Favorite acoustic guitars?

[Greg G]

Any of you like to noodle on acoustics from time to time?  I have an awesome 000 style guitar I play pretty much daily, great for finger style.  My dread style acoustic is pretty much toast.  Cheap guitar, needs bridge re-glue and neck reset.  Not worth it for that particular instrument.  I’m not into bluegrass, just strumming and parlor picking.  Played a J-45 or two that I liked, but they weren’t for sale.  Kinda like an LP.  You have to find the one that’s right for you.  Played a friend’s Collings SJ recently and I loved it.  Not in my budget though.  What do you have and/or what would you like to have, acoustic guitar-wise?

 

 

[cynic]

My sound is in spruce-topped mahogany dreads.  I also own a spruce/rosewood, a spruce/maple, and whatever you’d call an ovation, but I’m most creative and inspired by the mahogany. 

[cmatthes]

I really dig (but don't have) 000-style guitars.

The new PRS Parlor SE is really tripping my trigger for a sub $800 acoustic.  Definitely going to check those out!

I've been a big fan of Davy Knowles for years, and he does a killer demo here...

 

[JGale]

Breedlove Revival OM-R. NAMM proto. BCR Music. Plekked with a bone nut installed.

[Camstone]

I worked in music stores in the Seattle area from 1978 to 1986 and the consistently best sounding acoustics right out of the box were the Martin HD series. I own a Taylor and two Takamine jumbos that all are killer, but one day I am going to get me a Martin. In fact I was just looking at them on Reverb yesterday. Looks like an HD28 can be had for $2K. Would not want to buy a high end acoustic without hearing and playing it first.

[Dutchman]

In the last couple of years I’ve owned a Santa Cruz Pre War D and a Collins OM1. Both incredible sounding guitars. I didn’t like the necks though. My hands would cramp up. So I went back to my 1991 1585-5 Adamas that was hand built in the same facility as the Hamer’s were later on. (Or possibly then) 

It’s the neck!! It feels just like an electric. Fast, easy, and being a large body cut away it acoustically boom’s. It has a different tone than the other 2 high end acoustics but in a good way. It’s not as warm but it cut’s!! I’ve compared them in dou settings and to my ears, and many others it’s a winner!!!

[Gino]

Me, I own a 2011 New Hartford made Guild F 30 CE (mahagony with spruce top) which is a nice and well balanced sounding acoustic. Then, 2 years ago, I got myself a Fender Paramount PM-1 limited dreadnought, which is kinda like the poor man's D28: east Indian RW body, mahagony neck, ebony fretboard and Adirondack spuce top. Bought it for a little over 700 EUR over Amazon from Great Britiain by the time everybody was scared because of the (then) CITES regulations on rosewood. It's China-made, but it is a wonderful instrument that gets better sounding almost every day that delivers all the dreadnought goods - great bang for the buck - eeh EUR...

[alantig]

The PRS SE acoustics punch above their price point.  I'm going to pick up one of the new Parlors, but I have a couple others and they're really good, especially at the price point.

[Thundersteel]

I had a Tacoma C1C Chief. Excellent build quality, loud, and played as easily as an electric. Should have never let that one go.

[django49]

I have never played an acoustic that was as good (to me) as this one. PRS Cody Kilby.  That said, the imported PRS acoustics are excellent values.

 

[killerteddybear]

(stock photo)   

Larrivee OM-03R. I chose one of these over a similar Taylor because it sounded so good. Excellent acoustic voice, very balanced and warm.
Rocktuna has one of their D-3 dreadnaughts. The thing is a cannon!

[alantig]

14 minutes ago, django49 said:

I have never played an acoustic that was as good (to me) as this one. PRS Cody Kilby.  That said, the imported PRS acoustics are excellent values.

 

I still remember Ricky Skaggs doing an A/B w/one of the signature models acoustics and one of the first SEs.  He played both of them back to back, just into a mic, and said, "The SE is really good.  Really, really good.  Don't get me wrong, there's a difference.  Is it a 10x the price difference?"  Then he looked around like he was looking for Paul or someone else high up in the company, then said, "No."

