lemonstar

Thanks for posting that @Soledad even though it makes uncomfortable reading. I have arranged to visit this month. Frankly it would suit me fine to not try and customise anything - TBH WTF do I know about guitar construction and the impact on sound - I had a friend who worked in a hi fi shop selling top end gear - I’ve never heard so much cobblers talked about sound reproduction. The Dowina looks pretty but it’s not going to be long before I start inflicting wear on it so something more agricultural would suit me better - I couldn’t care less about fancy detailing. It will be interesting because the only time I visit guitar shops is when I intend to buy although I’ve been with a couple of friends who were looking which is a much better experience tbh. )

Holy sh!t that's a lot of guitars. Rich Tone - Sheffield. Walking distance from my daughter's place. Hopefully a link to images on google maps from inside the shop. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Rich+Tone+Music+Ltd/@53.3618996,-1.475239,3a,75y,52.07h,73.14t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAF1QipP2we9_Ej6Z3ToW_ZKsrp4mXAZd9DVae9w-Fdpl!2e10!3e11!7i10568!8i5284!4m10!1m3!2m2!1sguitar+shops+sheffield!6e6!3m5!1s0x487982601890ae6f:0x66d65965d8ab2bb9!8m2!3d53.3618117!4d-1.4753088!15sChZndWl0YXIgc2hvcHMgc2hlZmZpZWxkWhgiFmd1aXRhciBzaG9wcyBzaGVmZmllbGSSARhtdXNpY2FsX2luc3RydW1lbnRfc3RvcmWaASNDaFpEU1VoTk1HOW5TMFZKUTBGblNVUnZialF0TFV4QkVBReABAA?hl=en-GB&authuser=0

@Dad3353The guitar shop is about 2hrs drive away - I just didn't fancy driving there and back in a day in my car so thought I'd use the van - I have to make an effort to use the van in the winter months so - it's an excuse really - I have an electric bike but like most if them - it's big and heavy - possible I could squeeze it in the van when it is clean - no so keen once it's covered in crap - I haven't got a carrier and probably won't get one unless my wife gets a bike too - they just invite problems with gits trying to steal stuff. We have thought about getting a little folding Brompton but they aren't cheap either. I'll go - I just want better weather for walking, a close campsite and maybe plan another couple of nights at somewhere else to make a bit of a trip of it - the aim of the van was never to drive for hours or for miles and use a load of fuel up - it was to explore places. I haven't been to Stratford for years. I prefer to take my time and to look and try different guitars - it's a very personal thing - I'd say most if the guitarists I know (not many in real life) just order guitars without ever having tried them - there's no way I'd ever do that - that might account for why most of them buy and then end up selling guitars - I run all of mine into the ground - nothing lasts forever. It's got a bit harder now because so many small guitar shops have closed down and many really don't hold that much stock - I'd have to head into big cities like Manchester and Birmingham and I really hate doing that - one of my daughters lives in Sheffield and I know there are a couple of places there with a decent amount of stock. I will report back once I've been.

@Strum MentalI'm definitely doing both - I want a second acoustic anyway - I'll use the Seagull for more experimentation with alternative tunings - I wrote one song using an alternative tuning - without a 2nd guitar once it's in that tuning you have to stick it out until you have the song finished - and I was determined to finish something - but with only one guitar it was a pain - I started with various tunings you can look up but ended up with quite an odd one I found myself. I made a big mistake of not writing down either the chords or the tuning at the time and one I'd tuned it back to standard I left it far too long before realising I couldn't remember it. It took me 7 years to work it out again from one low quality recording. There are 3 nearby campsites I can park on - probably more if I look harder - all about an hours walk/3m in to the guitar place - 2 aren't open until the start of April but I want to go sooner. I know I have to ring and arrange a time. I don't really fancy driving my campervan into town - it's not as small as your typical VW T6's. Annoyingly one of the sites that's closed is right next to the park & ride - I was thinking it would be good to take my Seagull in for a side by side comparison - it's easy to forget how good your own guitar sounds and feels.

The top is unvarnished cedar - it's very soft as you can see from the damage around the sound hole - it's a sweet sounding guitar and I chose it for the neck profile and how it felt in my hands- front to back on the neck is quite slim so nice for gripping the bar chords and getting your thumb over the top to hold the bottom E on some open voiced chords. I'm going to get a quote - I really don't mind the battle scars.

I've given my Seagull S6 a stay of execution - I don't want to string her along - next time - my axe is getting axed. It was a £200 guitar 20 years ago - how much does a refretting cost and would it be worth it?

