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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → The best Acoustic?
Hi guys.
I'm new to this site and also to the guitar. Been playing about a year or so now. My question is what is the best acoustic out there? Taylors, Martins, Gibsons etc.etc. I want to get rid of this Yamaha as its like trying to grip an elephants leg and it sounds shit.(that could be me though!)
I have £2000 to spunk up the wall.
Please help! <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_confused.gif" border=0 alt="Confused">
John.
i had a fender for 20 years and thought the same thing
i bought a taylor 414 ce and i am very happy with it
i paid about 2000
i wonder if i spend more if ill sound any better
Try to find an outlet that sells Breedlove guitars and give one a try.Pure quality.
The best acoustic guitar is the one your comfortable with. Read the threads on this subject already posted, their are some experienced players with good advice on how to choose the right guitar for you. All the brand name guitars you mentioned are good but if you can't make the one you have sound good (playing ability not tone) A $2700.00 Taylor isn't going to help either.
Once you develop your style and tone and know what you like in the construction of a guitar ie woods, neck shape, finger board radius and fret size then go and buy that big dollar guitar that fits your style & taste.
Good luck.
Bootleger.
I've been messsing around with the guitar for about a year now. I got a Fender gdo-300 for a fathers days present. It was very neat looking, but very hard to play. My fingers would get so sore after only about 10 minutes of playing, even though they were quite caloused. Anyways, I started researching guitars,& happened upon Zager easy-play guitars on Ebay. I read a lot of different reviews by different sources, & never found 1 bad one. I finally decide to sell my Fender on Ebay, & buy a Zager Zad50. It's a Martin/sigma that is modified by Dennis Zager. He drops the strings closer to the fret board & spaces the strings out a bit. This might sound like a commercial for Zager, but it's not. i really think its a great sounding guitar, as well as being easier to play, & you can pick this one up for around $450.00. Do yourself and your wallet a favor, & check out Zager guitars.
Hillview
What Hillview is describing is setting up your action, ajusting the truss rod (straightens or bows the guitar neck depending which way it needs to go) filing down the saddle and nut of the guitar, setting the intonation of the guitar and in some cases milling or dressing of the frets, also oiling the finger board.
Depending in what part of the country or in which country your in an experienced Guitar tech or luither can do this for under $100.00 (American). Ask around and get references of customers that might have had the person you choose to do the work. Although $450.00 isn't a bad price for a new guitar that is already set up. (providing you have the money to spend).
Bootleger.
I may have stopped playing had I not found Zager guitar. As the post above said, there are thousands of glowing testimonials and Zagar has over 1500 feedbacks on Ebay and EVERYONE of them has been positive.
I still stop in music stores from time to time. I don't see anything up to twice the price that begins to compare for PLAYABILITY - which is what a newbie really needs. The tone is OK, nothing special. Zager is about delivering the easiest to play guitars to your doorstep.
Mine shipped with an electonic tuner. I played it everyday and I swear to you I didn't have to tune it for at least a month. That's how good the setup is on the thing. Buy one.
Looks like their prices have gone up recently, unfortunately. The acoustic electrics are going to set you back $500 now.
i would definatly go with a fender good old amercan guitars
Welcome to guitar and chordie. <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_surprised.gif" border=0 alt="Surprised"> For an acoustic its a good choice buy and Martin or Gibson. Both can get pretty expensive. Epiphone is good and still affordable. I don't really know about Taylors. Have fun with guitar and don't stop playing music <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_cool.gif" border=0 alt="Cool">
I forgot Jasmine guitars are cheep and very good. Great for acoustic rythm (Rythme? Rthyme? I can't spell Rythme or is it rythm? AUUUUUGH!)
My friend has a Maton which sounds really good which would cost about 500 quid
Remember that Michael Jorden grew up in K-Mart tennis shoes, and Jose Conseco had a K-Mart glove and bat --- it's not the equipment. Learn to make your current guitar sound good and then later go buy the "best acustic".
has anyone mentioned yamaha acoustic guitars?
Some of them can be pretty good and not too expensive
ken
I bought my first guitar for about $70 US and had the problem of sore fingers. I replaced the strings and it was a dream. It was a Rogue Dreadnought from Musicians Friend, great deal, great sound and I miss it(it was stolen). Try replacing the strings.
Hi,
I've been playing acoustic guitar for 15 years or so
and during that time have played most of what has been posted on the reply's. The acoustic guitar that is played on the Irish folk circut is by far Takamine. I used to play a Fender and Yamaha but 5 yrs ago switched to Takamine and have no regrets.
It is a personal choice but I know Don Baker bought a Takamine for 3,500 punts for a guitar that the face value was 1,500 because he liked the sound so much.
Hope this helps
Lee
Hi, I'm a 50 something who has played a variety of accoustic guitars, none of them hugely expensive, and agree its practice, enthusiasm and getting your own style that suits your instrument, that enables you to get a good sound, not the big dollars! I've had an old Vester electic accoustic for many years that had a warm resonance, and I've just bought a Walden 12 string for that added something a 6 just can't do for some music.
