The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review & Article Archive: Review: 2013 Seagull Entourage Rustic Grand Acoustic Six String Guitar

Review: 2013 Seagull Entourage Rustic Grand

Seagull is a Canadian company that's been building high quality, lower cost acoustics for a long time. The trend towards smaller and parlor sized guitars also has moved the industry towards their strength. The company has been building guitars that didn't always fit the Martin Dreadnaught mode since it's earliest days. Its smaller bodied 12 strings in particular have been considered excellent values.

The Seagull Entourage Rustic Grand is one of the best modern parlor sized guitars I've seen and shows that the acoustic guitar industry in general has pretty much caught up with the trend the Baby Taylors and Travel size Martin started. This parlor is in the same price range or less than the two, and arguably offers more than better value (unless the name is important, of course).

It's a guitar built to a known spec, the Parlor body, and has all the features and looks of an uncompromised design. It's sound is more modern than the traditional parlor type, that is to say, fuller, more resonant and louder. Old time parlors tend towards low volume, and a rounder, sweeter tone that most modern players will find out of sync with what they hear in this era's acoustic recordings.

The one thing that will possibly make it a cult guitar is the choice of woods. It uses wild cherry for the body and has a cedar top like a classical guitar. Wild cherry is a less commonly used wood for acoustic guitars, but it's a good one. Cherry is a very hard wood, and with the cost of rosewood going up (and becoming harder to get) you'll probably be seeing more of this wood being used for sides and bottoms in the future.

The main thing about cedar is that it doesn't “age” like a spruce top, and what you hear at purchase is what you'll basically hear years from now. Which isn’t a bad thing; no one should ever buy a guitar that doesn’t sound great off the rack.

Those who advocate spruce tops like the idea that the wood will “open up” and improve in resonance as the years go by and feel that the sound improves as the guitar is played more. This is basically true, though a lot of the people who say that in guitar comment forums may simply be repeating what they’ve read.

The problem with that concept is that there are different grades of spruce, and a lot of the spruce used in lower cost guitars probably won't improve all that much, if at all. In fact, it's not always a given that the spruce will improve in a more expensive guitar. If you buy a spruce guitar that doesn't sound good in the hope that it will improve later on, that's an expensive gamble.

Personally, I like cedar tops. It has a clear, bell like tone to me, and when considering an acoustic guitar, don't like the idea of buying one that sounds a bit dull or tight with the idea that it will sound better with time. If the guitar doesn't sound good now, I tend to pass. One can always buy a used high grade acoustic where it's obvious that the top has opened up and improved.

The Seagull Entourage should find an immediate audience with the smaller, but very dedicated fans of that brand. I found it easy to play, and a great balance between a louder and more resonant modern guitar and the older parlor sound. The tone isn't as defined as a Martin, it's a softer sound more related to a Koa wood guitar, but for folk and blues, this model should find a lot of buyers from those who try it.

Those considering a Baby Taylor or travel sized Martin should hold off and try out the large range of small bodied and parlor sized guitars that are hitting the market these days. Many brands are a lot cheaper the company will build that type differently, resulting in a large selection of tones and sound. In particular, those other guitars won’t have the obvious look of a guitar that's had cosmetics and other features left off for cost savings.

As I've said in other reviews, this is a good era for guitars. When the traditional leaders like Gibson and Martin became too expensive, the push to create cheaper guitars began in earnest, and as a whole, has produced inexpensive guitars that I never saw as a young man in the 70s.

Seeing all the older, smaller acoustic guitar sizes coming back into vogue has been one of the best things that could have happened to the guitar market, which was becoming a bit boring to me with its endless stream of Martin influenced dreadnoughts.

In the case of the Seagull Entourage Rustic Grand, old time is good time.

- Al Handa

2013

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa