Author Topic: Woohoo! I'm gonna rock tonight! (Read 4445 times)

cosine · « **on:** March 21, 2006, 02:11:35 PM »

Well, if you remember, I've posted a plethora of new threads about new guitars over the last couple of days.
http://armedpolitesociety.com/viewtopic.php?id=2776
http://armedpolitesociety.com/viewtopic.php?id=2777

Today I bought my beater guitar. A Seagull S6+ GT with a few minor blemishes. I got an extraordinary good deal on it. $225 at a local guitar shop, Cream City Music. I'll say this: I did better than I would have done used or on Ebay, and got a new guitar to boot.

Pics later, if anyone wants to see 'em.

Pictures:

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/6458/190206001cropped8ab.jpg
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/6708/190206003cropped4iq.jpg

And the two minor dings which bought the price of this guitar down to $225 from $400. You know, without the "Scratch and Ding" sale the guitar store was having, I would have had to settle for a much cheaper guitar. I got quite a bit more guitar here for just putting up with two dings. And it's going to be a beater anyhow.

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/3643/190206004cropped0uk.jpg
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/3450/190206007cropped8ap.jpg

Mabs2 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 21, 2006, 02:55:56 PM »

Proceed to rock. \m/
I shall salute thee.
Also, I'd like to see the pics. grin

cosine · « **Reply #2 on:** March 21, 2006, 08:18:22 PM »

Pics added!

Strings · « **Reply #3 on:** March 21, 2006, 08:27:40 PM »

gotta love scratch 'n' dent specials! That's how i got my bouzouki: there was a minor blemish on the back (a spot where the finish sank in a bit, making a small divit). That took a $1k instrument down to $600... Cheesy

cosine · « **Reply #4 on:** March 21, 2006, 08:36:19 PM »

Quote from: Hunter Rose

gotta love scratch 'n' dent specials! That's how i got my bouzouki: there was a minor blemish on the back (a spot where the finish sank in a bit, making a small divit). That took a $1k instrument down to $600... Cheesy

I love this sale. I got a much better guitar for a beater than I had ever hoped I could have gotten with my budget. It's already got a head start on being a 'beater' guitar. Wink

Mabs2 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 22, 2006, 02:09:46 AM »

Nice!
That thing's a beauty.

jefnvk · « **Reply #6 on:** March 22, 2006, 09:13:47 AM »

FREEBIRD!

Strings · « **Reply #7 on:** March 22, 2006, 09:32:57 AM »

ok, now that jefnvk has volunteered to be the target stand at the next range session...

Funny story:

I'm working the booth at the local Ren Faire, when one of the local minstrels (a lute player) comes wandering by. Out of a sense of the preverse, I shout out "FREEBIRD!!". NEVER do this to a professional minstrel at a faire: he walked up, sighed, and serenaded me... Stairway to Heaven, on lute, while my sister rolled on the floor laughing, and security just shook their heads...

cosine · « **Reply #8 on:** March 22, 2006, 09:41:49 AM »

Quote from: Hunter Rose

ok, now that jefnvk has volunteered to be the target stand at the next range session...

That's right. And he better be praying; I'm a pretty bad shot. Cheesy

(Unintentionally, of course. Wink

)

Strings · « **Reply #9 on:** March 22, 2006, 09:43:40 AM »

wait a sec... I didn't realize you're in Milwaukee! We should do a meet-up some time: I'm in Manitowoc...

Iain · « **Reply #10 on:** July 31, 2006, 10:00:03 AM »

I'm digging this up because I want a follow-up.

I'm looking at buying one of two Simon and Patrick's with cedar tops or the Seagull S6 that has a spruce top. How are you liking your guitar? I'm pretty jealous I want the Seagull for the wider nut but with a spruce top. The S&P's are by the same maker, good guitars but I prefer the shape of the S6.

cosine · « **Reply #11 on:** July 31, 2006, 10:39:26 AM »

I like it quite a bit. I took it to two youth camps this spring and summer that I was counselor at, and it was liked quite a bit. I certainly beat out all the $150-$200 Fenders and Takamines that were laying around! Some guys in particular really liked it, and wanted to know where they could get one.

