best choice for life on the beach

[bgwatts]

Lets say a guy promised his wife he could scale back to ONE acoustic guitar to help facilitate a retirement move to a small bungalow on the gulf side of Florida....what would be the best choice, given the conditions,temp, humidity, SALT air, etc. something like a brass bodied national, or perhaps a carbon fiber /composite ...or maybe it doesnt matter....tell me more about "beach" guitars

[Revv23]

A telecaster!

[zooropamofo]

If you can make do with a slightly smaller size, consider a Taylor GS Mini. I love mine to death. It won't replace my J45, but it's a very versatile and low maintenance piece.

[coloradojeff]

Gotta give a +1 on a Taylor. I have a Taylor Big Baby that stays in my vacation condo closet, mostly ignored. Every time I play it I'm amazed at how easy it plays and how good it sounds. Inexpensive too.

[Big_Bend]

My vote is for any decent regular full size acoustic. I'm partial to my Gibson WM-45. I don't care about the salt and all, just keep the guitar clean and put away when not in use. You'll probably have to change the strings more often but thats fine.

If I can only play one guitar from now on, its gota be a good one.

Have fun...

[howlin]

I can make you a good deal on a 15-year old Larivee D-03 if you're willing to pop for the shipping from Europe. Just a thought . . .

[jwsamuel]

If you are looking for a guitar that is not affected by climate as much as solid wood guitars, I'd look at Composite Acoustics or Rainsong. Both are made with carbon fiber and other man-made materials. That leaves them largely unaffected by humidity changes and heat.

They sound great. In fact, when I first heard a CA guitar, the guy at the guitar shop had me turn around when he pulled it out just so I would not see which was the CA and which was a Taylor.

Jim

[telleutelleme]

Something cheap and replaceable and hopefully you won't have to. Full composite is probably worth a consideration for something better. Baby Taylor or Mini is a good choice in between. If you plan on sitting in the sand by the fire, I wouldn't take a Martin or Gibson.

[stephent2]

A Martin made of HPL. $409 retail, $280 most places.



http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/...le-martin.html

[el cheapo]

Without hesitation, the Yamaha FG700S.

[bgwatts]

Don't need to downsize the GUITAR, just the "collection"...not looking for a "campfire on the beach" instrument..but one that that wont get ruined by salt air because of LIVING next to the water. Or is this even a real issue? I assume I should avoid things like GOLD hardware, etc..but would it be a mistake to say..keep my Gibson Advanced Jumbo ..would I be ruining it? or am I over thinking it..maybe its just strings that are the issue(which isn't really a problem at all.) I just know that BICYCLES dont fair well in that enviornment..but they are made of METAL...Do regular ol wooden guitars hold up?

[Chadw]

I live under 500 feet from the north Atlantic. Salt in the air affects some exposed metal that's outside all the time, but I've never heard of anyone around here say the salt air had a negative impact on a guitar. The changes in temperature and humidity do affect all my guitars to some degree, but a setup always fixes that.

[trev333]

My old Ibanez acoustic has spent the last 30 yrs on or near the beach.. never been in a case in it's life.. just hangs on the wall or leaning on something in the lounge room...

I can't say the salt air/humidity has had any effect on the guitar.... apart from some chrome on the tuners tarnishing a bit and the strings looking a bit grungy if you don't play them often enough...

a quick wipe/polish and it'll be fine....;)

[bgwatts]

Thank you...I knew there would be somebody who lives in that situation..Looks like Ill get to hang on to my Gibson..

[trev333]

why not check out a quality classic/nylon string guitar?..

no rust worries there..;)

[LGOberean]

I've lived near the water all my life. I've had my beloved 29 year old Japanese vintage Hohner Arbor series G-940 acoustic in all kinds of climatic conditions. It's been halfway around the world and back, having been with me in the island nation of Papua New Guinea. Lots of rain, plus I lived in a coastal town, so we also dealt with the humid, salt air of the South Pacific. No central AC there, just a house up on stilts. It was so humid that often I had to wipe mold off of the leather strap!

Now I live in Corpus Christi, Texas, a city in the coastal bend of South Texas. My house is 3 blocks from the bay. Now, though, I have central heat and AC. However, I play outdoors a lot, at house parties, open mic events, etc. I've literally had strings corrode in the course of an evening. More than once I've changed strings the day of an outdoor gig, playing on someone's deck overlooking the channel. I would play 3+ hours, look down and the strings were corroded.

Once in such a setting, I was asked to do an encore number, and I didn't make it all the way through the first verse before I broke a brand new, changed that day string. Of course, I said to the audience/partygoers, "Sorry, I have to quit for the night. I just lost my G string!"

I've said all of this to say that climatic conditions down here in the "armpit" (i.e., a bend that is hot and sticky ) of the Texas coast are definitely humid and corrosive, and these conditions wreck havoc on guitar strings. And yes, also on guitar tuning machines, to some extent. But in all the years, I've never had it damage the structure or the finish of one of my acoustic guitars. Mind you, I do wipe them off after performing, and clean them up later with Meguiar's Mist & Wipe Quik Detailer.

[Starrman44]

I've heard great things about Rainsong...

[TinyGomery]

If you get a metal-bodied resonator guitar, you could probably develop a fantastic patina on the body from the salt air. A spider bridge resonator (Weber Bandit) is my main acoustic guitar and if I had to downsize to one guitar, it's what I'd choose.

Under the circumstances, I'd recommend against keeping a guitar you already have. If you're getting rid of all your guitars, the least you could do is get a new guitar out of it.

[JurassicCactus]

I dont know about everyone else but i love elixer strings because it takes forever for them to corrode. I have a set of elixers on one electric and a set of D'Addarrio XL on another. The D'Addarrio's took less than a month to corrode while the elixers were still brand new. Nothing pisses me off more than corroded strings.

[Tele-Caster]

Back when I was single, I lived on a sailboat. You can't get closer to living on the ocean than that, unless you happen to be a fish and live in it. I kept a Seagull S-6 aboard the whole time -about nine years or so. I didn't choose it for any other reason than I liked its sound and playing feel the best out of the acoustics I had at the time -four Ovations, a Taylor, and a Santa Cruz.... Not because it was cheap... Not because the body was plywood.... Because I only had room for one, so I brought the one I LIKED BEST.

I'd do the same if retired to the Florida Gulf Coast.

Actually, I wouldn't... I'd take all my guitars and wouldn't make any vows to downsize. I want to enjoy retirement when I get there. I had guitars before I had a wife. I expect to have many more before I rotate off the mortal coil. I don't expect my dulcet darling to get her nose out of joint over it. If she does, she can find her own way to the door and not let it hit her on her, uh, well.......

I guess I have different priorities. Downsizing my guitar collection isn't high among them.

I'll move on by saying that if I had a good J-45, there is no way on God's Earth that it and I wouldn't be enjoying life together to the bitter end.