Tried some acoustics today

BigPaulie

I've had a recent hankering for a slope shouldered dread.

I had an hour to kill in Glasgow today so tried some out. Brief findings below.

Eastman E1SS-SB. WOW! Just wow! This guitar is £599 and is absolutely flawless. It's the first Eastman I've played. I now see what the fuss is all about. If the E10SS is twice as good as this it must be something special. The guitar was loud, resonant and balanced. Has that nice dry thump a slope shouldered dread should have. 

Gibson J-45 Standard in Cherry. The best looking guitar i tried. Let down by dead strings. Close inspection revealed some minor finishing flaws. Sound was ok. May have been better with newer strings. Not as good sounding as the Eastman.

Gibson J-45 Standard sunburst. Finished better than the cherry one. Amazing bass response, but maybe to the detriment of the other frequencies. Didn't sound as good as the Eastman.

Gibson J-45 Studio Rosewood. This one surprised me. I had tried one in the past and it didn't impress. This one had the rosewood thing in abundance. Strong, piano-like bass. Shimmering trebles. Loads of overtones. Sounded nothing like a J-45. I liked the reduced body depth. The finish quality was impressive.

Taylor Grand Pacific 717. Very nice indeed. Absolutely impeccable quality. The sound was beautiful. So clear and defined. Almost hi-fi. Had a rosewood back and sides and all the shimmery overtones that comes with it, so sounded nothing like a J-45.

Taylor AD17. This also impressed me. The first ovangkol guitar I've tried. Great build quality. Had that same hifi quality to the sound. Sounded more J-45ish than the 717, but still noticeably different in the overtone department.

Overall i enjoyed the feel of the Taylors most. The rosewood J-45 was the pick of the Gibsons. The Eastman was the closest sounding thing to what i had in my head when looking for a slope shouldered dread and the quality punched well above its price tag.

Winny_Pooh

Taylor ADs are great, I love the all Mahogany version too. 

I've never played a bad Eastman.

Went on a similar J45 quest for my friend. We couldn't try an Eastman and ended up with a J45 50s spec which is braced differently to a standard.

Standard J45 and studios differed alot, hard to explain why. 

BigPaulie

Winny_Pooh said:

Taylor ADs are great, I love the all Mahogany version too. 

I've never played a bad Eastman.

Went on a similar J45 quest for my friend. We couldn't try an Eastman and ended up with a J45 50s spec which is braced differently to a standard.

Standard J45 and studios differed alot, hard to explain why. 

Yeah. The Standards i tried weren't "bad" by any means. They were just the least good of a really good handful of guitars i tried on the day. I'm considering just going back and buying the Eastman, but would like to try an E10SS and the IBG Epi J-45 first.

munckee

BigPaulie said:

Winny_Pooh said:

Taylor ADs are great, I love the all Mahogany version too. 

I've never played a bad Eastman.

Went on a similar J45 quest for my friend. We couldn't try an Eastman and ended up with a J45 50s spec which is braced differently to a standard.

Standard J45 and studios differed alot, hard to explain why. 

Yeah. The Standards i tried weren't "bad" by any means. They were just the worst of a really good handful of guitars i tried on the day. I'm considering just going back and buying the Eastman, but would like to try an E10SS and the IBG Epi J-45 first.

I tried an epi IBG hummingbird a couple of weeks ago and it looked good and sounded fine.  I tried a J45 studio walnut which was light years better.  People have mentioned the epi's vary quite a bit, I tried a different one today alongside a martin D10 and the martin sounded way better to me, although very plain looking.  I'm keen to try an Eastman as I've heard good things about them and @fuengi loves his.

BigPaulie

I should add that I'd also like to try the Epi Slash J-45 but I'm preferring slimmer necks these days.

Smellyfingers

When I first visited a guitar store I was taken back to my days as a dazzledf five year old brat visiting her local sweet shop, with my indulgent Nan. I was lucky enough to be able try everything including the black magic as well as the space dust. But unfortunately I vomited all over her Wilton deep pile that evening

I guess my point is visiting a guitar store is even more consequential, because unlike a sweet store, you then have to chew liquorice all sorts for the rest of your life,  or the guitar equivalent, which for me would be a  Taylor.

Revealingly you impy that you really admire the good value of the Eastman but actually subjectively like the feel of the Taylor’s more.

Which is your primary objective?

BigPaulie

There was nothing as contrived as a primary objective; I was really just killing time and fancied trying some guitars.

