Electro-Acoustic Guitar Recommendation

sinlessgunner

Hi guys,

Looking to invest in a good electro-acoustic guitar but need some recommendations as I haven't a clue what makes an acoustic "good". I play electric guitars but the only acoustic I have is a cheap Tanglewood and its terrible. Really dead sound and I hate it. My brother has a G Series Takamine and it's lovely to play really nice bright sound to it.

I am looking for something in the region of €300-€400(max). I know I won't get a great guitar for that money but I just want it for playing myself and maybe a few songs at parties etc.

I would also be willing to buy second hand if the right deal was offered.

Can anyone recommend some guitars and maybe a few places to look in?

Many thanks,

Aaron

BSOM

sinlessgunner wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to invest in a good electro-acoustic guitar but need some recommendations as I haven't a clue what makes an acoustic "good". I play electric guitars but the only acoustic I have is a cheap Tanglewood and its terrible. Really dead sound and I hate it. My brother has a G Series Takamine and it's lovely to play really nice bright sound to it.

I am looking for something in the region of €300-€400(max). I know I won't get a great guitar for that money but I just want it for playing myself and maybe a few songs at parties etc.

I would also be willing to buy second hand if the right deal was offered.

Can anyone recommend some guitars and maybe a few places to look in?

Many thanks,

Aaron

Hi Aaron,

I would say the Takamine G Series, EG440SC. Beauitful sound, built in tuner. Great low end, comes with D'addarrio EXPs as standard. Had a couple of them in and cant keep them in stock, its €330.00. Great buy ! We do them, X Music, Waltons, Perfect Pitch... Takamine is a great brand and should be able to get them in all decent shops.

Eoin Madsen

Go and try some guitars out. I like the Simon & Patrick range, they're inexpensive but tend to be well made and solid wood.

Personally, I don't really like the Takamine G series guitars. They sound a bit hard to me, and I prefer something with more dynamic range.

Organeer

Hi, before you go changing guitar, have you tried a new set of strings. These become very dead sounding after a while & can make even a great guitar sound terrible. A set of strings will cost well under a tenner.

sinlessgunner

Yeah have tried changing strings, lowering the action all sorts of things just a crap guitar. I'm playing guitar years just not much acoustic. Looking at a Yamaha apx500 or cpx500. Both around the €300 mark on musicstore.de

Anyone have any experience with these?

Organeer

With an acoustic guitar you really need to play it before buying. Even high end acoustics like Martin & Taylor can sound slightly different for the same model. Remember a guitar is made from a living breathing piece of wood & no two pieces are identical. If you are in the Dublin area, try a few guitar shops & different makes & models. Most shops will be happy to let you try a few different guitars. If they aren't, take your money elsewhere. Also, when buying locally you have local support if your guitar needs a setup or service.

charloman

Another option for you... is that if you dont need the pickup straight away, if you're just going to play at house parties etc... a good idea might be to buy an acoustic without a pickup... a pickup preinstalled will add to the overall cost.... So you may get a better guitar for your budget. Then at a later date you can get a pickup installed for about 100euro or so... chances are, it'll also be a far better pickup than the one that comes with the guitar

sinlessgunner

I was in X-Music up at the Red Cow last night and played a Garrison AGD400 CE http://www.xmusic.ie/product.php?productid=17553&cat=246&page=1

Lovely guitar to play and really a bargain at that price. Don't know the name Garrison though but the guy in the store said they were highly recommended and that he played one himself.

Anyone have any opinions? I will say one thing though, in comparison to Yamaha's and Corts of the same price, this was head and shoulders above them in sound quality and comfort. Would anyone recommend these guitars?

charloman

A friend of mine got a Garrison as a 1st acoustic, I went guitar shopping with him at the time.. and I have to say that it was head and shoulders above everything else in its price range. It wasnt the model you're looking at, but he's very happy still with his guitar. Garrison also do "high end" models, so they're not just a manufacturer of cheap 1st timer guitars. I believe there is some sort of fibre glass bracing inside the guitar rather than wood. They claim that this sort of bracing is more resonant and has better sustain than wood. I'm unsure of this claim as I'm no expert, but there is a very noticable difference when you compare this guitar to others in its price range. I believe Gibson has just bought out the Garrison company, so they must see something in their technologies... I'd say, if it feels right... go for it.. might just be the guitar for you.