Rayk
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Your favorite guitar and why ?
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Charlie Bernstein
Senior Member
Most of all, I just like playing. Any guitar that stays reasonably and arguably in tune will do.
But I like dreads best. I don't find that they have less "clarity" than smaller guitars. They just have more range. You can play small and big. You can whisper and shout. You can fly under the radar or dominate a jam session. A dread gives you more choices and more control.
I've had smaller axes, but I always go back to dreads.
But I like dreads best. I don't find that they have less "clarity" than smaller guitars. They just have more range. You can play small and big. You can whisper and shout. You can fly under the radar or dominate a jam session. A dread gives you more choices and more control.
I've had smaller axes, but I always go back to dreads.
Rayk
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Dreads were the only thing I played for most of my years playing . I didn’t even play small body guitars when I browsed through a stores. I have to admit I didn’t go to guitar stores much at all if I did I just needed strings and payed no attention to anything else .
That all changed in 2009 when I started recording . It wasn’t until after I joined LTG and bought my CV-1 as a project guitar that found my joy of orchestra boby sized guitars .
I know some builders have models that can easily hold ground with dreads but I have tried a shoot off .
My CO-2 which is F30 body size the CV is grand orchestra . I don’t remember the sizes to catogorize the 00 to 000
The CO f30 is louder then my CV which is Sitka /Rosewood vrs the CO Adirondack/ Mahogany .
I’m on board in that I love them all but for some reason a really good orchestra just hits a sweet spot that dreads can’t at least for me .lol
I even have to say the same after and still getting and putting down my new jumbo .
Charlie Bernstein
Senior Member
What's Tx?
Rayk
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Most likely Tx = Txbumper57
JUMBOS rule. Got a new one coming that should be pretty interesting. I may be posting something on it here next week. Oh yeah, I love Dreads as well.
My favorite guitar: the one I don't own yet, LOL.
adorshki
Reverential Member
Anyway my Cv-1 just took a back seat the new F55e and I feel guilty when I look at her all alone by my recording desk. Maybe I just got to get past the new thing ?
Store it in its case and you'll keep getting "honeymoon moments" every time you open it for years...I think it took about 10 years to wear off with my F65ce, and I still get 'em once I awhile.... :emmersed:
Rayk
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I do I have the F55e right next to my chair on the couch within reach all I have to do is lean forward open the case and Bam ! There she is , aaah lovely
And no one sits where she is it’s her special spot there’s plenty of floor to go around . Lol
adorshki
Reverential Member
"Ya can't fall off of the floor"
valleyguy
Member
We have a winner, though it's not a competition........
My Tacoma D50 is the one I always come back to. Though the recently acquired D55 gets a lot of playing time when I want a quiet sound full of harmonics (though it can get loud if I want it to). My Martin I find best when I play with others, the D50 a close second.
So, yes, IT DEPENDS.
Dondoh
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Martin 0-16NY
I've been playing since I was 11-years old. I'm now 57. I've had a couple of longish periods where I didn't play much at all, but mostly I've played casually since age 11. Before the 0-16 arrived in my life I played a student/beginner classical, a '72 Telecaster Thinline, and a Yamaha dread. I loved them all, but they are just guitars.
The 0-16NY was bought for my sister who was 13 years older than I am by her then boyfriend (later husband and later ex). I really loved both my sis and her husband. Along with my parents and my wife, they were my favorite people.
The 0-16NY was a gift of love for my sister when love was in bloom. Unfortunately she hated it (she thought it wasn't big enough and was hard to play) but my brother-in-law took that in stride and bought her a dread Yamaha, which she liked better and played with him for years during their courtship and early marriage. When my sister's interest in playing waned she gave me the Yamaha and I played that until a roommate snapped its neck. (I still have it. I always thought I'd make a clock out of it...)
All this time the 0-16ny sat in her basement closet. It was flooded and left in its chipboard case, beaten on by a toddler with drumsticks, and lived without strings or a saddle on it for 30 years - sad and forlorn. At one point it was moved to an unheated barn in upstate NY and lived 8 or 9 winters and summers there piled among the acquired possessions of several family members lives.
