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Advice buying new acoustic guitar

  • 12-06-2001 7:54pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,313 ✭✭✭


    As implied by the topic, I am buying an acoustic guitar soon. Advice on what are the most popular amongst you misical folk would be nice.

    Price range = anywhere from £200 to £700
    Must be electric acoustic (proper pickup not stupid mic's).

    I kinda want to get one of those guitars that are pretty much for life
    i.e. Its as good as Id ever want so Ill never need a new acoustic kinda job.

    The usual brand names pop into my head, but for acoustic I honestly havent a clue what to go looking for (Ill have to travel to city for a decent selection, so an idea what Im after would be nice).

    Anyone got some advice from experience with acoustics?


Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 463 ✭✭Mikill


    I got a Fender acoustic.
    I also got a padded CASE and three packs of Fender strings(oh and some crappy "Learn How To Play CD").ALL FOR 140 sqiud - I think.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 111 ✭✭Oh yeah


    I got a damned awkward bog-standard Johnson for £95. Personally, I'd recommend getting something crap for a low cost, so that then you know what you want, and what problems to look out for. I love my Johnson.


    That way you've got enough left to buy a decent new one that you can be more certain of liking.

    <A HREF="http://www.thegreensock.com

    -Unfinished" TARGET=_blank>www.thegreensock.com

    -Unfinished</A> and a bit crap right now, but... *has convenient moment of asphyxiation which allows self to avoid finishing the sentence, wahey* :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,313 ✭✭✭Paladin


    Ive already got a honner acoustic and a rockwood electric. Im not buying any more scrap.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,819 ✭✭✭K!LL!@N


    Ok here's something you need to consider.
    You say it must be electro-acoustic, but do you want it to sound good when it's not plugged into an amp? If your answer is yes, well then you're going to either have to chose guitar carefully or buy a great sounding acoustic and simply have a pickup fitted to it when you buy it. That's what i did with mine.
    I've got a really nice Yamaha, it sounds great unplugged and i have a pickup in it so i can amp it up. The guitar cost me £405 a few years back and the pickup( the make escapes me, sorry ) was £100 or so.
    The only change made was that the button on the bottom for a strap was replaced with a jack plug for the lead.
    If you do it this way, you'll have the best all round sound.
    I can also recommend Takamine and their cheaper Jasmine alternatives. Fenders can be good at times, you just need to find the right one.
    You should definitely be able to find something to suit you withing your price range.
    Good luck, let us know what you get. biggrin.gif


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    Hmm...

    I have a BC Rich - Virgin.
    It sounds great while not plugged into an amp.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,398 ✭✭✭the fnj


    Don't and I repeat don't buy a guitar because someone told you "I have a one of these and there great". Go into Walton’s and Music Maker and play as many as possible. Don't worry too much about brand names if you like the sound the guitar gives then it's the guitar for you.

    The problem with mass produced guitars is that they can be very inconsistent. So your best mate might have this model guitar and his is great does not mean there all going to be great. Give yourself a few hours some day. Go around a few music shops. Play as many as possible. Go off have a coffee make a shortlist of the guitars you liked, then go and play them again. Once the people in the music shops know your not a time waster they will be more than happy to let you try as many guitars as possible.

    Or just go and buy a Fender I don't really care tongue.gif.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,522 ✭✭✭Dr. Loon


    Yeah...I'd say go into the shops ask them to play a few semi-acoustics, don't need to get pickups fitted and all that ****e and try out as many as you can until you have "your" perfect sound, its the only way to get ANY instrument......


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 28,633 Mod ✭✭✭✭Shiminay


    I'd recommend Fender or Martin for Acoustic.

    Takamine and Yamaha as K!ll!@n mentioned are very nice too.

    AngelWhore - that's an electric guitar so shut up! tongue.gif



    All the best!
    Dav
    @B^)
    So Bob Hoskins was about to roll a spliff when in walks Dana with her 3 foot Bong
    [honey i] violated [the kids]
    Tribes 2 Goodness
    The Dawn of the Beefy King approaches...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,398 ✭✭✭the fnj


    <font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Paladin:
    Well I was going to kind of take up Fanj's advice anyway.</font>

    Yes I win!

