Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: CaffeineJunkie on November 27, 2006, 07:43:01 PM
-
gettin an acoustic guitar for my birthday in a couple weeks, jus ordered it the other day...
Click Me !! (http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/product-detail.asp?id=1855&catid=4&manid=65&quantity=1&product=Martin+DX1K%2C+Natural%2C+New)
:D only bad thing is my rents won't let me play it til my birthday :(
-
huh, not bad not bad, Martin on the headstock ... nice!
Personally I don't mind spending 2 grand on a decent guitar or amp, but for acoustics, 450 GBP seems a lot to me :)
Pretty sure it will be nice. Already decided on which BKPs you will put in?
:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
-
lol :lol: yeh painkillers obviously :D and i know what you mean bout an amp or whatever, but you can always upgrade an electric guitar or amp, you can't really upgrade an acoustic, because its sound relies heavily on the resonating chamber, and the wood it's made of, so by spending £450 on it, i know i'll get a really nice guitar
that and it's pretty :D
-
Looks quality!
-
Cool nice one, I'm guessing you know theres certain tonal differences between koa/mahogany and rosewood type back and sidea just in case you haven't played this yet?
Loving the satin finish love that on an acoustic :D
Got an acoustic last year for christmas aswell and got a really good one for £150 nearest thing I could find to it that sounded/played as good cost about £700 :o I don't really dig the aesthetics of mine - a bit gaudy but the sound/playability is great so thats all I'm bothered about. Yours looks great though so nice find :wink:
You can put an electric pickup in an acoustic and get a great sound (think street spirit by radiohead, tis a P-90 style one)
PS - remind us when your birthday is I'm sure you'll get a great response like the _tom_ one.
-
lol nah i'm not around on my bday, i've got work from the friday through to the sunday, then a party on the saturday, as my mate's bday is on the friday and mine's the saturday, then i got the ol' halfords xmas do on the sunday :D
-
huh, not bad not bad, Martin on the headstock ... nice!
Personally I don't mind spending 2 grand on a decent guitar or amp, but for acoustics, 450 GBP seems a lot to me :)
Pretty sure it will be nice. Already decided on which BKPs you will put in?
:P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P :P
OMG! this is completely backwards. The amount of work that goes into making any acoustic gutiar is far far more than any electric or amp. You have to appreciate the work that goes into an acoustic, and 450 is nothing. You can chop up a slab of wood, put some frets in accurately and some pickups and you have an electric guitar (trust me, i make both).
My two cents, don't know personnally bout these martins, i have never been a fan or martins, they are followers, stick to there trends. I prefer breedloves and McIlroy myself.
Joe
-
OMG! this is completely backwards. The amount of work that goes into making any acoustic gutiar is far far more than any electric or amp.Joe
Couldn't agree more!
My favourite acoustics are made by Brook Guitars in Devon:
http://www.brookguitars.co.uk/
Take a look at the pics on their news page - now that's art!
-
Yup I agree - you can't tell a massive difference between a MIM Fender with BKPs and a USA one with the same, but you can tell the difference between a £150 Washburn and a £2000 Fylde (ohhhhhhh :) ) or a Martin (although perhaps not £1850 difference).
CJ - what stuff do you play on an acoustic?
-
Looks like a nice guitar, congrats! :) I've tried one of these wood/composite back models before. An interesting idea for sure and definitely looks good. I'd prefer to see real koa veneer instead of the photo texture, though... ;)
you can't really upgrade an acoustic, because its sound relies heavily on the resonating chamber, and the wood it's made of
In most cases changing the saddle and the nut to bone, and the bridge pins to ebony or bone will have a significant effect on the tone. In case of a good quality instrument the difference will be rather spectacular: it opens up the high end and makes the sound more detailed than with plastic parts. I couldn't believe my ears when I tried my Washburn after taking it home from the tech. 8)
-
I had a go with one of those Martins - they seemed pretty good to me.
I might add (if anyone thinks i'm slagging them off) £150 Washburn's can be great acoustics - I have a WD42S which, although a tad quiet, is a dream for fingerstyle stuff. Great set up, nice feel. I put in a tusq nut, bridge and pins and it did lift the tone up a notch.
-
Theres a lot of nice inexpensive acoustics around.
Often the difference between a less expensive acoustic and an expensive one only really comes into play after several years of playing. Once the guitars mature.
at home I know a few acoustic blues players and they buy a guitar for what it will sound like in ten years time.
The same as a couple of violinists and a jazz flautist I know.
For the likes of me a 200 quid Lag or Washbourne parlour guitar would be more than enough :(
As an aside, isn't it amazing that for acoustics and archtops spruce is one of the tone woods, and for solids it wouldn't even be considered.
Rob...
-
Often the difference between a less expensive acoustic and an expensive one only really comes into play after several years of playing. Once the guitars mature.
Hmm... Not sure I agree with this. With most guitars I find that with increasing price you get better playability, sound and overall "feel", it's just that you have the law of diminishing returns - at the really expensive end of the spectrum you're paying a lot for a small increase in quality.
Cheaper acoustics improve over time too. I had a Seagull SM6 (about £350) that just got better and better. I think anything with a solid spruce top will mature.
-
As an aside, isn't it amazing that for acoustics and archtops spruce is one of the tone woods, and for solids it wouldn't even be considered.
Rob...
yeah why is that? i'd like to ehar a solid-body spruce guitar.
-
I will have to drop in again here :)
Brook guitars i'm not too keen on, a bit harsh for my ears BUT the guys who made them were taught by master luthier Andy Manson!!!! Great guitars.
