Does anyone else not gel at all with acoustic guitars?

I actually started on acoustic and there are quite a few acoustic players I really like, Leo Kottke and Neil Young spring to mind. It’s just that I can seem to find an instrument that really speaks to me or that I like. Maybe I just need to get an inexpensive Yamaha and use that for a while
 
I love my Taylor 414, but really I almost never play it. When I do it's usually in DADGAD or something, I love the way an acoustic rings in open tunings. I also went w/ lighter gauge strings - 11 or maybe even 10 - which are much easier for me to play, although they lose a bit of the thick low end (which I'm not sure I mind). I did originally learn on acoustics, all of which were completely budget guitars, so at that level I'm comfortable with them. I actually reach for my Alvarez more often... it's got a slightly smaller body and has been played a lot more so it just feels more natural to me and not as stiff as the Taylor.
 
I was at Gruhn guitars a few years ago playing around on some $25k+ prewar martin's and was blown away at how light and resonant these guitars were. They had an easy action and were a joy to play. You could literally feel the guitar vibrate in your hands...I remarked to the guy that worked there, "I bet those studio cats (Gruhn is in Nashville) come in here all the time wanting one of these for recording". The guy replied "No, they like stuff like the Taylors because they sit in the mix better. These are so harmonically rich they'd have to filter them out to get everything else to fit in the mix". Of course, these old martins are nothing like the newer ones. The closest thing I have found to it is, believe it or not, a Chinese made Blueridge pre-war OM copy. I know, I feel kind of nauseous saying it.
 
I don't really like most regular acoustics. I've got a friend with a hybrid, Taylor T5, and it's alright. Enough so that I've thought about adding one to the fleet, but I don't know. They're expensive, and as soon as I think about it, I think about that money towards an electric I want.
 
I’m not an acoustic player myself, generally, but I do enjoy playing on a good one. I was a “Taylor is best” guy for years, and owned both an 814CE and a 914CE. Great playing guitars. I played a fairly recent Martin HD28 (2011 if I recall) and found it to be the most even-toned acoustic I have ever played. No booming lows, honky mids, or brittle highs. Action sucked, as do all new Martins in my opinion. I did a few adjustments and it’s a wonderful guitar. So much so that I sold the others. The Taylors are still great guitars, don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing them. I just gravitate towards the sound of that Martin every time I want to play an acoustic.

But to the OPs point, that is one in a hundred times I pick up a guitar. The rest is some form of electric which just suits me better.
 
...I played a fairly recent Martin HD28 (2011 if I recall) and found it to be the most even-toned acoustic I have ever played. No booming lows, honky mids, or brittle highs. Action sucked, as do all new Martins in my opinion. I did a few adjustments and it’s a wonderful guitar. So much so that I sold the others. The Taylors are still great guitars, don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing them. I just gravitate towards the sound of that Martin every time I want to play an acoustic...
The Martin I bought was also setup high, but I think it's purposeful.
When I got the guitar, it included a setup...which I took to the Martin rep in the Nashville area when I lived there.
 
I love the acoustic sound but I'm a lazy Electric player so I went with Parker and have not looked back.
It's only when I see hear things like this that I sometimes regret not really learning the amazing skills it takes to pull off something like that:

 
I love the acoustic sound but I'm a lazy Electric player so I went with Parker and have not looked back.
It's only when I see hear things like this that I sometimes regret not really learning the amazing skills it takes to pull off something like that:



Tommy Emmanuel is stunning. His secret (other than his hands/ears) is the light gauge strings (he has his own Martin Set), ultra low setup, on a finger style guitar (similar to a Martin 000-28).

I tried several Taylors, but could never get this sound/feel. I finally got an OM-28E Retro that had a lower profile neck that I lowered the action on (as low as possible) and setup w/the Tommy Emmanuel Martin strings...love it.

Eric Clapton has a 24" scale similar Martin Signature that might help other electric players bond...
 
