Are expensive guitars better

[davekershaw]

Rolls-Royce or Skoda?Skoda or Rolls-Royce?Let me think a minute!Yep, craftsmanship is slightly better on the Rolls.In fact, strangely enough, there's a slight difference in quality in everything.Only thing stopping me owning one? Yep, the money!You got it! ..... Flaunt it!!Think how popular you'll be with your wife's best friend,when you tell her how much you spent on that guitar, and just for her special occasion!In fact, you'll please the bride, the groom and your wife all in one go!You'll probably even get a special mention in the Best Man's speech!!AND considering it's your wife's best friend, I'm assuming that'swhy you got the green light. The chance may never come again!Picture this: you stick with the Ovation. The wedding goes OK,even though your wife tells her best friend she did say you could get a new guitar. Best friend thinks: "skinflint"Result: Wife's Bad Book! You buy a new acoustic, but it's a cheap one. Best friend thinks: "quietextrovert? NO, quiettightarse!"Result: Wife's Bad (Don't Talk To Me) Book!You owe it to yourself and your marriage. Get the best acoustic your wife can afford.Go on! Make your day!

[cmrmurray]

Concurred. Spoil yourself! You deserve it.

[feaker]

StevieI had a "woo" a couple of years back. My wife and I abbreviate most things now. It stands for window of opportunity.I was just opening my eyes after tripple bypass and my wife's face was slowly coming into focus. My first words were " I think they screwed this up" an hers were " we are going to go out and buy that new boat and acoustic guitar you always wanted". Never harped about having a 12 foot/4 HP boat and a $25 Fender acoustic. Must have been in her subconscience:)Never bought either, but always wanted to update the guitar.Went to the guitar center in Minneapolis and tried everything. Money was not a factor.Took home a taylor 800 series for a few weeks and then brought it back. It was just too tinny sounding.The only guitar that sounded decent to me was the Martin.Also went to a place in the cities called the "Podium". All high end stuff there too.I am with Glen in that you have to shell out the bucks for a good acoustic. I am thinking used Martin for me. Going to take Mark's lead in St Paul next visit out to see my grandkids.paul

[davekershaw]

Quote:I was just opening my eyes after tripple bypass and my wife's face was slowly coming into focus. My first words were " I think they screwed this up" an hers were " we are going to go out and buy that new boat and acoustic guitar you always wanted.I rest my case!Next chance might not come 'til you have a triple bypass!!! Paul!

[mojobone]

Expect to pay at least two grand for a decent quality, all-solid wood guitar. Many lesser guitars feature a solid top only, or are constructed entirely of plywood, which makes them more rugged and less expensive to produce, but prevents them from ever truly singing. Tone is a personal thing; while there are many guitars that subjectively sound better than an Ovation to me, I can't really be all that specific with a recommendation, but I think you should try a couple of guitars that are pretty much guaranteed to hold their value, The Martin D-18 or D-28, and the Gibson Advanced Jumbo. That should at least help to calibrate your senses. There are two ways you'll know when to pull the trigger; either your face lights up instantly and you stop caring how much it costs, or you look at a clock and realize you've been lost for three hours and you no longer care about the cost. Personally, I put as much thought, care and effort into finding the right acoustic guitar as I would put into finding the right business partner or wife. And you should maybe take somebody with you that cares about the cost.

[erandall]

Why pay less?

[quietextrovert]

Hey, thanks everyone for the great advise. I think I'll stop by today and check out the Martins. Now if I could get the wedding moved to St. Paul, I can go broke at Willies. Also Dave K you bring up a good point about making the ceremony even more special. Should I leave the price tag on? And Paul, my dad turns 65 in 2 weeks and just bought a red Corvette. He said the bad part is, that it's too difficult to get in and out of .Take CareS

[davekershaw]

Quote:Also Dave K you bring up a good point about making the ceremony even more special. Should I leave the price tag on? Oh yeah definitely, and pick up a leaflet on the Martin, that you can leave "lying about" near the Best Man on the ceremony table. That way, he'll have all the facts and figures that will really show how far you pushed the boat out, and spared no cost!Make sure it mentions all the top artists that use Martins.Heck, you could come out'a this really well. Maybe even get some gigs! And don't forget to record your performance!That way you can make some money back by selling copies afterwards.In fact, if you're really on the ball, you could knock some copies out while all the speeches are going on, put them in your ready printed sleeves, then get them out on the table near the wedding cake!

[Mark Kaufman]

What's cool about Willie's back room is that the old guitars there sound marvelous now and will continue to increase in value. If I could get what I wanted, I wouldn't get a new guitar...I'd get an old one. Mojo, baby.

[mojobone]

You rang?