Seagull S6 Original

I've waited a good long time to review this. This guitar is, imho, excellent for everyone from rank beginner to intermediate-advanced players. Let me clarify: If you have no idea whether you'll still be plinking away after the first few hours, then by all means rent one for your first several lessons. That way, you can experience playing, possibly several different guitars, before making a choice. Personally, I'm no professional musician - or even close. That's what made the S6 absolutely VITAL to me. I'm good enough to tell when something sounds wrong, but not always good enough to tell when it's me or a flaw in the guitar. This is where the Seagull has my back. When the sound coming from the S6 isn't all it could be - I look to my playing to discover why - not to the Seagull itself. Other than getting a little dead when it needs a new set of strings, which is my fault for not replacing them often, it never dissapoints. This is good, because I'm learning to play properly - not how to compensate for a poor-sounding instrument. I don't have a lot to un-learn later because of starting off using a cheapo beginner's instrument. I wasn't able to go play 40 guitars and pick one from the herd, due to time, distance, and skill or lack thereof. What I did instead was perhaps better for me at the time - I listened to the pros play them. Then, I asked them questions... The S6 and its cousins emerged as excellent sounding instruments, and didn't require a ridiculous budget to purchase. That was then - this is now. The S6 has been way more than good enough to provide the music for our own radio commercials... Verdict: If and when you take Nashville by storm, you may want something prettier, or flashier, or with a different "voice" - but I bet you won't sell off your Seagull when that day comes. For my part, it's more guitar than I'll ever outgrow... The seagull arrived here nicely set up, action spot on, tuned it and played it a little right out of the box, sounded good. As it adjusted to the temperature and humidity, and got a few miles on it, it now sounds great. Holds tuning well, and I've not had any problems with the 14:1 tuning pegs, though others have. One day when I'm good enough with this thing, I'll treat myself to a set of gold plated 18:1' pegs, or maybe not... :) Strings: My preferred are D'Addario EJ16-3D Phosphor Bronze Acoustic Guitar Strings, Light - price around and you'll find them three sets for about thirteen bucks - and you want to keep a few spares around. On the S6 I find them easy enough to fret but they still don't go unduly sharp when you get aggressive with pressing them, and even so they are stiff enough to provide room filling sound yet not be buzzing around all over the place... Tuning - There's a nice free kindle app for that called TUN-D. Nice, and it tunes alternate tunings as well as long as it's using the 6 main notes. (DADGAD ok, but not the alternate tunings with sharps - still doable but you'll have to fret those to tune them.) Quality wise - no sweat. The only gripe I have is that the finish is easy to scratch. Go to seagullguitars dot com for more...

Seagull guitars have intrigued me for years in photos and on their website, but there is no dealer anywhere near me, so I bought one sight-unseen from Amazon, based on the good reviews. I'm glad to say I can add my voice to the chorus of praise for this innovative design. A traditionalist will need some time to become accustomed to the unusual appearance and construction. The narrow, reverse-taper headstock and wide fingerboard give this guitar a bottom-heavy look when viewed vertically. Back and sides are cherry with only a light stain, and the binding is dark. The top is natural cedar. As dreadnoughts go, this one is very comfortable to play sitting down. It appears to be based on the Martin outline, but with a slightly rounder lower bout and a narrower upper bout. Weight is pleasantly light, and the semi-gloss finish is comfortable to the touch. Players with broad fingers will appreciate the wide fingerboard, but those with small hands should consider the ""Slim" version, with a neck 0.08" narrower at the nut. Sound is what really counts, however, and this Canadian dreadnought has nothing to be ashamed of there. The maker has the good sense to ship the instrument with high-quality, fresh strings, allowing the new owner to appreciate the notable bass and clear midrange as soon as it is tuned up. Overall, it falls within the classic dreadnought tone category, with good volume. Buying a guitar online saves money but leaves setup to the buyer. Both the nut and saddle on my guitar needed lowering, and the truss rod required adjustment (a long-reach hex wrench is included). If you are not experienced in these tasks, a local luthier should do it for no more than $30 or so. Based on sound, playability once adjusted, and construction quality, this guitar should definitely be included when comparing instruments in this price range. It is a real standout in value. Update 8 DEC 2012: The more I play this guitar, the more I love it. It delivers balanced sound with good dreadnought "snap", and once the action was dialed in, the broad fingerboard relieves finger crowding I didn't fully realize hindered my playing. I am considerng replacing my Takamine mini-jumbo with a Seagull equivalent.

