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LOUDEST guitar


mooseguy

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I NEED HELP! What is the loudest acoustic guitar you have ever played? I need to know so I can get one to drown out(IMPOSSIBLE) or at least hold my own)against those friggin banjoes that I jam with at various Blue Grass festivals. Forget the tone-I NEED VOLUME!

 

Any advice will be kept confidential and really appreciated-especially your feeling towards them banjoes!

 

Moose

 

P.S. A friend of mine did play a dobro type regular guitar. Aside from those-what else is just plain loud?

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Thanks for the suggestion but anything amped will get you thrown out of an acoustic jam -at least the ones I have been in

 

Regards,

 

Moose

darn...I really like the J200. you know, the super jumbos, Ive always had a thing for them, but again, you have to strum hard to get em loud!

 

Beast [biggrin]

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darn...I really like the J200. you know, the super jumbos, Ive always had a thing for them, but again, you have to strum hard to get em loud!

 

Beast [biggrin]

 

 

I agree as I own one myself but I still neeed MORE VOLUME

 

Moose

 

P.S. Loudest one I ever owned was a Kalamazoo arch top-wish I had it now

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... I need to know so I can get one to drown out(IMPOSSIBLE) or at least hold my own)against those friggin banjoes that I jam with ...

 

Maybe not impossible. Jorma Kaukonen once said "One of the big moments in my young fingerpicking life was going to the N.Y.U. Folk festival, and having a banjo player criticize me for being too loud!"

 

He was playing a '59 Gibson J-50, not a particularly loud guitar, at the time. But he worked at being loud.

 

-- Bob R

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What ever you do...DON'T turn up to a Bluegrass jam with a Gibson.

You have to have a Martin D-28 - preferably from the 40s!

Turn up with a Taylor, and they will treat you like a Les Paul guy!

The best thing to do is give out banjo mutes.

What's the difference between a banjo player & a locksmith?

A locksmith gets paid to change keys.

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Sorry to hear you've found a bluegrass jam where the players don't know to lower their volume when each person's taking their 'break'. Sometimes, if someone's playing too loud, I'll just subtract myself, volume-wise, down to nothing, or I'll stop playing completely. Usually, they'll stop playing, asking "what did you stop for?" Then, I'll let 'em have it.

Guitar-wise, that is./

 

If you still need volume to call attention to your playing, think:

 

-Rosewood.

-LONG (25.4")scale.

-Dread (regrettably, the square-shouldered variety. Or Gibson (or Epi) SJ (epi ej = < $)200

 

What's the difference between a banjo & a trampoline? You take your boots off to jump

on a trampoline :).

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To All The Nice Persons Who have so far Replied To My Distress-De Beast-Parlour Man-Rar-Slimt-Ponty-Farr-62 Burst

 

THANK YOU ONE AND ALL for your great suggestions-Rar in particular makes a point as I have played a 70's J50 which puts any

Martin that I have tried to shame in volume.

 

Regards,

 

Moose

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Ponty is right .......... showing up at a bluegrass jam with a Gibson will get you in trouble. BUT if I was going to bring a Gibson, it would be an Advanced Jumbo ............ but just give it up and buy a D-28

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Ponty is right .......... showing up at a bluegrass jam with a Gibson will get you in trouble. BUT if I was going to bring a Gibson, it would be an Advanced Jumbo ............ but just give it up and buy a D-28

 

Read my mind, my other guitar is an AJ and it gets better by the day. I've had two D28s and two HD28s, they ain't in the league with a D2HG for power and clarity, IMO.

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Hands down a Westerly-made Guild D-55 (I've never played the Fender version so can't say how they hold up to the older ones). I don't have a clue what it is about those geetars but every time someone walks in with one a kinda collective groan goes out as everybody knows it will be a turn your fingers into hamburger night trying to keep out in front.

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I know this is the GIBSON site, but they don't call the Martin D-28 a banjo killer for nothing.

 

Aside from volume, the D-28 has a way with certain treble frequencies that allows it to cut through.

 

Regarding the Collings, I am not to hip on which model is which, but most I have seen are high quality Martin copies, so not surprising there are some that flat out out perform your average Martin.

 

I have never played in a Bluegrass band, but heard plenty, and have played plenty of Martins. So, what would be REALLY cool is for those with actual REAL experience to chime in with more specifically WHAT Gibsons might out-do a D-28 in the Banjo-killer role.

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My AJ is one of the loudest guitars I've played in 40+ years. That said, i like it because in addition to the volume and the punch, it is very nicely balanced — works great for fingerpicking. I wouldn't peg it as a Bluegrass instrument however, seems like those guys tend to prefer more bass presence in the mix. A lot of the other recommendations make sense. I've played plenty of Martin and Collings D style guitars that were perfect for that style of play and a couple of Guild D55s even. In the end, whatever floats your boat is the one to choose. You still need to enjoy actually playing the instrument regardless of the volume, tone, etc..

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It would probably be some all laminate as they are known to be loud nad bright.

 

From a Gibson perspective its either an AJ or J-200, but probably an AJ.

No no no no. Can't do laminate in a Bluegrass group.

 

Bluegrassers are very strict. Sometimes they don't even consider a Gibson a bluegrass guitar.

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Then if theyre going to be such snobs the question has to be asked is worth getting involved with em' ?

 

But on the AGF the question was asked and the majority of answers are that there are only a few Martin snobs these days other brand guitars are more accepted.

 

Personally I would go there with a 12 string Ovation just to annoy them ... [tongue]

 

No no no no. Can't do laminate in a Bluegrass group.

 

Bluegrassers are very strict. Sometimes they don't even consider a Gibson a bluegrass guitar.

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Then if theyre going to be such snobs the question has to be asked is worth getting involved with em' ?

 

But on the AGF the question was asked and the majority of answers are that there are only a few Martin snobs these days other brand guitars are more accepted.

 

Personally I would go there with a 12 string Ovation just to annoy them ... [tongue]

LOL..I think you misunderstand.

 

It is fun to make fun of Bluegrassers for being so strict, but the reality is that the music form is meant to be a preservation-it is not meant to grow and evolve.

 

It is ironic that bluegrass as a music form came about in the 60's, and is actually one of the most modern as far as timelines. But one of the most important aspects of bluegrass as a music form is the nod to the past and the preservation of it.

 

For example: amplification is forbidden. The only thing ever allowed is a microphone to allow the audience to hear or record. The idea is not to allow instruments to over power each other by doing that. The person(s) playing it them has only the instrument in it's natural form to work with, and must play within the confines of what it can do.

 

On the whole, Bluegrassers that I have met are some of the nicest people.

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Thing is, if I was a bluegrasser, I'd be tempted not to use a D-28 or other accepted Martin model as that's what all the bluegrass players tend to use, why would I want my sound, or our collective sound to be strikingly similar to every other bluegrass mob out there?

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