That's a fair enough point @Dad3353- the designers will not have overlooked any possibly adverse effect on the sound - it's just that I've never had the chance to play two identical models side-by-side - one with and one without the cutaway - I wondered if there was a well known/generally accepted difference - I've never had the cutaway so obviously never had the opportunity to dabble up the top end. I wondered what the nature of the impact on the sound was. I'm tempted to think that as I don't play out-and-out lead lines/solos that I won't bother buying a guitar with the cutaway - but I also think - if I had the cutaway - I might expand my playing in that direction. I'm in the market for a new guitar right now - in the next few months I'm planning on venturing out to try and few guitars - I'm looking for excuses to get out in my campervan - I hate not using it as much over the winter months so I'm keen to get out and park up on sites where I can commute in (bus/train/walk) to places with good guitar shops - Richards Guitars in Stratford is one place I'm looking at right now. Buying a guitar is not a decision I take lightly - it's like deciding on whether to date someone or not IMHO! You've got to live with the decision. I've always been really grateful to all my guitars - for all the great moments they brought into my life - for all the songs I wrote, for the open mics, for the time I spent with them. I hate that buying a guitar can be like speed dating! You've got to admit - haven't we all known people that have spent big money on guitars and raved about them initially and then a year in you find that they've sold them on - it's a sad waste of money and invested time, effort and emotion. I had a friend who had the who's who of electric and acoustic guitars - Fender, Gibson, Martin - the lot - he never had any of them for long - I would hate to go through that.

I was thinking about this - having seen some acoustic guitars with a chamfer on the back at the top - like a Strat - to soften that hard edge that can give you guitarists nipple if you sit down and play - but it made me wonder if the bottom cutaway also might adversely affect the sound - not everyone needs that cutaway if they don't play any lead lines that need access to those top end frets.

@FrankAtari @EdwardMarlowe I didn't think I was going to get any replies - GC didn't seem that active last time I looked. I just took the strings off my 20yo Seagull S6 - a soft cedar top - and OMG - I haven't changed the strings for ages and seen how worn the frets and fretboard are - I'm thinking about not bothering with new strings - actually it plays fine. I actually wanted 2 guitars so I could keep one for messing about in alternative tunings - I might use the Seagull for this now. It's a lovely guitar - more suited I always think to fingerstyle which is something I do a bit more of but it's not something that comes as naturally as I'd like - I do choose guitars on how they feel in my hands - I'm not totally wedded to the idea that the sound is everything - I have friends that have bought expensive guitars and just fell out of love with them quite quickly - sometimes for sound and sometimes for playability - so the feel in your hands does matter a lot IMHO. I previously had a Yamaha that I really loved - solid rosewood back and sides with sitka spruce top - what I liked what the dynamic range - it handled me thrashing a chord out much better than the Seagull. TBH - it took me quite a while to warm to the Seagull - it has a lovely neck - slightly wider than the Yamaha but I'd prefer to head back to the sound of that Yamaha. Moneywise - well - I have the money to buy whatever grabs me - it could be £1k - or as much as £4k - I don't normally spend this much on anything - I just have some cash put aside for this - it's been there for several years - Covid etc got in the way, partly... the thing is I don't hanker after new things and I don't like paying over the odds for name brands - I'm a pretty cynical guy - I never wax lyrical about anything. So Richards Guitars - I'm prepared to take a look at but I'm not of the mindset that thinks I'm going to find the holy grail - it's just another way to sell guitars - I have time to arrange a visit now - I was interested in the experiences of other people that have been there and ideally, bought something. I'm very open to a second hand guitar - it's like second hand books - the best ones are the ones that look like they've definitely been read IMHO. 21/1/23 - 2pm PS - What I don't spend on my next guitar is available to be spent on another acoustic, another electric or another bass or... something for my music.

I'm in the market for an acoustic and have been watching a few of these videos

I am also a double agent @ubit - more an acoustic guitar player than bass... ATM. I'm looking for a Taylor acoustic - I'll probably end up buying something new but I never order things blindly - I always go and find somewhere to try what I think I want to buy and spent a bit of time - I'm not swayed or impressed by matters names, reputations or reviews - the feel in my hands and of the guitar indoors me are what matter but I'm here looking to see what suggestions for alternatives to the Taylor might be worth noting before I head off to some actual stores. One thing I've discovered quite recently is that trying a non standard tuning has subtly coerced me into playing finger style more - I have a cedar top Seagull S6 which I've decided to use for experiments in alternative tunings and that's why I'm now looking for a second acoustic guitar and I'd prefer something with a Sitka spruce top like my old Yamaha guitar. What's wrong with your 214? Sounds like it's perfectly OK - I always argue with myself that better gear doesn't make me a better musician which is what I really want.