I have a Charvel 625C, beautiful guitar and sounds great........plugged in. It is quiet with no amp. Look closely at the wood especially around the sound hole. I think it is a Laminate wood. The guitar comes from Korea.
http://imagese.backpage.com/centralimages/hnl/bd/bd09f7289bd5fc8573e0a0f743fec2b6--1--pic5jpg--large.jpg


I want a good sounding Acoustic that has volume. My thinking is to buy one of these

Washburn EA18 Blem for ~$386
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/5/4/7/433547.jpg

* Ash body and top
* Tobacco Sunburst gloss finish
* Cutaway style
* Bound rosewood fingerboard
* Rosewood butterfly bridge
* Diamond fingerboard inlay
* Pearl inlaid headstock
* Exclusive Grover 18:1 gear ratio tuners
* Arched top construction
* BBand under saddle tape microphone and preamp

Arch top and real wood.....but all the reviews say that it is quiet.

What does this??

The Wood or the Single Cut away?? Am I just throwing my money in the wind by trading in one for the other?

Cutaway guitars have a smaller volume inside the guitar, so they are typically quieter. I used to have an old Ovation that had the slim body, and it was way quieter than the dreadnought size Washburn I have now. Wood plays a pretty big role as well.

Thanks for your feedback.

I'm starting to think that I'll have to give up the cut away

Gibson or nothing.

Gibson or nothing.

You're a jive turkey.

I know my Guitars!

Cutaway guitars have a smaller volume inside the guitar, so they are typically quieter. I used to have an old Ovation that had the slim body, and it was way quieter than the dreadnought size Washburn I have now. Wood plays a pretty big role as well.

Dead on target.

Cutaways are almost always softer in volume that the standard body, although cheaper wood used has a play in it too, as well as the width (or depth, depending on how you look at it).

Many of the skinnier acoustics were designed with amplification in mind, so if you want natural sound and volume, you're better off thinking "fat" without the cut out.
You also want to think American. Making these things overseas does nothing but cut costs. Costs are cut by using inferior materials and cheaper labor. The labor part of this could probably care less about your satisfaction. :mad:

There's plenty of good choices in the $300-$600 price range. You should also check out the pawn shops if you have some in your area. You can find some good stuff in them if you look hard enough. Occasionally, you'll run into a pawn shop that doesn't realize what they have for a decent price. I found a 1984-1986ish (never could really pin it down exactly) Les Paul custom in a pawn shop in 1989 for $270.00 bucks. It was mine later on that day after a trip to my bank.
I also had a mid 70's SG that I got for $200 bucks from a different pawn shop. I go to pawn shops first before heading out to the rip off "music" stores. You'll never know what you'll find. Unless of course you have the money to play with. In that case, hell with it- get a Martin and be done with it.

We just did an in-store clinic with Taylor Guitars Tuesday night and that question was asked. The answer was as it has always been, cutaways do not affect the volume of a guitar.

Guitar makers overseas can make any instrument as nice and well built as anyone in the US. Since they are building them to the specs of the owner of the name on the headstock you get the typical BS.

Laminated guitars are not a bad thing so to speak. Gibson ES-175s and other jazz body style guitars use laminated tops quite a bit. It's just that for acoustics what you hear when you buy it is what you're going to hear 10 years down the road. A solid wood guitar will improve it's tone and volume.

Thin body acoustics were built with one thought in mind. No low end feedback on stage. You lose a large part of the tone and volume acoustically to do this.

Body style (shape - dreadnought, jumbo, 000, ect...) affects tone and volume as well as wood choices and their combinations.

Anyway, yes you're throwing your money away.

^^ did you leave the rx7club for good? why?

We just did an in-store clinic with Taylor Guitars Tuesday night and that question was asked. The answer was as it has always been, cutaways do not affect the volume of a guitar.

Guitar makers overseas can make any instrument as nice and well built as anyone in the US. Since they are building them to the specs of the owner of the name on the headstock you get the typical BS.

Laminated guitars are not a bad thing so to speak. Gibson ES-175s and other jazz body style guitars use laminated tops quite a bit. It's just that for acoustics what you hear when you buy it is what you're going to hear 10 years down the road. A solid wood guitar will improve it's tone and volume.

Thin body acoustics were built with one thought in mind. No low end feedback on stage. You lose a large part of the tone and volume acoustically to do this.

Body style (shape - dreadnought, jumbo, 000, ect...) affects tone and volume as well as wood choices and their combinations.

Anyway, yes you're throwing your money away.


So body shape affects the volume of a guitar, but being a cutaway shape does not? Maybe I am the only one who doesn't see that claim making a lick of sense.

So body shape affects the volume of a guitar, but being a cutaway shape does not? Maybe I am the only one who doesn't see that claim making a lick of sense.
So Here is what I've learned over the past two weeks.

Most people talk about the "sound board" being critical. The Sound board is the top of the guitar. This being solid is what is most important.

Then the dimension of the inside is also important but mostly the rear side of the inside and the proportional dimensions. One famous guitar luthier from 400 years ago came up with a design that is supposed to be 'the' guitar proportions. I can't remember the whole story now......

Anyway, all that I knew about Electrics and what made them tick are just thrown out the window with acoustics.

TurboII is right about the cutaway. No one is stating that the cutaway makes a difference

So body shape affects the volume of a guitar, but being a cutaway shape does not? Maybe I am the only one who doesn't see that claim making a lick of sense.

Volume as far as how loud it is, not really. Especially if it's a real guitar like Martin, Taylor, Huss & Dalton, James Goodall... Like I said, the question was asked at our guitar clinic last Tuesday and the answer from the guitar makers from Taylor was "no". Same answer I've heard for 30 years. Take a Taylor 310 and a Taylor 310CE and they make the same amount of volume and tone notwithstanding the subtle difference found in all pieces of wood.

Besides, the top doesn't vibrate there. The majority of a guitars sound is developed between the sound hole and the bridge.

^^So that basically answers my original question about the Cutaway. I want a cutaway shape in all my acoustics.......that's just me.

TurboII is right about the cutaway. No one is stating that the cutaway makes a difference

I did in my first post but I obviously messed it all up.......

I guess it doesn't after all, although I thought it made a difference.

Ooops. My bad.

No worries, real men come back and admit they may have been mistaken and apologize. We all learn that way. talk it out forums are great for that

Many of the skinnier acoustics were designed with amplification in mind, so if you want natural sound and volume, you're better off thinking "fat" .
You did say this which turns out to be very true

lol

Sometimes, I say stuff and it comes out all backwards. Even when I know what I'm saying, I have a habit of saying it wrong anyway.

But, cutaways were basically designed for reaching the highest notes for solos. Personally, I don't do many solos that high on an acoustic anyway so I never really paid much attention to cutaways.

My best advice still is to hit the pawnshops and yard sales. You can find gold in them thar hills, if you search far enough. If you live fairly close to a military town, there's always someone moving out or moving in. That usually means that there's someone always trying to get rid of something cheap. Add to that the typical DUI busts, and you can find people who sell stuff cheap to pay the Man off. That's where I find the best stuff.