Most of my songs were written on my Epiphone ‘Jeff Baxter’ signature model acoustic, but for live work I now use my Taylor 214e. 

 

When I went out to buy a new guitar I was fully prepared to pay up to around £3000 to get what I wanted.  I asked the assistant in the guitar shop to remove the price tags from all his acoustic stock and bring them to me in the demo room where I had a Line 6 acoustic amp set up.  I played each of the guitars both acoustically and plugged-in.  I tested 20 guitars and gradually created a short-list of 3. 

 

Finally I settled on the 214e, I asked the assistant how much and braced myself for the answer, knowing that I had rejected Martins, Lowdens and other Taylors.  He advised me that I had chosen the 2nd cheapest guitar in the store, but confessed that every day he would take that guitar off the wall for a play when things were quiet, as it was his favourite too.

 

This guitar cost less than £800 and had blown away £2500 Martins and even a £3000 Lowden!

 

It goes to show that because guitars are crafted from natural materials, there is always variation.  I found this also when I purchased my Epiphone Jeff Baxter Model.  To a great degree, price, after a certain point is irrelevant and it comes down to craftsmanship, and above all else, the individual qualities of the materials used.  No two pieces of wood are the same.

 

My  Guitars

My main guitar is a Taylor 214e  - a fantastic instrument for finger style players like myself.