Acoustic Guitars: Compare Acoustic Guitars. Buying Guide.

Taylor 612c side and cutaway acoustic guitar
612c Cutaway/Front. A Favorite.

As a musical instrument, acoustic guitars are vast in design, look and sound. How guitars sound “good” or “bad” is only about 50% objective (I mean… look at Willie Nelson’s guitar he’s had for decades, right?). So we’ll try to compare acoustic guitars in our own way. This post has comparison charts and what to look/listen for when buying an acoustic guitar.

Keep in mind, there’s no way you’re going to buy an acoustic guitar you love by reading about it. You have to keep playing until you find “The One.” We prefer to educate on more than just make and model as much as we can. Fit, body shape, tone wood, etc. all impact not only sound, but how much you enjoy playing the guitar. The more you know even just about the wood and shape, the better your total collection will be, because you’ll have a decent idea of what you need before you start shopping for a new guitar. In the end, though, you have to go out and play, play, play until you find the right fit and tone.

We’ve included some acoustic guitar comparison charts like this from Ayer’s. (Jump link: Acoustic Guitar comparison chart 1). It’s purpose is to compare Ayer guitars to other more common guitar brands and models, but the comparison chart is a good tool because it details lots of features that you normally want to look at when buying an acoustic guitar. If you know you like the sound of a Martin D-18, then look at all of its specs and then play other guitars that are similar: use the chart to know what to look for, not necessarily know exactly what you’ll buy.

… OK…. hard details covered from Chart 1 below. If you know the makes and models you can guess how they feel or play, but I want to compare how guitars sound and feel, not just what the pieces, nuts and bolts of the guitar are.

Side rant about guitar quality vs. skill of the guitar player: One thing that should be mentioned about this post: we do not believe in “for the beginner”. That’s all bull. I don’t care if you’re never picked up and played a guitar in your life, don’t buy a cheap, bad sounding acoustic guitar just because you’ve never had one before. One thing about having a beautiful acoustic is that it motivates you to play more and be a better musician. “Guitars for beginners” should be burned. Terrible idea. If you’re going to do it, do it right.

Our personal list of what to look for when buying an acoustic guitar:

Since we've quoted them twice, now, we should return the favor by posting a photo of an Ayer's 09 Series. Wood rocks.
Since we’ve quoted them twice, now, we should return the favor by posting a photo of an Ayer’s 09 Series. Wood rocks.

Balance. This seems to top all who we asked. From top-most high note to the low E, is the sound output level balanced, or are certain areas in the total range a lot quieter than others? A really good loudness and tonal balance in an acoustic guitar is the sign of a great guitar design, great tone wood, and a lot of care in the build. A guitar with great tonal balances covers a lot of those criteria for buying an acoustic guitar. For example, I have a 14-year old Taylor 612c (big leaf maple back/sides, spruce top. before they started adding the expression system (612ce), so it doesn’t have cut holes in it for the tone knobs), and a Taylor GS7 (rosewood back/sides, cedar top). The 612c isn’t as full, but has has very good top to bottom balance, while the latter has a low-end that makes it like the grand piano of guitars, but its high-mid range isn’t as present so it doesn’t record as well if finger-picking (or at least requires more compression, which I hate).

Intonation. Important. If you have a good tech then you can fix some intonation issues, but the quality is often made or broken based on how solidly spaced and rock-on-solid the intonation is. Nothing makes people perk up more than hitting a note when it’s just a wee bit off.

Fit. This is strange, but does that guitar fit you when you’re sitting down having a good time with it? Guys and Girls fit together nicely, and so should a person and their guitar. Jumbos just don’t work for people who are short with short arms (but it is possible to find guitars with a large, jumbo sound without the huge hips). Balance, then fit. If you can’t find a great balance, then fit does down in priority a little for many people.

Look. Strange, right? We’re all about sound quality, but look also results in inspiration, and if you’re inspired more to play a guitar because it just looks so gosh darn good, then that’s a good thing. …. I confess that smell gets added there for me. 80% of the time when I take one out of a case I’ll just take a good whiff of the sound hole to take in the wood smell… yeah… I’m weird. Get over it. People are strange.

Well… once again Ayes had another table that’s really helpful insofar as body shape. This is a bit more important (b/c if you’re like me, then you might feel more comfortable with a smaller body size so it doesn’t dig into your arm since you’re so darn short). So your jump link: Acoustic Guitar Comparison Chart 2.

Normally, I wouldn’t want to outwardly push really big companies (much bigger fan of finding the perfect guitar in a ma and pop shop, you know?), but Sweetwater is actually somewhat helpful as well with their Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide. It covers body shapes, tone woods, etc. in a fairly straight forward way if you don’t have much experience with guitars yet.

On acoustic guitar sound comparison. The most sever battle (east coast / west coast, Yankees / red sox, that sort of battle) is between Taylor and Martin guitars. Generally the debate starts that Taylor is brighter and louder, and Martin is softer and warmer… emm muddier-a-choo! ;)  That’s one to play for yourself. I, for one, take them from a recording stance and prefer Taylors for their balance and focus, cut through a bit better in a larger mix, whereas a nice, well-played-in Martin (can’t be too new) is great for solo guitar sort of tracks. Martin vs Taylor Guitars debate has been covered in tons of places so follow that link to see another discussion that seems fairly tame.

