Acoustic Guitar Qs!

[WorldWithoutE]

Hi all! I am looking to upgrade my all laminate acoustic guitar to at least a Solid Top one and I have some questions to ask.

1. For the bridge, is there a difference between ebony and rosewood? I tried searching on the Net for differences but to no avail.
2. I like a gloss finish on my guitar, but will it wear out or tarnish easily as compared to a satin finished guitar? I take great care in wiping down my guitar after every play.
3. What are your opinions on Alvarez and Yamaha?
4. Any recommendations around $700-1000? I prefer Spruce for my top and Rosewood sides and back and I use Gauge 12 strings if that matters.

Thanks for the help!

 

[EugeneSmasher]

I think the Yamaha L series and higher-end FG series are excellent, but specs-wise, the L series are more bang-for-buck than the FG series. Generally I'd recommend both though. Never tried Alvarezs so I can't comment... L series have solid spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides, mahogany necks and ebony fretboards.

Some L series models are quite expensive but there are some hovering around $1K. The FG series are more affordable and at that price range, they have solid-tops too, but are not full-solid.

 

[edgie]

Maybe you can also try Tanglewood guitars at tymc. They have solid top guitars for I think about 380-400+ with B-band EQ onboard. They feel much better than the yamaha FG series IMO. Better in a sense that their bodies are not so big like the FGs and yet their resonance(at least the 2 models I tried, havent tried the others) are just like or better than the more expensive FGs.

 

[WorldWithoutE]

Thanks for the replies so far. Does anyone have any comments about ebony and rosewood bridges?

 

[stormage]

debatable, aestatically i presume. boils down to preference. some say more sustain, others found no diff.. no much difference.
check out my sale thread
http://soft.com.sg/forum/guitar-buy-sell/119190-wts-rasmus-full-solid-spruce-rosewood.html
Full solid at affordable price

 

[EugeneSmasher]

No major difference, I think, except aesthetically. I prefer ebony over rosewood for bridges purely appearance-wise. I think the sustain and all that depends on the bridge type (some say pin-less bridges are weaker and have less sustain). Alvarez acoustics have a pretty unusual bridge design.

 

[stormage]

u refering to the yairi which are totally different from the usual alvarez

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

The Alvarez guitars I tried at Luther's were quite shiok.. They were priced quite reasonably as compared to Yamaha's..

Maybe you'd like to drop by Luther's to try them out? They do a good job setting up their guitars on display so everything there feels good