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I ask because re electrics... My basswood suhr sounds spectacular on its own but my mahogany PRS cuts through better.
From what I recall, I prefer mahogany acoustics (to play). To listen to, I'm not sure. The bass and treble are definitely not as pronounced with mahogany.
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Regarding making your own guitar, I've made 3 guitars in the past on Mark Bailey's Build Your Own Guitar Courses, including an Acoustic, which turned out to be a really nice guitar. I posted a Thread here on the build a while back.OM Acoustic Build (Mark Bailey Course)
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A parlour guitar is not going to sound like a Dreadnought
12 fretted guitars sound very different, the saddle is in the centre of the vibrating part of the soundboard
Factory-made guitars are unlikely to have fine-tunings to the soundboard bracing
Given all that, once you're paying to get all that just the way you want, all that's left is to get the woods right for you
I found walnut / adirondack too bright for me, but I play fingerstyle with half-skin, half-nails
At present I'm probably most leaning to the rosewood end, and often prefer cedar tops
Thing is, I'm guessing that the Braz ones get a lot more time with a top luthier, and would assume they are more likely to have been tap-tuned
FWIW, I prefered the sound of the EIR one. IMO Taylors are voiced to be on the brighter side of things, and with the EIR it sounded brighter and clearer. With the BRZ it was a bit too dark, almost a little muddy.
I've spent a huge amount on 'exlusive' Rosewood upgrades on guitars (I don't want to know how much) and I've come to conclusion it doesn't make as much of a difference as was worth spending the upgrades. If I could have gone back I'd have bought the base model and spent the rest on better microphones and so on!
Along the same lines (and sorry I know this is an acoustic forum!) I have the mahogany PRS and basswood Suhr but a mahogany Suhr would kill both them I think. But the cost would be more than I'd get for the other two combined so what's the point. Maybe better to keep the money and just play what I've got!
If playing live I would be fine just taking my Taylor Mini. Playing at home it is nice to have a proper good acoustic. Must stop these thoughts lol.
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If you have the funds to get yourself a nice Martin, then you should do it. It doesn't matter whether you'll play it live or not. If you can afford and it brings you pleasure then it's a worthwhile purchase.
£3k for a Martin is a lot though. IMO there are other avenues I'd take that might not sound 100% like a Martin but might get you most of the way there for a lot less. Unless you really want a Martin and then look around for a S/H one.
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As for Rosewood v Mahogany, both great choices just a different flavour.Rosewood in general seems to have a more delayed ( reverb ) response against mahogany being more direct. therefore perceivably drier. In terms of different rosewoods, my Indian R/W guitars seem to absorb more high frequency than the 4 Brazilian guitars I have. The Brazilian guitars just have more of everything across the frequency spectrum as well as having more natural reverb.
Basically, its down to the maker, the luck of the draw regarding the properties of the materials and the taste of the player as to what is best.
Right now here in my living room there is a Sitka/Koa, a Sitka/ mahogany ( both Collings ) and my absolute favourite right now an HJ Williams German spruce / Honduras rosewood , they all sound great because the builders know what they are doing regardless of the wood choices.
Anyway I'm not into those all-mahogany Martin's. Rosewood OO28 sounded great (very good and felt solid) bit small, prefer OOO. Best one was a 4k mahogany one, some rare old 450 year old wood. Good balance between mahogany and rosewood. Martins were expensive, big time. I just couldn't do it.
Edit - think I might be lusting for a rosewood guitar now
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They really are just different options. I think I'm starting to realise that 2 guitars if the same model can vary a fair bit, let alone differences in this sort of thing, so even the broad general differences can be contradicted when you get a particular guitar in your hands.
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I've painfully/expensively come to the conclusion back/side woods aren't as important as I thought and there are other things which make more of a difference but the most important thing is finding the right voiced guitar for your own needs/ergonomics are the most important factor of all.
- the soundboard matures over months and years, can be accelerated with a Tone-Rite. You won't know what it will sound like eventually, even by trying it
- in a shop, the acoustics, background noise and string condition rarely allow a fair comparison
- your playing and ears can develop to better-use a certain guitar, hard to see that when you are trying it for the first time
This is why I usually don't buy new!