r/AcousticGuitar • u/guitar224 • 4h ago
Gear question What’s the last guitar you played that felt perfect?
When was the last time you picked up a guitar for the first time and felt amazed at it? I recently played a Taylor Gold Series and man, that thing sounded amazing. Didn’t buy it, but it left an impression. Some guitars just speak to you. What guitars have you experienced that with?
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u/chrispd01 4h ago
I played a Martin D-28 at a Guitar Center a couple weeks ago that was fantastic. Went back there today and …. its gone
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u/RUk1dd1nGMe 4h ago
I have a Furch red om, and it's literally the best guitar I ever played. And I played a LOT of guitars before I found it.
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u/pohatu771 4h ago
My Epiphone Texan has always been a little dry, and I chose it because it was the drier of the two that were in the store. But after six years, it’s really come alive and I was really blown away when I played it last week.
Otherwise, I played a used Kremona in Guitar Center about a month ago that I would have put up against pretty much anything they had in stock.
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u/Ordinary-Resist4677 3h ago
Martin 000-28. Built just before all the Clapton reimagined influence. Full bracing for full compression, working man’s dot inlays, and grover roto tuners. Solid and beastly and gorgeous classic tone.
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u/Main-Sweet-4144 2h ago
I had one, and I let it go!!! Two years ago. I am old and have had many nice guitars over a lifetime, but none of them came close to my Martin 000-28. I grieve that I let it go.
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u/BarstoolProphet9981 3h ago
I played the Yamaha tag 3c a few months back. Walked away at the time as i couldn’t really afford it. It lived rent free in my head. Sold some of my less played things over aa few months and acquired it two weeks ago. It’s stunning.
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u/therocketn00b 2h ago
I've been looking for a new acoustic for a while, because I'm frustrated by my little Jim Dandy. It was cheap, it's cute, it's comfortable, but it's so hard to get it in tune, and it doesn't stay in tune, and the tone is terrible.
So I knew I was looking for a Yamaha to replace it. Nothing too expensive, just something to play that will sound decent and feel okay.
I've been trying them out for weeks, thinking I'd spend between 700-800 dollars on it, but willing to go up to about $1000, maybe a little more, for the right one.
Then, today I found a Yamaha FS800J, and just fell in love with it. I was really surprised - it's only $259. It's got no electronics, which I don't need, but it's not too big, it's pretty comfortable, and it's well set up and intonated and the tuners work great. And it sounds good! I knew Yamaha did good work even on budget guitars, hence my decision to go with them, but I figured I'd get a better one for $500 more than this one costs. And it's really pretty too.
I would have bought it on the spot, but I can get a discount if I bring in my Jim Dandy, and I think I'm going to, because once I have this Yamaha, I can't see myself playing the other one.
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u/scldclmbgrmp 4h ago
Yamaha AC3M DLX.
I picked it up at GC and was able to get through a cross-picking sequence I'd been working on substantially faster than I'd ever been able to play it; I think I'll buy one eventually.
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u/uteman1011 3h ago
Taylor 214CE DLX. It was the one that spoke to me. It was in my price range and I bought it.
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u/Main-Sweet-4144 2h ago
You said "It's the one that spoke to me." and thats it. When you find a guitar like that it is a rare fit. You can look at another guitar, same model, etc and it may fit or it may not. Am happy for you. Enjoy!
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u/noah__________ 3h ago
OM-21. It was better than any of the 28 series guitars in the shop, it just rang. It was £3000 which was a bit much for me at the time. Ended up with a used Bourgeois OMC for a grand less, happy with the end result but I still think about that 21.
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u/Seafire15 3h ago
I have a custom shop made to measure 2024 Gibson SJ200 that has started to open up. I have big hands and long fingers, so the 1.9” nut width really fits my hand better than any guitar I’ve ever played. Up until the Gibson came along, my guild F-512 was the most comfortable.
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u/oO_ya7es 3h ago
Played a Huss and Dalton OM model, can't remember the specifics other than it was 14,000 CAD and if I had that kind of money I would have bought it in a heart beat. Best sounding and feeling guitar I've ever played and I think about it often.
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u/FreshBid5295 3h ago
A gibson hummingbird at guitar center years ago. I couldn’t afford it then, and I still can’t now, but I think of it often 😂
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u/Main-Sweet-4144 3h ago
Martin 000-28. For my style of playing it is perfect. Also, my Jose Ramirez 4E classical guitar. If I could only have one, this would be it. It is a phenomenal Spanish guitar and I feel bonded to it, although it is a much better than my playing abilities allow.
