Good Acoustic?

SomethingCreative

I was wondering what the best acoustic guitar for its money would be. Any help would be great.

mccreadyisgod

Pre-1970 Martins, Guilds or Gibsons.

Brand-new off the shelf, the best manufactured acoustics are Martin, Taylor, Guild and Gibson (in roughly that order). There are many smaller companies and boutique manufacturers that make better guitars, but they can be hard to come by (and are unbelievably expensive).

Tacoma, Takamine, Rain Song, and Yamaha all make good acoustics, too.

Key items to look for:

1. Solid wood. Getting a solid top is VERY important for good resonance, and solid backs and sides will make for good, round tone.

2. Electronics. If you need an acoustic-electric, the worst thing you can do is get a guitar with a pre-amp panel in the side. That's a huge chunk of wood that's missing, and a big plastic panel in it's place. Get something with an end-pin preamp and jack, or get a straight acoustic and have one installed (from either Fishman or LR Baggs).

3. Cut-away. If you're gonna get all Tim Reynolds on this thing, you need a cut-away. If you really aren't gonna get above the 12th fret, don't get a cut-away. That big cut from the body really cuts down on tone, resonance, and projection.

4. Hardware. Make sure there are good tuners, or you have a budget for after-market tuners. Ditto the nut: a bone nut is a great feature for a great acoustic. Ditto the bridge.

5. Fit and feel. Just make sure you like to play it... the neck feels right, the body sits well against you, there isn't any uncomfortable reaching to play the thing comfortably. A Gibson J-200 is a great guitar, but a big body like that is a love-it-or-hate-it sorta thing. The Martin 000-15 is also a great guitar, but it's fairly small. Figure out what body shape and depth you want (Jumbo, Dreadnaught, Auditorium, Parlor... shallow, medium, deep).

betrrmann14

I just bought a Fender DG-20s. You didn't really specify what price range, but I must say this is the best guitar I could find for under $300. The action is great, the sound even better. My brother in law has been playing for over twenty years, he currently plays a high end Taylor and he fell in love with my guitar.

inner sense

martins are the best acoustic guitars out there but also one of the most priciest. Takamines are usually a little cheaper and very awesome sounding.

SomethingCreative

k thanks guys

oyster jelly

I just recently purchased a Jasmine S34C (made by Takamine) for $140 bucks from musiciansfriend.com and am really impressed by the sound and action of it. It values at @275 dollars but the site had a great deal on it plus my other no name acoustic off of e-bay hit the wall. I've only been playing for a few years so I won't buy a really good axe until I am worthy of playing one, but this is a good guitar for the price.

i_love_pirhanas

I've seen a lovely Takamine in the guitar shop near here which I will probably get, also some really nice Yamahas...

i_love_pirhanas

Originally posted by mccreadyisgod
Pre-1970 Martins, Guilds or Gibsons.

Brand-new off the shelf, the best manufactured acoustics are Martin, Taylor, Guild and Gibson (in roughly that order). There are many smaller companies and boutique manufacturers that make better guitars, but they can be hard to come by (and are unbelievably expensive).

Tacoma, Takamine, Rain Song, and Yamaha all make good acoustics, too.

Key items to look for:

1. Solid wood. Getting a solid top is VERY important for good resonance, and solid backs and sides will make for good, round tone.

2. Electronics. If you need an acoustic-electric, the worst thing you can do is get a guitar with a pre-amp panel in the side. That's a huge chunk of wood that's missing, and a big plastic panel in it's place. Get something with an end-pin preamp and jack, or get a straight acoustic and have one installed (from either Fishman or LR Baggs).

3. Cut-away. If you're gonna get all Tim Reynolds on this thing, you need a cut-away. If you really aren't gonna get above the 12th fret, don't get a cut-away. That big cut from the body really cuts down on tone, resonance, and projection.

4. Hardware. Make sure there are good tuners, or you have a budget for after-market tuners. Ditto the nut: a bone nut is a great feature for a great acoustic. Ditto the bridge.

5. Fit and feel. Just make sure you like to play it... the neck feels right, the body sits well against you, there isn't any uncomfortable reaching to play the thing comfortably. A Gibson J-200 is a great guitar, but a big body like that is a love-it-or-hate-it sorta thing. The Martin 000-15 is also a great guitar, but it's fairly small. Figure out what body shape and depth you want (Jumbo, Dreadnaught, Auditorium, Parlor... shallow, medium, deep).

Thanks for this advice, I'm getting myself an electro-acoustic soon now I have a better idea of what to look for, I already knew about the cutaway, your point number 2 is a little confusing [ I still don't know all that much ] but I'll figure it out

Pacomc79

Originally posted by i_love_pirhanas
Thanks for this advice, I'm getting myself an electro-acoustic soon now I have a better idea of what to look for, I already knew about the cutaway, your point number 2 is a little confusing [ I still don't know all that much ] but I'll figure it out

#2 is coming from a sound engineer. The more money you spend from a guitar the less you want the sound perverted by onboard electronics. Trust me the engineer dosen't want you to have your grubby little guitar players hands anywhere near the eq or the volume. For 90% of us onboard EQ's are fine, the trade off is a minimal impact on the total package untill you get well into the $1500 plus dollar range and very nice woods. The $2200 Taylor 810 is a great example of a guitar that sounds 1000 times better without the onboard EQ box. Play both versions and you'll understand what MIG was speaking of. Likewise you won't find an onboard EQ in the best Martins either but that's not to say it's a bad way to go for the majority of us working folk.

