Guitars, Guitars!

Martin's have changed in the last 2/3 years they used to be over built, too much wood in the guitar, with the competition from Martin style guitar makers like Santa Cruz, Collings etc, they are making there guitar lighter which makes them brighter and more responsive they have improved a great deal in my opinion.
Taylors on the other hand, who do not and never have made Martin style guitars, have gone downhill.
Bob Taylor seems to be preocupied with improving the ease of construction from the makers point of view and not improving the tone.
When Taylors were first introduced into the UK in the early 90's i think, if you went through all your dealers stock you would be hard preseed to find a bad one.
Now it seems to me the opposite is the case shame.
If your Martin is a few years old and you find it a bit dull, i dont think strings will cure it.

Minky

Regarding getting a lighter sound on your Martin J40, try asking your local guitar shop for suggestions.

Try Elixir or D'addario strings which have a lighter balance than Martin strings

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Originally posted by central:
Martin's have changed in the last 2/3 years they used to be over built, too much wood in the guitar, with the competition from Martin style guitar makers like Santa Cruz, Collings etc, they are making there guitar lighter which makes them brighter and more responsive they have improved a great deal in my opinion.
Taylors on the other hand, who do not and never have made Martin style guitars, have gone downhill.
Bob Taylor seems to be preocupied with improving the ease of construction from the makers point of view and not improving the tone.
When Taylors were first introduced into the UK in the early 90's i think, if you went through all your dealers stock you would be hard preseed to find a bad one.
Now it seems to me the opposite is the case shame.

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This mirrors my recent experience in the "high-end" acoustic room of the local guitar dealer. Around 10 Martins and maybe 7 Taylors on the wall, and pretty much only a single gem of each variety - and neither one was a dreadnought (a Martin OO and a Taylor 9-series Jumbo).

The best dreadnought in the house, to my ears, was a Santa Cruz. Lively, balanced, and clear as a bell. My fave guitar of any size that day (soundwise) was an Everett P-Series (medium body). First one I've ever played, and it was gorgeous. I believe one or more Indigo Girls play Everett.

Thanks for your help y'all. My local suggested 0.012 D'angelicos which have given me a LOT more bottom end and much brighter highs. I might try some Elixers next. I think the key to playing the big Martin is to be gentle - let the big body do the work and you get a lovely swell of volume. Try and bully some grunt out of it and things start to go to pieces.

Sat down last night and watched for the first time a DVD I got for Christmas of James Taylor at the Beacon. Now THAT is a sweet sounding guitar. I suppose some wee man in a cave in the Appalachian mountains fashions JT's guitars from Martian redwood ?

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I suppose some wee man in a cave in a Appalachian mountains fashions JT's guitars from Martian redwood ?

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Pretty much...

Olson Guitars

F**k ! $15,000 (US dollars) for the "standard" JT model and for that you only get faux-ebony knobs. I guess it's less than a Nap500 and if it performed up to (v.high) expectations this type of expense could be justified, but you would want to play one first.

If you would like to buy a bit of my nice Naim gear that i have in stock, pop in and collect and you can have a plonk on my 98 Olson Sj, by the way did i mention it might be for sale for the right money, bear in mind that you can not actualy buy a new one as Jim Olson stopped taking orders 2 years ago.
Joking aside Jim builds about one guitar a week,
and in my opinion along with maybe half a dozen other makers mainly in the states.
Is making the best acoustic guitars that have ever been made, in every objective area, volume, power,balance, projection,etc they are outstanding and are far superior to any workshop "Santa Cruz" or factory "Martin" guitar that you can buy.
But you might say "Ah but so they should be they cost so much" and i would agree, but think on this, if you were to purchase the top guitar available from say Taylor, it would be a presentation series.
Brazilian Rosewood, Abalone and all that, it's going to cost you new i think about £10,000, but you are still buying a Factory made guitar built by probably a dozen people,ok it will be built out of the best tonewoods that they have available but as pointed out by Bob Taylor himself the wood is not that important, its by who and how its done.
Now if you were to buy the most expensive guitar that Olson makes, notice expensive not best,
It would cost probably £25,000+ far in excess of the Taylor, but if you bought the cheapest guitar that he makes the only difference between the two is that the expensive guitar is coverd in abalone, which is purely for decoration and it would have Brazilian back and sides, which does or does not make a difference depending on which maker you speak to, or which way the wind is blowing, the top wood the most important wood is the same Master grade on all models, the time and attention to build the same.
Now i think the price would be cheaper than the top Taylor the problem is getting one.
They simply arent available new and in the UK secondhand zilch,most available ones are at dealers in the states, and expect to pay more than the new price, they do come up on ebay sometimes but same story high prices,
If you do get lucky on one or money is no object, you will be rewarded with a guitar that has supernatural tone and is a good investment,and be in very good company a great deal of top players pay there hard earned for one,
If you practice hard and get to Carnigie Hall, Taylor will give you a guitar and probably pay you to play it.
I have no links in any way with Olson guitars just a fan.

PS,Mines not for sale but you can have a go.
All the best,
Tony Central Audio.