Official Luthiers Forum!

Despite loving the uniqueness of a custom guitar, I know all of us have to have at least a single assembly line guitar out there that we like for whatever reason. This is first and foremost to feed my curiosity and I guess second, I would really like to get a good sense for what kind of sizes, shapes, and tones people look for.

For me personally, my favorite is the Taylor 314CE. First of all it has a sentimental value to me since it was the first acoustic guitar that I purchased. But I also really like the balanced sound and feel that I get from it and I think the shape is just beautiful. I feel this guitar competes superbly in its price range and even walks over some of the more pricey models Taylor and other companies have to offer. All in all, I think it's a wonderful value.

Martin 12 fret 000's.

Just cause of the shape/idea of them.

When I think of them, I start to think about my wood.

I've always been fond of the Martin HD-28 and the D-35. Yes folks, I like Dreadnoughts.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Love my 1979 Alvarez Yari Dreadnought. Great playability and sound. I haven't found any better these days.

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John Ressler

Without a doubt, it is the Martin 000-28GE. It was only built in 1996 and it is the only 'factory' guitar that I still lust after.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

Jim no cussing - f*ctory is not permitted here........

Seriously If I had to own a factory guitar it would be a Taylor. IMHO I think that Taylor tries harder to deliver value and innovation to the customer and also does not have the luxury or marketing from the strength of the near multi-century legacy that Martin does.

Mind you both brands are incredible companies with some incredible products - I simply like what Taylor is delivering these days better.

I also have spoken with people who inspect the new guitars prior to placing them on the rack in a well known guitar store. The story I heard is that for every 10 new-in-box Martins received 3 are fine, 3 need some minor tweaks, and 4 will need attention from the repair department before they can be placed in the show room. He went on to say that for every 10 Taylors they are all ready to go right out of the box...... Impressive.

If price were no barrier and I wanted a factory guitar I would be very interested in Martin's "Authentic" series and specifically the Authentic D-18.

I've owned my share of guitars from $100 Cort to higherend such as Collings/Santa Cruz. This GAS is exactly what got me to build my own since I didn't or could not pay for mutiple nice guitars so I tought I would just build my own.

However out of all the factory guitar I had
I like Taylors x14ce best for it's playbility(neck, body size), price, ease to plug in, and looks.

Of course if I was given choice of Collings or Taylor, I would take Collings home...but probably sell it and buy me a nice Taylor and few tools I need for my builds.

Martin then Larrivee. I like the pre war sound so I like Martins built in that style and Larrivee makes some nice sounding guitars. I never cared much for most of the Taylors I've played, sound or playability wise.

Now if we are including small factories, I really like Santa Cruz - responsive, dynamic, loud, open. I also like the traditional style H&D's I've played.

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Jeremy Douglas

That's a tough one. Collings would be my choice. OM or OO12 fret. But if I actually had a Collings, I'd either keep it or sell it - no need for the Taylor.

Still, I've only built one guitar and I prefer it to every guitar I've ever played except maybe a Borges. I'm shocked at the quality. (Of course it's not as pretty in the details.)

Like SkyHigh, I started this due to GAS. Then it turned into WAS, which may be worse. I could never bring myself to buy a Martin based off of what I’ve been able to play in stores. I was close on a used D-42K, but that was the only one. Out the factory gits I’ve owned I tend to play my Larrivee L-09 Koa more than any other. I love my Taylor 714CE with cedar top and it’s served me well for years, but I just don’t seem to play it as much since I picked up a few Larrys a few years back. Although I did remove the electronics panel a while back leaving a rough looking sound port and I believe it’s an improvement in the sound. It also allows be to study the top bracing. I noticed double transverse braces. No cap on the X braces, and actually this way on the Larrivees too.

So my favorite has been Larrivee L’s. Why? I can pluck it or pick it. I like to shape, feel, sound. Larrivees also seem to better value for what you pay over Martin or Taylor. I used to think this about Taylor 10-15 years ago, but now Taylor seems to have gotten as expensive as Martin.

Yamaha make a stunning L Series Guitar, a very nice instrument with balanced tone. Pretty much the only Asian factory made instrument I'd buy if I was forced to.

1959 Les Paul Standard. Then I'd sell it and retire, move to Venezia and buy a house overlooking Canal Grande, watch the gondolas go by and smile...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I'm lucky enough to have a world-class guitar dealer right in my neighborhood
(Gryphon Stringed Instruments, home of Frank Ford of frets.com fame). They carry
quite a range of extremely nice "factory" guitars, such as Huss & Dalton, Martin,
Taylor, Santa Cruz, Collings, etc.

