Acoustic guitars under $500?

Aidyn

Aidyn

New member
I want to get a new acoustic guitar that I could take to college and I want a decent guitar that is under $500 or maybe $600. A friend recommended a Martin DX1 or Taylor Big Baby which I will check out when I go to get one but I was wondering if you guys had any advice or opinions about those or any other good guitars in that price range.

Thanks for any advice you can give.
 
Ok-here's my advice. The best $600 acoustic you can buy is one that fits your hands, and is made well. It is often used, but if you are set on a new guitar- Anybody can pick a brand or model, we all have them. Mine for cheap is a Korean Breedlove-

http://www.musician.com/product/Breedlove-Atlas-Series-AD200SM-Acoustic-Guitar?sku=512406


Their movable bridges are revolutionary, and I generally prefer the work of Korean luthiers to Chinese or Taiwanese. I've seen some Indonesian dirt cheap Mitchells that are surprisingly good, and own one. The damn thing has perfect intonation, not a buzz in sight, is easy to play, and still manages to sound like a cheap guitar. The Breedloves I've played all managed to sound like a *real* guitar, and there goes about $350 extra.

The tough part is this, though. Remember the part about your hands. If microphones are like shoes, guitars are like gloves. It's all about scale and neck radius. My badass guitar and yours may be quite different. To further complicate matters, guitars are made by humans (mostly) out of wood (usually) , which are not uniform in nature. The cheaper guitars (and most other things) are, the worse the quality control is. Looking for a cheap guitar, I have played as many as 16 of the same make and model, trying to find one that didn't have something obviously wrong with it. The salesman loved me.

Anybody can find a good $5000 acoustic, if they have $5000. A good $100 guitar? You hit the jackpot. A good $500 guitar? You have to be careful. I advise avoiding mail order, and play the exact guitar you will own, and be satisfied with it. You sound like someone who would do well to go guitar shopping with a guitar-god buddy. Buy him lunch. He may find things wrong with guitars that you miss.

Finally- brands to look for in your pricerange? My favorites include : Washburn, Yamaha, Seagull, Takamine, Ibanez, Beedlove. I'm not a fan of current Epiphone acoustics, although some of the older ones rock. I also don't love the cheap offerings from the big names- Martin, Taylor. I love my Taylor, but in your pricerange, I think there are better guitars than the Big Baby. There are bizzillions of other brands, including vintage models-Harmony, Hagstrom. I'm not a big fan of round-back plastic hybrid guitars (Ovation, Applause), but there are some that don't totally suck, so playing them is worthwile. You need a strap, though, 'cause they slide down your leg.

Any of the guitars listed above (and no doubt, countless others) could be that one that nobody screwed up. Generally in that pricerange, you don't get the top tonewood, so when looking for a mid-priced acoustic, I focus less on tone, and more on playability and intonation. At least get one that was made well. Then you have a guitar you can play enough to get good at it, then buy a higher priced axe. Then "Old Faithful" becomes the camping and dangerous duty axe. Good for biker bars. It fits *your* hand, has a good stable neck with no buzzes, is easy to play, and doesn't sound bad.. Good luck-Richie
 
Last edited:
Wow, thanks Richard I will definitely take all of those things into consideration. I just remembered another guitar that will be a really good possibility. The Seagull 25th Anniversary guitar. I was at a Guitar Center a month ago and one of the sales people said he thought it was the best guitar in the room so I tried it and it was awesome so I'll have to consider that one too.

It looks like this may be a day long thing.

I know what you mean about those plastic backed guitars. I have an electric-acoustic with a plastic back which I've had for about 4 years and it can be a pain when it's sliding around although it's nice not to have to worry about damaging it when I accidentally slam the back into something.

On a side note I just got a Gibson Nighthawk Custom from my Grandpa and although I'd never heard of it before he gave it to me it is a great guitar and looks like it's never been touched.

Thanks again for the advice.
 
I couldnt agree more with Ritchie
I think that the Korean Crafter brand which has been around 35 yrs is fantastic, I own a PK Rose which has ridiculous inlay etc... Engleman top rosewood back and sides Lr Baggs electronics and retailed for just over 900 at the time . THe guitar sounds fantastic and playability is wonderfull.
THey make many models less ornate that retail much cheaper and the
craftsman ship is still fantastic.
P
 
Richard is right on about this. Of the less expensive brands, I prefer the Art & Lutherie related brands (all made by LaSiDo Corp.), especially Seagull, in your price range. A real solid value and Sellers will give significant discounts. I'd look for something in the area of 35% or even 40% off list price.
 
Take good care of that Nighthawk. A short-lived Gibson model, not that many were made. It was sort of Gibson's answer to the strat. Does yours have 2 or 3 pickups?-Richie
 
+1 for Art & Lutherie / Seagull. I got my son an A&L parlor sized cherry wood guitar for his birthday a few years ago, and it sounds and plays great -- we use it for recording a lot.
 
+1 on the Godin family brands, Art and Lutherie and Seagull. I've played severally locally, many while i was hunting for my new acoustic last year. I ended up with an Alvarez AD-60SC. Definitely check out Alvarez, they've got the best electronics in that price range that ive heard, it sounds great acoustic, very loud and clear, and i always get compliments on the beautiful top and inlay work.

as always, try before you buy, and try not to think too much about the name on the headstock, its all about feel, maybe even more so with acoustics than electrics.

