anyone in this forum play acoustic guitar?

Hah, that's what I wanted to be in high school. That's actually a class project I took in college, it was a pretty awesome class!
That’s a pretty awesome class!! I’d love to take that one!
 
If you do play acoustic guitar, do you prefer Brazilian Rosewood or East Indian Rosewood for your acoustic guitar? I play my Taylor 814ce Brazilian rosewood acoustic guitar between work hours for stress relief.
The wood used on the back and sides makes much less difference than the top, imho. Most important of all is who made the guitar. A Taylor is always going to sound like a Taylor. A Martin will be a Martin. Top end luthiers create a signature sound to most of their instruments.
 
I have a couple, my first real guitar a Samick acoustic, cheap but sounds fantastic, an Alvarez, 6 string, an Alvarez 12 string and my favorite, my Hascal Haile inspired build personally designed and built by me.
But more than anything in a collector, I can play a little bit, but mostly a few chords and songs here and there. My friends play them more than I do 😆

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I always wanted to build a guitar. That’s awesome!
 
I would love to pick the guitar back up. I've tried a couple of times over the years but I just stink so I stop.

Don't currently own a guitar
 
I play every now and then. Same as a lot of people on here just know a few 3-4 chord songs and every now and then learn a new 3-4 chord song.
I have a cheap Yamaha out of a starter set. Would love to upgrade one day but this one does the job and stays in tune decently well.
I do also have a Uke made of mahogany that I enjoy quite a bit.
 
I would love to pick the guitar back up. I've tried a couple of times over the years but I just stink so I stop.

Don't currently own a guitar
Everyone can become good at playing guitar. It is a beautiful instrument and it really helps in difficult times. I play guitar whenever I feel stressed out from work. I played acoustic guitar at the age of 12 with the idea of impressing girls but that didn't work until I got older and in college. The acoustic guitar got me lot of dates in college, LOL...

I love the sound of Brazilian Rosewood on my Taylor 814ce. I also own a Mahogany Martin D-18 as well. I love playing on both of them.
 

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Everyone can become good at playing guitar. It is a beautiful instrument and it really helps in difficult times. I play guitar whenever I feel stressed out from work. I played acoustic guitar at the age of 12 with the idea of impressing girls but that didn't work until I got older and in college. The acoustic guitar got me lot of dates in college, LOL...

I love the sound of Brazilian Rosewood on my Taylor 814ce. I also own a Mahogany Martin D-18 as well. I love playing on both of them.
Beautiful.

I'm pretty sure the only acoustics I've owned have been Gibsons.
Back in the day, I had a hummingbird - beautiful sounding maybe mahogany? Guitar. But at the same time, I had another Gibson- and I can't recall the model, but it had snowflake inlays. That thing sounded AMAZING. It was probably half the price of the hummingbird.
I'm going to have to find out what model that was...
 
Unless you play acoustic guitar, you wouldn't know the difference between Brazilian and East Indian Rosewood.

Well I do play acoustic guitar and have for something like 50 years. I know what sounds good to my ear and what doesn’t, and I can promise you that where the rosewood comes from makes no difference to me at all, so long as the luthier knows what s/he is doing.
 
Well I do play acoustic guitar and have for something like 50 years. I know what sounds good to my ear and what doesn’t, and I can promise you that where the rosewood comes from makes no difference to me at all, so long as the luthier knows what s/he is doing.

Likewise, I've recorded multiple types and makers of acoustic guitars. Drop them in a full mix and the wood they are made of is irrelevant - all that matters is the playing.
 
Likewise, I've recorded multiple types and makers of acoustic guitars. Drop them in a full mix and the wood they are made of is irrelevant - all that matters is the playing.
Completely agree. Once you start recording, the wood type is irrelevant. Al Petteway, an incredible guitarist, often performs with a graphite acoustic guitar. The recording setup matters, as does, as you say, the quality of play.
 
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Well I do play acoustic guitar and have for something like 50 years. I know what sounds good to my ear and what doesn’t, and I can promise you that where the rosewood comes from makes no difference to me at all, so long as the luthier knows what s/he is doing.

My daughter can tell the difference between Brazilian Rosewood and EIR. I played a loaner Taylor 814ce EIR vs. Taylor 814cd BR and she is able to tell it ten times out of ten in a blind fold test. She says that Brazilian RW is louder and warmer than EIR.

 
I don't have anything nice, but I have a 1989 Washburn that belonged to my Grandpa and that I recently gave to my son. I learned to play on that guitar and so did the boy. It has a lot of sentimental value. :)

When I was dating my wife, I bought her a cheap Honer guitar from a pawn shop for $100. The thing is easy to play and sounds great for the price. I am the only one that plays it though. :D
 
My daughter can tell the difference between Brazilian Rosewood and EIR. I played a loaner Taylor 814ce EIR vs. Taylor 814cd BR and she is able to tell it ten times out of ten in a blind fold test. She says that Brazilian RW is louder and warmer than EIR.


