Acoustic guitar present

aoifeg

Hi all,

I'm in a bit of a pickle. I'm getting my husband an acoustic guitar for his birthday - he uses his friend's one occasionally and has an electric guitar also.

So... I was under the impression that €150 would get you an ok guitar. His friend has recommended one that is €300 (Tanglewood) which is more than I'd planned to spend. On the other hand, this is the kind of thing that lasts a long time - do you think it's a mistake to be scabby about this?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My lack of knowledge and the lack of time available preclude any second-hand shopping.

Thanks,
Aoife

CianRyan

Spending €150 on an acoustic will probably end in tears.
At least I've never played on in that price range that I've liked.
At €300 though you could definitely get a great guitar.

One thing though, not a good idea to just go out and buy one, bring him with you, let him play loads of them and let him decide which is the right guitar for him. It could be the one that costs €350 or it could be the one that's €220!
Guitars and how they feel to people are a very personal thing.

aoifeg

Thanks for the reply Cian, very helpful.

Ostrom

Definately bring him with you - I went in to buy a takamine last year but hated the feel of it. Different people will have particular preferences, and what may be perfect for one could be unplayable for another.

JonathanAnon

Yeah, unfortunately though you might want to just buy it and wrap it, it really makes a lot more more sense to bring him along.. otherwise he might just be left with a guitar that he hates, that he only plays so that he doesnt hurt your feelings..

Hayte

Cian is pretty much spot on. Good advice all round.

You can definitely get great guitars for cheap but you need to know what you are looking for, so I don't recommend you buy blind with €150 unless you or your husband know what you want. I'm talking neck size/width, body size/shape/weight distribution and then the fundamentals checklist: setup, intonation, tuning stability, the presence of material or production defects i.e. warped neck, swollen back etc.

If your husband knows what he wants then just let him loose in whatever guitar shop he wants. Make your budget clear and be silently prepared to spend up to 25 to 33% more than that. i.e. if you absolutely cannot spend a dot over €200 then say your limit is €150 but be prepared to be crying eyed up to €200. That gives you a little wiggle room to be arm twisted but doesn't leave you with creditcard shock.

Don't let him play anything massively over budget because he won't miss what he doesn't know. Theres a big element of psychology that emerges as you spend more money because you tend to expect you will get a better product, which isn't strictly true. If you don't know what to look for and don't have experience playing lots of different guitars then you might even believe you are getting a better guitar when you aren't, just because it cost more money.