[prephippie]

I've been playing my brother's Seagull for about 8 months now. He loaned it to me when I decided to take up the guitar. Now that it looks like I'm going to stick with it...it's time to get my own guitar.

I have zero experience playing any other guitars besides my bro's, so I don't really know what to look for. I'm just going to go into the guitar shop and play a bunch of 'em I guess.

-Any suggestions on what to look for or what to avoid in an acoustic?
-I figure my price ceiling is around $800-$1000. What brands are best in that range?
-Where are the best deals found? Ebay, local guitar shop, newspaper ads?

[razmablues]

seagulls are great (you already know that )

theres great epiphones in the upper hundreds (you really get your moneys worth)

and of course there are always the lower end martins/taylors which you can't really go wrong with

hope that helps some

[frankielee]

I had a Seagull for a while and i loved it...I now have a gibson j160e and a Martin DX1-the gibson was pretty pricey... the Martin however was 500 bucks and i love it...try musicansfriend.com to get an idea then maybe your music store may have what you are looking for if you don;t want to risk buying one online

[FretfulDave]

Go to a good guitar shop! The shop should have a regular area for guitars and a "good guitar" room. It would have the better acoustics, i.e., Taylor, Gibson, Martin, etc. Guitar Center is ok if you have one near.

For the amount you can spend you are bordering on a serious guitar. Sounds like you are a beginner so imo there are some basic decisions that need to be made, but first and foremost:

play the different guitars and find a neck that you are comfortable with. Then...

Evaluate what type of playing you want to do, i.e. all open string strumming or mixed with barre chords and leads, etc. Look for necks with good action for the type of playing you envision.

Test the neck for good octaves. Play scales at all positions. The guitar should tune easily and remain in tune wherever you play on the neck.

Decide whether you want acoustic only or acoustic/electric. This goes with deciding what type of playing you want to do. And is a lead in to the next item. Acoustic/electrics come in different body depths, which affects the quality and volume of the acoustic sound.

Then you are on to body style. I have played a friends Seagull and it is a pretty nice guitar. It was a dreadnought. I personally like the Grand Auditorium style body. There are also Jumbos and Grand Concert (think clasical guitars). The Taylor Guitar web site has a good pictorial on body styles and any of the electric/acoustic models have versions in different body styles. A good reference. Note that the guitar I have, an '82 acoustic/electric Ovation w/ the deep bowl and is Grand Auditorium sized, has some issues playing with a dreadnought, the Grand Auditorium can get drowned out in heavy strumming.

Beware of extra light strings that are sometimes put on guitars to make them "play like honey" or whatever. This was the case w/ the Taylor T5 I bought. I knew it though. Ask the salesperson what the guitar is setup with. If they don't seem to know about the guitars they are selling, don't buy from them!

You might want to look at Takamine, they should have some models in your price range.

Good luck in your search.

Dave

[prephippie]

Thanks for all the good advice. I just got back from the Guitar Shop and they a had a few I was interested in.

The Taylor 110 was the one I played with the most. It was marked down to $599. The only thing is that it seemed a little harder to play than my bro's Seagull and didn't sound as full as the Martin I tried. It seemed a little "tinny".

The Martin (Can't remember the model. It was around $900.) sounded and felt better than the Taylor. I think I liked it the most, but it didn't have any markers on the fretboard. I'm still learning and am a little unsure about not having those guides.

I'll probably go to another store an hour away and see what they have. Hopefully they have a wider selection. I'd like to try some more Martins, Seagulls, and Takamines.

[GratefulPat]

they have some real great gibsons in that range, and they are my personal fav. some real nice upper end gibson SGs... thats my two cents

[mlynn2600]

i own a martin d-16 and i love it...it plays like a dream and will cost you around 950. its not quite a d-28 but it doesnt cost 1800 either.

i personally find taylors alittle hard to play...theyre beautiful and very well made but i seem to have to fight them alittle...the martins just flow. also alvarez yaris are nice i owned one of them years ago and it was a great guitar. whatever you choose make sure you play it alot and have it set up with light gauge strings as theyre easier to play and still sound great. always try and get a setup from the store before you buy it...have them check intonation and the neck and also look at the bridge and make sure it looks solid. always do that especially with used guitars. look for cracks in the body and the neck as well.

good luck and have fun!

[Django]

Like mlynn said, have the shop set it up and show you that the intonation is good with the string gauge you are gonna want to use.
Maybe the Taylors play stiff because of those elixor strings they ship with. I put a set of those on my acoustic and it was considerably stiffer than the d'addarios I was used to.

[tigerstrat]

My '93 Taylor 610L plays like a Strat! That's why I bought it...that , and it was only $600 in mint condition.

[Pete B.]

I too have my eye out for another acoustic.
(BTW, You got a great deal on that axe TS! You could probably turn it around for 2x that).
I just did a buy/sell/trade for a Pedal Steel Guitar that included saying goodbye to my Breedlove acoustic.
Unfortunatly the only 7 string acoustics I've seen have the word Ibanez or Dean on them (harsh toke! ).
My horiscope (the day after I traded off the Breedlove) said something like not to react to recent financial decisions.
Something will come along.

[strumminsix]

Okay, I too am in the marker for a new acoustic.

What I've learned in my limited experience:
- Ibanez will last but not the best
- Tak's are okay but hit or miss with build quality
- Taylors absolutely rock and my fav's of the bunch!

I am debating on ordering an Alvarez Yairi...

I drool over the pic but I am sooo picky with guitars.

[OhioBuckeye]

One thing I suggest is making sure you want a cedar or spruce top. Play both. I definitely like the tone generated from the cedar tops.

OB

[strumminsix]

One thing I suggest is making sure you want a cedar or spruce top. Play both. I definitely like the tone generated from the cedar tops.

OB

What differences have you found?

[OhioBuckeye]

I'm relatively new myself to guitar playing. About 2 months now. But I went and played a bunch of acoustic guitars before settling on my Takamine GS330S. Which I recommend highly. I think it was the beautiful looking and sounding. And it was one of the best priced at 299.

The cedar sound is more mellow. More "choclatey". The tinny sound you refer to was what i experienced with the Spruce tops. I had every intention of buying a Washburn DC10Q based on reviews and the price but just didn't like the trebly/tinny sound. Now I'm certain some of that was my skill level probably couln't pull a good tone out from the guitar. But the cedar topped Takamine was just so easy it was a no brainer.

Hope that helps

[tigerstrat]

I just did a buy/sell/trade for a Pedal Steel Guitar

Whoa! You got a new steely, Pete? I don't wanna hijack the thread, so email or better yet gimme a call, I've been staying home with Isla on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Back onto the acoustics, it's a shame to see the Breedlove go! And speakin of great acoustics, our mutual former bandmate Mr. Cheesiff has a VERY sweet sounding Larivee, I think in the 1000-1500 range.