Acoustic GUITAR recommendations

superfly · #1 06-09-2005, 08:27 PM

OT, but any recommendations for a 6 string acoustic GUITAR? Something inexpensive but decent sounding and not too jumbo, with an easy neck. I just want to play around with one for fun.

**embellisher** · #2 06-09-2005, 08:29 PM

Let's try Miscellaneous.

**bassman314** · #3 06-09-2005, 09:30 PM

I just picked up a Seagull M6... $450 w/ case and strap.

It's got a solid Cedar top, 3-ply Mahogany back and sides, and Mahogany neck.. I love it...

www.seagullguitars.com

They are made in Canada, and the company is really good.. great sounding guitars that are affordable. I checked it agaisnt severl other brands in the 3-600 price range, (Martin, Takamine, Yamaha, Ibanez, Fender, Taylor) and kept coming back to the Seagull.

At the dealership, the salesguy said the owner of Seagull is a serious guitar player. His passion is making a very good guitar that' sounds great, and is still affordable. My guitar easilly sounds like it cost 2-3x what I actually paid for it.

AaronS · #4 06-09-2005, 09:56 PM

Seagull and Norman are made in Canada by Lasido who also makes Godin. They are hard to beat when it comes to cheap acousitic guitars. Olympia is the cheap brand from Tacoma and also good. There are lots of decent cheap acoustics coming out of Korea. 18 months ago my wife bought me a Breedlove made in Korea with a solid spruce top and solid mahogany back for $350. It is fantastic. It's supposed to be my camping guitar so I don't have to take the $3,500 Santa Cruz, but I play it more than the Santa Cruz these days. Shop around. I haven't tried any Chinese made acoustics yet.

floydbass · #5 06-09-2005, 10:40 PM

Art & Lutherie Wild Cherry. Awesome guitar for a great price.

JPJ · #6 06-09-2005, 11:18 PM

Your best bet for quality and value is to probalby stick with one of the Canadian builders....they just seem to have the forumla down. While Carvin is always an option (never played one myself), the Canadian companies (La-si-do, Godin, etc.) do a great job of focusing the time and money spent on building the guitars on the core issues....materials, tone, playability, etc.

Personally, I have a Simon & Patrick that I absolutley love. It doesn't even come close to comparing to the guitars from Collings, Goodall, Froggy Bottom, Santa Cruz, Wingert, etc. that I've played over the years, but we're also taking about differences in price of thousands of dollars. I've had my S&P for several years now and couldn't be happier. The S&P brand is essentially the same thing as a Seagul, except the look is more "Martinized". Similarly, most of the S&P models seem to be virtually identical to what Godin is offering in their "Art & Lutherie" line. I wouldn't be surprised in these guitars were all designed and built by the same people....or in the same factories/complexes, etc.

In a nutshell, you can get a VERY good acoustic that sounds and plays great for around $300, which is about 1/10th of what most people spend for a nice acoustic.

nuemes · #7 06-09-2005, 11:37 PM

I recently shopped for an acoustic to record with at a $400 budget and decided on a Taylor Big Baby after spending two days trying differnet acoustics out. The only real competitor in the price range is the Seagul M6. The M6 has more bass, the Taylor more top end, which I find suits recording better.

Richard Lindsey · #8 06-10-2005, 06:40 AM

The Seagulls are a good bet IME. The Carvin Cobalts (which are imports) are also good.

**HeavyDuty** · #9 06-10-2005, 06:43 AM

I've had a Seagull Folk for a couple of years now, and concur. In fact, the only reason I'm considering selling it is to get a Seagull SA12!

Philbiker · #10 06-10-2005, 07:07 AM

I doubt that you are going to find more guitar for the dollar than the Lasido brands offer. Look for your local dealer of Lasido/Godin guitars.

My brother Peter is an accomplished (unbelievable actually) guitarrist, and has three of the highest end Godin guitars they make, he's been a big fan ever since he bought a NAMM Cedar top Seagull S6C. Happily I now own said S6. Peter recently attended a Robert Godin in-store appearance at our local dealer Classic Axe Guitar Shop.

