Okay Mike, I just checked on ebay, and it looks like the Blueridge guitars have started to creep up a bit in price - maybe still in your range used, but the Epiphone Masterbilt DR and AJ series guitars are a better deal at this point, have a look at this page:
Well under $400. for several of them, a few just over $400 brand new. That’s great pricing for well made all wood guitars (The all wood Blueridge guitars are now going for nearly twice as much, hmph.) I’ve played the AJ in rosewood and the DR in Mahogany, both sounded nicer (to my ear) than many of the guitars in the store that cost 2-3 times as much! If I were looking for a dread right now, I’d go with one of these, unless I could find a used Larrivee for the same price or cheaper.
Thanks for the heads up on that. I really hadn’t considered an Epiphone as a potential purchase. That’s a very nice looking guitar in that link. There are some Epiphones at the local Long and McQuade music store. I’ll go strun a few and star scouring Ebay and such when I’m ready to buy.
Mike
Seagulls are great, The breedloves are really, really good for the money as well.
I saw someone post that dadgad is better for melody playing & that is not a fact. Tunes can be played in either tuning, as a guitarist as well as a fiddler I find standard to be far easier for tune playing. I can do it in both, but it is more work in dadgad for me.
DADGAD is not a magic cure, it can break the open chord monotony of a so-so guitarist, but it will not make a guitarist a better musician. Only learning, experimenting & practicing will do that. It’s a long, fun, tough road with so many great friends along the way.
I’m not a dread player (I find the size uncomfortable) - but I agree they have that low end punch.
For the money, I think you can’t beat a Larrivee. I play an OM 03 in a local ‘slow session’ and its just a great all-around guitar. I believe their dreads are also highly regarded.
You can find a good used basic Larry for $600 or so - and a new one from good online dealers for a little more. The on-line Larrivee forum is one of the nicest groups on the net (like c&f!).
Not going to recommend a specific make/model of guitar for that tuning, but wanted to say I kept a guitar in DADGAD tuning for a long time and then somewhere picked up DADF#AD and while it’s very similar I really liked it better and used it more often. YMMV.
By the way, at the time I wasn’t playing ITM or anything, so I don’t know how this slightly different tuning would suit that.
Well, after looking around at some of the guitars mentioned in this thread, and letting the whole thing simmer a bit, I ended up getting a cheapy dreadnought with a solid spruce top and ply sides. It’s a house brand guitar of a big Canadian Music store chain (the brand is “Northland”). Sort of a ubiquitous, beginner/intermediate-target guitar that’s made in China.
This, after all of the excellent suggestions here
It was such a deal, though. Discontinued model, $100. Down considerably from the list price that compared to midpriced Yamaha guitars (and probably why they are clearing them out).
The store guy helped me pick out the best sounding one from the bunch. I had a gift certificate from that same store for just more than that amount. And in the final analysis, I’m a melody player first and foremost. If I am to pick up and put modest money toward another instrument, it’s going to be fiddle .
As far as the sound of the thing is concerned, I’m pleased. I lowered the bridge and the saddle, changed the strings to a D’Addario PB set, Medium bass, light trebles. I had put a 56 gauge low E-string on but it intoned sharp after the 7th fret when tuned to D. Better intonation with a 52. The sound is plenty bassey and the tone is nice to my ear. Much more blendy sound than the folk-sized guitar I was playing before.
In my session, we have just a few players but many of us play multiple instruments. We’ve got two excellent guitarists and we like guitar in our sesh, but these guys also like to play flute, whistle, mando, tea-chest bass, etc. I’m kind of the third-chair guitar player, so this axe will suit me perfectly.
Thanks again for the recommendations, I’m having a blast with my new guitar, and I’d encourage any Canucks looking for a beach guitar to get to your local Tom Lee music store! (NFI)
Mike
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