what "new" acoustic guitar sucks the most?

[guitar junkie]

i have watched a bunch of guitars made in china and the usa as well as other weird places. just wondering what ones do you guys think suck the most (this can be based off of price bad design or building)

[StudioMxpx]

harmony guitars sucks so much!

[paulmckenna]

They are also like 100-200 dollars.

[Light]

Well, I voted for Ovation, because guitars should be wood, but the worst cheap guitar I have seen recently was an Estaban. Some poor girl has a mother who thinks the Home Shopping Network is the greatest thing ever, and that is how the mother bought her daughters guitar.

Poor girl.

Oh yeah, and the Martin X guitars suck pretty fucking hard, too.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[guitar junkie]

StudioMxpx harmony guitars sucks so much!

well my first guitar was one of those it was a really old one in mint shape it sounded bright and it was nylon strings the action was ok better than any other i have ever played since then.
i would say Ovation and Takamine Ovation just sounds like a BOX!
although a friend of mine has a 12 string that is not so bad and he recorded it with a pretty good sound......
Takamine just has no soul!

i had a Martin OOOXE and it was sold to me through guitar center for $299
and i knew that the bridge was pulled up on it when i bought it..... but it was under warrenty so i had it fixed up, and it sounded pretty good but i found a Gretsch used that i loved so i returned the Martin.

Estaban they suck really bad and i would not even think of buying one i have played one and said "yuck!"

[sile2001]

Originally Posted by guitar junkie

i would say Ovation and Takamine Ovation just sounds like a BOX!
although a friend of mine has a 12 string that is not so bad and he recorded it with a pretty good sound......
Takamine just has no soul!

Either that's just the new Takamine's (like the whole G series) or I just got a really good one. I have a Tak F360 from around 1998 (before the G series was introduced) and while it's no match for either of my Taylors, it really sounds pretty darn good.

[MonkeyShock]

The Fender acousti-strat and acousti-tele's are awful.
I nearly ordered one online 'cause they looked so cool.
Thank god I found one to try out at the local music store.
Awful sound, awful feel....but they still look cool.

[StudioMxpx]

I had this 38 inch harmony acoustic and it had some much fret buzz then my Grandpa bought the same one and it sounded ok so i dunno

[philboyd studge]

Originally Posted by Light

Well, I voted for Ovation, because guitars should be wood, but the worst cheap guitar I have seen recently was an Estaban. Some poor girl has a mother who thinks the Home Shopping Network is the greatest thing ever, and that is how the mother bought her daughters guitar.

Poor girl.

Oh yeah, and the Martin X guitars suck pretty fucking hard, too.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

Hmmm, I've got 5 Ovations, 4 out of their custom shop and I'm happy with them.

They do sort of suck in one way however. My rule for owning any guitar goes back to the 70's and owning Volkswagon beetles; you should be able to use it, and then sell it for a profit or at least what you paid for it.

[Scottgman]

Originally Posted by Light

Well, I voted for Ovation, because guitars should be wood, but the worst cheap guitar I have seen recently was an Estaban. Some poor girl has a mother who thinks the Home Shopping Network is the greatest thing ever, and that is how the mother bought her daughters guitar.

Poor girl.

Hey Light, tell us more about that Estaban guitar. We've all seen the commercials. I feel bad for all the suckers who are going to get a piece of firewood when they are expecting a guitar.

Did she get the amp too?

[Sloan]

Originally Posted by MonkeyShock

The Fender acousti-strat and acousti-tele's are awful.
I nearly ordered one online 'cause they looked so cool.
Thank god I found one to try out at the local music store.
Awful sound, awful feel....but they still look cool.

haha.
here's mine.
Snatched it at MF for $175

definitely not the best sound and the factory setup is really bad, but hey, it's a good travel guitar. And chicks dig it.

Back on topic:
I second Ovation.
Most of them are now those really shallow bodies and they sound about like the telecoustic. That's not good for the price they go for. While their deeper bodied ones sound better, it's still not really that good at all when you compare it to other "real" acoustics in the price range.

[tdukex]

I bought a $100 Durango classical just to get my foot in the nylon door (@Buffalo Bros). That poor thing was wretched...just miserable. I've since upgraded twice.

[Light]

Originally Posted by philboyd studge

Hmmm, I've got 5 Ovations, 4 out of their custom shop and I'm happy with them.

They do sort of suck in one way however. My rule for owning any guitar goes back to the 70's and owning Volkswagon beetles; you should be able to use it, and then sell it for a profit or at least what you paid for it.

All I can say is we clearly have very different ears.

Ovations just don't sound like a real guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[Light]

Originally Posted by Scottgman

Hey Light, tell us more about that Estaban guitar. We've all seen the commercials. I feel bad for all the suckers who are going to get a piece of firewood when they are expecting a guitar.