WOOD is very important to your acoustic guitar sound. Learn more about it ;) Check out this site that has some good description of tone woods for guitars. (saves me a lot of typing)

Comparison CHART 1 (back to top)

ModelAyers 04 SeriesTaylor DN5Breedlove Revival
D-M
Martin D-18Gibson
J-45
Ayers 07
Series
Larrivee D-09Taylor 810Martin
D-28
Price$1,299.00$2,798.00$2,529.00$2,599.00$3,072.00$1,799.00$2,988.00$3,148.00$2,999.00
Body SizeDreadnaughtDreadnaughtDreadnaughtDreadnaughtDreadnaughtDreadnaughtDreadnaughtDreadnaughtDreadnaught
TopAA Stika spruceSitka SpruceSitka SpruceSitka SpruceAA Sitka SpruceAAA Sitka SpruceCanadian Sitka SpruceSitka SpruceSitka Spruce
Back & SidesAfrican MahoganyAmerican MahoganyHonduran MahoganyMahoganyHonduran MahoganyEast Indian RosewoodEast Indian RosewoodEast Indian RosewoodEast Indian Rosewood
Neck1 Piece African MahoganyAmerican MahoganyHonduran MahoganySelect HardwoodNA1 Piece African Mahogany1 Piece MahoganyTropical American MahoganySelect Hardwood
TunersGotoh 301 (chrome)Gold Plated TaylorGrover Sta-Tite VintageGotoh Chrome w/ large buttonsGrover RotomaticGotoh 301(gold)/ Ebony buttonChromeNAGotoh Chrome w/ Large Buttons
Headstock OverlayIndian RosewoodIndian RosewoodIndian RosewoodIndian RosewoodIndian RoswoodIndian RosewoodDark WoodIndian RosewoodIndian Rosewood
FretboardIndian RosewoodEbonyEbonyIndian RosewoodNAEbonyEbonyEbonyEbony
BridgeIndian RosewoodEbonyEbonyIndian RosewoodNAEbonyEbonyEbonyEbony
StringsEXL-16Xlixir MediumNAMartin MSP4200NAEXL-16NANAMSP4200
Body BindingPadauk/ 0.5mm mapleIvoroid0Black Boltaron0Padauk/ 0.5mm mapleCandian MapleMapleWhite Boltaron
Fretboard BindingEbonyYes000PadaukIvoriodMapleNone
Headstock Binding00000Padauk000
Top PurflingPadauk/ Maple 2mm/ B00Multiple Black / White Boltaron0B/ Maple 2mm / BB/W/ 2mmBBWBWBMultiple Black / White Boltaron
W 0.5mm/ Padauk 4mm/ abalone 4mm/ Padauk 4mm/ w 0.5mmPlasticBWBStyle 283 PlyW 0.5mm / Rosewood 4mm / Abalone 4mm / Rosewood 4mm / W 0.5mmTriple Ring with B/ abalone/ B centerBWB / Abalone / BWBStyle 28
Top FinshGlossGlossSemi-GlossGlossGlossGlossGloss0Gloss
Back & Side FinshGlossGlossSemi-GlossGlossGlossGlossGloss0Gloss
Headstock FinshGlossGlossSemi-GlossGlossGlossGlossGloss0Gloss
Neck FinishSatinGlossSatinGloss0SatinGloss0Satin
Hard CaseYesYesYes640 Molded0YesYesYes640 Molded

 

Comparison Chart 2: Acoustic Guitar Body Shape (again, thanks Ayers Guitars, who does make some good looking acoustics) (back to top)

ModelDreadnaughtAuditoriumSmall JumboOrchestra
Closest ComparisonMartin Dreadnaught
Taylor DN or (X)10
Taylor GC or (X)12Martin M – Grand Auditorium
Taylor GA or (X)14 or (X)54
Martin OM
Taylor GC or (X)12
Neck Width1 11/16″1 11/16″1 11/16″1 11/16″
Scale25 1/2″25 1/2″25 1/2″25 1/2″
Upper Bout Thickness3 15/16″3 15/16″3 5/8″3 5/16″
Upper Bout Width11 1/8″10 7/8″11 1/4″11 1/8″
Waist10 7/8″9 1/4″9 1/4″9 1/4″
Lower Bout Thickness4 7/8″4 3/4″4 9/16″4 1/4″
Lower Bout Width15 5/8″15 1/2″15 7/8″15 1/8″
ayers dreadnaught bodyayers auditorium bodyayers auditorium cutaway bodyayers auditorium cutaway body
ayers Small Jumbo bodyayers Small Jumbo cutaway bodyayers orchestra bodyayers orchestra body

 

more later….

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Category:  Audio Gear     Tagged:
Published: by POLITUSIC | Updated: 07-08-2014 07:53:53
 
 

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