[pesocaster]

And for something a little different ....... Picked this up last year.... Emerald X 30... All carbon fiber.... Colorado is rough on acoustics..... this has been amazing.... sounds beautiful and plays like a dream.....

[velorush]

Ten or twelve years ago Taylor came out with a Grand Symphony series.  There were four at the time, GS5, GS6, GS7 and GS8, with each designating a different combination of top and side/back woods.  The only time I've been tempted to pay real money (around $2,500 IIRC) for an acoustic guitar.  I used to sit in the Memphis Guitar Center acoustic room (where it was nicely quiet compared to the sales floor) and play them until my wife called to collect her from the mall.

The (marketing) theory was a large lower bout for bass and a smaller upper bout for detail.  All I know is they sounded amazing - but apparently I was in the minority as they are no longer in production.

Here's an internet photo of a GS6, for example:

[mudshark]

1942 Reissue Gibson J-45 ... my No. 1 guitar for about 20 years
 

[specialk]

I'm a little surprised by the answers so far. The PRS SE looks really nice, but I figured the Seagull S-6 would be the fave here, just due to the neck size/shape. 

Thanks to all for the information here!

[mudshark]

Larrivee D-05 ... the long scale mahogany dread to go with the Gibson and a close No. 2 ... had it more than 20 years  ... Larrivee makes superb guitars, imo ...I have a Seagull S-6 Cedar, and you can't go wrong with one, especially for the price

 

[crunchee]

I'm not much of an acoustic guitar player, so I'm not very 'into' them...I'd love to have an expensive Gibson or Martin, but I don't play acoustic enough to justify the expense.  I have a couple of early '80's Ovation Model 1111 'deep bowl' Balladeers (the all acoustic model...no piezo pickup, and no clunky circuit/battery boxes inside the guitar) that I've owned for years, and that I drag out of their cases on occasion.  They're kinda rare, in that there's no ugly finish cracks in the top finish, and no rising or sinking tops that I can tell.  They sound good (to me, anyway); but from a audience's viewpoint, they're loud and project very well.  People tend to mistreat them over the years, not just because they're not fashionable, but IMO they think that because it's got that Lyrachord (synthetic) body, the rest of the guitar (the wood bits) is just as impervious to climate extremes as the back.  Then they find out the hard way that it isn't.  

[Studio Custom]

I know you’re surprised.  

[BadgerDave]

Anyone remember the Ovation orange "tentacle" 1778?

[pesocaster]

10 hours ago, BadgerDave said:

Anyone remember the Ovation orange "tentacle" 1778?

After moving back to Colorado My ovations did not take well to the extreme climate change (Wet as hell to Dry as hell)..... My 6 string was only playable 1/2 the year, and my 12 string's bridge popped..... NOT a cheap fix FYI ...... hence the all Carbon Fiber ....

[Hamer_SS_guy]

I'd consider myself an electric guitar player. I started on an electric guitar and couldn't get used to the dimensions of a regular acoustic guitar. I always loved the looks of a Gibson J-185 EC, but I thought  it is too expensive in case I couldn't get used to that guitar. Once tried a cheap Epiphone EJ-200SCE. That guitar was just too big for me. I am not a good chord strummer anyway. Fender made the optimal acoustic gutar for me, the Acoustasonic Telecaster. Plays great and sounds great for me too. I know, most acoustic players don't take the Acoustasonic seriously, but to me this is just the right acoustic guitar.

[gtone]

My '69 Gibson J-50 rubs me all the right ways and really has the warm, old-school acoustic tone. What's more, the neck has the same profile as my Gibby electrics, so it's an easy jump with light-guage strings. Still have a cheap Yamaha to do the campfire/loaner thing though - works great for that.    

[diablo175]

On 5/21/2020 at 9:50 AM, Thundersteel said:

I had a Tacoma C1C Chief. Excellent build quality, loud, and played as easily as an electric. Should have never let that one go.

I'ma take you at your word and try one.

[G Man]

Gibson J45 and Martin OM-21 cover what I need in acoustics, although I also have a 1967 Gibson LG-0 that I grabbed because its a birth year guitar for me, and it sounds way better than it has any right to and is a fun little beater guitar.