Advise on Possible Purchase

[Carl]

I am in the market for a new acoustic and I had originally decided on a Taylor 214 (mostly due to budget – I found one here in Charleston, SC for $699). As my window for purchase has extended, I researched a little more and found Avalon. I’m a big fan of Lowden guitars (one of my worship leaders plays one) and since Avalon was born from Lowden, I got really excited.

The problem is, I’ve never heard or played Avalon guitars and there are no local dealers. What’s more, I’m a little worried that the Silver Series won’t measure up to the Taylor as far as clarity and volume. The AS201 is a beautiful guitar and the price is right, but I’m not terribly sure about the laminated back and sides.

The reviews I’ve read are pretty complimentary, but I wanted to ask you, as uisers and manufacturers of Avalon, about your opinion. I love the clarity of the bottom end of the Taylor (spruce), but I’ve heard that the Red Cedar top on the Avalon makes the tone a little warmer and smoother all around, maintaining clarity, which is great, too.

On another note. I really don't want a Taylor...everyone here has em'.
Sometimes you just have to be different.

If it’s not too much trouble, please let me know what you think. Any advise is great. Thank you so much for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

[Jimbo]

Try and stretch your budget to get an Irish one if you can. They are very good quality. I have an A200c (spruce top, rosewood back and sides.) which is pretty much at the bottom of the food chain for Irish Avalons and it just sounds better and better.

I can't say I've played a cedar topped guitar of comparable quality to my avalon but my personal preference now is for spruce. If your not careful and / or strum too hard cedar can sound quite wooly. Having said that, my cedar topped guitar was about a quarter of the price of my Avalon. Cedar certainly does sound warmer and more bassy than spruce which has more of a sparkle to it. If you haven't looked at the sound samples page of the main site I recommend you do that now

I recommend you have a look on ebay (it can be a bit daunting spending so much on a guitar you haven't played, find someone who'll take it back if you're not happy.)

[Carl]

Thanks so much. I'll take a look at those.

[Jimbo]

I took the liberty of having a look:

http://instruments.search.ebay.com/avalon_Guitar_W0QQcatrefZC12QQcoactionZcompareQQcoentrypageZsearchQQcopagenumZ1QQfromZR10QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQsacatZ3858QQsaprchiZQQsaprcloZ

The L12 custom looks quite nice (if a bit pricey), and the D201ce is certainly an Irish one. The other option of course is to buy direct from the factory. Theres still an irish made silver series on ebay uk. I think generally they only make legacy's in Ireland now (correct me if I'm wrong, of course )

[Son of Thunder]

Carl,

Resist the Dark Side, go with Avalon! Seriously, I play a Lowden myself, and though I'm very happy with it, I sometimes feel like a lone voice in the wilderness among worship leaders. Taylor appears to have quite a foothold in the worship community. Personally, I think time spent looking at Avalon is time well spent. I'm constantly getting compliments on my guitar's sound - believe me, it's not my playing!

[Sic]

I have played the silver series in a local guitar store last year and was very very impressed, so much that I made it my goal to get one. Then I went to the factory and played a gold series a200ce and bought it there and then. Whilst the silver is a very good buy and has great sound for the price, the sustain and tone from the gold was definetly a lot better. My advice is to save your pennies and get a gold series guitar.
The factory in Newtownards maufactures both the legacy series and the gold series guitars. If you want a truly made Irish guitar, "go for gold!" (really hope that doesn't sound as cheesey as it looks as I type it )
You wont be dissappointed.
I lead the praise group in my church and some people who have never held a guitar in thier lives commented on the sound coming from my new baby!

BTW JB, this sales pitch has gotta by worth a free Avalon strap !

[JB]

If I had Avalon straps you'd be first on the list for a free one