Story concluded: trying out a high-end acoustic

My advice: play EVERY note on the neck and listen for consistency of sustain. I've played some very nice Taylor X14ce guitars that had dead notes due to body / neck resonances. Also, make sure to play some other brands as well. Taylor guitars feel really good, but I don't really like their trebble frequency signature very much. I personally prefer Larrivee guitars which have a much more balanced and open sounding top end IMO. Many people love the Taylor sound and I recognize that I'm in the minority with my opinion. Regardless, with the budget that you're working with I am certain that you will be able to find an absolute gem of an instrument. Have fun and be sure to post pictures of your new guitar for us to drool over.
 
Organic Zed - great point! It would be a very poor outcome to spend all that cash only to find it has playing flaws. I’ll give this good attention.

in terms of brands at the shop I’m going to they have a decent range although not all have lefties in stock. Brands stocked by this company include: Taylor, Martin, Collings, Breedlove, Atkin, Lowden

Thanks for all the thoughts so far. Any other practical ideas on what I should be playing or looking for still gratefully received.
 
Taylors are great guitars. But just as say Ovation, they're not for everyone. I can't stand their pickup system, sounds super fake to my ears. The best electronics is Yamahas SRT system IMHO.

But, if you're never going to plug it in, that doesn't matter. Still, I'd go with a high end Yamaha or Martin over a Taylor. Again, Taylors are great, but they've got their own thing going with their neck joint, and prefer the tonal contributions of a regular glued in neck. Slightly more woody sounding, while Taylors generally are a bit brighter.

BTW, I'm a bluegrass dreadnought player, so it's all about heavy strings, high action, projection, and a prominent midrange for me.
 
Try everything around the price . IME cost is not a good indicator of sound quality in acoustics. I played many pretty ordinary sounding but beautiful £10k Guitars . Be honest with yourself when you play it.
 
Andy Eagle said:
Try everything around the price . IME cost is not a good indicator of sound quality in acoustics. I played many pretty ordinary sounding but beautiful £10k Guitars . Be honest with yourself when you play it.
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Thanks Andy – this is one of the hardest things for us guitar lovers to do: be objective when we see and play an instrument, rather than succumbing to the lust! I‘ll remember your words this afternoon, and try to avoid any pre-defined but unsubstantiated preference!

thanks to all who have commented - this forum is such a great place to get friendly and informed advice. I’ll let you know how it goes 🎸😀😎
 
I also find taylor great to play, due to their neck shape. That said, I learned on my last acoustic venture that the sound I hear in my head is a martin.

I hope OP reports back with his findings!
 
Can't say anything bad about Taylor. I personally found that the individual guitar was the deciding factor, rather than the price or model. When I picked up mine, I tried more than half a dozen of the same guitar in three different stores. They were very consistent in fit/finish and playability, but differed quite a bit in sound. Although I couldn't compare side by side, I'm pretty sure I got the best of the lot. Good luck with your search!
 
Another thing about Taylors is that each model is designed for particular playing styles. A lot of the ones that I tried a long time ago were a bit harsh sounding, so I wrote off Taylor as a brand that’s not to liking. I ended up with a Martin HDS28, which sounded perfect to my ears. As it turns out, I found out that I’m a hard strummer and the Martin is very accommodating for that kind of abuse. The Taylors that I played were described as being designed for finger style, which explains why they didn’t have the headroom for my heavy strumming.

So years later, I got tired of my Martin being fussy about hot to cold weather. I had to keep two different saddles because the guitar action would move a lot with the change of seasons. I’m not saying that’s a Martin thing, but that was the case with my particular guitar. After looking back into Taylor because I love their consistency and playability, I found models that were more suited for my playing and it’s what I still have to this day.

Good luck and happy birthday!
 
Taylor makes some nice guitars but in that price range I'd consider Lowden, Bourgeois and Santa Cruz before Taylor.
 
Lot's of good suggestions, but I'd like to point out your first post, in which you mentioned the Taylor 814ce. If you want that guitar, you can't go wrong (as long as you try several examples, like I and others pointed out.) However, if you add all those other brands to your search, you may end up overwhelmed with choices, and if your heart is set on the Taylor, and you buy a different brand, you may end up wishing you had stuck to your original plan.

Just wanted to throw that out there. It's like when I deal with customer's choices in my line of work (residential renovations, additions, etc.), I won't show them all the choices (it can quickly get ridiculous!) If they like a certain brand or style of say, cabinets, then I don't show them a bunch of stuff too far outside those options, (unless I want them to take 3x's longer to make a choice!) I ask them important questions as to their needs, up front, then I match the choices to those needs (and budget.)