I've played TE's Maton - well, not HIS but the model - and it's amazing. But the best part is the piezo/mic set up. Best sounding acoustic tone on stage ever. I LOVE Taylor's acoustic sound, but the electro-acoustic sound is 2nd to Maton's.
 
Just bought a 200€ Ibanez nylon stringed acoustic guitar and love it. There's nothing that comes close to that sound and I prefer nylon over steel strings which is why my Yamaha APX10 was turned into decoration for my living room. I suck at playing electric guitar and my acoustic guitar playing skills are mediocre at best. But that doesn't stop me from using acoustic guitars to improve my precision, speed, and finger picking technique.
 
I think I have a good acoustic head.
I absolutely love my decades-old Takamine.
I wouldn't think twice about taking my Strat onto a one guitar lifeboat, however.
 
I started on acoustics many decades ago. Yes now I am a Strat guy. I have 4 acoustics and 2 are always on stands in 2 different rooms. Actually makes me play more these days because they are so accessible.
I agree with Rex also about starting on acoustics. But I also feel your music prefs contribute a bit also.
It just kills me when I am asked do you play electric guitar or folk guitar? Uhh? I play guitar!

Hmmm? folk guitar? Many folks call acoustics; folk guitars.
 
I started on acoustic as a kid and moved to electric not long afterward. Then there was a period of time in high school when I spent all of my playing time with a 12-string acoustic in open tunings. After a couple of years of that, I gravitated back to electric and haven't looked back since. I do have a few acoustics around the house, but they seldom get played. My current band has me on electric and another guy on acoustic. He has no desire to play electric, and I feel the the same about acoustic (in a live performance setting). It works for us. :)

That said, this is my most recent guitar acquisition. I got it in a trade for some unused non-music stuff. I have no practical need for it, but it's fun to mess around on and it looks cool on its stand in the music room.

Ovation%20Double%20Neck%202%20600.jpg
 
I have an Alvarez Jumbo Body that I really like, but I still never pick it up.
I used to do a lot of solo acoustic stuff, and I never really loved playing any of my acoustics, even the Alvarez (after a couple hours).
I really need to add a piezo to one of my electrics.
 
A local shop is having a fiscal end of year sale, as well as a Taylor factory sale. I went there this afternoon after work and tried out every Taylor that they had on display, from the lowest end to the highest. I also tried a bunch of Martins. They all left me feeling lukewarm at best. I like the sound of acoustic guitars and I want to use some of it in my music, but nearly every one I try is a firm "meh" either from a sound or playability standpoint or both. I can't get excited about any of them. On the other hand if I pick up a nice electric with a good neck I can't put it down and can play for hours even at the shop... I've yet to find an acoustic that results in a similar reaction.
I started off with the acoustic guitar. I even plugged it into a distortion pedal before I got my first electric lol. I think amazing acoustic guitars are harder to find. I feel it's pretty easy to find a very good solid body electric guitar, it's pretty much guaranteed to be good if it's got good pickups and is set up well :p whereas finding an acoustic that sings for you is a rarer experience IME.

I still think about one used acoustic I came across, some boutique dreadnought without any branding on the headstock, it was amazing. I went into the shop a couple days later, it was gone, I don't even know the brand.

Oh, and I find trying out acoustic guitars at local shops can be very hit or miss depending on the room they have... some shops have rooms where everything just sounds meh and anemic. Guitar amps depend on the room too, but still you can just turn it up louder and it feels better lol.
I’m not sure what their particular objection is, but some old-school luthiers are offended by the fact that Taylors have bolt-on necks.
Isn't it something about the whole production-line/factory-style build practice of Taylor guitars? Makes super consistent guitars (every Taylor I pick up feels and sounds like a Taylor), but not necessarily continuing on the "lutherie" in some people's eyes.
 
From watching Monte Montgomery it seems you need a 30+ year old guitar that looks like it was rode hard and put up wet (a Willie Nelson "Trigger") kinda guitar. Somewhere he says it's an 87 Alverez Yairi - oh and it doesn't hurt to have magic fingers.....

 
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