This ones for our acoustic guitars

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iblive

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So...... We have a thread for Strats, Teles, Sunbursts guitars. We have a "Well Hung" thread going (careful Adrian :pound-hand: )..... How about one for our acoustic guitars? And, guess I'll start.

1974 Ovation - US built in Hartford Connecticut
W/piezo pickup
Electronics - volume only, no EQ (old school stuff)
Gold tuners
Sitka Spruce top
Composite body - called Lyrachord, basically..... fiberglass.
Ebony fret board
Mahogany bound neck

This is my baby. It's got a few war wounds like any guitar that's approaching 50 years old. I had a couple issues with it when it was still relatively new. Covered by warranty.... which at the time was/is a my Lifetime Warranty. If the house is burning down.... I grab this one as I head out the door. Only time it's out of its latched case is when I'm playing it.

Oddly..... considering I'm all about rock.... louder is better. I chose an Ovation because it's what Glen Campbell played at the time. While this one is not his signature model that Ovation marketed... it's its twin.

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Those are great guitars. I had one of the cheaper Celebrity ones. It was a nice guitar but I couldn’t get used to the round back. I have a friend with one of the older USA ones. He gigs with it and has an awesome tone. He goes wireless and walks out into the crowd with it.
 
Kerry Brown said:
Those are great guitars. I had one of the cheaper Celebrity ones. It was a nice guitar but I couldn’t get used to the round back. I have a friend with one of the older USA ones. He gigs with it and has an awesome tone. He goes wireless and walks out into the crowd with it.
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I get that. The round back does take some getting used to. I tend to play sitting rather than standing so that helps a little. I have found as I have gotten older and my belly rounder..... the two don’t quite mesh the same as when I first got the guitar. :pound-hand:
 
After over forty years of playing, I've only owned junky acoustics until last year. I was at Retro Music in Keene, NH, and asked if they had a sleeper guitar that was reasonably priced, and had been flying under everyone's radar. Doogle handed me this Martin, and said "You have to play this."

I did, and bought it. It's a '95 D-16T, and is my first nice acoustic after all these years.

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I guess this is also considered an acoustic, since it can't be plugged in. I've had it since about '89. Also purchased at Retro Music. A '70ish Dobro single cone resonator.


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I have two good acoustic guitars and one bad one.

The good 1992 Larrivee made in Canada and Ovation legend USA 12 string.

The bad Ovation made in China Applause got it for $100.00 with hard shell case glad I didn't pay $550.00 plus $200.00 for the case will sell it.

On stage I use my Parker Fly Deluxe for acoustic sounds funny as hell the looks I get.

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This was my first real guitar I bought in 1977, a Takamine F360. I have learned it is called the lawsuit era because of the headstock. Spruce top and rosewood sides and back. Haven’t played it in years though.

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Then I started playing with 2 guys that both had 12 strings, one an Ovation, and one a Martin D12-20 (I think that’s the number). Boy did I get gas. Went and bought this one in 1978. It has a built in pickup.

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I took it out of its case a year or so ago and note the handwritten date, that was the last time I had changed its strings!

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I've never had a really good acoustic, but some day I hope to. This one I've had for years and I like it a lot for a $300 guitar. It's an all mahogany Ibanez Artwood Grand Concert. I really like Ibanez acoustics, I've had several over the years.

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These are the ones I kept...
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My '06 Martin XC1T and my '18 Gibson J-45 Avante Guarde. Each is unique among their brand's other instruments
and each has features I've never seen or played in all my long and checkered life. Both have good spruce tops.

The Martin has a striped Ebony bridge and fretboard, and a laminated neck like a butcher block. It's a very strong
and stable neck, and the combination sounds great. I wanted this as soon as I heard about it, and it did not disappoint.
This Martin was made in Nazareth Pa, and it has a very full tone, highs mids and lows. It was on the road with me for
about ten years, and gave great service, got badly damaged a couple of times and has been expertly repaired.
Because of the battle damage and repairs, its monetary value is very low, but its musical value is very high.
I'm sure I made hundreds of dollars playing that small Martin Acoustic/Electric in the ten years, so it paid for itself.
It was issued from the factory with a Fishman Elipse Blend Pickup system including a mike in the sound hole, a
Piezo under the bridge saddle and controls that can blend the two or go to either one, and make the signal loud.

The Gibson J-45 AG is another one I wanted as soon as I heard about it. It does NOT sound like an old J-45...
This one's a totally unique Gibson acoustic: Maple neck, walnut fretboard, tusq nut, Spruce top, Walnut back and sides,
Walnut bridge, tusq saddle, Ebony bridge pins ...and the body is smaller than traddie "round shoulder dreadnoughts"
...the body depth runs from 3 3/4" to about 4" (front to rear). All these characteristics combine to form another
"unique" high and very sweet tone... which is what I want, as ever... in both acoustic and electric lady land.

The maple neck of the Gibson and the laminated "Stratabond" neck of the Martin are both very strong and stable.
Both feel great in my hands and are easy to play up and down the neck.

They do everything I need to get done. Among their brand, they are modest examples. Both Gibson and Martin guitars
soar much higher in price than what I paid for these beauties. But I don't care about that. IMHO a lot of what people
pay for in high priced guitars is bling. These modest priced instruments both have unique and interesting tone.
I don't ask for more than that. I like the way they both sound. Sometimes I'll tune the Martin to DADF#AD and play slide.
Sometimes I'll drop the Gibson a half step to Eb standard tuning. Recently I've been experimenting with extra light gauge
strings on the Gibson. The Martin is happy with 12s... ordinary light gauge acoustic strings.

Among acoustics: Tone wood is everything. Tone wood is what vibrates on an acoustic guitar, and so it really does
affect tone. So also does pick material and thickness, (or no pick), fret height and hardness, fretboard material,
string material and gauge, Bridge material and glue AND workmanship, Bridge pin material and shape,
Nut material and workmanship, Tuner material, weight and fit... Picking style and skill... soul...
All these factors combine in a complex (and utterly beautiful) web of influence to generate what we think of as
acoustic guitar tone.

Compared to electric guitar tone, it's a different universe. Star Date: 2021... Mission: To boldly go where more
expensive guitars might be intercepted and hijacked. "We should never have trusted the Romulans..."
 
does this count?
fully hollow--- not REALLY an acoustic I guess but sounds good and as close as Ive got TO an acoustic
 

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