And whatever you end up with, DON'T FORGET THE PICS! lol :guitar:;)
 
I'm primarily an electric player but cut my teeth on acoustic and still have a sweet spot for a good acoustic. I can't justify spending a lot on one so I currently have a Breedlove C25/SMe. I have played a few Gibsons, Martins, Takamines and as well as a few Taylors- 814ce, 710, 510ce, 414ce and a Grand Auditorium. I've also played a friend's Lowden, can't recall the model, and of all of the acoustics I've played, if I were to have the opportunity to spend $5,000 on one it would be the Lowden hands down.

Having said that, If I ever have the opportunity to get an acoustic in this range, I would definitely try to play a couple of other top brands just to make sure the Lowden still makes the cut.
 
Hey all

just reporting back after my try out this afternoon. Took a little longer to get there than expected and arrived just before my slot. really great staff at guitarguitar in Epsom - took my old Freshman to see if they could sort the buzzing on the upper frets. I went into a large acoustic demo area, Slightly concerned to start with as there were a couple of other customers trying out - as you can imagine this is not the ideal conditions to make a detailed and objective comparison between instruments when you can’t really hear what is going on!! However, as the session went on, the other customers quickly peeled away and I ended up with a good hour absolutely on my own to play.

Bearing in mind I am left handed the options were always going to be slightly limited (This store has a number of shops across the UK so some of their l/handed stock is elsewhere). Also I was aiming at a higher end instrument so the lower-priced options felt too close to my freshman. I ended up giving an extended test to three guitars:
1) the Taylor 814ce (the 2020 model which incorporates the beveled edge of the previous deluxe version) £3,500 (vs. a list of £4,500)
2) a Martin OMC-28E on special at £2,500 down from £3,500
3) a Lowden F32C, at £3,400

I didn’t gel with the Lowden - the fret board felt quite wide, the action was also quite high, plus the sound did not stand out strongly enough for the price. Build quality was not in doubt, although aesthetically it’s a little less conventional vs the other 2

The other two left me torn:

The Taylor played beautifully (albeit it felt 2 - 3% bigger than the Martin, which means the Martin probably suitated my smaller hands better). It has tremendous mid-range and also worked well as it got louder. The fit and finish are exquisite…the mother of pearl inlay looks lovely, and it just worked. Weirdly the 12th fret harmonic on the E was not as strong as the Martin - maybe its greater girth meant it needs to be worked harder to sound?

The Martin was the surprise for me - the bass and top end felt stronger, it responsed really well to finger picking style. Also felt good in my hands, and as mentioned above its very slight advantage in smaller size suited me very well. It is £1,000 cheaper on the current special offer but did not sound a grand worse.

So my conundrum: do I value mid range and the ability to play louder, vs stronger bass and greater responsiveness when quieter? I feel good that I have been able to pin down the exam quesiton, just not sure I can put in a high scoring answer!

I’m going to sleep on it. I never play out, 95% of the time I play on my own although increasingly accompanying my two daugters when they are singing or playing piano (where the extra volume could be useful).

Both guitars felt right to play and were beautifully put together. I play both finger picking and strumming, with fingers and a plectrum, so that doesn’t make it any clearer.

Given what I have said I would be open to all thoughts to help me make sense of it!

Look forward to your words of wisdom.

Best, Gilesy

PS - anyone thinking of buying a guitar from the folks in Epsom, they were absolutely brilliant today. Top notch service and knowledge.
 
What about plugged in?
I just looked it up on their site, and if that's the one (the 814ce) you tried out, it looks amazing (although even if it isn't, I imagine they're all very similar.) I especially like the inlays and the wood grain of the pick guard.
 
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Try a 000 28 no cutaway or pickup if you can as a reference , This will show you just exactly what a cutaway and pickup cost you in tone.
You would be surprised and it's worth doing particularly on a Martin if you end up there. The Clapton 00028 is great for finger style.
 
thanks both…..only tried acoustically today (so my comments about are about the unamplified sound, including the effects of the pickup and cutaways on both). I don’t plug in hence your comments are very interesting, Andy. I had not searched for guitars specifically without pickups. I’ll take a look, including your recommendaction on the Clapton Martin.
 
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If you are never going to plug in a £300 pickup is just pushing up the price and interfering with the interaction between the bridge saddle and the bridge. Now add the preamp often stuck on the underside of the sound board. I once fitted Fishman's top system to a private stock PRS Angelus only to take it off a half hour later . It literally took £5k off the tone acoustically . Another interesting one is if you can find the same model with and without the cutaway, the cutaway definitely robs tone and how often do we actually need it. Here is Tommy showing how much you need one;
 
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