Acoustic guitar vs semi-acoustic guitar

amandstu

I have played an acoustic guitar for a very long time and now am going to buy a new ,better guitar.

If my new guitar is semi-acoustic is it possible to suggest a ballpark figure to represent the extra amount of money I might expect to pay so as to have a guitar that is as good as an acoustic but also has the electronic facility?

So ,for the sake of an example,if I was looking at an acoustic guitar costing about 800eu and saw another guitar which was semi-acoustic around the same price ,would it be fair to expect that the semi-acoustic would be likely less good played as an acoustic than the purely acoustic one?

And if I was prepared to buy a semi acoustic a few hundred euros dearer (so ,let's say 1200 eu) might I expect to be looking at a guitar equally as good in purely acoustic terms?

Or is it very hard for a semi acoustic to compete with an acoustic guitar on purely acoustic terms?

At present I have a very old acoustic and a newer semi acoustic but I never bother with the semi acoustic because it doesn't sound as good and I am not set up for amplification either.

EDIT:I know this seems long winded but it is 45 years since I bought my acoustic guitar and so it is quite a big decision to get a new one.(the second,semi-acoustic I have was bought in error and has been an unused disappointment)

Curse These Metal Hands

It depends really. As you say you may be paying for a good pickup in a very average guitar, whereas an acoustic for the same price might have been made of better materials with a focus on its acoustic sound. It would be hard to put a ballpark because the brand and type of pickup all play a part.

If you're not that interested in amplification why not just go for a better acoustic? You can always mic up further down the line if you need to.

I prefer the sound of a nice acoustic mic'd up vs pickup personally.

Nozebleed

Right. forget about the pick up for a minute because acoustic guitars never sound great with when plugged in..it doesn't matter what model or price the guitar is.

€800 is a decent budget for a new guitar...but for that kind of money you should pick up a very good 2nd hand guitar..possibly with a pick up already installed. but if not you can buy a cheap €100 sound hole pick up these days that do the job as good as any factory fitted device.

the most important thing is the guitar and how it sounds acoustically. and don't forget about its playability.

i would suggest spending 1200. look out for a 2nd hand Martin D28 or similar with or without a pick up. its a guitar for life.

amandstu

Great advice.(what was I thinking?)

So ,I will get a decent acoustic and worry about electric for another day.