When my sister died, I was her executor. And in the will she specified that this guitar should go to me. I'm not sure why, she didn't really like it. In fact she apologized to me in another document, wishing she could give me something better, but she knew I loved guitars so it was what she picked for me out of all her possessions. Even though she didn't think it would be this way, I can assure you that she couldn't have picked anything I would love more.
I took it home and put it in a storage facility for a several years. I figured someday I'd get a saddle, string it up and see if it worked.
My lovely wife had heard me mention that I might take it to a local guitar guy to see if it was worth fixing. So she called an old friend of mine to ask his advice. He worked on it and used parts left to him by another old friend who passed too early and who had a great guitar shop here. And that is how one birthday I received the 0-16 in playing order. When I went to pick it up the friend who fixed it and set it up said he was blown away how great a guitar it was. A travelling musician who was in his shop when he was working on it begged him to persuade me to sell it. He said there was no way I would because of all the sentimental and personal value it held for me.
He was right.
I took it home and was amazed at its playability and sound.
Here are the things I LOVE about it.
1) The Wide neck 1 7/8! Up until I had this guitar I'd never had any wide nuts, in fact I wouldn't have considered them. It took a few weeks of getting used to it, but once I did, I LOVE the wide neck.
2) Short scale Easy to play and stretch.
3) Braced lighter than any other Martin since the 1930s.
4) Silk and steel strings. Due to the light bracing Martin recommended low tension strings. They are a revelation on the 0-16. THe top is easily drive-able despite a short scale and low tension strings.
5) It is a beautiful object. It's shape is perfect. It is unadorned but attractive. It is like a beautiful woman without makeup or pretense.
6) If it wasn't the cheapest Martin made in 1965, it was close. Yet all the materials are outstanding. It withstood all the weather abuse, flood abuse, toddler drumming abuse without a crack or structural damage.
7) It is light as a feather yet tough as nails. I dig in, it answers.
8) It is responsive as hell. From the lightest touch to strongest pluck it responds.
9) There are so many voices to coax from it depending on your technique or aggression.
10) Most importantly, it is teaching me to play. I've played for almost 50 years, but this guitar has ways it wants to be played. It rewards you for doing what it wants and doesn't reward for what it doesn't like. You can use a pick, but it doesn't want to. Really. I used a pick all my life and it converted me to bare fingers. I didn't do lessons. Or look things up until recently. It changed me organically by its nature. It's amazing how an inanimate physical object teaches me. It is a weird feeling but wonderful. And it continues to instruct me every time I play. I know it has a lot more secrets to reveal.
11) I has so much sentimental value. I know I will have it until I die, or it does, or it is stolen. But who would steal it? It is a weird little thing whose charms are so subtle that only a connoisseur would quickly spy them. Anyone else would think it is a cheap, dilapidated, worthless thing. In fact, I thought it was a crummy guitar for years..... Every time I pick it up it reminds me of my sweet sister and also my old friend who owned the best guitar shop ever in my town.
12) It was the first "re-issue" guitar ever made.
If the house was on fire and everything that breathes was safely outside, the first thing I'd grab is my 0-16NY.
I love playing now more than I ever did. I play all the time when I'm home. I'm still a terrible player, but I am worlds better because of this guitar and I get better every day. But most importantly, playing the 0-16NY brings me great joy in a world where pleasure and joy are ever more fleeting.
I've been playing since I was 11-years old. I'm now 57. I've had a couple of longish periods where I didn't play much at all, but mostly I've played casually since age 11. Before the 0-16 arrived in my life I played a student/beginner classical, a '72 Telecaster Thinline, and a Yamaha dread. I loved them all, but they are just guitars.
The 0-16NY was bought for my sister who was 13 years older than I am by her then boyfriend (later husband and later ex). I really loved both my sis and her husband. Along with my parents and my wife, they were my favorite people.
The 0-16NY was a gift of love for my sister when love was in bloom. Unfortunately she hated it (she thought it wasn't big enough and was hard to play) but my brother-in-law took that in stride and bought her a dread Yamaha, which she liked better and played with him for years during their courtship and early marriage. When my sister's interest in playing waned she gave me the Yamaha and I played that until a roommate snapped its neck. (I still have it. I always thought I'd make a clock out of it...)
