Rayk
Enlightened Member
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- Apr 19, 2015
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Two friends and I planned a trip to the Ritz no wait ,it was Sam ash . It says so in the title.
One friend was a keyboard nut also AKA Animal the other a guitarist .
So me and Paul talked Guitar and Jeff ,well he had to drive . Jeff had long known my guitar obsession and Paul was somewhat aware.
That collection was brought up and neither had seen it and I offered to show them at the end of the evening and they agreed .
Sam Ash closes at 9pm and we were there for 2 hrs at least if not a tad more . Me and Paul hit the acoustic room and Jeff the keyboards section .
I was told Sam ash remodeled , I guess they did but not by much. I was expecting a better lay out of the acoustic room but nope it was still one long room though separate from the main store which was like one huge room , Bam !
Paul likes Taylor’s haha our conversation on the way down had a lot of Paul saying he likes this guitar and that one and I was somewhat pressured to answer though I wanted keep quiet.
I ended up saying I don’t like any of them , haven’t found a Taylor I liked and that Fat sloppy obnoxious acoustic sales guy tech dude I disliked even more along with his constant swaying sales of other brands in favor the all glorious Taylor guitar line . Hmmm how’s the trip going to go now I wonder ?
All good though now we arrive and enter the Sam Ash acoustic room . Low and behold there was one long butt wall of nothing but Taylor’s ( hmmm ... one well placed hand grenade and instinct bliss ! )
Ok so Paul was Taylor bound . You figured I’d be all giddy about all those acoustics but not so the feeling was more like “meh “ been there done that.
Paul handed me one Taylor after another Fromm 4,000 + dollars to 2,900 that all different Wood types etc .
He showed me the New V bracing models and OMG !!!
You guys have to , just have to hear these guitars . I never in my life heard a guitar that sounded as
much the same as every other Guit ... err Taylor .
If you ask me did I like it ? Nope . Ok so at first it was very noisy in there as they have a group playing live music in there , gospel , old rock etc . So not the greatest way to hear the fundamentals of a guitar.
I was telling the guys about the Guild OM120 all Sapele I had on ordererd and I was sure they didn’t have one per my last call to them but low and behold there it was and it sounded not to great Ooo look Breedlove’s ! Hey Tom !! Guess what I found !
Ok moving on , I played every bloody Taylor in there except one , lost in the maze I guess . Sorry I mean no disrespect they all shared characteristics of being overly bright and some what thin, yuck !
Now one more Taylor to go . As I played a few breedloves along with few others and one old Ibanez had to be all sold wood its weight was proportionate to a tank wow ! was that thing heavy its sound reflected that mass as well , now I’m thinking how can make it sound better ? Lol
So now the band settled down the store was getting empty and now I can really hear these guitars .
I showed Paul the Breedloves told of Toms story but I did not see that model here Paul says you mean that one , what one , that one ! Dang it man it’s like the ketchup bottle in the fridge you look right past it even though it’s right in front of you !
I over looked it because of its light color . I expected it to stand out a tad more but it’s grain was very light so I just passed over it thinking it was a laminated series . Oops .
I mentioned to Paul that Martin had all hog model but I did not see it at first only the cheap model . I ended up founding it right where the band folks were playing .
The area was like a little room at the end but no walls just little support walls . The Martins had a grand total of maybe 12 LF of wall space going around the corner to the back wall it had a little show case there with 3 high end Martins D45 some triple O model and one other they all used. On the side of that there were 3 more wall mounted Martins the all hog one , it was a tad concealed so I never seen it .
I pulled it down walked over to Paul said I found the Martin give it a play took the Taylor out of hands and hung back up .
I was quick to tell the story of the comparison of the Martin to the Guild OM120 in the vids the Guild clearly one out for my likes but not why did did the one hear not sound good ?
Paul starts playing and right off the bat I said that’s what I don’t like way to brite from top to bottom .
I decided to get the OM again and brought it over to him switched guitars and I immediately said yup the Om is better . I guess the bands noise level made it hard to hear well it’s still a little dull and I can’t say it’s not because if that poly finish it looks thick feels thick if you could say that . Hmmm what if I sand it off ? I decided to still get it see what I get then scheme from there . Lol
You know the whole time in the back of my head the tone of all guitars were playing it was obvious nothing here seems worthy .
Did I just become a snob ?
I finally get the last Taylor and I lied I did play it earlier but really couldn’t here it well and I thought I liked it but there was a annoying buzzing . I found out it was something to do with the onboard electronics something was lose circuit board I thought .
It’s a 12 fret model Sitka top with Rosewood B&S
They had another of the same model with Sitka cocabola and I again did like it , what’s up with that !?
I gave the Rosewood a strum and behold I finally have a Taylor I like . I like so much I’d buy one if I thought the price was good but nope this 12 fretter along with the other like models ran 4 grand they were orchestra models to boot , oh well .
Aaaah now how about that Mertlewood ? Well very interesting . To me a bit maple’ish and Koa’ish yet not hard to explain . Very clear tone and note separation . I think I liked it , I’d just have to spend more time with it .
So now we’re done head out for dinner them home . I show Paul one guitar after the other starting with the Contemporaries and moving up from there .
I should have recorded it his expressions were one of surprise . This guitars sounded nothing like what was at Sam ash .
Warm and rich compared to the Taylor’s less that’s 12 fretter .
He was amazed at them all the over tones the sustains . I think I converted him lol we’ll see I guess .
He also mentioned he likes the African black wood and my Custom was the last one out . Once he strummed that it was game over lmao .
