Thread [Getting started] Top brands for acoustic folk guitars

Prolly totally against the grain here - but I test drove a wall full of Martins - all new and all very pretty. Soundwise they went "thunk" and had so little resonance that I thought they all came stuffed with dirty socks from the factory employee's laundry.

Whazzat all about?

Martin was THE go-to name for what seems forever and now they appear to be gathering money to move to Belize as the executives get older and wiser.

So - in the same store they had RAINSONG https://youtu.be/9DHnF6Y-sj4guitars. I picked one up on a lark and honestly I was greeted with the sound that the Martins didn't have - sweet resonance and full sounding reverberating richness.

These aren't cheap ----> $1200.00 plus or minus a little.

TBH > I'm a Fender fanboi - that or the headstock has to have my logo on it (I build slab bass and acoustic and slab guitars and have started on some mandolins for a while.

I don't shill for anybody - not even myself as I don't build to sell. I tend to keep all that I make but I might've been commissioned once in a while.

Anyway - I think the Rainsong guitars bear a tryout by people looking for a guitar that sounds good, is a very good conversation-starter and certainly won't warp in humidity changes. You can use one for a canoe paddle and then shake the water out and play it. Try that with a Martin - or even a Johnson!

martins