First Post....First Seagull

[JR71]

Hey all,

I found this site while researching Seagull guitars on line. Since I went and purchased one, I figured I'd join here and share with you all.

I've been playing for a few years now, I got into playing a little late and never took lessons (self taught) but it seems to come pretty easy for me. While I still have a lot to learn about theory of music and all, I feel pretty comfortable playing. A friend and I play small gigs in our area at local pubs and we have a blast doing it. Just the two of us with acoustics and we play a wide variety of music from the early stuff, (Beatles, Springsteen, Cash, Seger) to the newer stuff (Greenday, Cold Play, Matchbox 20, etc..) and pretty much everything in between. If it can translate well with two acoustic guitars, we'll give it a shot.

Anyway, I've been playing a few different guitars over the years. I currently play a Taylor and a Breedlove while my buddy in the band plays a Seagull. Well I absolutely love the way his Seagull sounds and have told him many times that my next guitar would be a Seagull. I figured it was time to make the move so I grabbed the Breedlove and headed off to the local music store. My wife just shook her head and said "You're getting ANOTHER guitar!?" Well I ended up trading in the Breedlove and ordered a Seagull Artist Studio Burst full dread. They had a few Artist series to play and they all played wonderfully. They didn't have the Burst in stock so i guess I'll just have to suffer through a week or so till it comes in......I can't wait!!

I'll post pics when it arrives. I plan on using it for my gigs and I opted for the QII electronics instead of the LR Bags I beam. They had both and while they both sounded great, I liked the controllability of the little boom mic in the sound hole with the QII set up. By phasing it in and out, I was able to get some real rich and full sounds out of it. Well I've been long enough, I'll post again once it arrives.

later....

[JR71]

Well, As promised.....here are a few pics of my new Artist Burst.

The pics don't do it justice, this is one absolutely beautiful guitar and it plays just as good as it looks. I couldn't be happier with my purchase!

[Angus]

Great pics - love that finish.

[JR71]

Thanks Angus....

I see that you also just purchased a Seagull, congratulations and I hope you like yours as much as I like mine, I can't put it down!

I have a gig on the 28th, it's going to be the Seagull's debut on stage. I'm looking forward to it and for the first time in a long time my Taylor will be sitting on it's stand in the corner as a back up guitar.

I just picked up a Marshall AS50D amp to replace my Fender acoustic amp. The Marshall blows the Fender away, although I must admit the Marshall is a 50 watt and the Fender a 30 watt. They aren't even close in sound though, not straight out the amp or through the board. The Marshall really sounds like the guitar and that's very important for the way we play. As stated it's just two guys with acoustic guitars so it's important that the sound from the speakers sounds like.....well acoustic guitars . My buddy also has a Marshall (AS50R) and it really complemented his Seagull and was the main reason for me to purchase my Marshall. We just had a practice and the sound was for lack of a better word, fantastic! Very crisp, clear, and unmistakably acoustic!

We play for the shear enjoyment of it, sure we get paid but it's not about the money, hell it will take me another ten years of gig money to even pay off the gear I've purchased over the years! At my age (44) I'm playing for fun and there is no way I'm going to do it with gear that isn't "just right" for the style of music and venues we play. Don't get me wrong, my Taylor sounds good, very good. I'd even say it has slightly more projection unplugged but the Seagull (to me at least) sounds better plugged in. The QT2 electronics has a little mic in the sound hole and that along with a under saddle pick up capture a great sound from the guitar. That little mic is simply awesome and really complements the saddle pickup to create a full acoustic sound...I can't say enough about it. I might add, the Taylor cost me well over twice what I paid for the Seagull so it's not about the cost. I'll be interested to see how the Seagull "ages" as I play it more and compare it's unplugged sound to the Taylor after a few months of playing. I think for the money you're not going to find a better 100% all solid wood guitar.

[babybaek]

Sorry to reply to such an old post. Do you still play the same guitar? I just got the same guitar and I really love it!

[JR71]

Yep, I still have and play this guitar. It sounds better every day as it "ages", I still couldn't be happier with my purchase.

I did just order a Guild however and got rid of the Taylor but I plan on keeping and continue playing the Seagull. I just wanted to try something different and never owned a Guild so I figured "what the hell". I had the opportunity to play one recently and it felt, played and sounded good so I ordered one.

Getting back to the Artist Burst...It's a great stage guitar. It keeps it's tune even when using a capo. I also tune it a 1/2 step down (e-flat) and it doesn't faze it in the least. I didn't even need to adjust the truss rod, it's just a very reliable gigging guitar. I like the built in tuner, no need for a foot tuner and it's easy to operate and see (my eyes aren't what they used to be) while on stage. I get plenty of compliments on it too, it's just a sweet looking axe!!

Congrats on your Seagull, I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

[babybaek]

Yup. I've been playing more than 10hrs a week.

One thing about this seagull is that the (slightly) high action (which I initially thought was fine) was actually a bit higher for fast scale picking up on high frets (I can still do it but it's not as easy as some other guitars I've tried...for example, some $4000 martins and breedloves...but then again, they are $4000. I still have mine untouched from the factory set-up. Did you set yours up at the guitar store to fix the action or did you leave yours at the factory setup? Also I guess if you're a hard strummer, this set-up would be ideal.

Also have you tried different strings on the guitar? I really liked the sound of the godin strings that were on them. I've since then put on elixar nanoweb (since I had a box). it's decent but I wonder if you have good luck with certain sets, I'd like to give it a try.

[JR71]

I originally adjusted the truss rod to lower the action ever so slightly. I'm using just plain old Phosphor Bronze D'Addario strings (13-56 Medium) and I have no complaints with them. I've thought about trying different strings and still may but to be honest It's hard for me to tell the difference. I'm strictly a rhythm guitarist and mostly a chord player with a little lead here and there (intros and such) and the D'Addario's seem to be nice and bright so I keep using them. I change them before every show, about once every three weeks or so.

[babybaek]

About the action. I did have a guitar tech lower the action slightly. I thought about doing it myself, but with a nice guitar I wouldn't trust myself with it. They adjusted the nut and saddle to lower the action and my fingers are grateful for it. The guitar tech said that the factory setup's action is quite high compared to other company's.

The more I've been noticing the tone of the guitar. Compared to other spruce + rosewood combo, it sounds punchier. So chords strumming sounds really good, and you can strum pretty damn loud. But I feel like it isn't the best for fingerpicking (while I do a lot of flatpicking) for the same reason. Apparently, the solid spruce top is Adirondack spruce (according to a UK guitar magazine that covered the release of the guitar) which has punchier characteristics than Sitka or Engleman.

[babybaek]

I was misinformed about the top wood. It's just sitka spruce, not adirondack.