Help choosing an acoustic

[onlyfingers]

Re: agreement

I agree with this. Takamine puts out a base line model acoustic for about $100-120. Plays really nice, sound pretty good.

Given a choice of spending $100 for a guitar that sounds pretty good and $300 on a guitar that sounds very good, I'd spend the $300. Don't go by brand, go by your ears and the playability of the guitar.

 

[KillRoy Ver 3.0]

Myself personally I have an Art & Luthrie. There a great little company based out of Quebec, Canada. I had two of them now and I have been very impressed by there craftsmanship and tone on both of them. The best part to is there cheap. I paid $378 (canadian) for an acoustic cutaway w/ 3 band eq preamp and hardshell case. Hell of a deal.

 

[coolasvanillaic]

Yo,

This is a great thread for me because Im looking for a new acoustic as well. Thing is, everything at the chain guitar stores is so expensive. Wheres a safe and affordable place to get a great acoustic. Im a little leery about Ebay becase it is an acoustic, but I wouldnt mind trying. What do you guys think, wheres a good place to check? Im also willing to spend a little bit more, about the $500 range.

Matt

 

[tf5_bassist]

People might find me a tad insane on this one, but i picked up this guitar by a company i'd never heard of before, called Crafter... There were a few models in the store, and all sounded pretty good, but a few really stood out. I think that the one i was looking at was around $350 w/ electronics. I didn't try the electronics (they were installed by the store, i think), but the guitar just sounded so beautiful and unique for under $400... I was damn impressed. Check 'em out if you can. I've been starting to see them around more and more, so you'll probably be able to find a local dealer who carries them.

 

[tf5_bassist]

Yo,

This is a great thread for me because Im looking for a new acoustic as well. Thing is, everything at the chain guitar stores is so expensive. Wheres a safe and affordable place to get a great acoustic. Im a little leery about Ebay becase it is an acoustic, but I wouldnt mind trying. What do you guys think, wheres a good place to check? Im also willing to spend a little bit more, about the $500 range.

Matt

$500? Hmm... I'd definitely say you should wait a bit longer and spend a bit more... Check out Breedlove, probably one of the best acoustics i've EVER heard. You could probably find something like an AD20SM for around $600-$650... but that's scraping the bottom of the Breedlove barrel there... the AC25SR would be a damned good guitar to go with, and those are probably from $800-$900, and that's including a hardcase and the Fishman electronics package with that. Breedlove's factory is in Bend, OR, and according to Jay Howlett (folk singer/songwriter i met through a friend of mine and Breedlove player/endorser) they are more than willing to offer tours through the factory and check out their instruments.

If you're looking for a really nice quality instrument, Breedlove would be a damned good company to check out.

 

[onlyfingers]

Yo,

wheres a good place to check?

Matt

Buying online isn't for everyone--there are risks. I bought a guitar and amp from Jhalemusic.com (Jeff Hale Music), and jeff took care of me. His inventory of accoustics looks a little slim.

I visited Buffalo Brothers, and they have what might be the world's biggest guitar inventory. I have no idea how they are with on-line sales.

http://www.buffalobrosguitars.com/

It may take a while, and you may have to drive a bit, but try to track down the instruments you hear about and are interested in, so you can try out a range of guitars. If you're going to try it at a shop and buy on the Web, give the shop a chance to get your business. In other words, if you went to a music store and tried the Breedlove or whatever, and find the instrument for $200 less on the web, go to the store and tell them you want to buy there, but you find it hard to pass up the web price.

(I have no direct experience with this, but others will advise you that two instruments from the same maker, of the same model, may sound or act very differently. That is only one of the risks of buying an instrument over the web.)

 

[Richard Monroe]

Acoustic guitars are not electronic devices. If you audition 20 $300 preamps, all the same make and model, they'll sound pretty much the same. If you audition 20 $300 acoustic guitars, they will vary wildly. Of 20 $300 acoustics, the odds are 5 of them will suck big time, 10 will be pretty poor, 4 will be acceptable, but with some specific problems (one fret that buzzes, etc.), and one may be a fairly good guitar.
Make and model are mostly irrelevent, they were made of wood by humans. Your mission is to find the one where the human didn't fuck up. I helped a friend of mine buy a $200 guitar. We selected a Washburn, and it's really a pretty nice guitar. In order to do this, I played every $250 or less guitar at a huge Mars music and a huge Guitar Center. That's what you have to do if you want a cheap acoustic that's any good. I played over 100 guitars that day, some of them more than once. If you are looking for a cheap guitar, ignore the make and model, and just play a shit load of guitars. This means you need to be in a major city that has stores with a big enough inventory to give you a good selection.-Richie