In need of Help finding an Acoustic

The unfortunate part is $170 is not going to go far looking for an Acoustic with Quality Tone. There are many differences in acoustic guitars besides steel string and nylon, if you are just entering the world of acoustic guitars you will be facinated by what is out there.

If this link works it will give you a bunch of axes in your price range.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitar/navigation?N=100001+306250+8&page=1

They may not match the quailty you are looking for but will not be bad guitars in there own respects. If you can save up the extra $30 bucks I would looking into the $199 Washburn's or Takamine's.

Best of luck,

Josh

Hey man,

I would recommend relying less on people's suggestions of specific guitars. Best thing for you to do is go to a local guitar store, and test out all acoustics they have in your price range. In SamAsh for example, there are constantly sales going on.... and it wouldnt be a surprise you buy a 200 giutar for less than 170 bucks. You see, everybodys hearing is different, therefore a certain guitar may sound very well to one ear and bad to another. I say play for a while... compare different guitars .... it might take a while but you will eventually pick one out. WHen I went in to a store to buy a guitar... I asked many salespeople.... everybody gave different suggestions and preferences. One saleswoman recommended me a 300 dollar guitar based on its looks.. haha. I ended up not following anybodys advice and picking out a guitar I liked: YAMAHA FG433S

ALso, consider guitars: acoustic / electroacoustic. Make decision depending on what you plan on doing. One man suggested buying a guitar with pickup mic built in form the factory, claiming I will spend alot more money on this in the future if I was to buy just an acoustic guitar. Well I did... and I bought a FISHMAN NEOD pickup... and you know what... now I have a guitar with brilliant acoustic sound and a wonderful pickup. Im happy :)

Good luck.

Good luck.

You want an acoustic.Ok

You want an acoustic <170 $.Ok

You say there isn't much difference between nylon or steel string...Well , not ok here.There is a whole lot difference and generally nylon are much harder to play due to their high action and wide necks.Plus the nylon strings are liable to break fast.

Now to your acoustic.Since you want to spend around 170 $ you have a plethora of choices at your feet.

http://www.zzounds.com/item--WASD10S .

Now i know this is 20 $ more , BUT , it is an extremly good guitar for its price.Washburn does make good acoustics out there.

Or ,

http://www.zzounds.com/item--FEN0950801021

This is a complete package , from fender , which you will ultimately require.It fender , so , you can be assured of some quality there.

And finally , please don't think you will get sound of a 2000 $ gibson jumbo out of your guitar , but , if you commit to play well whatever you get , you will make real good sound out of your 200 $ guitar too .

Best of luck ,

Rahul

fender and epiphone both have guitars in that price range with solid tops.

the epiphone DR-1S package also comes with a chromatic tuner, picks, a strap, and a gig bag.
there is a thread discussing this here https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22653&highlight=

unfortunatly my area was hit with heavy hail,tornado storms this weekend so i was unable to make the trip to MF to check these out. stay tuned for further info :wink:

don't rule out buying second hand. You will often get a really nice guitar for a fraction of its retail.

Even ebay is worth a try - but obviously you can't play them first which is always a benefit.

good luck!

Matt

don't rule out buying second hand. You will often get a really nice guitar for a fraction of its retail.

Even ebay is worth a try - but obviously you can't play them first which is always a benefit.

good luck!

Matt

Second hand acoustic ?

Well you have to think twice before that.You CAN get a good one in such a deal or a crap too.Since the budget of the author is around 200 $ or something , i would very much go for a brand new guitar rather than an already played one.

Second hand acoustics can often be great bargains, both in terms of price and in the overall quality of guitar. Most acoustic guitars' tone improves with age as the solid wood tops "open up." If you look around, there's the occasional possibility that you might end up getting a guitar further up from your price range (with wonderfully aged sound) right in your price range.

But you need to know enough (or have the help of people who know enough) about the construction to be able to spot any potential flaws that might make it not worth buying the instrument.

Peace

Take a look at Ibanez PF-5 or 6. Sounds pretty decent and right in your price range.

