My first acoustic guitar

[well I never]

Hello! I bought an AS-200 a couple of weeks ago and It amazing. I have been playing electric guitar for around eight years now and have always shied away from acoustic guitar. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to guitars and if it does not say Gibson or Fender then it doesn’t even warrant a look. I have three gibos’ and two fenders, all American and very expensive. The misses likes the sound of an acoustic and said "why don’t you get one?" So we went down the local shop (a big shop in B’ham) I thought, pay around eight to nine hundred for a good one. I tried a Yamaha, really nice a Taylor, even nicer. The chap in the shop said try this Avalon, I thought ‘hello this is nice’ and it’s a good price (about four hundred an fifty quid). But I have never heard of Avalon guitars?! I’ve heard of Yamaha and Taylor, I’ll try them again nice, but let me try the Avalon again. Yes this is the one perfect balance of bass and treble across the strings, sustain lasts forever, an E played on the D string at the 2nd fret and the whole guitar has that thing you know , I can just sit there my head rested on the body, my eyes closed , playing everything I know, she is amazing my new best friend and so well made. The action is perfect.

Avalon makers I salute you and thank you!

It sounds like I work for them I know but give me some wood and a saw and someone will lose an eye and I will probably lose my fingers (some people in the guitar world would be quite happy, you can’t stop art I cry!)

I am now an Avalon snob and proud!!!!

[desant89]

I am glasd to hear it. I am ecpecting delivery of my AS200CE today. I am left-handed so I did not have the opportunity to play it somewhere first, but a guitar dealer that I have dealt with several times insists I try this Avalon. I tried an Alvarez AD60sc which had great reviews, but sounded very tinny to me, and I sent it back. I am hoping my search is over now. Good luck wiht yours. I hope my opinion is the same.

[jdwxly]

I've been playing my AS200CE for about a month now and it has been great! My Seagull SM6 hasn't even been out of its case since the Avalon came home.

[Shaun]

Glad you like your new Avalon.
I am in a full time acoustic guitar duo.We play avalons becuse they are the best.We have tried them all.
There are some great guitars out there,but I KNOW Avalon bring it all together in their guitars-great tone,they are easy to play,they stay in tune for our two and a half hour gigs(we play hard),and they are exceptionally roadworthy,which is so important if you gig alot.
A good friend and playing partner(and a great fingerpicker)recently went down to London and bought an Avalon L-25.I think he played all the guitars in the shop(and there were lots),he bought the Avalon in the end and in hindsight,this was the right guitar for him-he has been playing for over 30 years.
I am sure Avalon will grow as a company.When you have such experienced players(as my friend)choosing Avalon over many other established guitar makers,the future looks good.

[well I never]

desant89, was your AS200CE all you expected?

I am still in love with my AS-200.

Shaun, I’m glad you like your Avalon, funny thing about tuning, I haven't tune mine since I bought it and when I saw my mate the other day and when we jammed we were in perfect tune! What are the chances of that happening? Please stop me if I am being too funny! He had this Taylor he bought recently for about £1800 I thought ‘oh man let me get my hands on it!’ what a disappointment , it looked beautiful and was very well made but something missing, oh yea tone, volume and playability. Was it me? No, he played my AS-200 and you could see the look, you know what I mean. he loved my Avalon but would not admit it was far superior, as was evident by volume, tone and playability. Am I smug?………………….YES.

Oh and by the way I saw Thunder at Rock City Nottingham the other night doing their Christmas show, 97% acoustic some fantastic versions of their heavy rock songs played country and swing , too cool! We (that’s the wife and I) were privileged to be there sharing a moment like that. Two and a half hours of them playing what they wanted was an experience! It was like being part of a family get together, too brilliant for words! Oh and lots of inflatable snowmen, Santa’s ‘n snow!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy new year to you all!

Avalon , in a word? Please help!

[Funat1st]

Seems like everyone who plays these guitars becomes part of the public relations department for Avalon. I swear I’m not on the payroll!

I’m basically an electric guitar player, but I browse the shops with an ‘acoustic’ friend who’d sort of been trying to talk me into a Lowden. We found a D200ce in a shop just south of San Francisco, and it knocked me out! I had just purchased an American Fender so I was ‘guitared’ out for the year; sadly, I had to put the Avalon back on the rack. You know how that goes.

It haunted me for about a week. I couldn’t stand it any more so I asked my friend (who lives closest to the shop) to see if the D200 was still there. I knew I would regret not having this instrument.

Bad news, buddy: he tells me it’s GONE. I get over it.

Couple of weeks later he calls me and says he has an old guitar that's just cluttering up a closet, wants to know if I would take a look at it and set it up. Yeah. It’s was the Avalon. I paid him on the spot and haven’t looked back since!

Been playing this instrument for over a year now and it’s really changed the way I think about guitars, both playing and listening. Checked out some small venue clubs to hear players like Richard Thompson and John Renbourn – and others like Bensusan and Peppino D’Agostino – people who make pretty good use of acoustic guitars - and now I live in a whole new world!

Avalon snobs unite! (But let's try to be humble, ey?!!!)

