Leaderboard

Quick update after I had an hour to pop in to a guitar shop. I tried a few things but the one that clicked for me was a Reverend club king 290. Although it's a 25.5 inch scale it didn't feel a stretch. It balances as well as my jag. It's semi hollow but feels more chambered than other semis. The tones were amazing though. Really responsive to touch, and the bass cut and tone knobs give lots of scope for changing sounds. Anyway, I'll have my eye out for one of these. If I can flog something off I might even trat myself to a new one.

@FrankAtari @EdwardMarlowe I didn't think I was going to get any replies - GC didn't seem that active last time I looked. I just took the strings off my 20yo Seagull S6 - a soft cedar top - and OMG - I haven't changed the strings for ages and seen how worn the frets and fretboard are - I'm thinking about not bothering with new strings - actually it plays fine. I actually wanted 2 guitars so I could keep one for messing about in alternative tunings - I might use the Seagull for this now. It's a lovely guitar - more suited I always think to fingerstyle which is something I do a bit more of but it's not something that comes as naturally as I'd like - I do choose guitars on how they feel in my hands - I'm not totally wedded to the idea that the sound is everything - I have friends that have bought expensive guitars and just fell out of love with them quite quickly - sometimes for sound and sometimes for playability - so the feel in your hands does matter a lot IMHO. I previously had a Yamaha that I really loved - solid rosewood back and sides with sitka spruce top - what I liked what the dynamic range - it handled me thrashing a chord out much better than the Seagull. TBH - it took me quite a while to warm to the Seagull - it has a lovely neck - slightly wider than the Yamaha but I'd prefer to head back to the sound of that Yamaha. Moneywise - well - I have the money to buy whatever grabs me - it could be £1k - or as much as £4k - I don't normally spend this much on anything - I just have some cash put aside for this - it's been there for several years - Covid etc got in the way, partly... the thing is I don't hanker after new things and I don't like paying over the odds for name brands - I'm a pretty cynical guy - I never wax lyrical about anything. So Richards Guitars - I'm prepared to take a look at but I'm not of the mindset that thinks I'm going to find the holy grail - it's just another way to sell guitars - I have time to arrange a visit now - I was interested in the experiences of other people that have been there and ideally, bought something. I'm very open to a second hand guitar - it's like second hand books - the best ones are the ones that look like they've definitely been read IMHO. 21/1/23 - 2pm PS - What I don't spend on my next guitar is available to be spent on another acoustic, another electric or another bass or... something for my music.

That's a fair enough point @Dad3353- the designers will not have overlooked any possibly adverse effect on the sound - it's just that I've never had the chance to play two identical models side-by-side - one with and one without the cutaway - I wondered if there was a well known/generally accepted difference - I've never had the cutaway so obviously never had the opportunity to dabble up the top end. I wondered what the nature of the impact on the sound was. I'm tempted to think that as I don't play out-and-out lead lines/solos that I won't bother buying a guitar with the cutaway - but I also think - if I had the cutaway - I might expand my playing in that direction. I'm in the market for a new guitar right now - in the next few months I'm planning on venturing out to try and few guitars - I'm looking for excuses to get out in my campervan - I hate not using it as much over the winter months so I'm keen to get out and park up on sites where I can commute in (bus/train/walk) to places with good guitar shops - Richards Guitars in Stratford is one place I'm looking at right now. Buying a guitar is not a decision I take lightly - it's like deciding on whether to date someone or not IMHO! You've got to live with the decision. I've always been really grateful to all my guitars - for all the great moments they brought into my life - for all the songs I wrote, for the open mics, for the time I spent with them. I hate that buying a guitar can be like speed dating! You've got to admit - haven't we all known people that have spent big money on guitars and raved about them initially and then a year in you find that they've sold them on - it's a sad waste of money and invested time, effort and emotion. I had a friend who had the who's who of electric and acoustic guitars - Fender, Gibson, Martin - the lot - he never had any of them for long - I would hate to go through that.

First up, guitarist's nipple, not something that I've ever suffered from, but it made me smile. Second... Er... nothing to add here.

Not quite the right question, I think..? Does it affect the sound..? Yes, to a lesser or greater extent. Does it adversely affect the sound..? Not necessarily. Any acoustic instrument sounds as it sounds. f that's the sound you're after, then that's fine. If, on a full-bodied acoustic with a pleasing sound one could get out the band-saw and cut a chuck off for access to the high notes, the sound would, in all probability, be severely impaired. If, however, the guitar was designed and built that way, taking into account the cutaway, the result would very likely please a least some of the customers for that guitar. The reply, then, is really : if it sounds fine as it is, it sounds fine. There are many acoustic guitars with this feature, many of them sound great. It's also true that many guitarists wanting/needing this feature play through amps, or record with the built-in electronics. This, too, alters radically the result, as the sound is no longer merely a function of the acoustic properties, but a sum of all the elements used. In that respect, a cutaway has little bearing on the phonics in absolute terms; again, if it sounds fine in the end, it's fine. Whether one plays up the neck or not, it's worth giving all guitars a listen, to appreciate their qualities. Hope this helps.

I've bought from some of the main UK shops in the past, GAK, GuitarGuitar in B'ham, PMT, Gear4music, Merchant City Music ( are they still called that?) but my most recent purchases have been from TR Music in Walsall, a smaller family owned business. They are really friendly and have some decent stock, Fender, Epiphone, Marshall, Blackstar etc. Also some nice used gear. Highly recommend them if you're in the area.

If I ever got seriously into playing country, I'd do it on one of these, just to be 'different' than the herd. Similarly, if I ever went hardcore Blues, I promised myself I'd buy a Dean ML (get rid of the FR, though!)