So there it is not much really a good night in all , fun to tell maybe not so fun for ya all to read hahaha ..
One friend was a keyboard nut also AKA Animal the other a guitarist .
So me and Paul talked Guitar and Jeff ,well he had to drive . Jeff had long known my guitar obsession and Paul was somewhat aware.
That collection was brought up and neither had seen it and I offered to show them at the end of the evening and they agreed .
Sam Ash closes at 9pm and we were there for 2 hrs at least if not a tad more . Me and Paul hit the acoustic room and Jeff the keyboards section .
I was told Sam ash remodeled , I guess they did but not by much. I was expecting a better lay out of the acoustic room but nope it was still one long room though separate from the main store which was like one huge room , Bam !
Paul likes Taylor’s haha our conversation on the way down had a lot of Paul saying he likes this guitar and that one and I was somewhat pressured to answer though I wanted keep quiet.
I ended up saying I don’t like any of them , haven’t found a Taylor I liked and that Fat sloppy obnoxious acoustic sales guy tech dude I disliked even more along with his constant swaying sales of other brands in favor the all glorious Taylor guitar line . Hmmm how’s the trip going to go now I wonder ?
All good though now we arrive and enter the Sam Ash acoustic room . Low and behold there was one long butt wall of nothing but Taylor’s ( hmmm ... one well placed hand grenade and instinct bliss ! )
Ok so Paul was Taylor bound . You figured I’d be all giddy about all those acoustics but not so the feeling was more like “meh “ been there done that.
Paul handed me one Taylor after another Fromm 4,000 + dollars to 2,900 that all different Wood types etc .
He showed me the New V bracing models and OMG !!!
You guys have to , just have to hear these guitars . I never in my life heard a guitar that sounded as
much the same as every other Guit ... err Taylor .
If you ask me did I like it ? Nope . Ok so at first it was very noisy in there as they have a group playing live music in there , gospel , old rock etc . So not the greatest way to hear the fundamentals of a guitar.
I was telling the guys about the Guild OM120 all Sapele I had on ordererd and I was sure they didn’t have one per my last call to them but low and behold there it was and it sounded not to great Ooo look Breedlove’s ! Hey Tom !! Guess what I found !
Ok moving on , I played every bloody Taylor in there except one , lost in the maze I guess . Sorry I mean no disrespect they all shared characteristics of being overly bright and some what thin, yuck !
Now one more Taylor to go . As I played a few breedloves along with few others and one old Ibanez had to be all sold wood its weight was proportionate to a tank wow ! was that thing heavy its sound reflected that mass as well , now I’m thinking how can make it sound better ? Lol
So now the band settled down the store was getting empty and now I can really hear these guitars .
I showed Paul the Breedloves told of Toms story but I did not see that model here Paul says you mean that one , what one , that one ! Dang it man it’s like the ketchup bottle in the fridge you look right past it even though it’s right in front of you !
I over looked it because of its light color . I expected it to stand out a tad more but it’s grain was very light so I just passed over it thinking it was a laminated series . Oops .
I mentioned to Paul that Martin had all hog model but I did not see it at first only the cheap model . I ended up founding it right where the band folks were playing .
The area was like a little room at the end but no walls just little support walls . The Martins had a grand total of maybe 12 LF of wall space going around the corner to the back wall it had a little show case there with 3 high end Martins D45 some triple O model and one other they all used. On the side of that there were 3 more wall mounted Martins the all hog one , it was a tad concealed so I never seen it .
I pulled it down walked over to Paul said I found the Martin give it a play took the Taylor out of hands and hung back up .
I was quick to tell the story of the comparison of the Martin to the Guild OM120 in the vids the Guild clearly one out for my likes but not why did did the one hear not sound good ?
Paul starts playing and right off the bat I said that’s what I don’t like way to brite from top to bottom .
I decided to get the OM again and brought it over to him switched guitars and I immediately said yup the Om is better . I guess the bands noise level made it hard to hear well it’s still a little dull and I can’t say it’s not because if that poly finish it looks thick feels thick if you could say that . Hmmm what if I sand it off ? I decided to still get it see what I get then scheme from there . Lol
You know the whole time in the back of my head the tone of all guitars were playing it was obvious nothing here seems worthy .
Did I just become a snob ?
I finally get the last Taylor and I lied I did play it earlier but really couldn’t here it well and I thought I liked it but there was a annoying buzzing . I found out it was something to do with the onboard electronics something was lose circuit board I thought .
It’s a 12 fret model Sitka top with Rosewood B&S
They had another of the same model with Sitka cocabola and I again did like it , what’s up with that !?
I gave the Rosewood a strum and behold I finally have a Taylor I like . I like so much I’d buy one if I thought the price was good but nope this 12 fretter along with the other like models ran 4 grand they were orchestra models to boot , oh well .
Aaaah now how about that Mertlewood ? Well very interesting . To me a bit maple’ish and Koa’ish yet not hard to explain . Very clear tone and note separation . I think I liked it , I’d just have to spend more time with it .
So now we’re done head out for dinner them home . I show Paul one guitar after the other starting with the Contemporaries and moving up from there .
I should have recorded it his expressions were one of surprise . This guitars sounded nothing like what was at Sam ash .
Warm and rich compared to the Taylor’s less that’s 12 fretter .
He was amazed at them all the over tones the sustains . I think I converted him lol we’ll see I guess .
He also mentioned he likes the African black wood and my Custom was the last one out . Once he strummed that it was game over lmao .
So there it is not much really a good night in all , fun to tell maybe not so fun for ya all to read hahaha ..