Anyone have any experience with the Seagull Artist Series?
I like the sound of Rosewood Back and Sides so the Studio and Studio CW are of interest. I'd love to hear one. I was very impressed with the sound of the M6 years ago.
I also love the sound and playability of the Epiphone Masterbilt AR500RE however I've just come across some amazing fingerstyle guitarists that have really inspired to delve into fingerstyle. The AR500RE has a 1.68" nutwidth. I really want rosewood and acoustic/electric so of the Epiphones its either the AR500RE or the EF500 RCCE the latter of which I don't like the looks of which may sound odd but hey I'm a graphic artist so I can't help but notice these things.
If one were to pursue fingerstyle (aka: Andy McKee and Craig D'Andrea) would a nut width of 1.68 be too small?
And as for my desire of an acoustic/electric, the main reason for now is I would like to plug in to Garageband and have some fun but in the future possibly play in the praise band at church.
My price range is up to $1200 but I'd be willing to pay a little more if I found The One. I love the Stonebridge guitars at Candyrat.com but they are a little more than I want to spend at this time.
Psa. 42:8
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
The obvious answer is that you need to get out and play as many brands and models as you can, especially if you're going to be dropping that kind of cash. The neck size can be a personal thing - if you have smaller hands, then a narrower string spacing may not be a big deal; conversely if you have large hands then it might be.
I love the neck on my Seagull for fingerstyle. I have the basic folk model, but I did play an Artist version of the same guitar. Very nice!
For the acoustic that I play at church (when I'm not playing bass), I got a Breedlove. For my hands, the neck and 1-11/16" nut width are comfortable for both fingerstyle and strumming chords.
I'd say the Seagull Artist models are comparable to the mid-range Breeds.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
I'm not very familiar with the Breedlove line. I tried to play one at the local guitar center but the strings were ancient and black. What model do you have?
Psa. 42:8
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
I went with the AC25/SM (from their "low end" Korean-made Atlas line). It looks just like the one on this page:
http://www.breedloveguitars.com/instruments/guitars/atlas/index.html
I preferred the mahogany-backed model over the rosewood, as it seemed to have more of the woody midrangey tone I was after from the smaller "concert" body. The rosewood model seemed a bit mellow to me, but maybe it just needed new strings. (Speaking of which, I put Elixir Nanowebs on mine and I like them much more than the D'addario EXPs the guitar came with.) The concert sized body does not have as much volume as the dreadnought style, as you might expect.
The guitar holds its own against the Taylor 414 that another guy in our band plays. No, I'm not saying it's as good as the Taylor which costs 3x the price, just that in our particular church setting the differences are marginal.
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it.
Psa. 42:8
By day the LORD commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
