One more try to get some feedback on this. Have I phrased my questions too broadly? I could ask more specific questions.

I really valued the information and suggestions I got on my accoustic purchase (even though I did not by the Larrivee — I did like the ones I played).

My current electric is a Epiphone Les Paul Special (from the early-mid nineties – not the special 2 that they sell now). It has P-90s and I am not thrilled with the sound. It actually seems like the worst of both worlds. You can’t get the nice thin, out of phase, strat sound and you can’t get the fat LP sound either.

I bought the Taylor 414CE today! I love it. The dealer gave a reasonable trade allowance for the Gibson — a little more than what I was prepared to settle for. I figure that I would have had to adjust the neck and lower the bridge in order to sell it (not something I am prepared to do my self). So I probably lost $100 to $200 US by trading it in. That may sound like a lot but I am so busy and selling is such a hassle (I’ve done it before) that it seems like a good deal to me.

I am about to exercise just about as much self control as I have ever exercised in my life by going to my corporations class instead of going home to play.

I went out to try the Larivees this weekend. They were very nice but the dealer did not have the grand auditorium accoustic/electric cutaway model and the prices were not impressively lower than the Taylor. Also, the dealer did not want to trade for my Gibson (he just thought he could not sell it quickly). I don’t want to sell it myself either. At any rate, I did not play anything I liked better than the Taylor (other than the $5,000 Huss & Dalton that the salesman showed me when he realized that I knew how to play and that he might have pegged me into the wrong price range) .

So tomorrow I am going to take the Gibson in town with me and see if I can make a deal for the Taylor. Daddy’s has a wider distribution than the shop I was at over the weekend and they specialize in used gear. So I have hopes that I can get a decent deal there.

Wow. Thanks all. Unfortunately for me, the bargain dealers around here (Guitar Center and Daddy’s) don’t seem to deal in Larivees or Seagulls. In fact, I can’t find a place in Boston or Cambridge that carries either line. That means I’ll have to travel to the Suburbs (and not the really close ones either) to check them out. I’ll try to do that within the next couple weeks or so.

BTW, I have been playing for about 35 years myself. In all that time I have owned 5 steel string accoustics (never 2 at once). In chronological order:
Fender (I forget) — 1970-72 Beginner Instrument
Gibson J45 — 1972 – 75
Guild D25 — 1975 – 77
Martin D18 — 1977 – 1984
Gibson J30 — 1984 – present

All but the Fender were (are?) very nice guitars but they lacked the sweet tone that I am looking for. The Guild was bright sounding but with no subtlety. The Martin was mellow but dark sounding. The Gibsons boomed the way Gibsons do.