What's the Best Acoustic Guitar for Singers?

WhAT'S THE BEST ACOUSTIC GUITAR FOR SINGERS?

WHAT'S THE BEST ACOUSTIC GUITAR FOR SINGERS?

Selecting the right song for your voice might seem instinctual to many singer-songwriters, but what about the right guitar?

Acoustic Guitar Specialist Karl Neurauter demonstrates how different tonewoods and body shapes frame your voice, using a Gibson J-45 Vintage Red Spruce/Mahogany, Collings 002H Traditional 12-Fret Sitka Spruce/Indian Rosewood, Santa Cruz Custom Dreadnought Adirondack Spruce/Cocobolo, Taylor K14ce Builder’s Edition Sitka Spruce/Koa, and “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness,” a track from songwriting master John Prine’s 1986 album, German Afternoons.

Gibson Montana J-45 Standard Vintage Sunburst Acoustic Guitars / Dreadnought

Gibson Montana J-45 Standard Vintage Sunburst

$3,718.00

Condition: Chip in the paint on the heel.

The J-45 is Gibson’s best-selling acoustic guitar. That’s not because of some flashy gimmick or crazy bargain price or because someone famous played it. Plenty of famous people have played it, in fact, but the reason why it sells so well year after year is the fact that it’s one of the best and most versatile acoustic guitars on the market. Hand-built with mahogany back and sides and a sitka spruce top with traditional hand-scalloped X-bracing, the J-45 Standard has excellent, balanced projection with a vast dynamic range, rich, warm low-end, and clear, articulate highs. An LR Baggs Element pickup system doesn’t hurt either.

About Gibson Montana:
Luthier Orville Gibson founded the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in Kalamazoo, MI in 1902. Its original aim was to make mandolins and mandolin-family instruments. Over the last 100-plus years, Gibson Brands, Inc., as it is now known, has since evolved into the world’s premier manufacturer of semi-hollow and hollow body electric guitars, as well as a celebrated portfolio of innovative solid-body and acoustic models.

“Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness. And they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy... or they become legend.” So wrote Montana author Jim Harrison, perhaps about the master luthiers of Gibson Montana, which produces all of Gibson’s acoustic guitars.

Serial #: 22940067
Weight: 4lbs 7.7oz

Body Shape: J-45
Top: Sitka Spruce
Back and Side Wood: Mahogany
Bracing: Traditional hand-scalloped X-bracing
Binding: Multi-ply top, single-ply back
Finish: Nitrocellulose

Neck Material: Mahogany
Neck Profile: Slim Taper
Scale Length: 24.75''
Fingerboard Material: Rosewood
Fingerboard Radius: 12''
Number of Frets: 20
Frets: Standard
Nut Material: Black
Nut Width: 1.725''
Inlays: Mother-of-pearl dots
Neckjoint: Compound dovetail neck-to-body joint

Tuner Plating: Nickel
Bridge: Traditional belly up, Rosewood
Saddle Material: Tusq
Tuning Machines: Grover Rotomatics w/ Kidney Buttons
Pickguard: Tear Drop
Truss Rod Cover: B/W
Bridge Pins: Tusq

Pickup: LR Baggs™ VTC
Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone

Strings: 0.053, 0.042, 0.032, 0.024, 0.016, 0.012
Case: Gibson Hardshell
Other: Includes Gibson Accessory Kit

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Taylor K14ce Builder's Edition Sitka/Koa Kona Burst Acoustic Guitars / OM and Auditorium

Taylor K14ce Builder's Edition Sitka/Koa Kona Burst

$7,159.00

Inspired by Taylor’s V-Class bracing, an innovative design that allows the torrefied Sitka spruce top to vibrate more freely, the K14ce sings naturally and unimpeded, producing a rich, resonant response with improved intonation, increased volume and sustain, and an even balance across the spectrum.

Ergonomic body contours like a beveled armrest, beveled body edges, and a reshaped cutaway make the playing experience equally effortless, and a “silent” satin finish ensures that true tone is all you’ll hear.

Taylor rounds out this exceptional instrument with appropriately premium appointments like an inset koa/paua top and back trim, Spring Vine fretboard inlay, and beautiful Kona Burst finish over koa back and sides.

The Taylor K14ce Builder’s Edition comes equipped with a hardshell case.

Serial #: 1209250125
Weight: 4lbs 14.4oz

Scale Length: 25-1/2"
Nut & Saddle: Black Graphite, Micarta saddle
Bracing: V-Class with Relief Rout
Truss Rod Cover: West African Ebony
Number of Frets: 20
Tuners: Gotoh
Case: Taylor Deluxe Hardshell Brown
Body Length: 20"
Body Width: 16"
Body Depth: 4 5/8"

Binding: West African Ebony
Top Finish: Silent Satin
Back Config: 2-piece No Wedge
Rosette Size: Single Ring
Back/Side Finish: Silent Satin
Armrest Binding: Beveled, no binding
Rosette Mat.: Koa/Fiber/Paua
Stain/Sunburst: Kona Burst

Neck Width: 1-3/4”
Fretboard Inlay: Spring Vine
Fretboard Binding: West African Ebony
Heel Cap Binding: West African Ebony
Type of Neck Joint: Scarf
Neck/Heel: Tropical Mahogany
Fretboard Wood: West African Ebony
Neck Finish: Satin
Heel Length: 3-1/4”

Peghead Finish: Satin
Peghead Binding: West African Ebony
Peghead Type: Standard
Peghead Purfling: Koa
Headstock Overlay: West African Ebony
Peghead Inlay: Spring Vine
Peghead Logo: Taylor Mother of Pearl

Bridge Pins: West African Ebony with Green Abalone Dots
Buttons: Gold

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GIBSON MONTANA J-45 VINTAGE

The J-45, a classic slope-shoulder dreadnought, has been Gibson’s central acoustic workhorse for over seven decades. This particular Custom Shop model replicates vintage “Banner” J-45s, highly sought-after collectibles known for their unique design and careful construction, and has a baked Adirondack spruce top, mahogany back, and mahogany sides for full, balanced tone and rich low end.

COLLINGS 002H TRADITIONAL 12-FRET

Constructed with a Sitka spruce top and rosewood back and sides, this 12-fret Collings 002H parlor-style guitar has a smaller body shape and tighter waist bout, qualities generally thought to pair best with solo fingerpickers, not singers. Karl disagrees.

SANTA CRUZ CUSTOM DREADNOUGHT

Santa Cruz designed this pre-war dreadnought to accentuate the midrange and treble, without altering the dreadnought’s natural bass response. A tall order, but because it’s Santa Cruz, it works, and the Adirondack spruce top and cocobolo back and sides sing with remarkable, yet undisruptive, clarity.

TAYLOR K14CE BUILDER'S EDITION

Taylor’s V-Class bracing boosts the volume across the entire tonal spectrum in this Grand Auditorium, constructed with an Adirondack spruce top and koa back and sides. But like most Taylors, each note of the K14ce’s bright, brilliant tone blends in perfect accompaniment, just as intended.