I decided to order this guitar based on the reputation that it is has for being one of the best acoustics under 500. The package arrived on 1/18/2012. I was a little worried after reading some of the other reviews about improper packaging, but my particular shipment was packaged perfectly. As far as the actual guitar, it's incredible. It has the sound and playability of a much more expensive instrument. The action is spot on, and would accommodate just about any level of experience. Barre chords are easy no matter where you play them. The sound is very full, and a little shimmery (although you could probably change that a bit with different strings). The intonation is as good as it could be for a guitar of this price. The natural harmonics sound great everywhere on the guitar. I have a thin body Cordoba classical guitar that costs about 4 times as much, and the Seagull matches or exceeds the quality in every category (I do love my Cordoba though!). It's a beautiful instrument as well, very solidly crafted. Overall I would say there's no reason not to make this guitar a part of your collection, because no matter what your skill level, you will enjoy playing it. If you are thinking of learning guitar, this is a great model to get provided you can afford it. Anything cheaper than this, and as you get better, you are going to outpace the guitar. More importantly though, the guitar couldn't be easier to play and the people I tend to see give up on learning usually do it because they are playing an instrument with bad action or intonation. A good solid instrument will make learning that much easier.

I have played guitar for way to long on a cheap beginner model. I really appreciate this on now. The sound is far superior to my beginner model. This guitar didn't break my bank and I think it looks nice.

This guitar sounds absolutely amazing. Before purchasing I read many reviews here and in other locations and all were positive and so many saiid that it sounds like a very high end and much more expensive guitar. That is so true! This guitar is so "alive" with sound. You really will believe that you are playing a $1,000.00 plus guitar. I am completely sold on Seagull guitars and couldn't be more pleased with this purchase. Delivery was also very quick and the bag that it comes with is very nice. It's not a hard case but it's much better than the bags that most guitars come with and should provide adequate protection. It's nicely padded and has a padded velcro strap that goes around the neck to secure the guitar within the case. The strings that come with it seem nice too. There's really not a reason to pay more for any other type of guitar.

Received the guitar and requested a return on the same day. Amazon (this was fulfilled by amazon) used a very thin cardboard box and a single wrap of thin foam material as packaging. At some point in transit the box was damaged, and the guitar edge binding was dented. As usual Amazon was very easy to deal with and they processed the return in minutes. The guitar is superb however. I've been playing a Fender as my entry-level guitar, and wanted to upgrade without breaking the bank. I'm spending some time playing this guitar before I return it, just to see how I like it. It has a great tone, and I found the slightly wider nut much easier to fret. It is slightly smaller than the Fender dreadnought, but that was a very pleasant surprise. While I didn't have any issues with the size of the Fender, I found the Seagull much more comfortable to play. Excellent quality, great sound, and NOT made in China.

This guitar sounds and looks amazing! It was packaged well, it arrived quickly, and I almost wept when I held it for the first time! I know everybody says not to purchase a musical instrument online, but I've wanted a guitar my whole life and since I didn't know how to play it wasn't like I could go try them out in a music store somewhere, and the nearest shop is about 2 hours away. This guitar is flawless 1st and foremost, very impressed! I've had it about two weeks now and I practice from 45 minutes to an hour and a half each day, my fingers did get a little sore but not bad, and the soreness has already passed. I brought it to the music teacher in my town, he's in his sixties now and has played his whole life and he really liked it. He said the action was real good and it was just barely out of tune, which is amazing considering it being shipped and all, he said, and I agree, it has a wonderful rich tone, and depth and that it will only get better the longer I own and play it. I will never part with this guitar ! It is by far the best purchase I've ever made! Update: this guitar is such a joy to play! There's only been a day or two that I haven't played since I've owned it, I'm not sure what people mean when they say a guitar doesn't stay in tune, I check mine at the beginning of each practice session and it's always either right on or maybe one or two strings needs just a hair of an adjustment to be dead on, and I'm pretty hard on this thing learning strumming techniques, chords, timing and whatnot! Just couldn't be more pleased!

Would be a great guitar but comes with the action WAY to high, making it very difficult and hard on the fingers to play. Need to take it to a guitar shop to get the action lowered, which is annoying and time consuming. It should just come with the action set correctly

I've had Martins at 4 times the price of this and it plays better and the build standard is easily on par. It came very well packaged and after leaving in my room on a stand for a bit, I tuned it up and now it sings. Really nice low action and no fret buzz, just overall a top quilty guitar, these are often seen as beginners guitars but that is non-sense. they are quality crafted instruments.

Belle guitare reçue rapidement, merci. Pas besoin de mettre plus d'argent. De quoi se faire plaisir de nombreuses années. De plus des cours sont offerts et la housse avec.

The guitar arrived promptly and was well packaged. Its an attractive looking instrument and sounded great right out of the box before it was even tuned. Very happy with my purchase.

Love the guitar arrived very quickly great packaging ready strung Beautiful. Only guitar i have bought fot myself. Always had hand me downs and swaps . very pleased with my chioce

Très belle guitare Canadienne, belles boiseries avec une sonorité remarquable c'est le must de l'acoustique folk.Je recommande vivement pour les amateurs de belles guitares