I suppose as I was looking for a slope shouldered dreadnought I was primarily imagining the sound of a Gibson J-45. In spite of trying 3 actual Gibson J-45s the one that came closest to the sound in my head was the Eastman.

The Taylors felt lovely (not to say that the Eastman didn't) they just didn't have the sound I was looking for.

Smellyfingers

BigPaulie said:

There was nothing as contrived as a primary objective; I was really just killing time and fancied trying some guitars.

I suppose as I was looking for a slope shouldered dreadnought I was primarily imagining the sound of a Gibson J-45. In spite of trying 3 actual Gibson J-45s the one that came closest to the sound in my head was the Eastman.

The Taylors felt lovely (not to say that the Eastman didn't) they just didn't have the sound I was looking for.

Having a primary objective does sound like not a lot of fun.

But I think you indicate that finding a specific sound is your principle goal.

If that is the case would it not be easier and possibly more fruitful to view a great many YouTube review videos of lots of types of guitar to find something close to that sound?

thomasross20

Was the ovangkol more like rosewood or mahogany.. did it have biting trebles?

Winny_Pooh

BigPaulie said:

I should add that I'd also like to try the Epi Slash J-45 but I'm preferring slimmer necks these days.

I've tried Epi J45s, not that great unfortunately.

BigPaulie

Smellyfingers said:

BigPaulie said:

There was nothing as contrived as a primary objective; I was really just killing time and fancied trying some guitars.

I suppose as I was looking for a slope shouldered dreadnought I was primarily imagining the sound of a Gibson J-45. In spite of trying 3 actual Gibson J-45s the one that came closest to the sound in my head was the Eastman.

The Taylors felt lovely (not to say that the Eastman didn't) they just didn't have the sound I was looking for.

Having a primary objective does sound like not a lot of fun.

But I think you indicate that finding a specific sound is your principle goal.

If that is the case would it not be easier and possibly more fruitful to view a great many YouTube review videos of lots of types of guitar to find something close to that sound?

Easier: yes.

More fruitful: wouldn't bet on it.

As much fun as trying them out in a shop: definitely not.

Were that a reliable method for deciding which guitar to buy surely the Gibson J-45 Standards I tried would have sounded more like the sound in my head? We all know a recorded acoustic guitar can sound entirely different to the guitar in the room with the player. Hence the fact that I was pleasantly surprised with the sound of the Taylors: all the YouTube demos of Taylors sound crap to me.

BigPaulie

thomasross20 said:

Was the ovangkol more like rosewood or mahogany.. did it have biting trebles?

It was certainly more trebly than mahogany. Not a brash biting treble. More of a shimmery treble.

BigPaulie

Winny_Pooh said:

BigPaulie said:

I should add that I'd also like to try the Epi Slash J-45 but I'm preferring slimmer necks these days.

I've tried Epi J45s, not that great unfortunately.

Thanks. I had feared as much. I've seen the IBG Hummingbird and J200 up close but the finishing quality on the 2 that I've seen wasn't great. Lots of finish build up around where the top meets the fingerboard extension. I'm sure there are better examples out there.

thomasross20

Thanks - need to try that wood..

KDS

Acoustics vary massively and are highly subjective.
Doesn't surprise me with the Eastman being that good, my Eastman Mando sounds great.
I loved my mates Jap J45 from years ago and I'm still trying to track it down.  I once tried a great condition original 1966 Gibson Cherry J45 in Vintage and Rare (Bath), thinking it was was going to blow me away..... it didn't. Difficult to describe, but had no 'punch' or nice sounding bass, sounded really dull. Nothing like my mates Jap copy which (to my ears) sounded full, rich mids were particularly memorable.
Never played a bad Brook though, love mine  

blowawaytheclouds

I chose a Taylor AD 27e over a builders edition. Superb slope shouldered hog

Vintage65

This thread has gotten me into a bit of trouble 

thomasross20

Anybody ever tried Bubinga back & sides?

Tannin

No. As always happy to volunteer. (Send me your guitars. All care, no responsibility.) On the numbers, it is very similar to Indian Rosewood: 7% heavier, 1% softer, 3% higher elasticity. 

stickyfiddle

I tried a few this week in the US.

The latest Gibson Dove had a more comfy neck than my old one but didn’t sound anywhere near as good. 

J35 was seriously lovely and one I’d be happy to take home if I was in the market. 

Regular new Martin 000-18 was disappointingly dull and a bit lifeless. 

tomjax

thomasross20 said:

Anybody ever tried Bubinga back & sides?

Yes, a Brook. Hard to generalise from a single guitar, but it gave a very rich and full bass, quite blooming with lots of overtones.