There are a lot of variables that come into play that could cause her to hear a difference, other than simply the BR and EIR. The biggest variable is simply the inconsistency from instrument to instrument in production guitars. Taylors are nice guitars and have a bright, “modern” voicing to them. However, you can go into a shop and play quite a few instruments and find one Taylor that stands out from the other Taylors. Another big difference is the top wood. Do both of the Taylors in your sample size have the same top wood? Top wood makes a much bigger difference in sound than sides and back, imo. Do both guitars have the same, fresh strings when you do your test? have they both habituated to the same room’s climate?

I don’t doubt that your daughter can hear a difference, but what I also don’t know is whether the correlation you are trying to draw is causal. No doubt, anybody familiar with guitars would choose good Brazilian over good East Indian, but some of that is beauty, as well as supply and demand. Many say that Brazilian has richer sound with more overtones, so it may be that your daughter is hearing exactly what many believe. Brazilian is much more prone to cracking.
 
I’ve always wanted to do this to someone playing an acoustic guitar!
 
There are a lot of variables that come into play that could cause her to hear a difference, other than simply the BR and EIR. The biggest variable is simply the inconsistency from instrument to instrument in production guitars. Taylors are nice guitars and have a bright, “modern” voicing to them. However, you can go into a shop and play quite a few instruments and find one Taylor that stands out from the other Taylors. Another big difference is the top wood. Do both of the Taylors in your sample size have the same top wood? Top wood makes a much bigger difference in sound than sides and back, imo. Do both guitars have the same, fresh strings when you do your test? have they both habituated to the same room’s climate?

I don’t doubt that your daughter can hear a difference, but what I also don’t know is whether the correlation you are trying to draw is causal. No doubt, anybody familiar with guitars would choose good Brazilian over good East Indian, but some of that is beauty, as well as supply and demand. Many say that Brazilian has richer sound with more overtones, so it may be that your daughter is hearing exactly what many believe. Brazilian is much more prone to cracking.

When I did the test with my daughter, it was done at one of my friends' home "recording studio". Both guitars were strung with fresh Elixir String 10/47 polyweb. Both guitars were kept in "recording studio" temperature. I have to point out that my daughter is also a pianist and she is very good at recognizing different sounds and tones.

Yes, BRW is definitely prone to cracking. It requires much more maintenance than EIR.
 
Give me a jumbo with curly maple any day of the week. 😁
 
I guess this thread and Rick Beato YouTube videos inspired me to pull out the guitar again. I’m getting pretty good at A and E cords and transitioning between the two. Next week I may throw B in there too 😅😅😅
 
I guess this thread and Rick Beato YouTube videos inspired me to pull out the guitar again. I’m getting pretty good at A and E cords and transitioning between the two. Next week I may throw B in there too 😅😅😅
Learn G, C and D and you have a few thousand songs at your fingertips!

"One chord is fine. Two chords is pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz." - Lou Reed
 
Debating the sound characteristics of rosewoods from varying regions is almost like comparing the laden air speed velocities of regional variations in swallows...

I used to play alot of acoustic guitar in high school. I would often ditch class and go to guitar center and mess around on the high end models. I always liked the sound and feel of Larirvee guitars over Taylor.

My first guitar was a Takamine. No cut away and no built in pickup. I played the crap out of that thing! I wish I had never given it away.

I bought a fender cut away and ended up not liking it. It is very pretty but difficult for me to play. However, I cannot ever get rid of it because I had it autographed by all 4 members of Nickel Creek.
 
I have a Koa Taylor that has a really deep amazing tone. For everyday banging around I have an inexpensive Gretsch resonator guitar which is a lot of fun to play.
 
I have played guitar since about age 15. Have a nice solid wood Seagull Maritime cutaway that I'll post a photo in here of once I find one or get home. I don't play as much as I should, but I enjoy it. Really like playing stuff with a lot of fingerpicking - think "April, Come She Will" by Simon and Garfunkel, "Penny for your Thoughts" by Peter Frampton, "Benighted" by Opeth, that kind of stuff...
 
I love playing the acoustic guitar on Cocoa beach in the evening. The weather is so nice versus miserable snow/cold in Virginia. My nephew is also here in Cocoa beach with me as well. He plays Taylor Swift all too well.
 
I have an Alvarez Grand Auditorium (ag60ce). I have never gotten that into which wood was which, I just go by sound and feel. Shrug
 
Thinking of getting a "nice" acoustic for my birthday this year. Something ~$1500 or less. Don't need pickups or anything.

What would you all get with that money?
 
Yep been playing acoustic and electric for nearly 30 years. I rarely pick them up nowadays though.

I have an Ibanez AE245 Grand Auditorium for the acoustic stuff.

Electric is a donkeys years old "Vintage" (that's the brand not the style) VSA650 in a bird's-eye maple sunburst.

Both below.

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