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if you are a musician, especially a guitarist, then referring to 'your mental health' is disingenuous...you are already certifiably nuts!

Coconut Rosette Gmelina Soundboard video-1579006195.mp4 video-1579007939.mp4 video-1579674017.mp4 video-1579761025.mp4 video-1579761195.mp4 video-1579685993.mp4

You will evolve a practical (relative) sense of value, or you won't, depending upon how romantically involved you are with the whole of the acoustic guitar as an object and as an instrument for making music with. I suspect many are taken in by it as an object with an intrinsic value that eclipses any (mere) monetary valuation. In this sense money is an irrelevant method of valuation. If you do not have that sense of the guitar, and value it strictly upon it's benefit to making music, your evolved ears and hands will determine the value of a guitar, distinct from all others, and they cannot be influenced or persuaded by the builder's asking price. I see countless private builder's used guitars on the market and this tells me a couple things. People with means bought them and then decided to divest them. Why? Should I suggest that money alone did not provide them with the magical sound they were searching for. Or, should I suggest that money alone did not make them good players? Or, name your reason, they were bought and by some measure presented a less than satisfying experience to their buyers. Now, I've perused all of the private builder sites and have seen their products. They are beautiful examples of finely crafted woods brought together in the most aesthetically pleasing variety of ways. But, I'm guessing many of those guitar's appeal stops right there. I've played many, many of them in my short excursions around one day's reach and have not found any I would invest $1000.00 in, much less they're asking price. I did buy a guitar that wholly consumed me in 2007. I chose it over many other high-end boutique builder's guitar's. I found a shop in an off-beat town that carried many of these guitars. At the end of the visit I walked out with a guitar that I would have never, in a more rational moment, purchased. But, moreover, I was imbued with a sense of disappointment insomuch as a first hand acquired sense of mediocrity regarding the other boutique guitars I'd played. With lot's of forum-speak support heaping accolades onto those guitars I could only think such chatter was mostly from inexperienced people of means rather than evolved skills - ears and hands - who embraced the guitars as precious objects first, musical instruments second. Last word, the boomer generation is huge and has a lot of buying power. Throw a few guitar forums at hobbyists and watch a boutique market blossom from it. I suspect the reputation of the average private builder to be born of forum speak alone, driving demand, driving up prices and I expect it to all come crashing down when the boomers slip past their newly retired spending sprees. It's already starting if we glance at the used market. Bottom line, the boomers inflated the prices of guitars and that alone is economics 101, meaning, no, the guitars really are not worth their asking prices.

And I, of course, disagree. Well, partly disagree. I've been saying for years that you don't need to spend more than $500 to buy a very good guitar. But, looking back, I realize that I've been saying it for quite a lot of years and I was probably talking about guitars made 10 years and more ago - time flies LOL - especially when you are as old as me.. For example, I own an early Tanglewood guitar, made in Korea, that sounds better than any Martin or Taylor guitar that I've ever played. And it's not a one-off - I've played a few MIK Tanglewoods and they have all been excellent. I also own a MIK Crafter guitar - one of their all solid range - that plays and sounds almost as good as my Tanglewood. Both guitars sold for around the £300 mark 15 years ago. I kind of believe that Korean craftsmen (and Japanese before them and Chinese and Indonesian since them) are probably just as skilled as their Western cousins. But, of course, since that time price inflation and rising material costs have probably taken their toll so perhaps $500 is on the low side now - perhaps I should go up to $750? That's about right. The other consideration of course is wood scarcity: no rosewood, no ebony, etc. But hell, what's wrong with maple or walnut or even bamboo?

Hey guys... Yeah, I did kinda just wander off. Traffic was down so much that the Poli forum had more posts than Guitars. I was seeing a full week of threads on page one here. So one day I just stopped. Nobody seemed to notice, as this was over three years ago. I poked my head in now and then, as some of you mentioned above, to see if the place was still around. I appreciate all your kind words. This forum was a part of my life for a number of years, and you guys made it enjoyable. I hope you're all doing well. Dinner's on...I'll check back. Craig

The best sounding Martin usually belongs to a friend or acquaintance and they're not willing to sell/trade or give it to you. If by some odd chance you do get a hold of it, somehow the sound isn't quite so good. Probably has something to do with your listening position relative to the guitar being played. That's my position and I'm sticking to it.

When I used to teach guitar, I always advised my students to start on a nylon string guitar, with decent action. Don't worry about 'tone', that will be your next instrument. Too often, when students started on steel strings, they gave up before their calluses developed...'it hurt!'...nylon strings are much more finger friendly. A decent classical by a known manufacturer, like Yamaha, will run in the $150 range, and despite the wider neck, this is actually the best place to start....IMHO, of course.

If you haven't seen this, it's well-worth watching IMO...

I play in the studio a lot more than I play live, but I still enjoy playing live when the occasional opportunity to do so with the right people arises. Still, there is a LOT to be said for playing for your “own mental health” and for your own enjoyment. I know I enjoy the day a lot more if I can pick up and play a guitar for a bit, and I feel like something’s missing when I can’t.

I don't speak any Chinese but I can figure out enough to know I'm in trouble when I hear her complaining to her friends and it goes something like this Ba ba ba Gardo ba ba ba ba Guitar Center ba ba ba credit card ba ba ba ba

are you having groteful dread?