He asked Robert Godin about the Seagulls, and Robert said that the S6 is the single guitar he is most proud of of all the products he's ever worked on. He said it's not the most expensive or fancy guitar he's ever made, but the solid build and value is great. Personally I love my S6, I've played much more expensive guitars that don't play nearly as well. As a matter of fact I can't remember playing any guitar that plays as well as this one. I think I'd prefer the sound of a Spruce top and this has a Cedar top. There's nothing bad about it, I just prefer something a bit different. However, I certainly am not enough of a guitarist to spend the money on an "upgrade".

pickles · #11 06-10-2005, 08:30 AM

I'll reccomend shopping used then getting a pro setup, just like I do for basses. You see people selling Martin D-28s for $600 sometimes, and acoustics with a little age on them tend to sound better anyway.

Seagulls are great guitars ... I think they're imported by Dana B Goods, same as Warwick.

bass-shy · #12 06-10-2005, 07:21 PM

Martin's X series is the way to go. They are made mostly of alternative materials, (not wood) and they play and sound fantastic. I bought a DCX1E a few years ago and I absolutely love it. It is not as succeptable to temperature and humidity changes as it's solid-wood counterparts, yet it has a solid spruce top so it still improves with age. I paid about $650.00 US for mine and feel like I got an unbelievable deal. Some models in the X series cost less, some more, but they are all quality instruments. Good luck in your search.

CamMcIntyre · #13 06-11-2005, 01:20 PM

Depends on how cheap.....i bought a $106 w/tax Indiana Brand Scout Acoustic. [made in china] It's really cheap-it's held up pretty well and for what i use it for [messin around]-it does a great job. I didn't want to spend much on a guitar since it's there for me to help kill the urge for me wanting to buy a guitar-i can't play the thing worth crap so it suits well.

That's all

Philbiker · #14 06-13-2005, 07:03 AM

Also, in the very low price market there are fine guitars from Agile and SX at Rondo. Look for solid tops.

Richard Lindsey · #15 06-13-2005, 07:08 AM

Also, the Blueridge guitars from China are reputed to be very good; check the reviews on the guitar section of Harmony-Cebtral.

burk48237 · #16 06-13-2005, 07:34 AM

I am a Martin guy, thoroughly convinced that all the other guitar makers in history combined haven't produced as many consistently fine instruments. But, unless your "low" budget is about 800 to start there isn't a whole lot of Martin product out there. I do agree that the "canadian boys", Seagull, Godin, etc. are making some great values.

Bard2dbone · #17 06-13-2005, 12:43 PM

I have to go along with Aaron. The Breedlove Atlas series are awesome. I am waiting on their 12-string to come out.

In all fairness, Seagulls are great guitars, but I can't love the shorter scale lengths. And Blue Ridges are very surprisingly well made. But the Atlas is a better value.

Having said all that, used is always your best bet.

bassturtle · #18 06-13-2005, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron Schiff

Seagull and Norman are made in Canada by Lasido who also makes Godin. They are hard to beat when it comes to cheap acousitic guitars. Olympia is the cheap brand from Tacoma and also good. There are lots of decent cheap acoustics coming out of Korea. 18 months ago my wife bought me a Breedlove made in Korea with a solid spruce top and solid mahogany back for $350. It is fantastic. It's supposed to be my camping guitar so I don't have to take the $3,500 Santa Cruz, but I play it more than the Santa Cruz these days. Shop around. I haven't tried any Chinese made acoustics yet.

Good recommendations here. Since Fender purchased Tacoma (last summer) their 'thinning out' the Olympia line. I've picked up several from Fender and silly prices, and blown them out to customers pretty cheap. You might try to locate a Tacoma dealer near you and see if they have any laying around.

As stated above, the import Breedloves are very nice. In fact, I might start stocking them soon. It's def a good line to check out.

Munjibunga · #19 06-13-2005, 11:48 PM

Should be able to get a halfway decent used Taylor for $800.

Bard2dbone · #20 06-14-2005, 08:47 AM

And you know I have to sing the praises of Taylor whenever their name comes up. My 12-string is a Taylor 355ce and I love her. My daughter calls my 12-string her sister. But she definitely wasn't cheap new. My Taylor is the only instrument I have ever bought both new and for full price.