Best acoustic/eletric under $1000

mattfrye14

New member
ok, im loking for a guitar under 1000, i actually could spend around 1500 but im looking to buy an amp and stuff...so far ive played mostly taylors and martins and foudn that i dont like the taylors sound (to tingy) i played a martin the other day and on the inside it said "ooo-cme" dont know if that was the model number or anything, but it was a/e and $949...but looking through my musicians friend i saw a takamine EF-341c and had heard good things about takamine, is this anygood?...if you have any other recommendations on what to try that would be great.
 
ill tell you what i did, i had 1600 bucks to spend and i was thinking im gonna buy the best acoustic electric money can buy, so of course when we think of somthing being great we think it has to be expensive, so i went to my local music place and they carry martin takmine taylor and ibanez. when i went in the guy asked how much i had to spend and i told him so he handed me a martin, so i played a few bars on it and then i went to play some solos way down low on the neck, the cutaway was nice but the guitar was setup like shit, as i found all martins are set up this way wright from the factory. after 3 mins of playing and believe me thats all it took it just played like crap he handed me a taylor and that was a little better but it to was set up badly from the factory so i checked out ibanez, and believe me i am no ibanez fan i call them ivebeenhad, the one i chose i chose because of the looks it looks killer. and it was only 399.00 and after i played it and it played better than the taylor and the martin by far i bought it wright on the spot. its a talamar inter city by ibanez and it is like a sparkly purple color and the two band eq in it is great for the price and hell they sell these on musicians friend for like 289.im not saying this is the wright choice for you but just because somthing costs more dont necessarily make it better. my ibanez saved me enough money to buy other things to go with it like sonar and a keyboard. and then i took it to my friend who owns a local place called the guitar hospital and gave him 60 bucks and he set it up perfect and put them elixir strings on it and man does this thing sound nice and the strings are almost touching the frets and it plays almost as goos as my american made san dimas jackson electric i have. so at least check them out you wont regret it they are great players. happy shopping tim pate
 
I think Takamines are some of the best acoustic guitars at any price, and I've played a lot of $2000-3000 guitars. It all comes down to taste and I don't even like to listen to recommendations when it comes to musical instruments. Play everything you can get your hands on and buy the best one you can find and afford. It's really that simple.

Takamine also makes some great 12-string guitars in the $1000 range.

A $290 Ibanez better than a Taylor or Martin ? It must be the sparkly purple that makes it sound so good. :rolleyes: Just kidding. :)
 
If you can find one, a used Guild F4-CE or F45-CE is a top of the line appointed acoustic/electric at a bargain price. The carved back will blow you away.
 
also the guitars your listing, do they sound like taylors, because i dont like the sound of taylors...maybe its just me..
 
A few months ago I picked up an unplayed '96 Guild DV-52 for $600 and had it set up properly and a fishman pickup installed, it sounds wonderful and is an absolute joy to play and will only get better with time.

I don't know what kind of product Guild is going to be putting out now that Fender owns them and they are moving operations out to Corona, Ca., but the Rhode Island ones are some of the most underrated guitars out there.

Guilds don't sound like Taylors.
 
Check out Tacoma - probabaly the most underated guitar line produced in America.
 
It seems that the Fender purchase was the best thing to happen to Guild since it opened its doors. The company fell on hard times in the '80s and there was a lot of dreck that went out the door. It sought bankruptcy protection, was facing liquidation and reportedly, at one point the whole ball of wax was on the auction block for under $ 300K.

Enter Fender - still remembering its own CBS days. Bought the package, left the people in place, funded R & D, and began production of Guild products, not just Fender acoustics. These guitars are better than good. They're fantastic.
 
I have to agree about the Martins. Any of them under $3000 are just garbage in my opinion. I took my $1500 Martin back to GC and got an Ibanez Artwood 600 2 years ago, and have never looked back. It is solid rosewood, beautiful finish, no flaws, setup perfectly, and plays like a dream. It came with a case, lifetime warranty, and was $900 out the door. I'm not sure if these are made any more. Oh, one more thing. The all gold hardware and neckwork are unbeliveable. It also has an awesome ring and tone that the Martin lacked. Hope this helps.
 
does anyone have any experience with takamines???...and im also starting to think that maybe i was too hard on the taylors and im going to give them a second chance (im going up there this weekend again)
 
I have a similar story to that of flash...

Walked in with $3400 in search of the perfect Taylor 514ce, left with an Ibanez AEF-18. I couldn't justify the extra $$ when this guitar sounded so good...
No it is not a Taylor or Martin, but it sure is close, and for less than 1/5 the price ($400 w/softcase) it has been a bargain. Fishman pre, flame rosette, nice guitar.
I always hated Ibanez too. I had to suck up my pride on this one.

Pete
 
Dude, as fusioninspace said, go check out a Seagull! They're great guitars at affordable prices. I've got a S6 folk model and I've never regreted getting it. I even compared it to Taylors around the same price range(or higher actually).
 
A second vote for Tacoma. These guys are picking up endorsers left and right. Their Cheif retails about $1250, but you can find it on sale for around $1000. It blows away any acoustic/electric I have ever played.

Seagulls are great guitars, but the Tacoma is better. It was funny, I was at the local music store and they sell Seagulls and I was taking a look because I had never seen their line before. The owner came over and was giving me a good sales pitch on how great the Seagull was. Then he asked me what I was currently playing on. I said "Tacoma Chief". He says "oh....me too....nevermind. Let me know if you need anything else" :D

Just because you havn't heard of them yet, don't dismiss the line. They are becoming very popular here in the NW, and I would guess all over the US very soon.
 
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