and Mike spent a ton of time with me with no expectations and a lot of patience.  Now, we seem to be expanding my budget so are there other guitars I should look at.  It seems that the D-18 falls in that price range and apparently that is another level of guitar.  I'm not complaining about the budget expanding.

[tbone_ 14022]

Look around and see if there is a shop that specializes in acoustics in your area. We have one here called Acoustic Vibes:

https://acousticvibesmusic.com

If you have a place like that go there. They will be very knowledgeable and can help get you in a guitar you love.

[Mojo Hand 4580]

2 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

The shop was nice and Mike spent a ton of time with me with no expectations and a lot of patience.  Now, we seem to be expanding my budget so are there other guitars I should look at.  It seems that the D-18 falls in that price range and apparently that is another level of guitar.  I'm not complaining about the budget expanding.

Looking at the pics on their website, how is it possible that they don't have a 416CE?   If they are out of stock, it's gotta be temporary.

[VABuckeye 2472]

I think I'm going to stop by again tomorrow.  Everything I looked at last week was $1k-ish.  I have a whole list now to look at.  

[AnotherUTFan 9680]

The shop was nice and Mike spent a ton of time with me with no expectations and a lot of patience.  Now, we seem to be expanding my budget so are there other guitars I should look at.  It seems that the D-18 falls in that price range and apparently that is another level of guitar.  I'm not complaining about the budget expanding.

Attaboy! Now we're talking my language.

[Mojo Hand 4580]

4 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

I think I'm going to stop by again tomorrow.  Everything I looked at last week was $1k-ish.  I have a whole list now to look at.  

If you're looking at Martins now, hit Foxes Music in Falls Church on your way to GC.  They have a nice selection. 

[VABuckeye 2472]

Thanks.  I'll take a look there.  BTW, Foxes may have the single worst website ever.  They also have zero Martins listed on the site.

[hullabelew 3702]

18 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

Thoughts on the 317e?  Said to have improved bass like the 316.  It's solid wood and has the new V bracing that is getting rave reviews.  I can put it in my hands locally which is a big plus.

Love it.  Those are a new one for Taylor and would have even more bottom end since it's a dreadnought and has the wider body.  

Just now seeing the D-18 talk.  Outstanding.

Edited April 16, 2019 by hullabelew
cause Martin

[VABuckeye 2472]

Thanks.  I'm going to do a comparison of the 314ce, 317e and the D-18 later today.  I've been listening to D-18 demos through my system at home and that guitar just stands out tonally to me compared to everything else I'm listening to.  It seems to fit my ears if that makes sense.  It will be interesting to see what I think after handling it and the others today and listening to those three guitars live.

[hullabelew 3702]

5 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

Thanks.  I'm going to do a comparison of the 314ce, 317e and the D-18 later today.  I've been listening to D-18 demos through my system at home and that guitar just stands out tonally to me compared to everything else I'm listening to.  It seems to fit my ears if that makes sense.  It will be interesting to see what I think after handling it and the others today and listening to those three guitars live.

Wooohooooo!  I hope we get a new guitar today.  

[jimmyjazz 45557]

If you prefer the tone of a Martin to that of a Taylor, then the discussion is pretty much over.  For what I do, I prefer the Taylor, because they tend to be a little brighter with less bottom end.  My Taylor records like a dream, but it's almost exclusively used for strummy rhythmic parts that need to fit in a mix along with electric guitars, bass, drums, maybe keys, etc.  A solo player, particularly one who does a lot of fingerpicking would likely benefit from the richer bass of a Martin.  Right tool for the job and all that . . .

[ohchaucer 1443]

16 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

Now, we seem to be expanding my budget so are there other guitars I should look at

Oh, man.  We got a live one, folks!  This is how it all begins.

[VABuckeye 2472]

We might.  Today may be the day.  If one of them speaks to me I’ll probably buy it  

I want to hear the tonal differences live.  I have a very good sound system but it’s not the same as live.  

Question on setup. Can the action on the D-18 be set for a beginners level?  I have no desire to buy a great guitar and let it sit because it’s beyond me.  I do know the Taylor’s are fantastic in this regard. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by VABuckeye

[Mojo Hand 4580]

2 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

Thanks.  I'll take a look there.  BTW, Foxes may have the single worst website ever.  They also have zero Martins listed on the site.

