Online Guitar Super Store

Seagull Acoustic Guitar Carries a Superb Reputation And Sound

Godin Guitars’ Seagull division has created a reputation for building a few of the most affordable lines of North American- made instruments. The company’s guitars have recently experienced a facelift that includes an added slight arch in the upper bout of the top for greater stability. Seagull guitars calls it a “compound curve”. As part of its top- of- the- line Artist series, the Mosaic features a very nice combination of woods, and such details as a rosewood headstock overlay distinguish it visually from its lower- priced cousins. The guitar we received was the only instrument in this review with a short scale(which usually is unusual for a dreadnought) , plus it also sported the widest neck of our evaluation guitars.

We all agreed that the Seagull Acoustic Guitar, the Mosaic, came using a great setup and that the shorter scale made it simpler to play chords that involve a long stretch. Those that strummed the guitar felt that its voice was a little boxy and that it was a little heavy in the midrange. And a forceful attack with a pick caused the guitar to lose focus and display a certain lack of complexity. It worked well for softer strumming and fingerpicking, which produced a quick response, good tone production even with a light attack, and balanced and clear tone all through its range.

Your incredible quality and variety available in today’s high- end acoustic guitars tends to obscure an even more extraordinary market reality: that modestly priced acoustic steel- strings, especially dreadnoughts, are better and more abundant than ever before. We last reviewed affordable steel- strings. Several of the Seagull guitars included in that review are still in production and a plethora of others have sprung up, but we opted this time to concentrate on instruments with list prices between$ 600 and$ 1, 000. Instead of asking manufacturers to send specific models, we invited them to choose their own entries- any solid- topped dreadnought without a pickup that was introduced within the last two years.

In evaluating the following group of guitars, we noticed several recurring themes. With the exception of the Tacoma Roadking(which has a bolt- on neck with no heel) , all of the guitars’ necks are made from several pieces of wood. In most cases, the heel and headstock are separate pieces, but the Martin DX1′s neck is carved from a single piece of Stratobond, a laminate of multiple strips of wood. A common feature of classical guitars, the multiple- piece fretboard has only recently been accepted in the world of steel- strings.

All of the test guitars with dovetail neck joints had the finish applied after the neck and body had been assembled. Simply because a coat of finish over this joint makes future neck resets more difficult, the necks and bodies of higher- end steel- strings are usually finished prior to assembly.

While all the guitars have the typical dreadnought X- bracing although the Tacoma’s has been modified to complement the guitar’s offset sound hole, only a few use scalloped braces, which generally result in superior response and dynamic range. Only a few of the instruments came with name- brand tuning machines, but generic tuners have improved so much recently that this is a less vital detail than it was just a few years ago.

The Seagull Acoustic Guitar Mosaic costs about$ 795 together with case. The Seagull Guitars come with a Limited lifetime warranty. Solid cedar top, solid mahogany back, laminated mahogany sides, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, scalloped braces, bolt- on neck, lacquer finish, generic tuners. 24. 84- inch scale. Nut width: 1. 8 inches. String spacing at the bridge: 2 3/32 inches. Seagull Guitars are manufactured in Canada.