Maritime SWS

I'll second what diamonddave, said.  Set up is key.  Also, if you feel you are having a particular problem with 1st position chords, like the F barre chord, then when you request the set up, ask them to pay special attention to the nut and not just the saddle.  Some techs will just lower the saddle cuz it's easier, but the nut is very important.  I know cuz I play mostly cowboy chords so I hang out around the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd frets a LOT. 

As for the sound, an all hog guitar is a very warm, woodsy, maybe even slightly dark tone wood guitar.   So it's not going to sound the same as your typical spruce top/whatever back and sides guitar.  I've sort of seen that all hog guitars are love 'em or hate 'em guitars with many people.  I, and many here like all sorts of different tone wood guitars, but some just don't.  It's not right or wrong, just different strokes for different folks. 

And finally.........welcome to the Cabin slimpickens,! 
Hope your time here is enjoyable and fruitful! 

Good luck with your guitar and remember, guitars are for everybody, but not everybody is for guitars!  ( well, sometimes just certain guitars anyways ). 

Ya, I hear ya slimpickens,.  You should not have to play so much harder compared to another guitar.  There is probably "something" going on there, but who knows.

As far the strings go, I have noticed myself that some strings seem harder or softer to play than other of the same gauge.  It's one of the reasons I like my Elixers so much.  They just seem to be nicer, for me anyways, in so many ways, including how "hard" they don't feel.

But ya, I dunno.  Sorry to hear your initial experience with the guitar is not fantastic.  Hopefully it's only a set up away from fixing that.

It could also be that the Seagull neck is just not your thing.  May I ask how many different brands you've tried and were you able to compare a Seagull 1.8" neck side by side with other guitars at all?  And if so, how many other guitars and nut widths. 

So far, for me, the two easiest to play brands of guitars that I've played ( out of the box ) are Seagull (Godin) and Taylor.  All others I've had, needed to be set up to be sweet and easy to play.

How do you know the action and relief are good? Have you measured them with a 64ths ruler and a set of feeler gauges? It's really hard to eyeball the difference in 8/64 (high) and 6/64 (playable).

I think Seagull uses Cleartone strings. They used to use D'Addario EJ16s. If I were you, I'd change the strings.

TonyKgull,the Martime SWS isn't all hog, just solid mahogany b/s and a spruce top. Semi-gloss finish.

Hey, sorry for the slow reply, got sidetracked. It's the sitka spruce top with hog back and sides model. For the relief yes I did eyeball it. I held down the low E at fret 1 and also where the neck meets the body and checked at the 7th and 8th fret and I have just a tiny bit of clearance. I'd say maybe the width of the high E. I measured the action a couple times with a mm/64ths ruler and it's a pretty good, maybe a tiny bit low if anything. I won't deny it could still be set up poorly and that is why it seems so off to me, but I'm not fully convinced throwing money at the problem will make it go away.

I really like the sound of the guitar now, opens right up when you lay into it. But no matter how much I play I do feel I'm struggling a bit with that neck. As if I'm taking a step backwards instead of forwards which is a little bit of a turn off since I need all the help I can get lol. I wish they made both the mahogany And the rosewood Maritime's with the narrow neck as an option. Does anyone have the walnut model Seagull with the writing around the sound hole? I really like the Gibson J-15 w/ walnut but a little pricey.

edit: diamonddave yes you're right they are cleartones.

Here's my 2 cents on whether or not I decide to return/trade out a guitar.

I leave "details" out and go by my "overall impression" of the whole guitar.  If I really like or love the guitar, but it needs a bit of "tweaking," then I keep it and tweak it.  But if my overall impression is that something about the guitar is just really bothering me and I don't see or know any guaranteed way to fix that thing that is bothering me, I return it/trade it out.  Simple as that.

You just gotta love everything about your guitar in my book for it to be a keeper for me.  So, again, just my 2 cents worth. 

Good luck with whatever you decide slimpickens,.    There's no right or wrong here, just go with your gut.    You gotta love the guitar you end up keeping, otherwise you probably won't end up playing it half as much as you'd like to.

slimpickens , that is the same Maritime I bought, but about six years ago. I have always liked the guitar a lot. It can be quite responsive when played quietly, but it might also be point of attack on the strings. I tend to pick between the bridge and soundhole, which gives each action a sharper sound. It sounds better to my ear from that point of attack, especially when playing quietly. My Maritime also has a lot of sound available - I've played it alongside jumbo 12 strings and it holds its own nicely.