Yeah, the website is non-functional. It's a pretty small shop, but they are a Martin dealer and have a wall with 15-20 models. 

[Chad Fuck 17565]

24 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

We might.  Today may be the day.  If one of them speaks to me I’ll probably buy it  

I want to hear the tonal differences live.  I have a very good sound system but it’s not the same as live.  

Question on setup. Can the action on the D-18 be set for a beginners level?  I have no desire to buy a great guitar and let it sit because it’s beyond me.  I do know the Taylor’s are fantastic in this regard. 

Yes. 

BTW, I really like the turn your search has taken.  

[hullabelew 3702]

19 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Yes. 

BTW, I really like the turn your search has taken.  

Yep.  Once he hears that booming D18....decision is made.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

18 hours ago, VABuckeye said:

Mike spent a ton of time with me with no expectations and a lot of patience.  Now, we seem to be expanding my budget

mission accomplished

[jimmyjazz 45557]

Honestly, I would guess a Martin might hold its value a bit better than a Taylor, so it might be a justifiable purchase from that perspective alone, in the off chance that the instrument just never gets played.

That said, in my opinion VABuckeye should expand his budget another dollar or two thousand and get a Gibson J-200:

[Bogeywon 2518]

47 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Honestly, I would guess a Martin might hold its value a bit better than a Taylor, so it might be a justifiable purchase from that perspective alone, in the off chance that the instrument just never gets played.

That said, in my opinion VABuckeye should expand his budget another dollar or two thousand and get a Gibson J-200:

YEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS DO IT DO IT NOW!

[tbone_ 14022]

https://www.musicradar.com/news/fender-unveils-3-jaw-dropping-game-of-thrones-custom-shop-guitars

A little pricey...

[Chad Fuck 17565]

55 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Honestly, I would guess a Martin might hold its value a bit better than a Taylor, so it might be a justifiable purchase from that perspective alone, in the off chance that the instrument just never gets played.

That said, in my opinion VABuckeye should expand his budget another dollar or two thousand and get a Gibson J-200:

 

[AnotherUTFan 9680]

While we wait for VABuckeye to get back with his new Martin, let's reflect on my 2015 American Telecaster Deluxe that I bought a few years ago through a deal posted here.

This is the only electric I keep at home now, so it's the one all my practice, song writing, and solo creating is done on. The neck is incredible. It feels fast and precise, and is very snappy and responsive. A lot of people don't care for the belly route in a Telecaster, but I find it extremely comfortable as it's literally a couch guitar - and I do have a bit of a guy. The photo's don't do justice to the depth and beauty of the butterscotch finish.

This is really an incredible instrument all the way around. It's my only Fender and it couldn't be more perfect.

[VABuckeye 2472]

And

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's a Taylor 317e now in the house.  It felt right.  Tone wise it still has what I like.  I immediately eliminated the 314ce after hearing the 317e.  The competition at the end was the 517e Builders Edition but the more I listened to them side by side the more the difference became negligible for me.  The 517e Builders also was a sunburst and I prefer the natural look. 

I liked the D-18 a lot and still love the tone but the Taylor was surprisingly close and felt better in my hands.  I went in thinking I’d walk out with the D-18 but to learn on I feel like I made the right choice. 

[Chad Fuck 17565]

Pic isn’t showing up for me. How bout you guys?

[jimmyjazz 45557]

Well done!

[VABuckeye 2472]

[Mojo Hand 4580]

21 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

And

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's a Taylor 317e now in the house.  It felt right.  Tone wise it still has what I like.  I immediately eliminated the 314ce after hearing the 317e.  The competition at the end was the 517e Builders Edition but the more I listened to them side by side the more the difference became negligible for me.  The 517e Builders also was a sunburst and I prefer the natural look. 

I liked the D-18 a lot and still love the tone but the Taylor was surprisingly close and felt better in my hands.  I went in thinking I’d walk out with the D-18 but to learn on I feel like I made the right choice. 

Beautiful.   And that's 100% the right way to choose a guitar.   Congratulations! 

[Bogeywon 2518]

36 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

if you never learn one of us will buy it you can count on that! congrats!

[tbone_ 14022]

Nice job. Enjoy!

[jimmyjazz 45557]

The strings are on backwards.

(Just kidding.)

[VABuckeye 2472]

A is kicking my ass.  I'll get it.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

5 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

A is kicking my ass.  I'll get it.

