Hello everyone. How are you on this fine day? Hope everyone is healthy and happy!

Its been 32 days since i became guitarless (wow,its like im in a anonymous alcoholics meeting ) due to selling my E1OM and buying a E6D-TC that im desperately waiting to arrive. I will not describe the choice problem when i was choosing the right guitar for me. Its like pokemon - "got to catch them all". So it was a pretty hard choice.

Anyhow. 32 days is a lot, im starting to feel the need to play on anything that has strings on it + i will need a camping guitar that  will take during travels. No way im going to take my precious (E6D-TC) on those trips.

I do realize that there is a million choces here. But id like to hear community members experience with this. What would be your substitute guitar choice with a budget of 350$?  Like something you are able to take camping or throw in the boot of your car without regret.

Thank you!

In the not too distant future I'm going to be looking for a teacher.  I recently switched from electrics to acoustics and want a teacher for two reasons.  First to explore fingerstyle playing. I started out playing fingerstyle a long time ago and want to refocus and get some solid direction.  I don't have a specific genre in mind but am open to new influences.  Second to put some structure back in my practice routine.  I've learned and forgotten so much over the years and late in life here want to maximize my learning and growth as a player.  

Any suggestions?  Thanks!

I didn't want to hijack Tim's recent thread on a similar theme - so:-


https://youtu.be/HmjRM3AziTY

Hi - can anyone tell me whether the pins which come with the E2OM are ebony or plastic? On the Eastman website it states that they are plastic, but a shop I spoke to thinks they are ebony. Can anyone clear this up for me? Thanks!

Aside from this video being pretty funny, I think he makes some fair points and his approach to music and playing guitar actually fits how I approach fingerstyle (ear training plus focusing on melody/bass fingerings).  If you watch some of his other channel videos he's a very talented player. 

I thought this would be a fun topic to debate, curious what y'all think?

I have two slopes in the house, a Walker 'Wise River' and a new to me Guild Orpheum 12 Fret D. Both are mahogany and red spruce with full hide glue construction. The Guild is basically a Smeck, complete with a huge 1.85" neck, made in their New Hartford factory when Ren Ferguson was there. The Wise River is a J35 copy built by Montana luthier and former Gibson employee, John Walker. Ren and John started the Gibson Custom Shop in Bozeman back around '89. Ren is now back in Montana building under his own name with his son.

I guess I just couldn't wait any longer for the Smeckman!

So, since I'm officially old now(70- man I can't get used to that) I decided to get another new Eastman since I don't have a lot of years left. Ted and Helene have a newly listed AC722CE that I jumped on this morning. Haven't tried a guitar with a sound hole, but I'm intrigued. I'm just a stay at home player so I play for my own enjoyment only. What matters is what I hear, not what someone else does. I hope that the sound hole gives more volume to me the player.
  In '18 I bought an AC322CE, but compared to the Blueridge BR-140A I bought the month before it just didn't stand up. So I traded it in on a Yamaha A5R two years ago. Today I went to GC and sold the Blueridge and the E10SS/v that I had for a year. I took a bath on the E10, but I knew I would.  Before I left the house I ordered the 722. The bridge on the Blueridge was lifted a little on the back corners. For all I know it was that way when I bought it. I talked to a tech at GC and he said he's seen a number of Blueridge with this issue. He's not a pseudo tech. We've talked a number of times over the years and he knows his stuff. 
  So now the wait. When I ordered the E40D at the end of Feb., Ted held that guitar till the following Monday so it didn't sit on a truck over the weekend. I'm hoping he does the same thing this time. We'll see if the LR Baggs unit is better than the Fishman Matrix that was in the 322. I hope it is even though I'll be playing just acoustically most of the time.

On another forum someone mentioned that they didn't think highly of the Baggs system used in the AC422 that I bought. I wasn't big on using it in the first place but it got me thinking. If I was going to buy an amp it would be an inexpensive one like a Fishman Loudbox Mini. Any thoughts about whether the sound would be worth it? I mean could I get a decent tone with that set up?

I have to use coated strings, I seem to be able to rust out a set of uncoated strings in a matter of hours. 

I've been playing my 822ce-FF a lot recently, mostly for dropped tunings. While my goto is normally Elixir nano PB's, they just weren't giving me the clarity I wanted for my fingerstyle stuff on that guitar. So I tried the new D'Adarrio XS strings. I like them a lot. They brought back the clarity I know that guitar has. They almost don't feel like they are coated. I don't know how long they will last yet, they've only been on for a few days. Interestingly enough, They sounded ok the first day, but a lot better and brighter the 2nd day. The only downside to me is the price. But hey, if I can get a few months out of them I guess I can live with it.