Did she get the amp too?

Well, it is one of the only guitars I have ever seen which makes a Bozo seem understated, for one thing. All plywood, of course, with a dyed wood fingerboard and bridge. The neck set was not bad, yet. Give it a year, though. The setup was god awful, but that is normal with any factory guitar, and all the more so with cheap factory guitars. And it sounded like ass, but that is to be expected, right?


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

[philboyd studge]

Originally Posted by Light

All I can say is we clearly have very different ears.

Ovations just don't sound like a real guitar.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

They've made me a lot of real money.

[guitar junkie]

do you gig with Ovation or sell them? so far they seem to not go over very well on here and i must say that i am not a fan of them. but i am even less a fan of the knock off guitars made to look like them like the sam ash junk but even worse the stuff you see at flea markets wow talk about some real crap! amazing i thought they would at least turn that stuff back before it hit the states dang talk about total crap.

[philboyd studge]

Originally Posted by guitar junkie

do you gig with Ovation or sell them? .

Nope, I don't sell them.

[typi]

I bought my young son a 2nd or 3rd level shallow Ovation Celebrity BECAUSE it was made of plastic so he could beat the hell out of it and I wouldn't have to worry about it too much. It is also shallow enough to get his arms around. (I think it was a $399 model on sale for $299, brand new and still in its original box). It has the built-in tuner and pickup.

Much to my surprise, I thought it sounded far better than I expected from the rep Ovations seem to have here, and better than many wood acoustics in the same price range, with better action to boot. Comfortable too! Sounds purty darn good plugged in too. So good to me, in fact, that I have also made real money with it by sneaking it out of the house and taking it on gigs while my son isn't looking! Nobody has complained to me about the sound yet......go figure. Sure works for me!

[kkenn]

I have an Ovation Balladeer, and I love it,(the sound that is, I hate all of them plugged in - this one mic's nice) when I bought it a few tears ago, I tried all the guitars in the price range I was shopping and it was hands down the best sounding acoustic for the money. I did not want to buy it - had to for the sound - I hate the round back, took a while to get used to.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me, acoustics are extremely variable, manufacturer to manufacturer and u have to really use your ears to buy one...any thoughts ?...

[mixmkr]

I just bought a Korean Ovation Celebrity Deluxe for $200 with a hardshell case. The guitar was used, but in great condition. Unplugged it is fairly quiet due to the shallow bowl, but plugged in with a little chorus sounds fantastic. The action and neck is great and feels very comfortable to my hands. Does it sound like an acoustic?...not really. None of the Ovations do. But, I can get it to sound great. ...and boasting a tad, remember 90% of your sound is your fingers, not the friggin guitar. It surely doesn't sound like a solid body electric either...but neither do those Goden guitars either. I guess you either like them, or you don't.

btw...here is a clip with that ovation thru a J-station. LOL!!(generally not the sound I am looking for, but to illustrate a point!)http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/...d=1322&alid=-1

For 200 smackers, I think I got a steal of a deal.

[MrDano]

Lots of differing opinions - but there sure is alot of Ovation bashing!!

For what it's worth, I have several different US made Ovations (nothing other than US made) - and without exception I like them all better then my Taylor 914 and my Gibson J200. When they are plugged in it's the tone baby - the tone!! Encredible for recording, playing live and all around endurance. For playing up the neck - I have never found a guitar that maintains intonation all the way up the neck like the Ovations.

Here in Canada - considering the weather swings we have - the Ovations are far more stable then any other stringed instruments I have. And to top it all off - the new US models that Kaman is releasing this year are fantastic sounding, looking and playing.

For me, it's all about feel and tone - and the Ovations capture it for me!!

Dano

[BJW]

Originally Posted by sile2001

Either that's just the new Takamine's (like the whole G series) or I just got a really good one. I have a Tak F360 from around 1998 (before the G series was introduced) and while it's no match for either of my Taylors, it really sounds pretty darn good.

I've got a Tak fd-360sc (this the one you're talking about with the dsp-1 electronics?) I bought it around 2000 or so. It's a sweet guitar. I'd say it hangs with the Taylor's I've played, but not the larivee's. The tak G-series guitars aren't the greatest, but for the price they're not too bad imho.

[Buck62]

Ovation guitars truly sound like crap.

Hohner guitars also sound like total poop.

[adamo_musica]

i bought a renissance guitar in a pawn shop back when i knew nothing about guitars. i bought it because it was blue.....something tells me they made it in the back room.

[philboyd studge]

Originally Posted by Buck62

Ovation guitars truly sound like crap.

35 years of using them tell me otherwise.