It stays in tune really well, even for being moved around a lot. It's a bit brighter than my Martin, and it's probably actually a little louder. (I've got a D-15. The mahogany top is bit on the soft and sweet side.) The brightness of tone and the loudness make it perfect for strumming out songs when you've got 3 dozen voices belting them out at the top of their lungs! Cheesy

It's very clear, individual notes do not get lost in a muddle of sound when you're playing.

I've never really played any S&P guitars, but if they're like the Seagull siblings, they're probably quite good guitars too. In fact, I consider Seagull guitars to be probably the best guitars you can get for under $500.

What S&P models were you considering?

El Tejon · « **Reply #12 on:** July 31, 2006, 10:40:56 AM »

Have owned a Seagull since '97. Good guitar, I like it very much.

...has left the building. · « **Reply #13 on:** July 31, 2006, 11:24:59 AM »

Congrats! Getting a new instrument is always fun. How long have you been playing?

erik the bold · « **Reply #14 on:** July 31, 2006, 11:27:33 AM »

Gotta love it........

My significant other bought me a S6 + Cedar a couple of years ago. $389 including a hard case. You got a sweet deal there, Cos

cosine · « **Reply #15 on:** July 31, 2006, 11:35:24 AM »

Quote from: erik the bold

You got a sweet deal there, Cos

Ha! Didn't I...

Mine didn't come with a case (scratch and ding special), but I also got them to throw in a standard Martin 300 series hardshell case for an extra 40 bucks. That's the case you see in the pictures. I made out like a bandit on that deal. Cheesy

Iain · « **Reply #16 on:** July 31, 2006, 12:21:25 PM »

You did do well.

Simon and Patrick and Seagull (and Godin and Art et Lutherie and Norman) are all made by the same people in La Patrie, Quebec. The S6 is a little different to the S&P SP6, the SP6 is more of a traditional square shouldered dreadnought shape. Apart from that the construction details are very very similar, solid tops, 3 ply laminate cherry/mahogany back and sides. The biggest difference I can find is that Seagulls generally have wider nuts and the range goes a little higher - S&P is entry/mid, Seagull goes entry/mid to high/mid.

Right now I'm looking at a spruce topped S6, non-cutaway, on-board pick-up, very good condition with a buy it now price of Â£150 ($278), or a cedar topped acoustic SP6 that has been in the wars a bit that has 3 days to go and is presently $104. The thing is another mint SP6 has just sold on buy it now for $334, which seems rich, and I hope the beaten up SP6 doesn't go anywhere near that. If the S6 was cedar topped I'd have bought it hours ago.

cosine · « **Reply #17 on:** July 31, 2006, 12:29:30 PM »

With my limited knowledge of acoustic electrics, that S6 with the pickup in very good condition sounds like a pretty good deal for $278. It depends though if you'll use the pickup at all. I'll bet that the one that sounds as if it's a little more beat up will probably go higher.

It sounds as if you'd prefer the cedar top over the spruce?

Iain · « **Reply #18 on:** July 31, 2006, 12:49:52 PM »

It'll go higher, but if it doubled it's price I'd be happy still, but once it started to get near the price of the S6 that I'd have already passed on by that point I'd be pulling out and not getting either guitar. The upside of the S6 is that I'd be unlikely to lose any money on it (in fact I suspect that I could make some) but why buy something that's not what I want. I doubt I'll use the pick-up at all.

Whatever guitar I buy will be set up to play lap slide on, and I'd like to have a nice mellow tone inherent in the guitar to counter some of the whine inherent in the method. I've never been one for bright guitars, and spruce is supposedly a bright wood. Funnily enough you and several others I have seen have referred to your cedar topped S6's as bright, yet no review I've read refers to the cedar topped SP6 as bright. No hard and fast rules, but something of a gut feeling. Besides I've never owned a cedar topped guitar so that's another reason.

cosine · « **Reply #19 on:** July 31, 2006, 01:05:44 PM »

Quote from: Iain

Whatever guitar I buy will be set up to play lap slide on

Have fun with that! Lap slide is something I'd like to try too someday.

Quote from: Iain

I've never been one for bright guitars, and spruce is supposedly a bright wood. Funnily enough you and several others I have seen have referred to your cedar topped S6's as bright, yet no review I've read refers to the cedar topped SP6 as bright. No hard and fast rules, but something of a gut feeling. Besides I've never owned a cedar topped guitar so that's another reason.