I remember C being hard at first, and then F because I couldn't barre for shit (I use my thumb). 

[Deej 76566]

15 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

A is kicking my ass.  I'll get it.

Not if you keep wasting time posting here. 

(Kidding. Enjoy the new guitar.)

[noharleyyet 2837]

1 hour ago, VABuckeye said:

And

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's a Taylor 317e now in the house.  It felt right.  Tone wise it still has what I like.  I immediately eliminated the 314ce after hearing the 317e.  The competition at the end was the 517e Builders Edition but the more I listened to them side by side the more the difference became negligible for me.  The 517e Builders also was a sunburst and I prefer the natural look. 

I liked the D-18 a lot and still love the tone but the Taylor was surprisingly close and felt better in my hands.  I went in thinking I’d walk out with the D-18 but to learn on I feel like I made the right choice. 

That's a mighty fine "starter"....congrats 

[Buzzrock 14871]

Aw yeah she got a fat ass. Love it. Congrats!

I was going to offer some advice along the lines of what has been said: make sure you play it first but also don’t go to the store with your heart set on one thing (I made that mistake and rectified it years later) and don’t make decisions about tone/sound based on YouTube videos. They can be wildly (or subtly) different from real-world.

It looks like you followed your heart and ended up with something you really like. That’s awesome. One thing that stuck with me from that Knopfler video is that acoustics are great because within a few minutes of playing one you know what you have. Electrics can send you down the endless path of chasing tone, but acoustics are wonderfully simple.

[Foggy Notion 1202]

1 hour ago, Mojo Hand said:

Beautiful.   And that's 100% the right way to choose a guitar.   Congratulations! 

This right here. ^^^^

Nice job, Buckeye!

[tbone_ 14022]

I like that VAB doesn’t fuck around.

[AnotherUTFan 9680]

That's a good point.

[BoomMF 1398]

My first acoustic guitar had a plastic top. 😐

[Bogeywon 2518]

44 minutes ago, BoomMF said:

My first acoustic guitar had a plastic top. 😐

Speaking of plastic I hate ovations 

[Deej 76566]

I've dated some women with plastic tops. 

[noharleyyet 2837]

13 minutes ago, Deej said:

I've dated some women with plastic tops. 

...ovation

[DougO 5239]

Anybody else here make an A chord with two fingers like I do? I have fat fingertips.

 

[Mojo Hand 4580]

I play it with one finger (index) and no fingertips. 

Edited April 17, 2019 by Mojo Hand

[jimmyjazz 45557]

1 hour ago, DougO said:

Anybody else here make an A chord with two fingers like I do? I have fat fingertips.

 

As in fretting the D and G strings up to E and A, while letting the B string ring?  Or are you using two fingers to somehow fret the B string up to C#?

If the former, then yeah, that's an A2 chord.  See: Paul Westerberg

[jimmyjazz 45557]

. . . but for an open A major chord, I use 3 fingers.  I'm always impressed by guys who can fret it with one finger yet let the high E ring.  I'm just far more comfortable fretting the D, G, and B strings up 2 frets with individual fingertips.

[Buzzrock 14871]

One finger on electric, three on acoustic

[NBMisha 224]

Thanks BAV for this shopping interlude.  You will love your Taylor.  I'm intrigued with that size vs my 714CE.   But my takeaway from this is that I gotta have that J200.

[VABuckeye 2472]

Thanks all.  I appreciate the input from everyone along the way and boy was the final purchase a lot different than the initial guitar I posted here.

I spent about 1 1/2 hours with it yesterday.  Work got in the way a couple of times.  It appears that my thumb position on the back of the fret board was way off which meant I was using more of the pad of the finger instead of the tip.  I'll correct that today which hopefully will help with that troublesome A chord.  I'm a stickler for doing things right so I may as well correct it now so technically I'm holding the guitar correctly. 

I spent a lot of time on E yesterday working to get the muscle memory going for it.  I strummed, I picked my way down the chord and I spent some time just picking out different lines within the chord.  No real melody just learning those notes and how they interact.  Today I'll refresh E then move on to A again.  I'm using Justin Guitar for the time being.  I like the way he explains things.  I'm a musical person and I'm already coming up with lines and ditties in my mind that I want to play.  When I played piano I was a sheet music reader and didn't show much imagination.  That's something I want to change with the guitar.