Expert: The Luthier Lady! - 1/4/2011

Question
Would you suggest the DC-1E?

I've been playing guitar for about a year and haven't had much success with self-teaching. It's a ton of fun to play and I'm definitely antsy for the day I'm able to play guitar with my non-existent children. I tend to lean towards finger-picking style 60% and pick around 40% of the time.

As a combination Christmas + Birthday present my family wants to buy a guitar for me. They've offered lessons and suggested the Martin DC-1E, but I feel like it's too high of a price bracket. I currently play a Rogue Grand Concert Cutaway Acoustic Electric that I managed to pick up for under $50.

I'm extremely excited about this gift, but at the same time I feel like it's too large of a price jump especially for a beginner guitarist. Any thoughts or additional guitar suggestions?

Answer
Hi Ken,

While the Martin DC-1E is certainly a nice guitar, I would not recommend it for your purposes. You can get a much higher quality guitar for less money than you will pay for the Martin name.

I would suggest you look at what Breedlove has to offer. They are my favorite at the moment. Their instruments are 1st rate, sound quality is gorgeous, and craftsmanship is the best I've seen in a lower priced guitar.

Specifically, I would recommend looking at the following models:

Stage D25 SR
Solo D35
Studio D25 SME

The Stage D25 SR is the one I would pick, just because it has an LR Baggs Stage Pro preamp with tuner.

I'm not sure where you live, but I would suggest buying from Wolfe Guitars in Jupiter, FL. They are the largest Dealer Breedlove has in the US and they have EXCELLENT prices and Customer Service.  (even if you have to have the guitar shipped) All of these models can be had for less than $1000 at Wolfe.

Here is a link to their inventory page where they list the specifics for the above Breedlove models: (just copy and paste into you browser to go there)

http://www.gbase.com/stores/wolfe-guitars/inventory?search=gs=y&pageindex=1&page...

There regular website is www.wolfeguitars.com

Phone number is: 561-746 2209
Email: jay@wolfeguitars.com

Ask for Graham or Jay and tell them "The Luthier Lady" told you to contact them.

Just to let you know, I get no compensation from this referral. I just know the guys at Wolfe are top notch, honest, have the best prices, and will treat you like royalty.