They also typically have 20 or so used steel-string guitars in stock at any point in
time, and they turn over quite frequently. I stop in at least once a week and
take the opportunity to examine and play (my playing skill level is very low)
interesting-looking guitars. There's also frequently some skilled player noodling
away on one of their high-end, new instruments (which I stay away from, out of
respect for the store).

I'm frequently blown away by what I hear coming out of their Collings guitars, but
I've rarely had the opportunity to touch a used one, as they tend to sell quickly.

Even though I'm not a fan of the look or feel of dreadnaughts, the instruments
that I've played there that made the best impression on me have been a pair of Martin
D-18GEs. Part of that has been their tendency to propagate vibrations through the
back so that it almost tickles to play them, if you know what I mean. They sounded
very open and alive from the front, too, without being too bass-dominated. These
were two seperate guitars, in stock at different periods of time, so perhaps the GE
series instruments are more consistent than some of the other Martin models seem
to be.

I assume this "vibrating back" is a function of thin back with light bracing, along with
good back-to-side (and top-to-side) mechanical coupling. Is that correct? Does anyone
have a deeper understanding of what's going on here?

Eric

I have to say, my 1959 Les Paul Jr.

It was my first electric way too many years ago, and it still is my favorite. I do have some Hamers that are pretty nice, too.

Acoustic? All handmade.....

My old Flambeau dread-cutaway. It was made in Japan in the 80s and I have read on some other boards that it was a Lowden designed guitar. I have plans to reset and refret the neck and really look forward to playing it again. As for Taylors, I have a sapelle 214 that I got a couple of years ago and it's a great guitar for the price. I see now that they are making them out of laminated EIR and I think the sound has suffered a great deal. I can take the low E down to B on that guitar and it still plays in tune. My only complaint is the terrible fret-wire they use. I have major grooves after only two years.

They certainly do. Unfortunately, they have never been able to crack the North American market with them. My wife and I bought a pair, an LL 500 dread and an LS 500 smaller body four or five years ago as NOS at give-away prices.

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Jim Howell
Charlotte, NC

If I had to buy a new guitar today because all my other guitars disappeared, I'd get a Martin OM-28. I don't own a Martin OM-28. I have a 000-16 14 fret and an OM that I built myself. But the factory guitar that would replace them is the OM-28.

Does a Lowden count? cause from the Lowdens ive played, they are all excellent, but they aren't really mass produced like Talyors or martins etc.

other than the Lowdens that i have played, the R taylor, some from of spruce and koa B&s, is by far the best factory guitar ive ever played, it was loud, responsive and had great tone, then again, do R Taylors count?

if not, then a taylor 210e is the best. its got ply rosewood b&s, is a dred, and cost about £600 and its better than any of the martins or taylors ive ever played (including th £4k ones). ive put this amazing tone down to very flukey bracing, i think that its accidentally braced perfectly. and although it doesn't have the projection of the Lowdens, the up close tone of the instrument is almost as good (from where im sitting anyway )

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"Anything that happens, happens. Anything that in happening causes something else to happen, causes something else to happen. Anything that in happening happens again, happens again. Though not necessarily in that order." Douglas Adams

My Favorite is my Turner 85CE http://www.turnerguitars.com/80.htm

It's my first all solid guitar I love it's bassey tone and the shape and feel a friend with Martin's played it and came up to me weeks later and asked about it saying he liked the tone and it had a nice box on it.

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

J, I was thinking about Lowden, too. My top five would be:

1) Goodall
2) Santa Cruz
3) Lowden/Avalon
4) McPherson
5) Probably a mahogany/cedar Taylor

I guess a question is which companies qualify as factory? Some of these are in between what I would call factory or custom builder.

I'm with Don.... HD-28V and D18GE (or the D18A) for me...

If you would consider Bourgeois (which I wouldn't) an assembly line guitar, then i have a Braz/Addy vintage D which is my all time favorite...

My DREAM GUITAR is a triple O HESHTONE spray painted midnight black. I stay awake many nights dreaming of owning one. Maybe someday.......

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

I agree with Zach and think that there is a disconnect here in what our individual interpretations of a factory guitar are.

To me a guitar that is not individually voiced is a factory guitar. This also means that Huss and Dalton (which I used to own and love), Collings, and a host of others including Lowdens are not factory guitars.

Guitars that are assembled and not individually voiced are what I would consider a factory guitar.