Fylde, now there is a great guitar name. I have met the guys at Fylde and had a tour of the factory, the owner is a grumpy bugga but they do make great guitars. I recently played a £4000 Whisky barrel guitar, made from old whisky barrels 9no shite sherlock) and it was ace, their mandolins a fantastic too.
The factor that makes guitars play in over the years, spruce does this over a year or two, and cedar does this in a matter of days. This is a scientiffic fact known as subliming. This is the change of a solid going directly to a gas, with no liquid stage. An acoustic guitar top sublimes, some of the cellulose structure 'evaporates' and makes the top lighter and more flexible, making a better sound.
So there you have it...
Joe
-
As an aside, isn't it amazing that for acoustics and archtops spruce is one of the tone woods, and for solids it wouldn't even be considered.
Rob...
yeah why is that? i'd like to ehar a solid-body spruce guitar.
This is because spruce is a softwood (and that doesnt neccerserily mean they are soft eg Balsa wood is a hardwood), and acoustically spruce will be duller than a standard hardwood on an electric, it would absorb huge amounts of tone with it being so thick (on acoustics it is rarely over 2.7mm and vibrates like a speaker cone so it is completely different).
Saying this, warmoth do Sitka Spruce tops, this is harder than normal European spruce but is no wear near as hard as most woods use on electrics. As hard woods go ash is soft ish, and sitka is softer than ash.
if i'm wrong let me know.
Joe
-
Brook guitars i'm not too keen on, a bit harsh for my ears
Harsh!?!? Have you taken leave of your senses, man? :wink:
I haven't played a Fylde or heard one in the flesh, but I get the impression I'd like them a lot.
-
I need to pop up again, SORRY! LOL :lol:
The difference between cheap and expensicve acoustics is the standard or manufacture you cant see, the quality control and the wood used.
Companies can throw a guitar together and make it look and play well, easy same as any electric, but internally the amount of tonal work that goes into a top and its bracing is far from anything satifactory. There will be little quality control internally where it counts and the wood will be inferior to that used by more expensive (but not rip-off) manufacturers.
If you ever look into acoustics then see the amount of work and judgement by the builder when the top and bracing are being constructed. Here are my three I have built, a mandolin, a Shallow jumbo and a Tenor guitar. The two guitars sound superb (thanks to my tutors help), if you have any q's just ask
http://www.fortyseconds.co.uk/montage.jpg
Joe
-
[Hmm... Not sure I agree with this. With most guitars I find that with increasing price you get better playability, sound and overall "feel", it's just that you have the law of diminishing returns - at the really expensive end of the spectrum you're paying a lot for a small increase in quality.
Cheaper acoustics improve over time too. I had a Seagull SM6 (about £350) that just got better and better. I think anything with a solid spruce top will mature.
Hence the word 'often' :) Iv'e never owned a worthwhile acoustic but I have played a few. More expensive the better it plays (usually). Same as processor speeds, playing 50% extra for a 5% speed increase.
These days cheaper acoustics can be called good (I'm old bitter and twisted). I think there has been more progress in the construction of acoustics over the last 20 years than there has in electrics. Happily this progress can be used for the more wallet friendly market. Not so long ago you had to pay a lot for a non laminate top (that wasn't overly thick)
Joe,
I bow to your superior knowledge of what happens to the wood over time. I remember laughing (in the 80s) at the theory that the electro magnet currents generated by vibrating strings modified the structure of the spruce tops (I will try looking for that magazine article). It just facinates that a piece of thin spruce has the right charictaristics when a larger piece is just so far wrong.
As for a spruce solidbody I don't think you would like to try it at all, or fot that matter MDF, blockboard, chipboard or potato ;)
Rob...
-
As for a spruce solidbody I don't think you would like to try it at all, or fot that matter MDF, blockboard, chipboard or potato Wink
Rob...
HAHAHA! Chipboard, we're into BC rich country now, lol.
All should bow to my superior wood knowlegde! Hmmm, a german porno?
Anyhoo, I have spoken too much already so I have to go finish my assignment about..... WOOD! lol, oh god, i just love the stuff
joe
-
As for a spruce solidbody I don't think you would like to try it at all, or fot that matter MDF, blockboard, chipboard or potato ;)
Rob...
don't knock potato guitars until you've tried 'em. King edwards have a gorgeous, powerful low end, although Maris Pipers are a bit trebly.
It is a little known fact that BKP-90s actually stand for bare knuckle potatoes.
-
don't knock potato guitars until you've tried 'em. King edwards have a gorgeous, powerful low end, although Maris Pipers are a bit trebly.
Hey Gallaghers strat was known as the tatocaster (probably because you could have planted spuds in the blemishes)
Rob...
-
don't knock potato guitars until you've tried 'em. King edwards have a gorgeous, powerful low end, although Maris Pipers are a bit trebly.
Hey Gallaghers strat was known as the tatocaster (probably because you could have planted spuds in the blemishes)
Rob...
Thats true, but the tatocaster was made out of good wood :)
-
Those are some deeply nice looking guitars, Joe!
-
feckin ell i've started summat here int i??
i only picked the guitar because it was pretty and sounded good :D
-
Thanks froglord... which i suspect is your name from birth... i just finished a 52 tele replica for my dad, far from accurate when you look closer but it sounds stunning with the Piledrivers tim sent me. If you like my acoustics, you should see the next one, its a prototype with crazy everything, the link below is my rossette before cutting the soundhole, that was fun to cut the points by hand :lol:
http://www.fortyseconds.co.uk/rossette.jpg
Nice
And this is the guitar i made for my bro (playing it), tis loaded with a boss neck, irish tour (Bridge) Middle, and MQ bridge, sounds stunning
http://www.fortyseconds.co.uk/project4.jpg
Joe