“Which Acoustic Guitar Should I Buy?”

This is a question I get asked on the road a LOT! Worship leaders and guitar players alike seem to want to know which acoustic they should purchase. Either as a starter instrument, or as a more seasoned player who wants to upgrade.

I want this blog to become more of a useful resource to you in worship leading…so I thought I’d start answering some of the major questions I am asked about worship/music/gear/spirituality. Thought I’d kick off with this one!

As this is a community, I thought I’d ask YOU guys in my Twitter-verse and let you share your wisdom on it first….. So, earlier today I asked a question on Twitter…. “WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF ACOUSTIC GUITAR?!”

Here are the results of the poll:

In first place…… TAYLOR with 39 votes

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Second place… MARTIN with 20 votes

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Third place…. GIBSON with 18 votes

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Fourth place….. tied… with 7 votes each: Larrivee and Breedlove

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Next, Avalon and Lowden with 7 votes collectively:

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(I tied them together, as these companies are hard to separate as Avalon is the new name for Lowden)

Next, Takamine..with 5 votes:

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Then…McPherson with 2 votes:

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Then…just so you know I really DID count every single tweet – here are the smaller numbers and lesser known brands!

Guild: 2 (not lesser know….just a smaller number!)

Crafter: 2

Yamaha: 2

Goodall: 1 (these are AMAZING custom guitars….)

Ovation: 1

Ibanez: 1

Parkwood: 1

Batson Grand Concert: 1

Cole Clark: 1

Harmony Stella: 1

Maton: 1

So there you have it! You, the people of my Twitterverse have SPOKEN! Comment below if you have more thoughts on this…let me know what your dream guitar would be too, if money were no obstacle….I’m curious!

Thanks to the almost 70 people who tweeted about this today. It’s fun to feel the community growing! Thanks also to Phil Loose from the UK who tweeted that “Fisher Price” was his favorite brand as it plays music all by itself!!”.. Here are a few cool tweets:

Great to hear Paul’s thoughts:

And Mr Todd Agnew…

And Matt, guitar player from Leeland:

My friend Tom, from all the way over in Hong Kong:

And Phil from the UK wins for making me laugh!

I’ll psyche myself up ready to ask the “what electric guitar do you like best” in a few days time!!!

If you don’t already follow me on Twitter – come join the fun and follow me by clicking HERE : )

Love,

Vicky

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 20:12 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Alan

Vicki,

Great list, but recently I got a Luna Trinity, and really have loved it. It's really got a great sound and I love the tie in of the trinity symbol on my guitar as a worship leader. That being said, I love the sound of Paul Baloche's McPherson, and if money was no object, I definitely would have to check one out.

Nathan Arnold

My dream guitar is a Breedlove Northwest Classic. Fantastic guitar, and you gotta support the home state guitar manufacturer.

John Forbis

I currently play a Taylor 614 ce, but since you asked what my dream guitar would be if money where no obsticle - I'd buy a Olson (www.olsonguitars.com).

dustin

I play a Taylor 412ce and love it! Glad to see Taylor made the top of the list!

KendallPayne

Um, heck yes!!! Taylor baby! All the way! That's real chick rockers play! :-)

Chris Gates

Vicky, that's a nice Gibson you're playing in the photo on your Twitter page. Yay for Gibson!!!...and for you. You are an amazing singer/songwriter. Love your stuff. Thank you for sharing your world with ours. Grace and peace from Austin, TX.

Jonathan Paul

Great post!

My acoustic is a Seagull that I bought from my bro so he could get a Taylor. Seagulls are pretty good for the money, but Taylor is a much nicer guitar if you ask me. I'm not much of an expert in this arena though...

acoustic guitar

I vote takamine

Sesh

Hi Vicky,

I randomly came across your blog when I was doing research about wisdom teeth extraction (i'm 24 turning 25) and the risk of it all [short term numbness and permanently being numb]-- which is completely freaking me out. I am a Christian myself but have been on that spiritual roller coaster where I am currently in that stage where I start to question God all over again. But after I came across your site, I forgot that I haven't been fully acknowledging God, nor placing trust in almost everything in Him. And, forgot what the feeling was like when we place our trust in Him (which is a peaceful feeling).

I just wanted to say Thank you, for your music and your warm heart, and blogging! (Am also listening to your songs on myspace) :).

Thank you :)

Elizabeth Jane

I'm going to go ahead and keep dreaming of a:
- Taylor Koa Series GA-K Acoustic
- Gibson J180
- or Gibson J200
Pipe dreams of a pauper.
Cheers.

craigdparrish

Olson's are AMAZING... Phil Keaggy and James Taylor can't be wrong after 20 years. :0)

http://www.olsonguitars.com/videos/pksalvationa...

jblasongame

Great Post,
You should follow this up with a post about essentials for a traveling guitar player. Should you bring your own DI, cables, mic, in-ear stuff? Or is the basic assumption that the places you go won't have cruddy gear?

jonathanwilson

Hey Vicky,
I'm looking forward to worshipping with you in Toronto in a couple weeks! We are singing Yesterday, Today and Forever this week at church - it's become a favourite of mine since I saw the New Song Cafe instructional video for it and started using the tips you gave there.
As far as guitar's go, I've been playing/leading for 4 years now. Early on I got to play a '69 Gibson Dove that belonged to my brother-in-law. When he asked for it back I went back to my old Sigma DT-4N which was really not that great. This past spring I was finally able to buy a Taylor - a 214ce and I love it - it's great for an amateur like me! I'd love to be able to even try out a MacPherson some day - it's my dream guitar!
Blessings as you continue to follow and lead!
~Jonathan

nathanmitchell

Kudos for Talor Guitars!

Nathan