Re: Electro Acoustic - Opinions please


"SteveShark" <steveATguitarsDOTpowernetDOTcoDOTuk> wrote in message
news:64dcg49nnheblj4f47tkroaift81atquna@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:15:54 +0000, performingchimp
<info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

David Kennedy wrote:
The lad has been looking at the Martin X Series and having tried it
seemed fairly happy with that as a choice.

However - isn't there always a however lurking somewhere - he went to
stay with friends at the weekend and got to rummage through the guys
guitar collection. And, from that is now wondering about Taylor Guitars,
[The 1976 Gibson also got good reviews] anyone have any comments about
Taylor instruments ?

Thanks.

Personally I would go with the Taylor over and X series Martin purely
because I nobody really knows how the X series guitars will age. I have
played one a few years old, heavily played and it sounded odd to me, and
had lost its sustain. The reason they are such an enigma ageing-wise is
that they are made of new fangled composite materials as well as
common-or-garden wood.

I didn't know Martin made an electro acoustic version of the X series
guitars.

Again, personally I would never buy an off-the peg elector acoustic. I
ALWAYS recommend getting a good acoustic guitar - spend your dough on a
nice instrument. Then you can add pickups later. Good separately-sold
pickups are often actually far better than pre-installed ones, odd
though that may sound. A really top-of-the-line pickup can be £100 to
£200+. And instalation can be as easy as screwing on a little clamp, or
as tricky as reshaping a saddle and drilling holes, depending on what
you go for.

If you buy an electro-acoustic you are kinda stuck with that pickup for
good, major surgery notwithstanding.

Yes, but on the other hand, if you like the sound of an off the peg
electro and whatever system it has fitted then that's what you'll
always get.

If you go with an acoustic and you like the tone, who knows how that
will change once you start adding stuff to it? "A little clamp" could
alter the sound quite radically.

I don't really see them as the same instrument at all.

If I want a reasonable facsimile of an acoustic sound but louder then
I'd go with an electro, plus you can then tweak that sound as much or
as little as you want. Go far enough, and you could get away with a
guitar with really very poor acoustic qualities as the sound was so
heavily processed.

If I wanted a nice acoustic sound then I'd go with a good acoustic
mic'd up through the PA every time...the hassle though...

The Martin guitars usually have a decent quality pick-up as an option on
initial purchase. Buy one with a pick-up fitted and you know what it'll
sound like.

You can always put a baffle in it if you wish to use it as a purely electric
instrument.

An 'electro- acoustic' is always going to be a compromise.

On the other hand the Taylors don't have quite the 'label premium' that
Martins have...

--
William Black


I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland
I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate
All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach
Time for tea.



.

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