Some of you have been following my little saga for a few years. I started using an Acoustic about a yearr after an electric. This was in '04. Taking some breaks from playing and things like that, I wound up jumping in with both feet in late summer of 2007 and really have not looked back. More and more guitars were purchased.
I bought a MIM Strat that I didn't get along with at all. Gone, with a nice PRS SE in it's place. This all happened all of a sudden like right at the beginnng of December, '09.
The only thing left was my accoustic. The short story is, is that heading into last year, I had this $750 overpriced piece of junk sitting here in it's case hopeing to one day be played. We had a couple threads going around about how to make it sound less thin or tin-can like and more like a warm acoustic guitar. I've been working on those things a little bit at a time. One thing it didn't have though, is electrics. Well, aside from a sound hole pickup that's OK at best. So I went on the hunt for a cheapo acoustic with electrics.
About a month ago, I purchased am all solid wood Parkwood. Real piece of poo that particular one turned out to be. The electrics were faulty and the one scratch was indeed a long crack! I returned it to get repaired. Three weeks later I called back. They had not even sent the guitar out yet. I wasn't steaming mad or anything, but surelt frustrated. I think I actually wanted closure on this thing sooner than later. The dude checked with his manager and they decided to offer me my money spent as store credit towards anything else. They also had a 15% off sale and they would help me out a little bit more beyond that, blah blah blah.
I thought about it, and decided that if I could get the Taylor playable and sounding good, that I would use the store credit and get some good electronics for it and the normal lot of strings, songbooks, etc. I did get this playing fairly decently last night. Shaving the underside of a saddle is a long process. Shave a little, tighyen strings, measure, shave a little. Repeat as often as needed. Playability it had become quite good. Sound.....nah, not quite so good. This thing still sounded horrible. New strings, more of the same. (We also went through a string trying episode with this last Spring on another thread) I finally decided that if I kept the Taylor, it would end up sitting in the case and played once a month for a few minutes. It was time to go.
Loaded up the Taylor, got my store credit in hand, my coupon and the dude's name who I was supposed to talk to. WE got there at opening time and set up camp in the one little accoustic room off the main accoustic room and went through some huge number of guitars. Most being in the $700-$1200 range. The final lot was exclusively Martin or Breedlove. We whittled down some more and wound up with a Breedlove Atlas Stage J350/EF Jumbo Cutaway. This is the one. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/-Atlas-Series-Stage-J350EF-Jumbo-AcousticElectric-Guitar?sku=500478 Gone are the Taylor 214 and the briefly owned Parkwood.
This ended up not being one of my better deals. You rarely get out of buyer's remorse cheaply. I felt I should have been taken care of a little better, but can't really complain too much. I did get some considerations, just minor in nature. In the end I'm happy with this and frankfully, quite glad to be rid of that Taylor entry level thing and really glad to not have to deal with that really stupid Parkwood purchase. Well, it was a good purchase at the time at least. :)
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Very nice, Roy! I know exactly what you mean about feeling that you should have been treated better. I have gone into GC more than once and come out thinking "What the heck just happened in there?" I hope that your latest purchase works out better than the last.
Jim
Hey Roy, we seem to have similar tastes. In addition to the Super Champ, I also have a Breedlove Atlas. MIne is a smaller bodied model, which appears to have been discontinued. (picture
One problem I had with mine was the plastic saddle chipped, just from the string pressure. Maybe there was a flaw in it. Anyway, I had a bone saddle made and it seemed to be a nice improvement.
Also, I find it likes slightly heavier strings (13s).
Enjoy!
"Everybody got to elevate from the norm."
Very nice, Roy! I know exactly what you mean about feeling that you should have been treated better. I have gone into GC more than once and come out thinking "What the heck just happened in there?" I hope that your latest purchase works out better than the last.
Jim
I think that their "we'll take care of you" and "cut you a good deal because of your problems" is well intentioned. Letting me use my coupon, store credit from the Parkwood fiasco and the trade in seemed to be there way of getting me a deal. Joe-sh*t the rag man could have walked off the street and out together the same deal. Seems new management is tighter than old management.
Hey Roy, we seem to have similar tastes. In addition to the Super Champ, I also have a Breedlove Atlas. MIne is a smaller bodied model, which appears to have been discontinued I bet that I played a similar guitar today. My wife was nice enough to cone in with me and giver her perspective. That's how we ended up where we were. We tried out 3 Martins and a 1/2 dozen breedloves. One Ibanez. I didn't feel the vibe. I did forget to try Takamine
So all in all, this jumbo leaves a nice impression with me.The tin-can noise was gone. That was my first prioity. It played very well, despie the bigger body. I think I've got the feedback system all fixd up with the PA. The strings are d'add's phospor 12's.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
So it looks like you're getting this sorted out in the long run. Looks like a nice guitar. Good job Roy. I need to play acoustic more .... maybe some day. :?
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Wow, that's some serious guitarage you wound up with.
I hope things settle down in a positive way for you.
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
WOW!!!! Breedlove guitars are some seriously good guitars my friend. I choose those over Taylor or Martin anyday.
Congrats on your purchase and good luck with it!!
In Space, no one can hear me sing!
Thanks again, everyone!
I just changed the subject to "saga over" instead of "saga continues".
I am so digging this. Such tone. Very nice. It's clearer, just as loud (this is a big honker jumbo thing) and lots warmer. Oh, and doing a little acoustic lead....man, this thing shines!
Easier to play than my first one. The Parkwood still takes the prize in that catagory. Still, very nice. Perfectly set up measurement-spec-wise.
I've changed the strings, but not guage. The b string had a bad spot and you could hear it when playing it alone.
I've created a patch on my Boss GT-10 to play through. Very nice. No pre-amp. Just an "Acoustic Guitar Processor". Got the EQ to a nice point...I think. Boy, do I ever hate messing with that. I'd be a horrible sound man. Worse than I am a guitar player. Anyhow, I'll leave it alone today and try again tomorrow after another string work out. I'll probably put a little dab of color in it (reverb? Delay? Chorus?) and call it quits.
It also works on two of my three applications without feedback, after adjusting for the first time playing it plugged in. Hopefully the third will be good too. Have not tried it on the SCXD yet.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
That's a good report - all success I would expect with such a beauty, and no buyer's remorse. Yours to enjoy!
So congratulations, and job well done. I live near the Breedlove Dealer too, and have tried them all - dad gum they're fine instruments. They want to sell me one real bad, and the in fact, the one you chose seems to be the best bang for the buck, and so pretty, it's got those stage highlights (abalone) built in. Ohhh, but they're $1799 or say $1800 here. But again, with all those looks, it's not a stay-at-home dreg. :shock:
The Breedlove Bus and promotion will be coming through here again sometime, I might have another look at more options, but it's price that I'm gunnin' for, and Taylor is willing to move to meet me, or suit me more than nicely. But I have my own little saga going on, and am holding off, I might even buy something else ("used" Gretsch 3900), before I buy my next (and last?) permanent A/E guitar soon? I have never been this patient before. :roll:
That's okay, you bought a few and had some issues or things before the right one came to you. Cheers! :D
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
I had to Google the 3900. Saw that and another Gretsch similar - 2 p-90s - looking. Gretsch makes some fine entries. I'm more tahn pleased with my "cheapo" Electromatic.
One of our mods here, Nick, posted his Breedlove during a thread last year or so when I first started tackling my Taylor issue. It was a thing of beauty. 3X mine, and undoubtedly driven by a lot more skill too. :)
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
