Seagull S6+ Folk Acoustic Guitar

I was in the market for an acoustic guitar after my first one that I ever own had been stolen from me. I was looking for something with a smaller body, good tone, and good playability. At this point the playability of an instrument had become very important to me as this was after I’d been through several bouts of Tendonitis and Repetitive Motion Injuries. I was mostly playing fingerstyle guitar at the time so the string spacing was critical to me.Christmas time was upon us, and I had no idea that I was about to get the perfect gift. My in-laws had bought me a Seagull S6+ Folk Acoustic Guitar. Now, it’s pretty hard to buy an instrument for someone else. They enlisted the help of a family friend who is also a guitar player and he did a marvelous job. This guitar was everything that I wanted in a guitar and is my main acoustic today.

This is a small bodied but full sounding instrument. It comes with a solid cedar top that gives it warmth. It comes out of the box sounding like an instrument that has been seasoned for years. The design of the body and top give the guitar a certain brilliance without sounding shrill. The guitar definitely favors the top end and the upper mids. If you are looking for the boom of a dreadnought then you may not like this guitar. But the sound is wonderful and complex and in no way out of balance. It carries exceedingly well, and I’ve used it to play several acoustic coffee house gigs with no amplifications whatsoever.

I’d played other Seagull guitars and I wasn’t impressed. They always seemed too difficult to play. Too much tension. I love the way this guitar plays. It has a wide but somewhat shallow D shaped neck in the lower area near the head stock and tapers to a more rounded profile as you get higher up the neck. The frets are on the smaller side. I have a pet peeve that now all guitars, even the acoustics seem to come with Med. Jumbo or Super Jumbo frets. We don’t all play blues….But, I digress. The frets are perfect for me. The string spacing at the nut is a bit wider than average. And the radius of the fretboard is a bit on the flat side. This reminds one of a classical guitar, though it isn’t quite as extreme as that. The scale is 24.75” or thereabout.

The guitar is attractive with its cedar top, but it is pretty basic. At this price point the guitar is about function, and effort and money are not wasted on pretties. The adornment is sparse. This guitar is all about sound and playability which is fantastic. The top has very little finish and no pick guard. This helps the guitar to sing. But it also means that the top will scratch and dent with ease. Mine already has several dings but this doesn’t stop it from sounding beautiful. This is a guitar that you have to take some care with.

I love this guitar. It’s an outstanding instrument that is frankly under priced at approximately $400. Though it won’t suit everyone’s needs if you want a small bodied, and beautiful sounding instrument and you only have $400 to spend you won’t find a better one that the Seagull S6+ Folk with its solid cedar top.

Click here to see the official literature on the Seagull S6+ Folk