What is the best acoustic guitar for strumming (in your opinion)?

[Neil K Walk]

Martin D-35 or HD-35. It's like a grand piano when played solo but ya gotta have pipes to match though. I was intrigued when I first heard Ray LaMontagne play one and later fell in love when I came across a few stellar ones in local shops.

[jackcooper]

Originally Posted by mikedanton

I'm in the market for something that sounds great as a strummer.

I know everyone's got a different opinion on what makes a good strumming tone, but I want to hear your opinions.

Cheers.

Mike.

Good question, and a question I was going to ask myself.

I've played plenty of guitars, but some definitely weren't good strummers.

I think a balanced tone is the most important thing in a strummer. I hate too

much treble with a passion.

My mates D-18 sounds great, but I like the sound of the Gibson J-45 too.

Might get myself one of those, or a Martin of some kind.

[jackcooper]

Just wanted to add this quote from Richie Havens.

Being the king of strumming I thought it would be of interest to some.

"I find them (Guild) to be the only guitars with equal volume across all strings. For strumming, they're absolutely perfect. You don't lose one sense of the chord, any aspect of the chord. With nothing mute or different on any one string you get a really full sound. For me, Gibson guitars are top heavy, so the harder you hit them the less bass you got out of them. Mainly because, I think, they were made as picking guitars.
Martin guitars are just too good for me [laughs], too sensitive. They wouldn't last on the plane with me, the way I treat guitars. They're so sensitive they would curl up. I just need a utility guitar. The Guilds have always had these great truss rods. The guys with Martins always treasure them, like they were babies and play them real gently and then very gingerly put them away and close the cover [laughs]".

[rmyAddison]

Originally Posted by jackcooper

Just wanted to add this quote from Richie Havens.

Being the king of strumming I thought it would be of interest to some.

"I find them (Guild) to be the only guitars with equal volume across all strings. For strumming, they're absolutely perfect. You don't lose one sense of the chord, any aspect of the chord. With nothing mute or different on any one string you get a really full sound. For me, Gibson guitars are top heavy, so the harder you hit them the less bass you got out of them. Mainly because, I think, they were made as picking guitars.
Martin guitars are just too good for me [laughs], too sensitive. They wouldn't last on the plane with me, the way I treat guitars. They're so sensitive they would curl up. I just need a utility guitar. The Guilds have always had these great truss rods. The guys with Martins always treasure them, like they were babies and play them real gently and then very gingerly put them away and close the cover [laughs]".

King of strumming??

I've seen Richie twice, he is a very average guitar player who has gotten a lot of mileage out of a few tunings, barre chords and a thumb wrap. He is certainly entitled to his opinions about guitars but great player not even close. He is much more an entertainer than serious guitar player.........

[jackcooper]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

King of strumming??

I've seen Richie twice, he is a very average guitar player who has gotten a lot of mileage out of a few tunings, barre chords and a thumb wrap. He is certainly entitled to his opinions about guitars but great player not even close. He is much more an entertainer than serious guitar player.........

I beg to differ. I've just finished listening to a bunch of Richie's live acoustic albums, and I've never heard anyone that can strum like him.

He might not be an all round guitar player, but for rhythmical strumming I don't think anyone comes close.

[cke]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

Entry level, mid range, high end?

Some great strummers:

Martin D-28, HD-28, D-18GE
Gibson AJ, SJ
Bourgeois Country Boy
Santa Cruz Tony Rice, PW dreads
Collings Varnish dreads

and the list goes on. If I had to pick one it would be the Martin D-18GE, which are just stupid good at everything if you can handle the neck profile. Used I think the are the best dread deal on the planet.

Agreed.

Any dread, or jumbo. Most OM's or 000's, and good small guitars the the Larrivee's strum great if your expectation allows for the lighter tone.

Really any steel string strums well. What do you want to use it for?

[rmyAddison]

Originally Posted by jackcooper

I beg to differ. I've just finished listening to a bunch of Richie's live acoustic albums, and I've never heard anyone that can strum like him.

He might not be an all round guitar player, but for rhythmical strumming I don't think anyone comes close.

That's fine, we agree to disagree...........

[jackcooper]

Originally Posted by rmyAddison

That's fine, we agree to disagree...........

I hate it when folk say "we agree to disagree" when I'm all fired up for a good argument.(just kidding)

Enjoyed your youtube clips btw.

[mikedanton]

Originally Posted by jackcooper

Just wanted to add this quote from Richie Havens.

Being the king of strumming I thought it would be of interest to some.

