Acoustic Guitar under $918-$999

Four instruments reside in our Shootout’s top-dollar category: A Gibson Gospel ($999, including case), a Martin D-l ($995, including case), a Sigma SDR-41 ($939), and a Taylor 410 ($918).

Let’s start with the meticulously built Taylor. in our Mar. ‘93 acoustic-electric Shootout, a preamp-equipped 410 didn’t fare too well. This time around, it’s a different story-. Our lat est 410 was deemed “sensual” and “balanced” and, after much deliberation, turned out to be many testers’ overall law.

The American-made 410 scores points for its solid African mahogany back and sides. The Guild D6-S, competing in division 2, is the only other contestant with non-laminated body parts. Bob Taylor had some intriguing comments on the subject: “Typically, when you use a lot of plywood in guitars it gives them a generic tone. You don’t get the nuances of an individual piece of wood. However, many builders feel—and I agree—that a guitar’s sides should be stiff and strong, and the possibility exists for veneered sides to be every bit as good as solid ones. In fact, Ramirez [ guitars feature two-ply rosewood sides. Some of the finest classical builders make their own plywood for this purpose.”

The 410 boasts the best frets of the Shootout. They’re completely even on either side of the ebony fretboard, perfectly seated and crowned, with nary a file mark to be found. Folks, frets don’t get any better, but they sure get a lot worse, as we’ll see. In a break with Taylor tradition and conventional luthiery the 4 10’s frets are pressed into the fretboard before it’s affixed to the neck, not hammered in after the fact.

The Taylor’s pinless ebony bridge has some pros and cons. (These comments also apply to two other guitars that feature pinless bridges—the Takamine N- and Ovation Balladeerj On the up side, there are no pins to lose. (Ever misplaced a bridge pin while changing strings before a show? Yikes.) Nor do you have the problem of ball ends puffing up while you’re tuning or getting stuck in the bridgeplate. On the down side, we had to put a right- angle bend in the end of the treble strings to get them over the saddle after they’d poked through the bridge hole. Also, the ball end in evitably scrapes across the top as you pull a string through; we wonder about long-term wear and tear. Though classical guitars use pinless bridges, they’re a source of controversy among steel-string luthiery. On the 410, however, we were unable to attribute specific sonic drawbacks to this bridge design.

The Taylor’s interior is pristine, a model of workmanship. No glue globs, splintered braces, or broken kerfing. One tester found it hard to get comfortable with the 410’s very large, squarish body. Like many Shootout guitars, the 410 has matte finish. Says Taylor, “A matte finish reduces labor. Applying and buffing a gloss finish, takes a good deal of time.” The 410’s finish feels smooth, but looks drab in comparison to the Martin D-1, whose semi gloss finish glows seductively like a Rembrandt paintings.

Sonically, the Taylor has a full-bodied, well- balanced sound. Its highs project well for fingerpicking. Intonation is sweet. Big chords ring with presence and authority On several occasions, however, different testers made the same comment: When thrashed, the 410 sounds compressed. At high volumes, the soundwaves seem to swim within the 410’s body, more so than with the Martin or Gibson.

The D-1, made in Martin’s Pennsylvania factory, has a spruce top, a two-piece solid mahogany back, and laminated mahogany sides. The blonde Gospel, built-in Gibson’s Montana plant, has a sitka spruce top, solid mahogany sides, and an arched, laminated “tone back” The latter eliminates the need for a back center strip or crossbraces, which results in a delightfully light-weight instrument.

The Martin has a luminescent cross-link, environmentally friendly semi-gloss finish and beautiful tortoise-shell binding. Even the bridge pins have tortoise inlays. (“They’ve really succeeded in making it look like a more expensive Martin.”) The Gospel’s super-gloss finish looks stylish. (“Shiny, bright, and proud.”) Visually, both instruments upstage the decidedly plain-Jane 410. When it comes to workmanship, however, neither matches the Taylor. The fretwork on the D-1 is particularly disappointing; its fret edges are trimmed unevenly. (“Who chewed the frets on this?”) We spotted some glue leaking out from under a fret—not what we associate with Martin workmanship. The Gospel’s fretwork is better, but not immaculate like the 4 10’s. (Martin’s Dick Boak comments, “Your Shootout suggests that the D-l’s fret ends need attention and as a direct result, we have already begun to address this issue.”)

Both the D4 and Gospel have clean, trim interiors. (The D-1 smells great too.) The D-1 has generic imported die-cast tuners, the Gospel offers Deluxe Klusons, and the Taylor sports our favorite—good ol’ Grovers. (Says Boak, “Grovers have been manufactured in Taiwan for over ten years. Though they are regarded with some nostalgia in the market place, many makers do not hold these tuners in high regard. Our research indicates that the D-1’s Reliance tuners have considerably smoother action and better gear wear than either old American Grovers or the newer im ported ones.”) The Martin’s tuners are not uniformly aligned; one side is angled more steeply than the other. This is visible from across the room. Hmm.

The Martin has a glued neck joint. An internal bolt functions as a clamp to keep things aligned during the gluing process. After the fact, the bolt/clamp remains as a part of the instrument. The Taylor sports a bolt-on neck (don’t confuse this with a typical Fender solid-body bolt-on system—the Taylor’s apparatus is not visible), while the Gospel has a traditional glued dovetail neck joint. We could devote an entire article to the pros and cons of each system (the debate would center around such issues as stability and ease of removal for neck resetting). We’ve checked with luthiers and repairmen; while there’s no clear right or wrong, there’s certainly no dearth of opinions. Using an internal clamp is a new approach for Martin. Every mod el Taylorbuilds features a bolt-on neck.

Setup is first-rate on all three guitars. Time and again, however, the Gospel drew positive comments about its wider string spacing which I facilitates fingerpicking and just plain feels good.

Sonically, the D-1, 410, and Gospel acquit themselves superbly. The Gospel, with its strong, almost brash sound, turned heads each time it was played. The ax (which boasts a lifetime warranty) delivers a very satisfying tschank when you punch an open E chord When you caress a single note, the over tones sustain and sing. The comments were impassioned: “An old J-45, it’s in there.” “This is what everyone wants Gibsons to sound like.” “A vintage Gibson waiting to happen.” “Early James Taylor, man, ‘Fire And Rain—just listen.” After days and days of playing, we concluded that despite its name, the Gospel is a quintessential rock acoustic. If your tastes run toward the Beatles, Byrds, Stones, Crowes, or hey, even Jane’s Addiction, this Gospel is for you. It has an explosive tone: big, bright, packed with character, chock full of lower mids.

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