Favorite Acoustic Guitars

[Larry Mal]

I feel that had I known how good Guild was all this time I would have a lot more of them. I've had about six come through my hands at this point, from the 70's up until a very recent M20. They've all been very good. I don't know if anyone here is looking to buy a guitar but if you are, chase down a Guild version of whatever you are looking for if you can.

[øøøøøøø]

I always wished I could like those old Fender wildwoods

They look so cool

They just don’t do much for me sonically

One day I might like to go full 70s Nashville and get a Grammer guitar

[jakeisjake]

I have a Gibson J-100 extra...it has most/all of the fancier J-200, but at a lower price point. It's a 2003 or 2004 (I bought it new) and it has aged so well.

My bandmate has gravitated to a Gibson J-15 that it pretty awesome.

I played it this past Sunday and it played super well. His is a 2016.

There's a Gibson G-45 (before they started putting the goofy sound hole on the top) for sale locally...I've thought about it a few times as a back up.

[jakeisjake]

I had a higher end Ovation for a few years. It was a 12 string and had a full bowl...It was a Balladeer. That was a nice guitar. The full bowl made it as loud as a regular acoustic without amplification...but the pick up in it was stellar, too.

[Larry Mal]

I have two 12 strings, a Taylor GA3-12 that is yet another guitar that I think is great value. It's Taylor's Grand Auditorium which I think is basically the same as an OM model. They sell for like $850 and are really well made guitars.

I bought a Larrivee dreadnaught 12 string, a very low end D-02 model. I do not like it. I had a winner with my Taylor 12 string and probably should have just kept that as my only 12 string.

[sal paradise]

I very nearly bought a Laravee OM-02, which is supposed to be a hell of a giant killer & can be had 2nd hand for half the the price of a Martin. But I thought better of it, although I am open to Adkin and the likes.

They seem to be super popular over here; well-made versions of the classics without the cost of the name on the headstock. But I'd definitely need to try them - if I fall in love with it by surprise in a shop, it'll change my perspective. I know if I just bought one remotely I'd dislike the lack of name on the headstock regardless.

[mediocreplayer]

I very nearly bought a Laravee OM-02, which is supposed to be a hell of a giant killer.

It is supposed to, but it's not. They make great looking and playing guitars, but they sound like total cardboard boxes to me. I have owned five because I kept thinking it must be my fault. I remember an L-03R that I bought (online) and decided to sell like a week after. The guy who came to try it played it (really well) and as I was listening to him I was thinking "what a garbage sounding guitar. No way he is going to want this, maybe I should knock the price down a couple hundred dollars." He turns around and says this is one of the best guitars he has ever played and buys it on the spot. Different strokes.

[Larry Mal]

I feel that Larrivee looks like other guitars but to their credit they don't sound like the classic models they tend to look like, so if you get an OM thinking it will sound like a Martin OM it won't. Probably need to have an open mind with them.

It's also worth bearing in mind that they have their Larrivee series and their "traditional", the traditional is fairly new I think. You can easily distinguish between the two lines because the traditional has a headstock that looks more or less identical to Martin's and the other series has a unique headstock to Larrivee.

The traditional series as you can expect is braced more like what Martin does and is an attempt to sound like Martin (at least I assume so).

Having an open mind did not help me with my Larrivee 12 string, however. I'll pull it out today and see if I feel any different.

Brad mentioned something about bigger guitars not making great 12 strings and I think I have discovered that. Or at least I would not be quick to buy another dreadnaught 12 string. The Guild super jumbo 12 strings are pretty archetypical and I can't say I wouldn't buy one of those, but then again super jumbos aren't what you think they would be and they can be kind of restrained compared to dreadnoughts.

[Larry Mal]

I've been kind of looking at Guilds a lot lately and they made a lot of fun instruments, one of which is the D-46, which is a normal enough looking dread but with ash bodies. That was new to me. Of course we Fender players are super familiar with ash but I have no idea what it would be like on an acoustic.

Pretty fun.

[Jonesie]

There's a Gibson G-45 (before they started putting the goofy sound hole on the top) for sale locally...I've thought about it a few times as a back up.

I'm a big fan of my G-45 Standard. Never played the Studio though, if that's what you're looking at. If you can get it for $800 or less it's a steal.

[øøøøøøø]

Brad mentioned something about bigger guitars not making great 12 strings and I think I have discovered that.

I may have been misunderstood a bit—I meant to say that the heavier-built guitars like Guilds (thicker tops, stiffer bracing) are, to my ears, better-suited for 12-string configurations

I generally like six string guitars that you can play medium-light and get them to really speak

Some guitars (like a good J200) beg to be absolutely smacked around at ffff dynamic levels and work best there… in the right situation i can also get into that. The J200 may be the all time best “acoustic rhythm in loud ass rock band” acoustic, but that’s not something that comes up in conversation very much for me

If I could only ever have one six-string flat top it would be some variant of AJ, SJ, J35, J45, J50 (etc)

And if I could only have one 12-string it would be a Guild F212, F512, etc

[Larry Mal]

I may have been misunderstood a bit—I meant to say that the heavier-built guitars like Guilds (thicker tops, stiffer bracing) are, to my ears, better-suited for 12-string configurations

I generally like six string guitars that you can play medium-light and get them to really speak

Some guitars (like a good J200) beg to be absolutely smacked around at ffff dynamic levels and work best there… in the right situation i can also get into that. The J200 may be the all time best “acoustic rhythm in loud ass rock band” acoustic, but that’s not something that comes up in conversation very much for me

I see- apologies for misquoting you then.

I am no expert on the Super Jumbo style guitar, I do have a J-100, though. It is somewhat unusual in that it has bubinga back and sides to it's hard for me to extrapolate a lot from. I can say, though, that I was expecting some kind of booming bass monster of a guitar and what I got was a very subtle instrument with a very nice balance across the audible spectrum. It has a lot more dynamics to it than I thought and works just fine for fingerstyle, for instance.

Anecdotally I would say it's not as loud as any of my dreadnaught guitars.

Maybe the maple of the J-200 would be a lot different, but I do have Maggie's old Dove so I'm somewhat familiar with maple at this point.

I guess I'll have to buy an SJ-200 at some point and find out.

[Dok]

I sure went through a hell of a lot of acoustic guitars over the past 10-15 years. I ended up with two: A Martin HD-28 and a Gibson J-100 with mahogany back and sides.

The best-sounding acoustic guitar I ever played was a 1942 Banner Southern Jumbo (reissue) at NAMM in 2020. Telliot played it, too. I don't think it made quite the impression on him as it did me but damn, that was a hell of a nice guitar.

But I don't really like short-scale acoustic guitars, so I'm good with my two for now. Unless the right D-28 Marquis comes along...

[mimmo]

I am a big Ovation fan and I'd say that Adamas guitars (I own the 1687-8 GT) are the ultimate gigging tools.

I love them even unplugged, especially for single note definition and finger style, despite the narrow nut. These are killer guitars. Period.

My favourite choice when it comes to all wooden guitars is the venerable J-45, THE acoustic guitar for me. It can really handle whatever you throw at it.

Third option, for some reason I am really attracted by the Guild D140. There is one for sale locally BTW. Hmmm...

[Telliot]

The best-sounding acoustic guitar I ever played was a 1942 Banner Southern Jumbo (reissue) at NAMM in 2020. Telliot played it, too. I don't think it made quite the impression on him as it did me but damn, that was a hell of a nice guitar.

Au contraire mon frère!

Seriously, that guitar was easily the nicest I’ve ever played; I still think about it. If it weren’t for the price tag I’d own one right now.