Six months ago I purchased an Ibanez AED10EVS. It was recommended to me by a good friend of mine who is a luthier. After some minor setup work it plays outstanding. As far as tone, I could not believe what a great sound it has. As a bonus it has Fishman electronics with both high and low impedeance outputs. Almost as good as the gutar itsellf is the price, 300.00 (US)
Ckeck out Takamine. I have a great
eg523sc with awsome sound. Big body, built in tuner, and a cut away body for playing up neck which is pretty easy on this guitar. One of the best folks I ever pkayed. Been playing electric
and folk since the 70's. Trust me go to a store and play one loud. MC
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I bought an Ibanez PF Series, it was a SAM ASH spec Which combined the PF cut away electric acoustic Jumbo, and built in Fishman Electronics and tuner for under 300.00 dollars . It is really a nice guitar and sounds great.
The only thing I would say is to play different guitars in a shop if you can.
I was always used to a wider neck with a little wider frets, and this guitar has a slimmer neck, which I do not like the feel. So, along with the sound, make sure the guitar sits comfortably against your leg, and the neck width and shape is comfortable when you make common open chords like c , f, etc.
I always thought Acoustics had basically the same dimensions, but I was wrong, so I really fell for the sound, but for me, this is not as comfortable as my previous guitars.
Thanks,
Jerry
Love a gibson acoustic I played 10 years ago the tone on it was great, and the clarity, and richness of the sound was great. The only problem with the gibson it was 1800 dollars at the guitar shop at the time. That was best one I played, but I find good set of strings, and decent finish, wood on a ascoustic will make it sound great. <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_cool.gif" border=0 alt="Cool">
look in the classified section of the newspaper. Good used instruments are harder to find, but they usually sound better (they've been broken in a little). Also, if you do this, make sure the instruments were well cared for...
also, they are almost always priced better because the people who are selling them don't realize that their instrument is valueable (if they are)
it doesn't matter what brand of guitar you play, especially if you are a beginner, just don't buy one of those starter kits, they are usually awful and need more work than they are worth.
<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>Al Bradley wrote on Fri, 15 December 2006 07:07</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
Remember that Michael Jorden grew up in K-Mart tennis shoes, and Jose Conseco had a K-Mart glove and bat --- it's not the equipment. Learn to make your current guitar sound good and then later go buy the "best acustic".
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right on!! buy a used guitar!!!!! especially if you are a beginner. but, when you are searching look for these signs; if the soundboard is bulging on the opposite side of the strings, this damage is as good as irreversable, same with concavement under the strings next to the bridge (they go hand in hand). If his damage is there, it will raise the action too much and if you adjust the trust rod, it will mess up the intonation. If you already have a guitar and you want to prevent this, keep your guitar humidified and in the case, If it is permanently on a stand, make sure the room is humidified. dryness is a killer...
Can someone tell me what you get at certain price levels?
For example 0-100 strofoam body and steel neck.
100-150 balsa wood body and celery neck.
150-200 titanium body, rubber neck, copper frets ect....
I got to tell ya, I used to think that my guitar was poor until I heard someone else play it who could really play. Gave me a whole new prospective. Hearing your rig coming from someone else will change your opinion but it may not change your desire to upgrade. Listen to some folks playing out there and you will be able to decide what sounds good. I could never tell by what I heard coming from myself.
God bless the child who is in the market for an acoustic guitar! Without a doubt, this is the golden age of guitars, the absolute best time ever to be looking for a creamy, sweet, stringed beauty.
The popular brands of ultra-fine guitars – Martin, Gibson, Taylor, etc. – are almost always awesome in sound quality and playability. Their top of the liners are expensive but they all have models in the $600 to $1,000 range. There are other large or larger companies that are not as well known as the Martins and Taylors but offer comparable, remarkable quality and support. See Breedlove, Larrivee, and others.
What seems like a shamelessly well kept secret, however, are the scores of small to very small guitar workshops belonging to virtually unknown luthiers who produce very expensive but ultra, ultra fine quality handmade flattop and other guitars made of Rosewood, Koa, Maple, Mahogany and so on. I am talking about brands such as Oriskany, Sheppard, Galloup, Robinson, Kevin Ryan, Hoffman, Bourgeois, McPherson, Goodall, Collings, Huss and Dalton and many, many others. These instruments are outrageously crafted from the utter finest materials. They sound vast if you know what I mean. They are breathtakingly beautiful and play like, well, shall we say, warm buttered cream on an intoxicating spring day (?).
Not for the meek of budget though, these singular treasures usually start in the range of at least $3,000 to $4,000 and if you add extras like, say, a neck or headstock, you can go as far as the eye can see…really -$15,000, 20,000 and beyond. If you are one of those extremely passionate players who has been very careful with finances over the years, (or has a rich daddy) you would be nuts not to at least shop some rare exotics.
But for this forum, the true fertile ground lies in the great brands known to almost every guitarist – Takamine, Gretsch, Epiphone, Guild, Yamaha, Alvarez, Fender, Ibanez, Tacoma, Washburn, and many not so well known companies like Blueridge, Seagull, Godin, etc, etc. The combination of computer assisted machines and cheap third world labor (for better or for worse) provides quality at prices that were unheard of 20 years ago. A guitar comparable to one costing $1,000 twenty years ago could actually be found today for as little as $400 or so. The trick is to get out and try lots of guitars. Don’t be impressed by a brand, stay open minded and let your ear and hands show you the way…but play a lot of guitars!
To get an idea of what’s out there start at acousticguitar.com. Any edition of Acoustic Guitar Magazine or its website will reference scores and scores of brands with beautiful photos in articles, ads, comparisons, spec sheets, profiles, etc.
Good luck to you lucky bastards looking to buy a guitar.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Guitars and accessories → The best Acoustic?
