What brand do you play?

[Todd McFarland]

Hey everyone, I would like to perform a simple survey of all that will reply to this. I am very curious what brand and model of guitar is the most popular among the flatpickers here.  There are thousands of members here so it will be great information for someone trying to decide on a "friend". So lets have it flatpickers, what do you play?

 

I will start;

I play a McPherson MG 4.5 with bearclaw sitka spruce top and indian rosewood b&s

[Sharon Mabe]

I have a Martin HD-28 made in 2001. Beautiful tone. It was set up by Richard Starkey who does Martin Guitar Seminars all over the country and is also a former flatpicking champion (twice?). I love this guitar and have never wanted any other. Richard installed a Martin Natural II pickup in 2004 or 2005. The Natural II has a pre-amp built in, factory set with no adjustments, and the sound is fantastic. The additional equipment never changed the guitar tone that I could tell, and the ability to just plug into any sound system anywhere is a real plus.

[JT Foote]

I currently only play two guitars, after selling off five:

'04 Collings D3A
'92 Gallagher G-72 Special

These two guitars are the best I have owned, after playing for over 40 years. They are in excellent condition.

Both function well as flatpicking and strumming instruments, although the Gallagher may be the more versatile of the pair, with the wider nut and string spacing. It is an exceptionally warm guitar, and maintains this kind of rich, clear tone well up the neck, making it suitable for using a capo without the sound becoming harsh or thin. It is also very responsive and dynamic, with a lightly braced top, and is my instrument of choice when playing strictly with my fingers.

The Collings has a more defined, focused sound vs the Gallagher, although with the many hours of playing time it has had over the past couple of years, the tone has begun to mellow, and the depth and power of the bass in the overall sound is steadily increasing. This guitar has an exquisitely comfortable neck profile, and with the action set perfectly for my preferred attack, it has an incredibly fast fingerboard, and fretting is nearly effortless. Aggressive play reveals a tremendous amount of headroom, and an unusual array of undertones that do wonderful things to support the fundamental, along with a very nice balance of rich sustain and individual note separation.

Both are very sweet sounding guitars, but neither could be considered to be quiet, as the Gallagher can be played very close to the volume level of the Collings without the sound becoming constricted .. and the Collings is one of the loudest Red Spruce guitars I have ever heard. Good right hand control is necessary in order to play the Collings, and sing over the instrument, without requiring a microphone.

The Gallagher is equipped with an L.R. Baggs Dual Source System. The Collings has no electronics. I like John Pearse PB medium gauge strings on the Collings, and Newtone medium gauge round-core double-wound PB strings on the Gallagher.

... JT

[William Halaburda]

You sound very fond of your Gallagher and I totally agree with you. My custom Gallagher G-55 with red spruce top and bracing was born on May 5th of this year. Don and Stephen used some beautiful light Hounduras Mahogany for back and sides and a top of the line adirondack top. I don't know what type of bracing pattern they used but I too have been playing for about 40 years and this is the loudest, warmest guitat I ever owned or played. It too has unlimited headroom and it will take the loudest attack I can give it without breaking up. At my jams, everyone comments on it's sound and volume and some even get annoyed if I drown them out so I have to let up a little. I can't even imagine what this will sound like when it breaks in a little

[JT Foote]

You are a lucky man, William. I've looked at a couple of examples of a G-55, and I can only imagine how good a Gallagher can sound with a hand-selected and voiced Red Spruce top and bracing, and with Mahogany back and sides. Believe me, once broken-in, even the Sitka/Rosewood models have exceptional tone and exhibit an unusual amount of responsiveness and volume. Mine is 18 years old now, and every time I pick it up, I am still astonished at the beauty of the sound.

My G-72 has 1/4" forward-shifted bracing, and a couple of luthiers have made comments about how loose the top feels due to the light bracing, and about the generous warmth of the overall sound.

What kind of strings have you tried? I went through a dozen brands, before settling on the double-wound PB Newtones. They tend to be a bit bright for the first few days, but after settling, seem to allow the clearest, deepest, woodiest tone that anyone could ask for, and the round cores make fretting easier. The double-wrap on the wound strings also tends to really cut down on string noise. The lifespan of these strings is also unusual, as less dirt and skin oils can work through the denser wrap to the cores.

Just FYI.

... JT

[William Halaburda]

Hi J.T. Thanks for the info. on strings, it came just in time. For some reason string selection was never really important to me except in the last few months, I usually use any of the coated strings, elixer nanos, D-addarios EXP17 ect; because I hate changing strings but last month they were out of the coated and I bought a set of J.P. phos bronz. mediums and found that they increased my sound greatly. Right now I am due for a new set and will be going out this week and trying out the Newtones. I might have to order them on-line because I only have a few small mom and pop music stores in my area and they don't carry a big selection of strings. Thanks again for the advice, I'll let you know how they work out, cheers Billy

[Brent Gremillion]

When I started playing in 2007 I bought an HD28. I listened to as many guitars as I possibly could; and, the tone of the HD28 always "spoke" to me. It was as if that was the only guitar that I could imagine representing me and my voice. I still love it. Actually, the more I play it the more I love it.

[Sharon Mabe]

Yup, mine has the same effect on me.

[Bryan Floyd]

I'm just playing a very humble 000 Johnson Carolina II JO 26 at the moment, but man what a guitar. A very big sound from such a little box. Solid englemann over solid african mahogany...

[AZoldtimer]

Bourgeois Very Vintage Mahogany/Adi Dred, oil varnish & hide glue.

[J J Hildreth]

2000 Gibson WM-45
1959 Guild M-20
Godin 5th Av

[James Varner]

!969 Martin D-18

[Bluesy1]

My main dread these days is a 2008 D-28. I also love my 2007 D18V. For fingerpicking stuff I play a 2009 Martin OMJM and a 2006 custom Clarksdale Crossroads.