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What is a good practice acoustic guitar for semi serious players


racoustic

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If you are semi-professional (semi-serious) or professional in music, please speak :) Interested to hear what folks have to say about having multuiple guitars. I have a beautiful Taylor 7 series that I love to death. I also have an Epi but lately I just can't let myself play the Epi :( even when I am practicing / noodling. I miss the sustain, resonance and the sharp tones of my Taylor. But it probably isn't the best thing to practice with the expensive Taylor (that I want to keep forever, given its 20 year old guitar) especially with risks of dings, spills etc.

 

Does anyone recommend any good practice guitars? Maybe Guilds? What do you guys do? Thanks amigos

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I have to say I use the same guitar for performance and practice. Two reasons:

  1. If my guitar is going to get dings, spills and scratches it's most likely going to get them at gigs rather than at practice
  2. When I practice I want to have the same feel as when I'm performing - otherwise some of the benefit of practicing (albeit small) is lost

Maybe others feel differently - I don't know.

Merry Christmas

Keith

 

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Practice with what you like.

Unless you have seriously different guitars (like Nylon Classical and 12-String Western), you will benefit either way. I have a few guitars and I like to pick my favourite of the day to practice. There are guitars that I don't touch in a year and then - after picking them up once again, I can't put them down again.

As long as it makes you practice, it's good!

And your guitar is a tool, not a heirloom. You will not be able to avoid dings and accidents, so get used to them early. Look at Willie Nelson's Trigger, for instance. Or Merle Haggard's Takamine.Those are working guitars, not case queens.

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I have a couple of inexpensive, but well built Alvarez dreads, and my "premium" guitar is my most recent acquisition, a newer Ovation.

I play em all, but currently. The Ovation is the guitar that I can play for an hour of praise and worship, then get home and want to play more. Play the absolute fool out of whichever one just calls you back to it, even when your fingers feel like they are soon to be spurting blood.

In the grand scheme of things, a 20 year old guitar is dang near new.

And if that 7series Taylor is what calls to you...answer in the affirmative.

And if you can't bring yourself to play that Epiphone, find it a loving home where it will get played.

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Im sure this has been said a bunch of times before -

 

save your money and play the guitar you always play -it will make you more familiar with it ,

you will learn its nuances , strengths and weakness by spending alot of time with it .

Some pros may own alot of guitars , but they dont play low end stuff when they practice .

they play the same guitar or model that they play out with -- if not the same guitar !

You really cant wear them out -refrets are common , replacing saddles and nuts really isnt a big thing .

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I'm constantly on the lookout for better examples of what I use and if I find a great deal on one I'll grab that and sell the other. My stable needs to include: classical, classical ae, dred, jumbo ae cutaway, ukulele ae, electric single coil, electric humbucker.

 

If both of those guitars are similar, sell the one you don't play and get another Taylor, maybe an all mahogany that gives you a wider pallet, plus all of the other Taylor benefits that you mention.

 

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Frankly I would think that as a performing musician you would want to practice on what you are going to play in performance - neck width, general feel, tone, etc.   Your practice environment is probably much safer for your guitar - a studio or living room or music room.   In fact, some performing musicians will us a lesser guitar for the actual gig and save their valuable vintage guitar for recording or the studio where the sound really does matter.

That said, all Taylors have pretty much the same feel (and some would say similar sound).  If you pick up a 3xx or 4xx you can keep the 7 for the nice gigs.  I used to have a 314 that I traveled with - not that it was an inexpensive guitar but it was generic enough that if damaged I could easily replace it (as compared to a vintage Martin and my home made guitars).

I'll also echo the opinion that if you are going to own several guitars they should compliment each other - I currently have a dozen or so and each one is different (and each gets played in its own fashion).

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If you like Taylor and have a 7 series, you're probably willing to tolerate a slightly higher pricepoint in a practice/beater guitar. So, why not stick with the brand?

I'm partial to the "Tecate Taylors", the 100 and 200 series. I have a 114ce as my primary guitar; don't have the scratch or the motivation to invest in an 8-series, so this 114 is my baby. The 100 series have sapele laminate sides and back with black binding, while the 200 series have rosewood laminate backs and sides with white binding. The 100 series starts at around $650 without electronics, and add a bill for the ES-T system which is pretty good for a piezo. The 200 series start at around $800 and run up to $1000 for electronics and Venetian cutaway. At these pricepoints, Martin's still giving you Formica body construction and plywood necks with phenolic fretboards. Just sayin'.

If you're looking to go cheaper than that, like Epiphone cheap, the Breedlove Passport series are currently in the $300-400 range. This is Breedlove's MIK entry level, rosewood laminate body and no electronics, but these are solid players and have a good sound, great for serious students, casual players and as upper-end beaters (I tend to think of true "beaters" as guitars I can take literally anywhere without worrying what might happen; these are still worthy of a little care, but I would definitely take one of these to the beach or the campfire over my Taylor)

 

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