Well, in my case you should remember that my Seagull S6 with cedar gets compared to my Martin, which is not a standard spruce topped dread but a mahogany topped dread. I'm sure if I regularly played a spruce topped guitar my cedar Seagull would probably seem more mellow, like cedar is generally thought to sound, but in comparing cedar to mahogany in my case the mahogany seems to be even sweeter and more mellow than cedar. Hence, the cedar gets characterized as "bright."

Eh, you just gotta remember that this is all relative anyway.

...has left the building. · « **Reply #20 on:** July 31, 2006, 05:54:55 PM »

Quote from: Iain

Whatever guitar I buy will be set up to play lap slide on, and I'd like to have a nice mellow tone inherent in the guitar to counter some of the whine inherent in the method. I've never been one for bright guitars, and spruce is supposedly a bright wood. Funnily enough you and several others I have seen have referred to your cedar topped S6's as bright, yet no review I've read refers to the cedar topped SP6 as bright. No hard and fast rules, but something of a gut feeling. Besides I've never owned a cedar topped guitar so that's another reason.

The top is only part of the equation. A spruce top with the right body materials can make for some extremely mellow, low tones. A good way to figure this out is to go to a Taylor dealer and play through every single "series", this hour or so education on tonewoods can really influence your guitar purchases. IMHO, the ultimate steel string acoustic combination is a cedar top with mahogany back and sides, like my Taylor 514. It is freakishly well-rounded. When I fingerpick, it sings, when I strum, it booms.

Iain · « **Reply #21 on:** August 01, 2006, 01:11:34 AM »

I'm just thinking out loud really, trying to talk myself out of buying the more expensive Seagull which I'd probably not treat as the 'beater' guitar that this purchase is supposed to be.

I'd forgotten that you were likely to be comparing the Seagull to the D15, I've been looking at the all mahogany Washburn too, but that would have to be shipped from the US. That Martin does look nice, I'm into simple aesthetics which is why the S&P's, Seagulls and the Martin 15 series all appeal to me. Lower priced guitars all too often try to cover it up with fancy cheap inlays and polyurethane inches deep.

Have you seen the new mini-jumbo (oxymoron eh?) that Seagull are making?

280plus · « **Reply #22 on:** August 01, 2006, 01:19:42 AM »

Good luck with the new git-fiddle. Now, aren't you glad we talked you out of that stringless one? Cheesy

All my guitars over the years have been used, I've NEVER bought new, and the last one I bought was blemished and I got it for ~ 1/2 price. But I already told you that story...

Remember, if your fingers Aren't bleeding you're not practicing enough. Tongue

cosine · « **Reply #23 on:** August 01, 2006, 05:02:34 AM »

Quote from: Iain

Lower priced guitars all too often try to cover it up with fancy cheap inlays and polyurethane inches deep.

Don't tell me. I hate that (not to mention that some things like the polyurathane can be detrimental to the tone of the guitar) and try to avoid it at all costs. That means no Alverez, Ibenez, Yamaha, or lower priced Takamine guitars.

Quote from: Iain

Have you seen the new mini-jumbo (oxymoron eh?) that Seagull are making?

No, I haven't. Do you know a bit about it?

Iain · « **Reply #24 on:** August 02, 2006, 11:14:56 PM »

It looks really nice. I'm going to buy a dread for slide purposes but otherwise I prefer more curvy shapes, mini jumbo's seem to be the new thing, and the Seagull is the nicest one I've seen.

Linked to this in the other thread - http://www.dv247.com/invt/24199 - it's a Norman B18, from the Godin/La Patrie set-up so very closely related to the Seagull S6 and the S&P SP6. With the crazy premium that S&P's seem to be attracting secondhand, it's actually going to work out cheaper to buy a new Norman from this place. That is as long as my email checking that the price of the natural is right comes back with the response I want. I've seen the coloured ones (black, sunburst) for about this price, but elsewhere the natural is about Â£100 more than the price given there.

Thing is, I reckon if you were to buy one, put it on ebay and stress the connection with S&P you might well sell it for more than you bought it for.

News:

Author Topic: Woohoo! I'm gonna rock tonight! (Read 4445 times)

Strings

Strings

Strings

...has left the building.

...has left the building.