Why You Should Upgrade Your Acoustic Before Your Electric...

I have been playing Seagull Performer acoustic for a couple of years. Nice guitar, well built and sounded good. I was happy with it. I had a trade fall into my lap for a Taylor 310ce. Just got it back from a complete setup yesterday and played it last night. Holy crap! The difference in the Taylor's sound compared to the Seagull is night and day. So much more bottom end, notes ring out for " days " and every chord sounds fatter. My wife even came into my guitar room last night and said my new guitar sounded great. She never, ever, comments on my guitar sound. I am a true believer now in the power of a good acoustic. The closest comparison I could make with an electric would be my Hot Rod Tele coupled with my PRRI. This is just how good the Taylor sounds. Screw messing around with pickups, saddles, pots, speakers, tubes, etc. Just get your hands on a nice acoustic and you are good to go.

I agree. A pretty-good electric with a good setup up is almost as good as a really nice electric. This is not true of acoustic guitars, where the difference between pretty good and really good guitars is huge. This is especially true if you play subtle stuff on an acoustic. I kind of like the dry, boxy sound of strumming cowboy chords on my old plywood Harmony acoustic. But for single notes and finger picking and melody chord solos, there's nothing like my good guitars.

Congrats on the new Taylor. I used to have a 310. I traded it for a mandolin six years ago, and I still miss it.

Seems we share the same tastes, I have a sweet 314ce and a hot rod tele thru a Rivera venus 3 which with its 7/15 watts is real close to the PRRI. I am very content with my gear presently, BUT gas is a funny thing

although I'm always messing with electrics, and have recently (finally) found a great combination of parts that really works for me (for now).... I really do agree with this. I have a high end Martin that sounds amazing... so amazing that I've never played another like it and every time I pick it up I'm amazed. It will never leave me! I just relax, play, and enjoy the beautiful sound... with my electrics it's always a bit more complicated than that.

I agree, but acoustics scare me because they are a lot more fragile. I have two good players a Takamine G406S and a 1976 Epiphone FT-200 both feel great and sound pretty darn good. Eventually ill break down and spend real money on a Taylor but right now its cost vs. Big dumb destructive black lab :mrgreen:

No more beautiful sounds than a good acoustic. Wish I could afford one!

Agree %100! I bought a 214ce a little more than a month ago and am still smitten. I play a HW1 through a bj with a few nice pedals but the Taylor is just..... Well..... A Taylor! lol

Congrats on the new guitar!

M

Upgrading acoustics can go to the sky. I have a couple-three "someday" acoustics in mind, but I'm going to sit tight for a while with my Takamine EF-340S BG. It's a great guitar.

Congratulations on your new Taylor, castpolymer. I hear they're very nice.

Upgrading acoustics can go to the sky. I have a couple-three "someday" acoustics in mind, but I'm going to sit tight for a while with my Takamine EF-340S BG. It's a great guitar.

Congratulations on your new Taylor, castpolymer. I hear they're very nice.

I played the Taylor for hours last night. I literally cut into my callous on the top of my fingers from playing so long. It was worth it.

When I bought my most recent acoustic I didn't want to spend much (about £500) so I played about 50 in various shops and found a diamond in the rough. Even others of the same model didn't sound as good as mine. So it isn't all about money and upgrading, but a little to do with finding a good one. I have heard guitars costing four times as much as mine that don't sound half as good.

I think it has been hit on - with all of the gizmos and such it is alot easier to coax a sound you want out of an electric than an acoustic.

For me though it has nothing to do with "upgrading." I would take my near the bottom of the food chain 1947 Gibson LG-2 over the highest dollar Taylor ever made. The reason is easy - I prefer the Gibson's percussive low end and saturated mids to the very bright sound of a Taylor.

My guitars are all over the place. I have two Gibsons, a Martin, a pre-Gibson Epiphone, a Kay Kraft round soundhole archtop (one of the last made with the Zorzi adjustable neck), a Harmony Sovereign, a Guild 12 string, and a National Duolian. They are all different body styles and not one of them sounds like the next. What links them is each has a unique voice that I like. I do not worry about what guitar works for what style cuz what I have learned is that no matter what I play I sound like me.

I have a "crappy" acoustic that I keep readily accessible hanging on the wall in the family room. I've noticed it gets a lot more play and I don't think it sounds near as bad since I got my "good" acoustic.
I suppose the "good" acoustic inspires me to play mo and mo betta so the other instruments come along for the ride.
zombywoof, that's a great description "percussive low end and saturated mids". I was torn between that sound on a Gibson I tried and the versatility of the low end Martin I bought. The Martin is bright (in a good way) and so darn playable. I'd love to have both!

One can really go down a rabbithole financially when it comes to high end acoustic guitars. Some of them should really one with wheels and a transmission for what they cost! That said, there is nothing on earth like finding the acoustic that you really connect with.

I have a Gibson J-200 like on the cover of Nashville Skyline and I love it to death. It's a bit temperamental with seasonal changes so I also have a Taylor GS8 I use for a lot of gigs, but the Gibson is my main songwriting instrument.