All this time the 0-16ny sat in her basement closet. It was flooded and left in its chipboard case, beaten on by a toddler with drumsticks, and lived without strings or a saddle on it for 30 years - sad and forlorn. At one point it was moved to an unheated barn in upstate NY and lived 8 or 9 winters and summers there piled among the acquired possessions of several family members lives.
When my sister died, I was her executor. And in the will she specified that this guitar should go to me. I'm not sure why, she didn't really like it. In fact she apologized to me in another document, wishing she could give me something better, but she knew I loved guitars so it was what she picked for me out of all her possessions. Even though she didn't think it would be this way, I can assure you that she couldn't have picked anything I would love more.
I took it home and put it in a storage facility for a several years. I figured someday I'd get a saddle, string it up and see if it worked.
My lovely wife had heard me mention that I might take it to a local guitar guy to see if it was worth fixing. So she called an old friend of mine to ask his advice. He worked on it and used parts left to him by another old friend who passed too early and who had a great guitar shop here. And that is how one birthday I received the 0-16 in playing order. When I went to pick it up the friend who fixed it and set it up said he was blown away how great a guitar it was. A travelling musician who was in his shop when he was working on it begged him to persuade me to sell it. He said there was no way I would because of all the sentimental and personal value it held for me.
He was right.
I took it home and was amazed at its playability and sound.
Here are the things I LOVE about it.
1) The Wide neck 1 7/8! Up until I had this guitar I'd never had any wide nuts, in fact I wouldn't have considered them. It took a few weeks of getting used to it, but once I did, I LOVE the wide neck.
2) Short scale Easy to play and stretch.
3) Braced lighter than any other Martin since the 1930s.
4) Silk and steel strings. Due to the light bracing Martin recommended low tension strings. They are a revelation on the 0-16. THe top is easily drive-able despite a short scale and low tension strings.
5) It is a beautiful object. It's shape is perfect. It is unadorned but attractive. It is like a beautiful woman without makeup or pretense.
6) If it wasn't the cheapest Martin made in 1965, it was close. Yet all the materials are outstanding. It withstood all the weather abuse, flood abuse, toddler drumming abuse without a crack or structural damage.
7) It is light as a feather yet tough as nails. I dig in, it answers.
8) It is responsive as hell. From the lightest touch to strongest pluck it responds.
9) There are so many voices to coax from it depending on your technique or aggression.
10) Most importantly, it is teaching me to play. I've played for almost 50 years, but this guitar has ways it wants to be played. It rewards you for doing what it wants and doesn't reward for what it doesn't like. You can use a pick, but it doesn't want to. Really. I used a pick all my life and it converted me to bare fingers. I didn't do lessons. Or look things up until recently. It changed me organically by its nature. It's amazing how an inanimate physical object teaches me. It is a weird feeling but wonderful. And it continues to instruct me every time I play. I know it has a lot more secrets to reveal.
11) I has so much sentimental value. I know I will have it until I die, or it does, or it is stolen. But who would steal it? It is a weird little thing whose charms are so subtle that only a connoisseur would quickly spy them. Anyone else would think it is a cheap, dilapidated, worthless thing. In fact, I thought it was a crummy guitar for years..... Every time I pick it up it reminds me of my sweet sister and also my old friend who owned the best guitar shop ever in my town.
12) It was the first "re-issue" guitar ever made.
If the house was on fire and everything that breathes was safely outside, the first thing I'd grab is my 0-16NY.
I love playing now more than I ever did. I play all the time when I'm home. I'm still a terrible player, but I am worlds better because of this guitar and I get better every day. But most importantly, playing the 0-16NY brings me great joy in a world where pleasure and joy are ever more fleeting.
Last edited:
geoguy
Senior Member
Dondoh, that is a wonderful story that you posted.
Thanks for sharing that tale here. :applouse:
Thanks for sharing that tale here. :applouse:
adorshki
Reverential Member
Yeah it had everything!