In case you are thinking ,as I did for a long time, does solid top really make that much difference? The answer I came up with was yes. My solid top Seagull really does sound noticeable better than my laminated Yamaha. If it didn't, I wouldn't have spent the extra money.

But sound, as with beauty, is for the beholder to judge.

Happy hunting.

Jeff

I would recommend relying less on people's suggestions of specific guitars. Best thing for you to do is go to a local guitar store, and test out all acoustics they have in your price range.I cannot recommend following this advice strongly enough - it's how I found my £200 (~$350) electro-acoustic and I've never played anything that I like any better in the two years I've had it, including the ones that cost two or three times as much. It's halved in price since then too, so your price range should be fine if you do try as many as possible.

I believe strongly in second hand acoustics. You can likely get a much better guitar for the money. I bought a 10 year old Larrivee off of Ebay for less than half of the price of a new one. It had a few dings and a finish crack on the bottom, but that was fine with me. If shopping on ebay you need to ask the right questions and of course check feedback. If you look locally you get an opportunity to check the guitar out anyway - the same as you would a new one.

When looking at accoustics (or hollow/semi-hollow bodies for that matter) I always take a good hard look at the used market.

If you have a vintage store near you, don't overlook them as a resource. Sure, they mostly deal in the $3000+ guitars probably, but they also probably buy a lot of stuff in bulk (all the guitars from an estate type sales) which often contain guitars they really just want to unload to help their cash flow.

Unless you have access to non-corporate pawn shops, those have largely ceased being a good shopping ground, but you can still occassionally find a deal.

A good alternative to ebay is craiglist and similar localized internet sites. You can find lots of deals out there on these places.

Used accoustics are very frequently of superior quality. As was mentioned before, as the tone wood opens up with age, the sound quality improves.

Hello there... I agree with much of what is said here... I would definitely check out the used market. Guitars are wonderful instruments that - if cared for - don't "stop working" just because they are old. And technology doesn't relegate a 10-year old guitar as obsolete as it does with so many other facets of music (and life!).

I do have to mention to the board in general that I really think the "you shouldn't rely on other people's opinions - just go and try them out at a local store to find the one that feels the best for you" posts are mis-placed. I see that posting all over this board, and to some degree it drives me crazy. In theory this is a great idea, and for established guitarists it makes sense. But it just isn't practical in the real world.

People are asking for our opinions on this website because in many cases they don't know the first thing about guitars. To say "go and try some at your local shop" is silly - to do what? To pick it up and strum it with no knowledge of the guitar and how to play?

Even those people who have been playing for a year or so... if they have never bought an acoustic guitar, what do they look for?? By provided some personal experiences - and pitfalls - we can help them make solid decisions. Or at least arm them with some information before they go out into the world. And then you get into electric guitars - - just the jargan we throw out would overwhelm someone... And with electrics, let's not forget that at a guitar shop most are being plugged into a $700 Mesa-Boogie or VOX amp, so the sound is powerful and clear. And when you don't know how to palm-mute or play chords how are you to differentiate between the Squier at $199, the Gretsch at $230 and the MIM Fender at $350 and the Epi G-400 at $400?? They all sound the same to the untrained ear.

I remember going into my local Guitar Center for the first time with not even 1 lesson under my belt and was just totally blown away by the sheer number of guitars. Not to mention brands, styles, etc... I didn't know the first thing about playing, just that I wanted to start. If I had posted on this board that I needed help picking out a guitar and got back "you need to go and try them yourself", I would have laughed. The point is that I don't KNOW WHAT TO DO or what to look for.

I think better advice for these people is to outline some of the established brands in their price range, provide some things to look for/think about, provide personal experiences with brand, possibly some recommendations, and suggest that the person goes to a shop with someone knowledgable about guitars (perhaps their teacher, a friend who plays, or even someone at the local high school or college music department.

When we respond to posts for Wes, or Neztok, or Nick asking about a Fender Highway 1 versus a high-end MIM - that's the time to tell them to go try them out.

The Dali, holding the torch for the Newbies.