Desant89: Did you get yours yet? Give us a review.

[Shaun]

Hey Funatlst.The great thing is you can really enjoy your Avalon and your Fender.I regularly play and gig with my Avalon and Telecaster.
One day I may feel like playing electric so I pick up my Tele.The next My Avalon.
The players you have mentioned are great.Check out Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel.I think you will like him.Check out his concert dvd.
What brand and gauge strind do you use on your Avalon?
p.s.Richard Thompson also lives in both the acoustic and electric world.
Keep playing that great guitar.I gig in two different duos.One of my partners has an L-32,the other an L-25.I have an L-360 and a Lowden 0-10.These are the perfect guitars.Sometimes I can feel the pressure of a gig and the last thing I want to worry about is my guitar.Our Avalons are always right there with us.They have never let us down.

[Funat1st]

Yeah, I guess things ain’t so bad when the worst of my problems is whether to play the ‘casters or the Avalon… Funny you should mention your Tele – that’s my favorite playing guitar and leads to a notion out there on the horizon.
I’m the new kid on the block here so I’m going to spend a couple of weeks going over all the posts – chat it up and learn as much as possible – my notion is that maybe the Avalon folks could build me a guitar with a faster neck for lighter strings (fashioned more like the Tele’s). I have collected and played American electrics for years, and I’m willing to sell some of them to bankroll the job. I’m salivating already.
Anyway, about strings: the folks who play 12+ gauge sets kick sand in my face. Sorry. I just don’t have the hand strength or stamina. Light electrics have spoiled me.
I spent 8 months finding THE set for my Avalon – settled on D’Addario 80/20 bronze for the wound E, A and D: 47, 35, and 26. For the plain G, B and e: 18, 14 and 10 brass plated steels. I use standard tuning. The tensions are very evenly balanced across the board and work well for me, and the brass plating seems to warm thing up a bit. (I put my own sets together - buy them as singles from JustStrings.com out of New Hampshire USA.) The lighter set did require a relief adjustment. And I think I hear some booing and hissing about the unwound G, but what can I say?
Loss of tone? Negligible. The D200 sound is so BIG that it has all the headroom I need.
I went all the way down to 8 gauge all nickel-steels (Renbourn, per interview, plays all steels) before there was a noticeable degradation (tonal instability and muddy chords).
And thanks for the tip. I’ve heard of Emmanuel –I’ll check him out.

[Shaun]

Hey Again Funatlst,
Don't let any body tell you what string gauge to use.I use quite a light set myself(D'addario EXP-26,gauged ,11-.52)
I gig hard with these and they lso record well.
Sounds like you use pretty much a D'Addario extra light set.I know of two other great acoustic players that use these sets.JIm Nichols(who has recorded a great c.d.with Tommy Emmanuel called Chet Lag) and Jacques Stotzem who has his very own Avalon signature model.So you are in good company.
I feel with modern amps.and as you mentioned great guitars like Avalons you do not need to use heavy strings.Besides I play for hours every day and I find anything heavier than .11-52 may lead to a repetetive strain injury,as I play full-time I cannot afford to be out of action.
Have you tried the D'addario EXP's?They really last and I think sound good.
Keep pickin'

[Funat1st]

Testing 1 2 3 ... having a problem posting...

[Funat1st]

Let's try it again...

Yes, I modeled my set after the EXPs. The bug was that G string! The wound G's are too stiff for me. With the plain 18, I can bend it up a full note +. The G string is my pivot point and the rest of the set was designed around it. Also, I noticed that if you graph the string tensions, most sets have a jagged or irregular line. As an A--- Retentive Inveterate Tinkerer, I felt the overall tension might be improved. I think it is a vast improvement - half-vast at least. The phosphor-bronzes are richer, but the 80/20 brasses are a bit brighter which might make up for any loss in tone. Cheaper, too.

Curiously, you mentioned EXP-26s. I designed a "new improved" set for a friend based on that set. Changed it from 11-16-23-42-52 to 11-16-22-30-39-49. Notice the bottom end is a bit lighter - resulting in a beautifully arced tension curve! He didn't see an improvement. Thinks I'm a lunatic. Well, one of us is right , ey?

BTW, I use D'Addario EXL120+ (9 1/2 - 44) on my electrics, and even that's heavy for me, so you see where I'm coming from with light sets. Nine and one half e string. One half! The holy grail.

Could talk for years about strings. Nice discourse. Thanks.

Jim

[Shaun]

Jim,On the electric side(string wise)Brian May used an.8-.38 set(I believe).He got a great tone.
It is a good idea to try different brands of strings also on Avalons.To quote Tommy Emmanuel'use what strings your guitar likes,not what you or anybody else likes'.This is so true.Certain guitars will stay in tune better with a particular brand of strings and perhaps not so well with another brand.I sometimes like to use 80/20 bronze(as opposed to phosphor bronze) on my cedar topped 0-10 Lowden,as it being a warm sounding guitar the brighter strings suit it and it cuts through at a gig,particularly if we are playing acoustically,like at a house concert.
Yup,sometimes I feel like Dr.String.It is an interesting subject and one that is often overlooked.