In fact I didn't say anything last night because I wanted to be sure folks saw a new post here and not just pass by, thinking it was still my last one with nothing new yet.
Dondoh:
You have given a very good definition of LOVE and I loved your story.
You have given a very good definition of LOVE and I loved your story.
valleyguy
Member
Dondoh, thanks for that story.
Bonneville88
Senior Member
Great post Dondoh - like a couple of my Guilds, that story is a keeper!
Dondoh
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Wow. Thanks for all the extremely kind comments. I was afraid I'd get "Couldn't work through the wall of text" snark....
It is great to have a place where I can talk about my love for this guitar and find receptive, sympathetic ears. I could talk about the guitar all day and I don't know anyone who wants to hear about it.
Every once in a while I look at my wife and tell her how much I love the guitar and how much I appreciate that she took the leap to have it repaired and how it has changed my life. She likes that, but she'd rather hear the same thing about herself. I try to work that in more often.
It's nice to find a place where there are people who understand my feelings for a pile of wood and wire, people who feel similarly about different boxes of wood with strings attached.
The reason I am here on this forum is because my first(and really only paid) guitar teacher had a Guild back in '72 and I've wanted one ever since. I've learned so much here from all of you.
I have a JF55-12 coming in to my semi-local Guitar Center on Tuesday or Wednesday.
I picked the guild jumbo 12s precisely because they are the complete opposite of the 0-16NY.
They are huge, heavy, lush, long-scaled and beautiful.
The one I have on the waymay be in horrible shape as GCs seem to vary in the accuracy of their descriptions of used instruments, but I have the 45 day return thing working for me. I hope it is swell. If not there are others out there.
I suspect the Jumbo 12 will have a lot to teach me too, just different lessons.
I'll post some pics of the Jumbo if it makes it past the initial inspection at the GC and I'd appreciate any comments that can help me with it.
I'll take a few of the 0-16NY too at that time and then figure out how to post them here.
Again, thanks for all the kind words and for creating a place I can come and share my enthusiasm - and to read and share yours.
It is great to have a place where I can talk about my love for this guitar and find receptive, sympathetic ears. I could talk about the guitar all day and I don't know anyone who wants to hear about it.
Every once in a while I look at my wife and tell her how much I love the guitar and how much I appreciate that she took the leap to have it repaired and how it has changed my life. She likes that, but she'd rather hear the same thing about herself. I try to work that in more often.
It's nice to find a place where there are people who understand my feelings for a pile of wood and wire, people who feel similarly about different boxes of wood with strings attached.
The reason I am here on this forum is because my first(and really only paid) guitar teacher had a Guild back in '72 and I've wanted one ever since. I've learned so much here from all of you.
I have a JF55-12 coming in to my semi-local Guitar Center on Tuesday or Wednesday.
I picked the guild jumbo 12s precisely because they are the complete opposite of the 0-16NY.
They are huge, heavy, lush, long-scaled and beautiful.
The one I have on the waymay be in horrible shape as GCs seem to vary in the accuracy of their descriptions of used instruments, but I have the 45 day return thing working for me. I hope it is swell. If not there are others out there.
I suspect the Jumbo 12 will have a lot to teach me too, just different lessons.
I'll post some pics of the Jumbo if it makes it past the initial inspection at the GC and I'd appreciate any comments that can help me with it.
I'll take a few of the 0-16NY too at that time and then figure out how to post them here.
Again, thanks for all the kind words and for creating a place I can come and share my enthusiasm - and to read and share yours.
Last edited:
rwmct
Member
For me it is my F-30 std. that I got from Killdeer, who got it from Neal. It was built about ten miles from my house, went all the way to the West Coast, and now is right back here. I love it.
The only other two I have is an Washburn D-10 I bought in the mid '90s and a MIM tele I bought at the same time. I do love that Tele, but not as much as the F-30.
I don't know if I will ever buy another guitar.
The only other two I have is an Washburn D-10 I bought in the mid '90s and a MIM tele I bought at the same time. I do love that Tele, but not as much as the F-30.
I don't know if I will ever buy another guitar.