Adventures in acoustic buying

Moe_Zambeek

Actually now you mention that @camf ; I actually have a set of low tension Newtones I bought for my Lowden but never used. I’ll try them and see how they sound...thanks for the reminder!

camf

Are they the 13s? From my limited experience, the Heritage 12s might make things worse. 

Moe_Zambeek

12s actually  

camf

Good strings though. I like them a lot. But I still think it might be worth trying the 13s on your 00. 

crunchman

camf said:

Good strings though. I like them a lot. But I still think it might be worth trying the 13s on your 00. 

13s???!!!??

Just get a decent guitar with a responsive top that isn't overbraced.

camf

13s???!!!?? Are mediums the new extreme???!!!??

Lewy

camf said:

13s???!!!?? Are mediums the new extreme???!!!??

Haha - no. With a proper set up and an “acoustic” approach stylistically mediums don’t have to be a struggle at all. Bends and barres up the neck, different story though. 

But I can’t think of many makers who recommend them on small body guitars like a 00. My experience of putting mediums on guitars like that is that it can even be counter productive because you can end up with less bounce on the top and you end up with less sound not more.

earwighoney

I've got 13's on my 00.  DADGAD or Open C with 12's on a short scale 00 are too floppy! 

camf

And for context, I was specifically recommending the Newtones Heritage low tension, which have a lower total tension on the bridge than standard lights. 

zepp76

zepp76 said:

I know they're not as expensive or exclusive as the Acoustics you've tried but have you thought about trying the Tanglewood sundance performance pro series? I bought one the other day and have to say it is a fantastic guitar for what I paid (£649 with discount and it came with a hardcase). Solid spruce top with mahogany back and sides, satin neck and Grover tuners. I love it, it's the most I've ever spent on an acoustic but it's well worth it in my humble opinion.

Edit: It's dreadnought sized so don't know if that's of any use?

Here's a link to the spec's, quite a lot of guitar for the money.

http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/product/x15ns/

Th4fonz

I would go for a furch personally if you can find one.  Martins Ive always wanted to own one because there a martin but every 000 i have tried has been terrible to play and sounded bad.  A £700 faith sounded better than numerous 2k martins ive tried in the shops.

Davy

I went on a similar journey for an acoustic and tried dozens of brands. Martins left me unimpressed overall as well. Played a great Atkin 43 but didn't like the relicing. Other Atkins didn't wow me. I finally ended up with a Brook Taw. Brook are well worth a look if you don't mind slim necks and a flattish radius. They play almost as easy as electrics and imo sound fantastic.

crunchman

Davy said:

I went on a similar journey for an acoustic and tried dozens of brands. Martins left me unimpressed overall as well. Played a great Atkin 43 but didn't like the relicing. Other Atkins didn't wow me. I finally ended up with a Brook Taw. Brook are well worth a look if you don't mind slim necks and a flattish radius. They play almost as easy as electrics and imo sound fantastic.

That's why I sold my Brook.

I do think Brook's smaller guitars are better than their dreadnoughts though.

ToneControl

For that budget have you tried any used Larrivees? Their top-of-the range ones are very good
Also you should look at the Avalons, as well as making the same Lowden designs (other than the saddle) that they made when they were the Lowden factory for ~15 years, they also now make other designs, including Americana-style, I have one and it's lovely and very different from the celtic Lowden sound.

I wasn't impressed personally with Atkins and Brook. Personal taste, etc. No insult intended.

You occasionally get Bourgeois and Goodall guitars  for sale in the UK at stupidly cheap prices on ebay £2.3k to 2.6k), worth keeping an eye open.

Davy

crunchman said:

Davy said:

...Brook are well worth a look if you don't mind slim necks and a flattish radius...

That's why I sold my Brook.

I do think Brook's smaller guitars are better than their dreadnoughts though.

Yep, the off the peg necks are definitely not going to be for everyone but I've played solely electric for 30 odd years and for me it played far easier than every other acoustic else I tried. Ive only played Taws, Torridges and smaller and they were all very sweet sounding.

Moe_Zambeek

Edit: I’ve tried so many guitars it’s unreal

In the end I *finally* picked up one that whispered ‘take me home’ in my ear..even on the second visit...a spruce topped dread with mahogany back and sides, nice chunky mahogany neck, ebony board, open backed Gotoh tuners. Made by...Takamine. An EF340S-TT. Has the low profile TLD pickup so no controls in the guitar, I’ll probably get a sound hole pickup eventually anyway.

I was surprised by this given how we all know Takamine are has-beens but I just really really liked it, so I bought it. If I was flush I’d have taken their mini maple jumbo too!