Adam
 
Best in that range are generally the Seagulls or the Epi Masterbilts. A bit more, and you can get a Larrivee 03 series guitar. There are far better options than the formica Martin or Big Baby Taylor in that price range.
 
A buddy of mine has a Martin DX and when we tested out guitars, none of the others in the same price range was as loud with a focused lowed end and crisp top end. I have a Simon and Patrick with a cedar top and cherry sides. In comparision, the low end EQ is focused more in the low mids and can get increasing muddy as the strings age. The high end even with new strings isn't as crisp. Not a bad guitar, just a different sound. Played together though they complement each other nicely. The best budget acoustic I've played was a Takamine, but I don't know the model.

EDIT- Forgot to add that the Martin DX was to be a replacement for his Seagull Jumbo, but the Seagull still gets much love...
 
Thanks to several of y'all for your kind words, especially Milnoque. Not to go too far off topic, but I believe that shopping for other people's guitars benefits the industry, and the novice guitarist, and the Joe Blow who works at the guitar store, and eventually, an underpaid and probably disgruntled Chinese luthier.

If you go to the store and find cheap axes that don't suck for beginners, they get a guitar they can play... The message is conveyed that more consistent, better cheap guitars are needed for the masses (simply refuse to buy guitars that suck, for anyone)...Eventually the Chinese figure out how to make a good guitar...Then they wipe us out...?

Seriously, in this transaction I am a "bird dog", as they say, in sales. I don't get paid for this by a client. Ostensibly, I do it because I love guitars and guitarists, and that is true. More to the point, it reinforces with the staff of the local music store that even when I don't have extra money, I bring people around *who do*. This has gotten me a hell of a lot of good deals on perfectly good gear. The Joe sells his Avalon and a ? Schecter to my buddy. I sort through guitars to find good ones, it's a service. Think of me as a Yenta, if you speak Yiddish, a matchmaker. If you want to find great cheap acoustics, you have to kiss a lot of frogs. Electrics are easier.-Richie

P.S. What does the Chinese guy get? Maybe a guitar factory, when he revolts. He'll never see the money.
 
Youve got great advice so far. All I can say is that I have been more than happy with my Takamine G-series so far. Good bass punch.

Mike
 
I have tried many of the guitars people have mentioned above. IMHO, Seagull is by far the best recommendation. Especially if you get one with a satin finish. I think their glossy finishes are a bit thick. Try to get an older Seagull like an S-6. I have one (and and Art & Lutherie) and I think Seagull (and Godin, in general) makes the best guitars under $1,000 by far. I spent a lot of time checking stuff out. Used gear in your price range is another story altogether.

Hope this helps.

LL
 
Someone already said Walden, and if you can find a blemished one, they are wicked cheap and sound amazing! I saw one in Nashville Tn. for $199.00 that had a nice tone and amazing neck on it, I sold mine recently but only because I have moved to an Eastman AC710 which I think is the finest guitar out there in the price range it rides in, but that would be about double what the OP is saying he can spend.

Used guitars will always render better value of guitar for the dollar, though you have to know what stuff is and if the price is really that good on it. I love the sound of the Seagull S6 but find the neck to be really boxy, and the headstock rather ugly....

Yamaha makes some guitars with solid tops and rosewood back and sides for around $300 that can be found at Guitar Center, they sound fine, play well and seem to hold up ok too.

Now here is a brand that is not talked about much.....

Morgan Monroe

Morgan Monroe is a indiana based company that designs mostly folks centered instruments for budget prices, and the early stuff kinda sucked! but my fiance has one of their mandolins and it plays fine and sounds darn good for the $250 I think she paid for it. Now they have some great guitars that I have messed around with in a couple stores, and while there was nothing about them that made plunk down cash right then and there (I don't have it to spare right now anyway) they were very useful sounding and playing instruments to say the least.
 
marshall409 said:
I ended up with an Alvarez AD-60SC. Definitely check out Alvarez, they've got the best electronics in that price range that ive heard, it sounds great acoustic, very loud and clear, and i always get compliments on the beautiful top and inlay work.
Click to expand...

I second the vote for Alvarez.. I sat in a shop for about 2 hours trying 10 or so diff. guitars. I picked out all the guitars in my price range, which was about the same as yours, and A/B'ed them without looking at the price tags after the initial selection.

I ended up with the AD-70SC, acoustic/electric, with a little onboard tuner/eq. It was one of the least expensive guitars in the group too, $350 and he threw in a case and a strap. It looks good, and sounds great. A $400 Yamaha something-or-other was my #2 pick. The rest of the group was easy to eliminate for various reasons, even a couple that were $500+.
 
Hi. I'm very sorry to disagree with you, but I would steer clear of any new Alvarez guitar. I keep seeing new Alvarez's with lots of structural issues (neck/bridge, etc.). These guitars are too new to have these issues now. This makes me seriously question their build quality.

The new Alvarez company I believe is very different than the old Alvarez company, which made very good instruments way back when (Japanese Alvarezes....not to mention the Yairi relationship, which is a totally different bag altogether).

LL
 
This is the guitar sub-500 I've been wanting

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...8082&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab=Watching

I watched one of my favorite bands play it. Mind you, their other gears is 80's les paul customs, playing through Matchless amps and vintage marshalls. They know their stuff and tone. He pulled out that acoustic and it sounded absolutely perfect. Honestly, for a live acoustic, it probably had my favorite tone i had heard for an acoustic. I was shocked to see these were a fairly cheap guitar etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top