Need help choosing first acoustic guitar!

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Chater-La

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Hi! For my niece's 12 birthday I want to surprise her and buy her an acoustic guitar (full size) and have it be delivered to her house.

Budget is $300, and I need to be able to find the model on one of the big online retail shops so I can order it online.

For a young lady, she already plays piano and the cello so she's got the theory down. I want the guitar to be pretty- maybe sunburst orange/yellow finish or blue?

Any recommendations? Thanks!
 
For starter guitars, I think that Yamaha and Alvarez make great guitars in that price range. Washburn, I believe, makes the best-selling acoustics in that price range. I've played a couple of $300-ish Ibanez acoustics that were darn good as well.

Honestly the only acoustic brands I would say to avoid would be Rogue and Fender. The Rogues are so cheap they're basically toys, and the Fender acoustics sound like shoeboxes with rubber bands stretched across them.

I'm not sure if anybody offers a solid spruce top in that price range, but if so, snatch it up. Otherwise they're all laminate tops. That would be the main feature I'd look for, but I wouldn't keep my hopes up.
 
I love my Epi EJ200, a bit above your budget, but Epi do make guits in your budget. I would recommend getting a korg guitar tuner and contact mic, total of about 25 bucks, and they work great.
 
Although it seems like a good idea, I would go with a gift card and accompanying her to the store to find one SHE likes. Females don't always want a dreadnought-size (it's a boob thing!)
 
mjbphotos said:
Although it seems like a good idea, I would go with a gift card and accompanying her to the store to find one SHE likes. Females don't always want a dreadnought-size (it's a boob thing!)
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Well I don't live in the US currently so it's not an option to go with her. I think it's cool to receive a gift home.... Plus if I get her a GC she might be influenced to buy something else, and I really want her to try the guitar.
 
mewsician2 said:
I sold guitars for years, so I feel qualified to jump in here.
Take a look at these; GuitarCenter, GuitarCenter, GuitarCenter.

Samick Guitar by Greg Bennett: Windsor Acoustic Guitar (D6) I'm impressed with the Greg Bennett series of guitars, this is a good instrument, a bang for the buck winner.

Any of these will be a good solid instrument for as long as she want's.


Good luck.
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Thanks for these, it's strange when I press on the links it says 'product sold out'.... but anyway I can look it up by the url product name....
 
I agree with one of the above posters - stay away from a dread. A smaller body acoustic will be more comfortable for her to play. At your budget, you will likely be getting a laminate top/back/sides. Although most would agree a solid top usually sounds better - some laminates can do the job quite well. Every acoustic guitar will sound different. As you can't listen to it prior to buying, I'd recommend an arrangement with her (or her parents) to bring the guitar into a shop/luthier once she gets it and get it setup. Young fingers on a guitar that has too high an action will discourage her from playing quickly.

Yamaha's are a good bet and make some reasonable offerings at that price range. If you really want to get her a nicer guitar at your budget and don't mind the extra legwork - visit the acoustic guitar classifieds and buy a used one from there and have it shipped. You'll get much more bang for your buck. I'm happy to assist with questions there as I've bought/sold here and found it a good experience. Just PM me offline.

I wish her the best of luck!
 
I know you want to get her a full-size guitar so you'll probably ignore this, but as the father of 3 kids who play guitar, I can tell you what sparked their interest more than anything else was having a comfortable guitar that SOUNDS good and plays well. I think your budget is totally reasonable, as I often find myself telling well-intentioned parents/aunts/siblings to buy the most guitar you can afford. You seem to understand that the best way to GUARANTEE that a guitar doesn't get played is to buy some $100 piece of crap that won't stay in tune and is hard to play.

Back on topic - I think the following meets all of your qualifications except being full-sized. Well, and no sunburst, lol... I recommend a Baby Taylor. It's a 3/4 scale, so it's not a toy. All 3 of my kids learned on one, and the fretboard is not drastically different to me than a full sized guitar, so it's not a big adjustment moving up. The ones I've owned play very well, stay in tune, and (most importantly) sound great. They really project well, and they're super comfortable for a kid to hold.

And I've bought more and more mid-level instruments online without any disasters. If the instrument is unplayable when it arrives, a setup will fix most issues...those that are not fixed are easily rectified by sending the instrument back and getting another one. I've only had to do that once.
 
Also very acceptable, Seagull guitars. Not sure they're in your price range, but I've always been impressed by them for beginner guitars.

I'm done. Good luck, lol.
 
I think I have been convinced to get her a 3/4 size. I mean she is not a small girl, but still I think it will be an easier way to adjust to a new instrument like you say. The Taylor looks good...
 
Chater-La said:
I think I have been convinced to get her a 3/4 size. I mean she is not a small girl, but still I think it will be an easier way to adjust to a new instrument like you say. The Taylor looks good...
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Good call... the only other thing I'd recommend is a "parlour" (not sure what that is in the official size list) guitar rather than a dread, for the same reasons the smart guy listed... unfortunately, most of the things that make standard acoustics "pretty" only come with more $... MOP inlays, gold hardware, fancy purfling etc. - and most of the coloured options will sound crapola, I expect...
 
Thanks again for all your help! Any online retailers you particularly trust for buying a guitar?
 
I bought a Ibanez classical nylon for $100 - I love it. I also picked up an Ibanez 12 string for $199 - love that too.

for $300 you could get her both :D
 
Carvin Cobalt

The C250S cedar-top is absolutely killer and will eat the Epiphones and baby Taylor for breakfast. :)

I have the C250S and the C350 and would like to get the C980 Jumbo at some point. Of my two, I use the 250S cedar-top most of the time, but occasionally, when I do two acoustic tracks, I'll use both for different tones. The 350 mahogany is a bit mellower/darker...though still nice guitar, but the cedar top just has this wonderful, well-balanced tone....and it plays like butter.

(They are including a HSC for free on the Carvin acoustics)

Carvin Cobalt Acoustic Guitars

Carvin Cobalt C250S Cedar-Top
 
Another option, that some may sneer at: Martin LXM, which is 3/4-sized. Based on playing a few different 3/4-size guitars in a store a few years ago (helping someone else shop), I thought it sounded the best of the similar contenders. The others were so crazy-bright, they made my ears ring. That may, of course, be a matter of taste.

Downside: it's not actually made of wood at all, which makes some people immediately reject it. I suppose that depends on whether you judge it by listening to it or reading its specs. It does look like its made of wood, so long as you don't examine it closely. It's also absurdly sturdy, which is good thing when you're owned by a kid, though the typical 12-year-old girl isn't quite the agent of destruction that, say, a 10-year-old boy is. Also - based on a quick Internet lookup - it seems to have been priced up a bit in the three-or-so years since I was looking at it.

There's also a similar model called the LX1, which I believe has a spruce top. I don't think I actually saw this one in the shop.

On the prettiness-factor: I understand that can certainly be a factor in the kid taking to the gift, but I agree with the other poster who said that prettiness general carries a significant price.
 
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