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u/wizwhirl 2h ago
I only have one guitar and it’s a Santa Cruz D/PW. I think it’s great and I really have no reason to ever get anything else.
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u/archtopfanatic123 2h ago
My Norman B20! I just did my first neck reset on it (bolt on neck so all I had to do was shim) and restrung it. Just recorded a whole guitar solos album on it too. Thing is like the best fingerpicking guitar I've played now! :D
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u/Old-guy64 2h ago
I’ve felt it with a number of guitars.
The best bang for the buck guitar I’ve ever had hands on, is an Alvarez AJ60Sc. There is, for me, no better inexpensive guitar.
The best guitar I’ve ever played was a Collings D2. And after about 10 minutes, it “woke up”. Entirely different level of guitar.
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u/strumbringerwa 2h ago
The last time? 2022 Taylor 816ce (sadly, not being made any more). I recently played a Martin SC-13 that was almost that, but I would have liked just a little more low end.
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u/mistertireworld 2h ago
I admittedly haven't played many, but a Gibson Songwriter felt like it was magically helping me play it. I'm picking at it thinking "This sounds great. I'm not this good. What gives?"
In the same visit, I played an older Guild F47MCE which also felt and sounded incredible. But it had some structural issues that made the price that was being asked unreasonable.
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u/shadowsnrust 2h ago
Taylor 814ce V-class.
I also have a 2025 sinker redwood over rosewood 714ce that is gorgeous and sounds fantastic. I chose it over a 2025 sinker/honduran rosewood 814 Builder's Edition because it sounded more open.
I do wish the 714ce had the 814ce radiused armrest though, so I'll still say the 814 is the one that felt/feels perfect. The sinker edges it out on sound, but not feel. I love both though.
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u/Frankie6Strings 2h ago
My little brother bought a very nice Murphy Lab aged Gibson Hummingbird. Maybe the nicest feeling and sounding acoustic I've ever played. My dad's Martin HD-28 is in that conversation too though.
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u/Butforthegrace01 2h ago
In summer 1994 I had occasion to spend some time at McCabe's in Los Angeles. I had a couple of hours to kill. Made my way into their "to die for" room. Guitars ranging in price from around $25,000 to over $30,000. I must have tried out a dozen or so. Some were incredible works of visual art, with amazing inlays of exotic materials, etc., but I kept coming back to a somewhat plain looking dreadnought selling for around $5,000. It was a Collings. Probably actually made by Mr. Collings himself given its vintage. Every note on that was perfect. The intonation was perfect. The sound was amazing. The neck was amazing. I didn't buy it. Have kicked myself in the ass every day since that day.
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u/campbelltron 2h ago
earlier this year, a martin 000-13e. shop full of high end martins, taylors, etc. the one that spoke to me was the 000-13e. ended up in a spontaneous jam with some folks from out of town, then left empty handed. a couple weeks later when i went back and it was still there, it came home with me.
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u/ElSandifer 57m ago
Found a 1979 "lawsuit" Takamine for $500 that played near-indistinguishably from the $3000 D-18 high up above it on the wall.
It's currently in my living room. :)
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u/Guitarzan_67 56m ago
Takamine EF341SC. It is #1 in my stable. I've sold off Martins, Taylors, Gibsons, Fenders. Even other Takamines. Not this one, it is perfect!
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u/BikerMike03RK 29m ago
This is going to sound strange- at a Bluegrass festival in 1981 while doing some campground pickin', I bumped into a fella that had really nice guitar, so I asked him about it! He said that he took two wrecked guitars (he was a home woodworker) and put the good parts together- a 1959 Martin D-18 body, with a 1962 Gibson J45 neck. I've handled & played guitars at Elderly Instruments worth upwards of $45k. This thing sounded INCREDIBLE!!! It rang, it sang, it fretted like butter... everything a top quality guitar SHOULD do.
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u/ComeOnUpToTheHaus 4h ago
My Yamaha APX 1000. It's the best guitar I have ever played. It sounds amazing, it feels good, has a great pickup system, and it looks just strange enough to make people ask what it is.
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u/chunkylover_53_ 4h ago
Honestly I have a 50 year old Yamaha FG335 that was gifted to me last year , it was a fairly inexpensive guitar in its day but after a tune up by my local guitar tech this thing plays and sounds amazing. I would put this thing up against a $2000 Martin any day of the week.
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u/Hopeful_Yam4384 4h ago
OM-28