Advice please on good value

[stevenguitars]

Hello everyone,

first time iv ventured into the acoustic section so please take it easy.

id like to say that I know my fair share of info on the electric market, generally im the one that my mates go to for advice on buying anything.

BUT.... I know very little about Acoustics.


I am thinking of keeping things simple for a while and getting a good acoustic and a humble tele.

Acoustic wise I would like to get into some fingerpicking and I know ( think ) that i don't want a jumbo


I was travelling recently and used a tanglewood roadster which was a real hit so iv been looking at things a bit smaller like parlour.


anyway Id like to buy second hand and have about 300 possibly 400 absolute max

fancy trimming do nothing for me

plug in would be a bit of a bonus but not a deal breaker.

Faith?
Martin?
takamine?
tanglewood?
Yamaha?
seagull?


Sorry for the long winded intro.


thanks in advance

steve

[Alidore]

Go to a shop and play some, some fantastic new ones can be had for 400 and playing a few will also give you an idea of what you want in a used one.

[bertie]

with acoustics light = good, heavyweight apparently solidly built....isnt, well for "tone" and projection anyway.

Personally I find makes like Takamine and most lower end Martins are not responsive enough to be 'good' pickers - great strummers but nothing else (IMHO of course !). TBH you need to play a tak with a plate for a plectrum to get any decent response out of it

Faith is a good bet (I have the little parlor), as is Tanglewood. Yamaha can be a bit hit and miss......but search out used ones.

For new you can add other far east makes to that list, Mariner, Freshman -make all solids at your budget. Ive played a couple of Mariners and was knocked out with the sound and general quality of a £300 all solid guitar

Other people may recommend Blueridge, personally I found them a little 'bling over boom' and very Martin like in their slant towards stumming over picking.

Low end Taylors are OK (personally I think they are their best range having owned 612 and a 614), 100 series or even a 200 used is worth a try

But as the previous poster said, you really REALLY need to get out and try as many as you can, dont take ANYBODY's word for anything - you might end up being surprised what you like

[ICBM]

But as the previous poster said, you really REALLY need to get out and try as many as you can, dont take ANYBODY's word for anything - you might end up being surprised what you like

+1

Acoustic guitars are such a personal thing it's impossible to offer any better advice really.

For example, I've never played a Yamaha or a Takamine I've liked - and yet they seem fairly highly regarded and recommended.

I also like old plywood or mixed ply back/sides, solid top guitars, often - including ones that most people would say are overbuilt and dead-sounding. (eg Eko)

But that doesn't mean you will feel the same at all.

The only really practical advice I would give is - don't buy anything with built-in electrics, unless you want built-in obsolescence when it either goes wrong or technology moves on, one of which it will. Electro-acoustics are a solution for stage use, not for long-term ownership (in my opinion).

[BlindLemonAde]

I had a go on a Lowden "Pierre Bensusan" Sig the other day... £5.2k

Was it 52 times better than my Epi parlour? Yes.

It's not got much to do with the thread, I just wanted to say it...

[Wonks]

In terms of VFM, I'd try and go second hand - but then you still have the dilemma of needing to try before you buy unless you are really prepared to be either pleasantly surprised or rather disppointed. I bought a Martin DR off eBay for £450 - including a Fishman humbucking pickup. It was a few years old and well used (by a session musician) but was great sounding. Without the Fishman you could have picked it up for maybe £350. It's not a D-28, but it is a lot better than anything else I could have got new for that price.

The Yamaha Compass series acoustics have always got good reviews from friends who've had them and a lot were amazing value for money when sold cheap near the end of the model life.

You need to remember that electrics are relatively easy to fettle and set up to give the action you want, but acoustics can be a nightmare if the action isn't right. Even guitars with bolt-on necks like on Taylors only help to make it easier, not easy, to adjust and you still need a luthier to do the neck angle adjusting. So you really do need to play (or trust the make) the guitar you buy to make sure the action suits you. Don't expect to take more than 1mm off the 12th fret action by lowering the saddle height (and you'll need to check that there appears to be sufficient existing height and string break-angle to do even that). A lot of guitars do have over-high nut slots, so check the spacing over the first fret before rejecting one as too hard to play if it othewise sounds nice.

[ESBlonde]

The other difference with acoustic shopping is to do with sound and projection. Take a player friend and have them play your choices whilst you listen from in front, it does make a difference IMHO. If you are shopping without said player friend then get the shop assistant to play for you to listen. Like ICBM said, electronicals are an add on not a key purchase decision. Get a nice guitar and worry about the best pickup solution afterwards.

[stevenguitars]

Thanks guys, and yeah I know in a perfect world I would sit and play a load but I have a small budget and there are not that many used examples around in one place. guitarguitar offended me recently with a truley horrendous trade in value £300 for a £3500 as new Martyn Booth Sig with Brazilian Mahog and Brazilian Rosewwod and a 5A top. so they will very likely never see my cash again.
It was the way it was done more than the figure it was as if they were doing me a favour. And I have spent a small fortune in there over the years.

anyway thats a side story.


I am going to have to try my luck on ebay and I think its going to be tanglewood parlour faith parlour or a old yamaha.


I really do appreciate the input and please feel free to add any thoughts.

Ill update you all if and when.

[ICBM]

I am going to have to try my luck on ebay and I think its going to be tanglewood parlour faith parlour or a old yamaha.

I really do appreciate the input and please feel free to add any thoughts.

Be careful with old Yamahas. Many of them suffer from seriously high actions that can't be properly fixed without a neck reset.

I know, I said I didn't like Yamahas, so you may feel like disregarding that advice, but this is practical and not to do with the tone. Don't buy one unseen or online without being able to see what the action looks like and whether there is any height that can be taken out of the bridge. (And even then, that's not always enough.)

[stevenguitars]

thanks icbm

well the takamine i wanted is now sold, so the search goes on. i may wonder into town on sat and start to play some.