The Fishman prefix blender is one of the best onboard EQ's available but the regular fishman stuff is good too. I have a fishman preamp in my Fender DG-22CE that has served me very well. The Fender DG series is a moderately priced guitar that does well for a variety of players.

If you don't go the on board EQ route the Fishman Rare Earth or the Baggs is a great choice but you're going to pay for it.

parchy

If you want to be cool like Stevie (and me) and just play straight acoustic, then might I suggest a Seagull? Very well crafted guitars for the price...

The Tremor Christ

I've seen so many nice guitars I've wanted to purchase from musiciansfriend.com but they dont ship to Canada, so I'm hooped.

Does anyone know a Canadian equivelent or a American site which ships to Canada?

mccreadyisgod

Originally posted by Pacomc79
#2 is coming from a sound engineer. The more money you spend from a guitar the less you want the sound perverted by onboard electronics. Trust me the engineer dosen't want you to have your grubby little guitar players hands anywhere near the eq or the volume. For 90% of us onboard EQ's are fine, the trade off is a minimal impact on the total package untill you get well into the $1500 plus dollar range and very nice woods. The $2200 Taylor 810 is a great example of a guitar that sounds 1000 times better without the onboard EQ box. Play both versions and you'll understand what MIG was speaking of. Likewise you won't find an onboard EQ in the best Martins either but that's not to say it's a bad way to go for the majority of us working folk.

The Fishman prefix blender is one of the best onboard EQ's available but the regular fishman stuff is good too. I have a fishman preamp in my Fender DG-22CE that has served me very well. The Fender DG series is a moderately priced guitar that does well for a variety of players.

If you don't go the on board EQ route the Fishman Rare Earth or the Baggs is a great choice but you're going to pay for it.

I take offense to half of that...

Sure, we engineers would rather not give an acoustic guitarrist EQ controls...

But as a player, I would never want on on-board plastic preamp panel cut out of my pretty wooden instrument. You can get an outboard preamp/eq/DI and save the guitar from that shame.

I was making my recommendations based on the original post wanting a GOOD acoustic. If they wanted a FAIR or AVERAGE acoustic, that might change things...

WiLL75

Originally posted by The Tremor Christ
I've seen so many nice guitars I've wanted to purchase from musiciansfriend.com but they dont ship to Canada, so I'm hooped.

Does anyone know a Canadian equivelent or a American site which ships to Canada?

info@longandmcquade.com

Just email them and ask for prices. I used musician'sfriend to get an idea of the colour options and stuff for my '72 custom reissue, then just emailed them and asked them about their price and shipping. They didn't have any in stock, so they had to order it from fender, but I got what colour and neck I wanted. I even got them to put in a six-saddle bridge instead of the regular three-saddle bridge that comes on it.

who's_pearljam?

#1, Do you like the sound?
Have somebody else play a bunch of guitars, sit in front and listen to them. You don't get the true sound by playing it yourself as it is projecting out of the sound hole. If you like the sound, it doesn't matter what kind of nut or cutaway or electronics it has. The sound is good and only will get better because you can always have a bone nut and saddle put on later. They will make your guitar sound great if it sounds good now. Not many cheaper guitars come with them, so don't let that stop you.
You can always put on tuners later if you need them, ($35 to $75 bucks)

If it has electronics, and the guitar sounds good, fine. You can always put them on later though, as MIG says

(Long #1!)

#2 Does it feel good to play? Really, does the neck suit your hands, does the body fit you? Does it feel comfortable? When you sit with it in a store for a few minutes, picture yourself sitting with it for a long time.

There are a lot of good manufacturers out there, and a lot guitars sound pretty damn good for the price. I just bought a 25 year old "cheap" Yamaha fg 160 for a hundred bucks, stuck a bone nut and saddle on it, and it sounds and feels really really good!

betrrmann14

Originally posted by The Tremor Christ
I've seen so many nice guitars I've wanted to purchase from musiciansfriend.com but they dont ship to Canada, so I'm hooped.

Does anyone know a Canadian equivelent or a American site which ships to Canada?

Try guitartrader.com

They're good folks, they ship to canada, but can't use credit cards from there.

The Tremor Christ

Originally posted by betrrmann14
Try guitartrader.com

They're good folks, they ship to canada, but can't use credit cards from there.

Are the prices in American currency?

betrrmann14

yeah I think so.

2italy

depending on how much money you want to spend:
-Taylors are nice
-Takaminies are pretty nice

you could go to a store with a variety of them and try a bunch...

Caba

Hmmmm....i have an Ovation Celebrity that I love....Great sound....and the neck feels almost as good as the neck on my american standard strat...got it for 350 in a pawn shop.

Cree Nations

I love em all, as long as it has 6 strings (or 12 or 5 if your in mexico). Always have and always will love Fender. Ovation are also quite grand.

Pearl Jam and toast

oo man i haev a 30 some year old guibson


i have sex with it














not really heh