FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Artistry Guitar Jazz Martin Taylor

Question:
I'm looking for a high quality acoustic guitar suitable for serious fretboard work -- I aspire to playing acoustic jazz. I think this would mean that the guitar's body would have to have a cutaway design. A LITTLE BACKGROUND -- I've been away from the guitar for many, many years, and now in middle-age, I'm thinking of really getting back into it. But, if I do, I want to get a guitar that I can be really happy with, in terms of both sounding great, and playing great¹. Playing great in this context means a guitar that has action and overall feel that approximates that of a good electric guitar. Perhaps this is not possible, but I've heard that there's been a real renaissance in luthiery work over the past several years, so I'm guardedly optimistic. SO FAR -- I've been told about a make called, Breedlove, and specifically, the CM model. I checked it out on their website, and I must say it's an interesting looking guitar. Unfortunately, it's a little out of my price range (~$3800); I'd like to not go above ~$2750. Can anyone recommend other comparable makes in the mid-to-high $2K range? AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH -- that I've considered is getting an electric guitar that's capable of producing a decent acoustic sound.² Perhaps, this truly *is* impossible, but I have been pointed to the Godin LGXT. Do any of you acoustic officionados have any opinions on this approach, or more specifically on the Godin's? Any help?

Answer:
I play acoustic jazz, but I do it on a Takamini classical cutaway; that's one way to go. If you're more of a steel string player you've got several other options. You could go with a handmade acoustic archtop, which at the very least would set you back 3K (more realistically, 5 to 7K), although Tacoma is (was?) making a carved top archtop with a street value around $1,500. Another option along the same line would be the Yamaha Martin Taylor signature guitar which is a laminated archtop fitted with both a humbucking pickup and an under the saddle piezo acoustic pickup, each of which can be routed to separate amplifiers, or blended into one, or used alone. Check out Martin's CD Artistry for the recorded sound of this guitar. If you're interested in a flattop vibe then the remaining question is, gypsy jazz (a la Django Reinhart) or straight ahead. Most gypsy jazz players are sticking with the Macaferri style guitars that Django himself favored, though Martin Taylor recorded a Django tribute album on a Yamaha APX flattop steel string that sounded just fine to me. One of my old teachers, Jerry Hahn, played jazz for 16 years on a Guild flattop steel string cutaway that he had fitted with a humbucking pickup. Probably the most versatile of the bunch I've mentioned would be the Martin Taylor Yamaha archtop (sorry, I can't remember the model nomenclature), since you could use it as an exclusively electric, or exclusively amplified acoustic, or a mixture of the two. However, since it's a laminated archtop, I wouldn't think it would have much of a non-amplified acoustic sound. When it comes to archtops, you have to pay the bigger bucks for that 'cause a solid top has to be hand carved like a violin which means starting with very thick wood and spending a whole lot of time.