"I find them (Guild) to be the only guitars with equal volume across all strings. For strumming, they're absolutely perfect. You don't lose one sense of the chord, any aspect of the chord. With nothing mute or different on any one string you get a really full sound. For me, Gibson guitars are top heavy, so the harder you hit them the less bass you got out of them. Mainly because, I think, they were made as picking guitars.
Martin guitars are just too good for me [laughs], too sensitive. They wouldn't last on the plane with me, the way I treat guitars. They're so sensitive they would curl up. I just need a utility guitar. The Guilds have always had these great truss rods. The guys with Martins always treasure them, like they were babies and play them real gently and then very gingerly put them away and close the cover [laughs]".

Thanks for the info on Richie. I do enjoy his rhythmic style.

Since writing this post, I've discover that my Martin D-18 is actually an amazing strummer (it's either opened up or just grown on me immensely).

I took it to a jam last week and it sounded far better than the other guitars present. So much so, that one guy tried to buy it off me.

I'm now considering a Rosewood Martin, to have a bit of contrast to the mahogany, but I'll be sure to try some Guilds whilst in the city.

Cheers.

[guitar george]

The best strumming guitar would be a larger and heavier guitar and would most likely be a dreadnought. Try strumming the chords F, C and G, over and over, on various guitars and only a few of them will sound good when strummed hard. Hard strumming is the test for a good strumming guitar and I mean strum harder than you would ever strum normally. Listen for a balanced sound coming from all the strings. The bass, mid range and treble should all be clearly distinguishable. The best strummers, that are properly set up, will not be twangy or buzz. Most guitars, at all price levels, do not sound smooth and balanced when strummed hard. Two guitars that I have found to excel at strumming are Guild and Morgan dreadnoughts. I am sure that there are a lot of guitars, in all price levels, that would also sound as good.

[JimB1]

Originally Posted by guitar george

The best strumming guitar would be a larger and heavier guitar and would most likely be a dreadnought. Try strumming the chords F, C and G, over and over, on various guitars and only a few of them will sound good when strummed hard. Hard strumming is the test for a good strumming guitar and I mean strum harder than you would ever strum normally. Listen for a balanced sound coming from all the strings. The bass, mid range and treble should all be clearly distinguishable. The best strummers, that are properly set up, will not be twangy or buzz. Most guitars, at all price levels, do not sound smooth and balanced when strummed hard. Two guitars that I have found to excel at strumming are Guild and Morgan dreadnoughts. I am sure that there are a lot of guitars, in all price levels, that would also sound as good.

You realize this thread is from 2010 right? I hope he's found a guitar by now
-Jim

[FloridaGull]

A 12-string...

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by guitar george

Most guitars, at all price levels, do not sound smooth and balanced when strummed hard. ...

Most rhythm guitarists strum too hard. On more than one occasion I have been struck by how good a song sounded when Tommy Emmanuel was in a duet and simply strummed his guitar for the benefit of Craig Dobbins or Steve Bennett. I think the two main reasons Tommy sounded so good playing simple rhythm guitar is because he didn’t play too loudly (nor to softly) and because of the precision of his strokes (probably better than most rhythm guitarists can attain). A third reason was that there were no other instruments masking the sound of the rhythm guitar and it was nice to be able to hear it so clearly.

Anyway, if most rhythm players really do play to loudly, then very hard strumming might not be a good technique for evaluating a guitar intended for rhythm duty. I what matters most to me when playing rhythm is a fullness of tone and a richness of harmonics.

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by JimB1

You realize this thread is from 2010 right? I hope he's found a guitar by now
-Jim

Undoubtedly, the author of the opening post has no more use for this thread but others will likely find something of value in it especially if people continue posting to it.

[billgennaro]

Originally Posted by jackcooper

Just wanted to add this quote from Richie Havens.

Being the king of strumming I thought it would be of interest to some.

"I find them (Guild) to be the only guitars with equal volume across all strings. For strumming, they're absolutely perfect. You don't lose one sense of the chord, any aspect of the chord. With nothing mute or different on any one string you get a really full sound. For me, Gibson guitars are top heavy, so the harder you hit them the less bass you got out of them. Mainly because, I think, they were made as picking guitars.
Martin guitars are just too good for me [laughs], too sensitive. They wouldn't last on the plane with me, the way I treat guitars. They're so sensitive they would curl up. I just need a utility guitar. The Guilds have always had these great truss rods. The guys with Martins always treasure them, like they were babies and play them real gently and then very gingerly put them away and close the cover [laughs]".

But since Richie is the only human who has ever strummed like that in the history of mankind, you might want to take what he says with a grain of salt.

While working at Guild many years ago, I replaced the top of one of his guitars. Not only did he wear a huge hole through the top but there were no fewer than a dozen pieces of chewing gum stuck to the inside of the guitar. No, not everyone plays like Richie!