In my younger days, I always was partial to rosewood Martins. I just loved the bass of the guitars. For that matter, I still do.
As I got older and became a better player, I took a liking to my dad's maple F-50 (which a few years ago, he got setup and then gave to me). The guitar has rich mids, good highs and deep bass, can be played fingerstyle or picked heavy or anywhere in between and responds just as well. I've played a ton of guitars and I've only found a handful that might sound as good, and I might not even think that if I played them back to back in the same room. I've since played other jumbos as well, and none of them hold up. I guess I can say the SJ-200 is probably 3lbs lighter so it has that going for it,
Earlier this year, I told my dad I was considering an Epiphone Frontier as a "beater". It was cheap enough where if something happened, I'm not out that much, and I generally liked the way it sounded minus the fact that some of the higher strings thinned out up the neck, but not too bad where maybe the right strings was all it needed. So my dad gave me his G-37 as a beater. He had some really thick coated strings on it that killed the sound of the guitar a bit, but as soon as I got those off, I was really surprised how much I liked that guitar too.
Lately, I've been in the hunt for a mahogany or rosewood guitar to replace one that I sold that I just never liked all that much and could use the money to help fund pedal kayaks for next season while I look for what I want. There's a large number of guitars to choose from on the market of course, but something like a mahogany Guild dreadnaught (D-25, D-35, D-40) or F-40 really seems to be the most appealing to me. Maybe a D-50 or D-55 too, would be a great guitar to bring if I'm playing with someone else for lead work anyway. As someone once described their D-40 to me is it's the happy medium between a Gibson J-45s brighter sound and the definition of a Martin D-18, and I'd say that's pretty accurate.
I'd definitely love a Martin D-18, HD-28 or D-35 (I've found the latter two models respond best to my picking style), but the sound doesn't fit my usual playing style as much as Guilds. Taylors have nice electronics and ergonomics, but I haven't found one that sits quite right with my picking style. Every Gibson I've ever played thins out as you get up the neck, although I like how many of them sound down the neck. I've only played one Collings and it was real nice, but maybe a little too nice in sound. I've played some Goodall guitars I loved, but those are quite pricey too.
I'm not even trying to "fanboy" but I always end up coming back to Guilds. And that's ignoring the fact that many of the Westerly made guitars can still be had at very reasonable prices.
As I got older and became a better player, I took a liking to my dad's maple F-50 (which a few years ago, he got setup and then gave to me). The guitar has rich mids, good highs and deep bass, can be played fingerstyle or picked heavy or anywhere in between and responds just as well. I've played a ton of guitars and I've only found a handful that might sound as good, and I might not even think that if I played them back to back in the same room. I've since played other jumbos as well, and none of them hold up. I guess I can say the SJ-200 is probably 3lbs lighter so it has that going for it,
Earlier this year, I told my dad I was considering an Epiphone Frontier as a "beater". It was cheap enough where if something happened, I'm not out that much, and I generally liked the way it sounded minus the fact that some of the higher strings thinned out up the neck, but not too bad where maybe the right strings was all it needed. So my dad gave me his G-37 as a beater. He had some really thick coated strings on it that killed the sound of the guitar a bit, but as soon as I got those off, I was really surprised how much I liked that guitar too.
Lately, I've been in the hunt for a mahogany or rosewood guitar to replace one that I sold that I just never liked all that much and could use the money to help fund pedal kayaks for next season while I look for what I want. There's a large number of guitars to choose from on the market of course, but something like a mahogany Guild dreadnaught (D-25, D-35, D-40) or F-40 really seems to be the most appealing to me. Maybe a D-50 or D-55 too, would be a great guitar to bring if I'm playing with someone else for lead work anyway. As someone once described their D-40 to me is it's the happy medium between a Gibson J-45s brighter sound and the definition of a Martin D-18, and I'd say that's pretty accurate.
I'd definitely love a Martin D-18, HD-28 or D-35 (I've found the latter two models respond best to my picking style), but the sound doesn't fit my usual playing style as much as Guilds. Taylors have nice electronics and ergonomics, but I haven't found one that sits quite right with my picking style. Every Gibson I've ever played thins out as you get up the neck, although I like how many of them sound down the neck. I've only played one Collings and it was real nice, but maybe a little too nice in sound. I've played some Goodall guitars I loved, but those are quite pricey too.
I'm not even trying to "fanboy" but I always end up coming back to Guilds. And that's ignoring the fact that many of the Westerly made guitars can still be had at very reasonable prices.
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