The one thing

MaloS · Post by **MaloS** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 1:36 pm

nah, wait for couple of more posts praising the acoustics, then pick your favorite frase meaning "whatever" and speak as loud as you can.

Post by Bg » Sun Aug 01, 2004 6:01 pm

MaloS wrote:What is done by an electric guitarist with a pedal is done by an acoustic guitarist with his own fingers and creativity (at least a good guitarist, the one who runs a melody not a chord pattern).

who uses pedals? :p

Post by Bg » Sun Aug 01, 2004 6:03 pm

Yoda wrote:It's my belief that playing an acoustic does only good things for one's playing skills and no bad things whatsoever. It cleans up your articulation. It reminds you that simpler is so often better both in terms of FX and also in terms of complexity of lines/parts. If anything an acoustic improves your sense of feel for the guitar because there's absolutely nothing in your tone but your hands.

I play bass for that, it does all the above and also increases my sense of rhthym and holding together everyone else in the band.

MaloS · Post by **MaloS** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 5:35 am

well u definetly change your settings on the amp, acoustic guitar does not have anything you can change. its all in the fingers.

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 7:40 am

So then, is the best compromise in your opinion the electric/acoustic?

I mean that's like having a convertible hard-top, which for many people is the best of both worlds - can be used either way.

Post by Bg » Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:13 am

MaloS wrote:well u definetly change your settings on the amp, acoustic guitar does not have anything you can change. its all in the fingers.

Apart from the built in graphic eq and amp settings for the acoustic. Acoustic tone does little for me so that 'its all in the fingers' means nothing. I watched a blues documentary last night with all the old blues guys Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson, etc etc and yes I appreciate their playing and I love their songs - but I couldn't wait for the electric blues of buddy guy, albert king, bb king etc

MaloS · Post by **MaloS** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:01 pm

to respond to DrRog:
-nah, my compromise is to have an acoustic and to have an electric, be profficient at both (electric proficiency comes easily if u r proficient in acoustics). cannot have the best of both worlds, but can have best of each world.

to BG:
- well, as you mentioned before, to each his own.

Post by Bg » Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:21 pm

yep but I wonder if your opinion changes when you get that electric

Yoda · Post by **Yoda** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 6:53 pm

TMG,

It was a (mid 50's, I think) D28 which I was fortunate enough to play for a few hours back in the late 70's which caught my attention and made a believer out of me. After that I sought out Martins to try, eventually settling on the J40M as my chosen guitar of lust. Around 18 months ago I felt my position in life was secure enough that I could finally justify the expense and began to go Martin shopping. The 2Â½ month long experience (shopping) was even more anticlimactic than my recent Les Paul experience. I have no doubt that my ears did not decieve me and that the D28 I played back then was fabulous. I just suspect that Martins of today are prolly not nearly as good as they once were. I may have mentioned this before but while shopping I played every single Martin in the city at least twice and many of them 3 or 4 times. I'm talking about maybe 50 guitars or so spread over a half dozen stores. They all disappointed me. I ended up buying a Taylor.

I'd love to find an old D28 (maybe a Herringbone) from the 50's or 60's but I expect it would be well out of reach for my wallet.

ash · Post by **ash** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 8:05 pm

I was browsing the local Martin importer's catalogue recently to find some astounding prices on their products. Most astounding of which was the Koa D-50 custom. A steal at just $93,000.

Yep, thats 93 thousand NZ dollars.
http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/cho ... a%20Deluxe

At that price it has better have more than just the "one thing"

MaloS · Post by **MaloS** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 2:55 am

well, since I am working to buy an electric with piezo pick ups for acoustic sounds...doubt it BG.

Rog · Post by **Rog** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 7:29 am

Ash - that is just ridiculous - but some yanks will buy them...

ash · Post by **ash** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 7:38 am

There's a local acoustic maker by the name of Laurie Williams who does a $50,000 guitar. He's sold one in the USA so far and will do 11 more.
They're made of a very rare and beautiful wood called whitebait kauri.

It is ridiculous, but it see,s less so when you apply the term "Tools of the Trade" to a guitar. You wouldn't rais and eyebrow at a truck driver shelling out $100k for his tools of trade, or a studio engineer. A travelling sales rep could easily get by with a $2000 falcon wagon, but you tend to see $40k wagons and even Mercs out there...

Tsuken · Post by **Tsuken** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 2:23 pm

No "one thing" for me either. The look probably grabs me first, but then the feel of it is what decides if I'd get it. As an example, I've always loved the look of the Ibanez S series - ever since they first came out. So I had to try one. Happily, it felt just right - which I think in this case has a lot to do with the neck; it just fit my hand and playing perfectly - and the big fat frets.

So it was the feel that cemented my desire.

However, the 2004 S series seem to include some damn icky finishes - so weird that I wouldn't buy one if I were looking now. So for me the look is still very important.

Sound? Can be altered/improved - to a point. Though I have to say I'm pretty sure I can hear the difference the mahogany in the Ibanez makes over the muck-wood in some of my other guitars, so the specs/wood etc are probably important too.

As for acoustics, I love 'em. Acoustic blues to take BG's example, doesn't differ from electric blues solely in that it's played on an acoustic; it's stylistically different (generalisation here

). If you like one style better than another, of course you'll be hanging out for that one. If you like both equally (as I do), you'll enjoy listening to either/both.

B45-12 · Post by **B45-12** » Thu Aug 05, 2004 9:56 am

I allways try to say 'ignore the brand, what does it sound like??' , check it for basics (no matter how good the sound, if it's a really poor construction you cannot fix to make playable full stop then it's sadly unusable) and have picked up some nice stuff that way.

However I suspect it must be a sympton of incresing age that I'm gettign meaner as time passes. Once I would happily have paid the earth and flung in my soul for the 'right' guitar - but now I want the earth for 10 cents.

Must admit, though, I feel pretty happy with some of the modern stuff I've acquired - seems to be bargain prices for things like new Tokai, Epiphone, Ibanez etc.

Anyone else like me -ie getting meaner as they get older???