Also most critically, if it doesn't inspire you to play it then don't bother getting it.
This is exceptionally good advice!!
If you're on a budget, then I would suggest you check out Sigma guitars. At this time, it's the only steel string acoustic I own.
I have recommended it to many of my students and they have all been very good guitars for the money.
That said, I would love to own a Collings. Or two!
Cheers,
Mats N
Display MoreAcoustic guitars are great BayouTexan , just be sure you're willing to spend more than you hope as they're not cheap instruments.
Also most critically, if it doesn't inspire you to play it then don't bother getting it. I wasted years mangling my fingers on an uninspiring dirt cheap instrument that only set my technique back, hurt my hands and made me resent it.
Good steel strung acoustics shouldn't feel markedly more difficult to play than e.g. a telecaster with 10's. It should feel slinky, light and reasonably fast. Then the sound is something you'll need a friend for, have them listen don't give your own opinions of the instruments, let them say what they like. If it doesn't concur with what you like then also walk away, there are plenty of acoustic instruments in the world, plenty of shops.
Just remember that a luthier will be able to raise or lower the bridge and re-cut the nut, but wont be able to improve the tone, neck profile, resonance or scale length, and the only way to adjust thow tense the strings feel would be to change the gauge which could have undesirable side effects.
So you have to be a little more certain with the instrument you like than you would with an electric which can be much more tolerant.
Brands that tend to be consistently good to play are iMO Yamaha and Taylor, they've spent a lot of money on R&D and it's paid off. Even their cheaper guitars are consistently much better than alternatives in the same or even considerably high price bracket. Having said that the consistency also means unless you're willing to really spend the big bucks they're not going to match that one special Martin, Larrivee or Collings, at which point get a Martin, Larrivee or Collings.
BayouTexan, lots of great advice here, the first being it's better to not have an acoustic at all (and just keep saving) than buy one that you don't bond with.
That said, how they play can vary according to what you want to do with it. You can certainly set up an acoustic with 10s to do string bends and play lead lines. Depending on your right hand, however, that setup may not be optimal if instead you want to go for hard edged, chunky rhythm strumming. I find that an acoustic is much more sensitive to your right hand, and mine has always been very heavy by design.
When I play acoustic, it's typically on songs that began life on acoustic. And I bang on the guitar like a drunken chimpanzee, lots of 16th triplets, percussive / muting effects, etc. If my guitars were set up with 10s and lower action like an electric, all you'd hear would be the noise of the strings slapping off the frets. So, while I run 10s on electrics, I go 12s on acoustic (I used to use 13s but got tired of hearing the guitars whine about the strain). With this gauge and a higher action than electric, I can do the very percussive style of playing that I often want out of an acoustic. It also gives me the kind of articulation I want when playing single notes.
Regardless of how expensive the guitar is, they also tend to excel at different things. The Larrivee dreadnought I've had since the 90s has a sparkle on the top end, a bit like an SSL preamp, that I like. However, when you really lean on it as I tend to do, the six notes kind of merge together to give this homogenous sound, almost like there was a compressor on it. My Martin, on the other hand, has a very signature characteristic where each note gets its own personal space, whether it's individual notes or the aforementioned chimpanzee banging. I can beat the crap out of it, but I'm still hearing six very distinct notes. There are times when I want that, and it's something that a Martin or Taylor does better than a Larrivee.
So, as obvious as it might sound, before you go shopping, stop and think about what you want your acoustic to do for you. In what context, and with what style, will you be playing it? I've had Larrivees, Martins and Guilds (with that wonderful piano bottom end), and I reach for each one based on what I'm trying to get out of it. If I could only have one it would be the Larrivee because it does the best at what I do most often. So figure out what you do most often and what you want out of an acoustic in that context, and shop accordingly.
Also, as Per mentioned, having a friend to listen helps because how an acoustic sounds out front can be very different than how it sounds behind it as you play. One trick you might try when shopping is to position the guitar in your lap differently. Instead of it being perpendicular to the ground, kick the bottom out as much as you're comfortable playing so that the soundboard tilts up towards the ceiling. This lets you hear more of what the audience will hear, because even if you have a good friend who knows your tastes very well, there's no substitute for your own ears.
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Even though the title didn't rub off on me, I really like this tune. Reminded me of the more psychedelic shades of the Beatles.
Cheers,
Mats N
I liked the Burt Bacharach flavor. Keep up with these interesting experiments!
Which delay did you use on the last one? I just got an EchoPlex that I absolutely adore and using it on my next track.
I here some cool Eric Serra influence in The Doctor. Klepto reminds me of UK Punk.
