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Acoustic
Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:26 pm
by BenHagerty
I have no clue about acoustic, I could never spend the 1450 I spent on my jazzmaster on an acoustic. Doesn't seem worth it.
How is this?
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=512540
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:08 am
by zhivago
spending money on a good acoustic is more important to me than spending loads on an electric.
for example, the acoustic I'm buying this January costs $5k....my '61 Jazzmaster is probably worth around $3k.
I personally feel that acoustics are not very popular because they bring up every little flow in one's technique (or lack of).
playing electric guitar with twenty fuzz pedals allows for many, many mistakes....playing acoustic guitar will make anyone a better, clearer and more precise player....sore fingers, yes...but hey, no pain, no gain....I played acoustic for 4 years or so before I bought an electric guitar....
bottom line is, I don't need a delay pedal or a phaser to make me a more interesting sounding player...I even play my electrics unplugged 80% of the time.
my 2p.
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:21 am
by chrisjedijane
I'm with Yannis on this one - Acoustics really show the cracks in your technique. I never really had an acoustic until I bought an Avalon 18 months ago - it's my most expensive guitar (even more so than the AVRI), but it's unbelievable.
Those epiphone acoustics aren't bad for the money at all, actually. I find with acoustic guitars you get what you pay for, even more so than with electrics.
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:37 am
by the older brother
I see electric and acoustic guitars as two completely different instruments and I play completely different techniques on them.
I think that you can find good (if not great) acoustics in middle price range - but generally you shouldn't go with the "electric brands".
I think you'll get the best value for your money with other brands that is speciallized on acoustics.
My No1 acoustic is a Tanglewood at the moment - by the fact that it was the best sounding in it's price range (and several above it too - Martins for example) at the store I bought it.
That's
My 2p

Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 5:50 am
by mynameisjonas
chrisjedijane wrote:
I'm with Yannis on this one - Acoustics really show the cracks in your technique.
i guess my technique is just one big crack. i can't do
anything with an acoustic

Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:36 am
by chrisjedijane
At the moment I'm working on getting my proper fingerstyle technique together. It's the first time that I've ever actually put effort into learning a technique, and I'm finding it pretty hard. The whole "thumb and index finger" thing is easy, but it's getting the other fingers moving without my timing going all over the place that's proving pretty difficult.
chris's acoustic playing, yesterday
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 8:55 am
by Regan
I want a Taylor Presentation Series Cutaway Electric with Brazillian Rosewood, but I may settle for a 914-CE, or maybe an 814-CE. Acoustic guitars are like living, breathing creatures to me. The woods play such an important role that I would not want to buy one without playing it first. I never played an acoustic for years, and now that is what I play about 95% of the time.
Regan
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:00 am
by chrisjedijane
Regan wrote:
Acoustic guitars are like living, breathing creatures to me. The woods play such an important role that I would not want to buy one without playing it first.
Yeah, me too. When I was up at the Avalon factory getting a pickup fitted, they told me that they're not selling via shops any more, and are just selling on the internet. I was horrified - sure, they make great acoustics and you're always gonna get a well made, good-sounding guitar, but I honestly don't see how someone could drop £2000 on a guitar that they'd never even seen or played before....
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:12 am
by idiotbear
I'd love a good acoustic. I play more acoustic than anything, and it's the instrument I practise all my scales and arpeggios and interesting open chords on. Every song I ever wrote started out on an acoustic (or a piano). I work on the basis that if I can play something on such a high action, heavily-strung monster as my acoustic and make it sound OK, it'll sound AWESOME on the electric.
chrisjedijane wrote:
At the moment I'm working on getting my proper fingerstyle technique together. It's the first time that I've ever actually put effort into learning a technique, and I'm finding it pretty hard. The whole "thumb and index finger" thing is easy, but it's getting the other fingers moving without my timing going all over the place that's proving pretty difficult.
+1
Fingerstyle is baking my noodle. I want to get the whole bluegrass bass-note thumb thing down, and I just find it so hard. I don't get nearly enough time to practise new technique, so this is pissing me off quite a bit.
I'm using my acoustic to try out alternate chord voicings and interesting made-up scales at the moment. Really sick of blues scales!

Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:53 am
by kle
idiotbear wrote:
I'd love a good acoustic. I play more acoustic than anything, and it's the instrument I practise all my scales and arpeggios and interesting open chords on. Every song I ever wrote started out on an acoustic (or a piano). I work on the basis that if I can play something on such a high action, heavily-strung monster as my acoustic and make it sound OK, it'll sound AWESOME on the electric.
It's the same with me.
Well, not everything i have written was written on my acoustic (a crappy 200€ concert guitar, but it works), but all of my songs have to work on it. That's a must.
idiotbear wrote:
Fingerstyle is baking my noodle. I want to get the whole bluegrass bass-note thumb thing down, and I just find it so hard. I don't get nearly enough time to practise new technique, so this is pissing me off quite a bit.
Again, same with me. Lately, i'm pretty much into Gravenhurst, Will Oldham and Simon & Garfunkel (Cash too, but not that much) and i love their melodies. But i just can't play "standalone" bass notes and melodies at the same time. I have to admit, i do not practice that often, i'm a guy that picks up the guitar and plays a few songs or writes one, most of the time i just don't want to practice.
I want to play "The Diver" by Gravenhurst. Everything could be so easy...
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:05 pm
by BenHagerty
Thanks for the input, now I see the reason for all these wicked expensive acoustic ahah
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:22 pm
by StevenO
A good acoustic is always a good thing.
For the longest time I felt as though if a song cannot simply be played on an acoustic while still retaining the key elements of the song AND sounding good, it's probably not a good song or a worthwhile song to say the least. I've loosened up on that belief over the years though.
I love acoustic guitars...
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:03 pm
by Stereordinary
Sometimes I tell people that I don't play guitar, I play
electric guitar. Simply because I don't sound good on an acoustic at all. Most of the time I just say that I play Fender VI though.
My acoustic is really nice actually, it's a '75 Gibson Gospel and to my ears it sounds the way an acoustic is supposed to. But they are different instruments that demand different playing styles.
Re: Acoustic
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:25 am
by idiotbear
stereordinary wrote:
they are different instruments that demand different playing styles.
True. There's something nice about playing an acoustic as if it were an electric - hammering shit out of it

Re: Acoustic
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:38 am
by kle
i think that breakouts can be a lot more intense on an acoustic. Am i the only one thinking like that?