Hi everyone,

I play picking guitar since 12 years and i would like to buy a new guitar, cause i have started to work finger-style like Andy Mac Kee, Mike Dawes, Preston Reed, Antoine Dufour, etc ... since 1 year.
A dreadnought i no really useful for this kind of playing style, a 000 from Martin or a Grand Auditorium for Taylor seems to me good.

I have try this 2 guitars in my favorite guitar shop :

https://www.martinguitar.com/model/item/75-000-16gt.html
https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/314

There sounds are magic but I have trouble to make a decision.
Cause these guitars are really expensive for me and this kind of purchase is for life, i come here to have some advices from people who have already make this kind of decision in there professional/amateur life.

Is there a lot of differences of Martin & Co and Taylor manufacturer ?

 

As far as popularity goes, Martin is considered a sure value (they invented dreadnought format and more) from 1833, whereas Taylor is from 1974.
After that point, i'm pretty sure resell value will be almost the same. And quality on par.
You really need to test them several times, with several days in between. Because they will sound different for sure

 

I have eared during testing this afternoon a more brighter sound on the Martin (same strings used) but i was more comfortable with the Taylor, but that may be because of the fact that I tried the Martin first. I'm a little shy and there were people in the store, I put a few minutes to be comfortable.

You're right I'm going back tomorrow to try Taylor first.

The dealer a the guitar store is also a luthier and told me Martin is a better manufacturer but hes arguments was not very clear.
The difference in experience may be the solution, 141 years.

 

Hi,
It's almost impossible to answer, I've got both guitars. But you should remember that in the same model, you'll find ten different guitars in ten guitars, so you MUST TRY before buying. I remember trying Taylor's guit in Guitar Center it took me hours to choose it. If you have love at first sight go go go for it. I would say, the taylor is more sharp and the Martin is more soft, they both have a incredible fragrance and sweet skin... if you find a good Martin go for it (remember I'm writing a good one). Good luck and give love to this baby...
F.

 

When I bought my dream guitar I tried a lot of great brands. I settled on a Taylor 814 partly because of how willing they were to custom build for me. As for the difference between guitars, playing with my eyes closed helped most in making my decision.

Also, if you are interested in plugging into a mixer or such, Taylor has astounding electronics.

 

What custom made if I can afford ?

Good advice thanks, i don't have thinking to do that.

I would like to capture hit i make on my guitar, on my Ovation directly connected to my sound card, i don't record finger-style hit. i have to record on second track with a mic (i'm going to buy a better mic than my SM-57 from Shure). A piezzo mic can solve my record problem ?

 

Taylor Guitars are known to Age better, time goes by they sound even better, i personally would go for the Taylor ! Why'll Martin is Great the Taylor has a truly magical sound and is a secret weapon in a lot of studios that you'll here on countless Hits

 

Personally, I prefer Martin. I've played a very old D-45 and a D-41. Very impressed at how they age.

 

Martins sound exceptionally in studio while taylor is made with laser rays, fucking modern
I recorded hundreds of guitars and the only that surpasses my Takamine special are the Martin.
The obvious choice is Martin, but it really depends the sound that matches you musical identify, the sound that you have to persue is the one who touch your heart.
One more advice: when you choose a model go to every store that have the model and play, if they have more than one in stock ask to play all.
I gone to every store that I can until I found my Takamine, was the top model at the time and none of the top takamines I played/recorded sounds that good

 

A piezo fitted will do a great job but you need a mic'ed track also to get some control for mixing and that lack of air to the sound. A decent boundary mic can match the quality of some quite expensive mic's , it's been a revelation to me how fantastic these cheaper mic's can be and my guitar recordings have gone up a level to a more natural sound with minimum setup time involved. You can even fix them to the body as well as walls or a perspex board and all with decent but different results.
Good luck choosing the guitar, try some other makes too if there in shop, you'll at least get to compare why your paying the extra and you sometimes can find a gem one off for it's model range that could surprise you if your very lucky.

 

Look.. I dont mean to be that guy but if a Martin D-28 was good enough for

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. Hank Williams
4. Neil Young
5. Jimmy Page
6. Bob Dylan
7. Joni Mitchell
8. George Jones
9. David Gilmour
10. Jerry Garcia
11. & God knows how many other countless artists

Then that should probably speak for itself...

 

Thanks all for your advices and share your opinion made with your experiences. It's exactly I expected when I come on this forum.

I will share you my decision take with my ears and my feelings.

 

Where are you located? I'd take a look at Furch guitars.

 

France, i don't know this guitar maker. Thank for the discovery. I 'm looking on there web site. Comparatively with Martin and Taylor, they use the same wood for the same category of price. Spruce & Rosewood. And they made Grand Auditorium format like Taylor do , 000 for Martin.

I cannot try this manufacturer, but thanks anyway.

 

Buy none of them...

Since there is no love at first sight, an You are unsure, they are probably not the best ones around.

 

Not wrong too.

You know, i was so exited to have take the decision to buy a guitar that would make me wake up to play, when i was arrived to the store, i was like a teenager at a Justin Bieber concert.

So thing i have to try these guitar more quiet, alone and more longer.
I had a crush on the two mentioned above

 

You will get a very good price if you take a trip to the factory shop Brno

 

I swear by my Taylor!

 

Try the same models in another shop if You can find them.

see if You can try some other brands too ...ie. Alhambra should be easy to find in France, and they have some great sounding guitars.

anyway, take your time...