    In your face everybody else tongue.gif

    If your going to Dublin to try out guitars the two best shops are Waltons and Music Maker. They should have a good enough selection for you to pick the semi accoustic of your dreams. Waltons are much more helpful then Music Maker so talk to them first.





  • Subscribers Posts: 4,419 ✭✭✭PhilipMarlowe


    I bought some of my guitars fron Musician INC. on drury street.. just a stones throw from musicmaker...
    I found them to be great.. (this was about 10 years ago...)
    I think they do some irishmade acoustics too?
    Worth considering maybe...


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,819 ✭✭✭K!LL!@N


    black_wizardd: No, i'm not from sligo. I'm from dublin. biggrin.gif

    I would have to say avoid Music Maker at all costs. From my personal experience, they are ignorant and unhelpful in there ( this may have changed? ). When i was looking for my first guitar i went in there ( not knowing any better ), i picked up a guitar strummed it and it practically fell to pieces in my hands. This kinda put me off buying anything from the place. Waltons are pretty good. But Musician Inc. are great. I've bought 3 guitars from them, all have been great. The staff were very friendly and helpful. And the are reasonably priced.

    As reguards fitting a pickup to an acoustic guitar, well it makes sense really if you want to get the best all round sound. In my experience semi-acoustic guitars don't match up to acoustic guitars when it comes to unplugged sound. I'm not saying semi-acoustics are bad, i'm just saying their sound can sometimes be a bit muted compared to a plain acoustic guitar.

    Obviously the best thing for you to do is play as many as you can, and chose the one that sounds and plays best.

    Oh one more thing, make sure they give you lots of plecs and maybe a spare set of strings. biggrin.gif


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,731 ✭✭✭DadaKopf


    <font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">What Paladin said:
    Must be electric acoustic (proper pickup not stupid mic's)</font>

    You'd wanna be careful because a lot of pick ups just make your acoustic sound like a cheap-ass piece of plywood. If you want that deep tone sound get a mic and a decent pre-amp or acoustic pre-amp/equalizer otherwise it'll sound crap.

    As for the guitar, I'd opt for a Dreadnought western style - those half plastic jobbies sound woeful. Just make sure you get a well crafted one that seems solid and has a low action. But as TheFANJ said, play everything until you find something you like.

    In any case, asking what sort of guitar to buy is like asking what kind of shoes to buy. It's down to taste.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 221 ✭✭black_wizardd


    K!LL!@N -> Hmmmm, I think I might possibly know you, your not from Sligo by any chance are you ???.

    AngelWhore -> What's the Virgin like to play and setup (good points/bad points), what series is it NJ, Handmade (doubtful, unless your loaded smile.gif) etc, please be honest. I'm thinking of getting either a Virgin, a Warlock or a Jackson Kelly/Dinky series, I dunno which I want yet. I'm gonna go into Instrumental and play test the new shipment of Rich's and Jackson's they have coming in eek.gif, but there's only so much you can learn from a guitar when you play test it in a shop.

    Cheers.

    But oh, no tears please, fear and pain may acompany death, but it is desire that sheperds its certainty, as we shall see...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 221 ✭✭black_wizardd


    Oh yeah, I'd recommend Takamine or Tanglewood for an acoustic, I have a Tanglewood and the sound is immaculate.

    But oh, no tears please, fear and pain may acompany death, but it is desire that sheperds its certainty, as we shall see...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,313 ✭✭✭Paladin


    Well I was going to kind of take up Fanj's advice anyway. Of course Id have to play them a bit b4 Id spend that money on them, but the thing is, like I said, Id have to get to city and home same day, so I wouldnt have hours and hours to waste.
    Basically I wanted to say to the guys
    "I wanna try a XX guitar, a YY and a ZZ" instead of taking ages trying everything.

    Anyway, thanks for the advice lads.

    mmmmmmm.....Fender.... smile.gif


  • Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 1,863 Mod ✭✭✭✭Slaanesh


    ok, so its not with regards an acoustic guitar although I recommend Takamine, lovely sound of of those mommas.

    With regard electric guitars, http://uk.musicyo.com sell Steinbergers. These are savage guitars, although the initial design might look a bit odd, it can look quite cool(depending on your tastes).
    The Kramer guitars look lovely and im sure thye are fairly damned good. And the prices are Amazing !!!! Only thing is they dont ship to Ireland as I sadly found out, must try and get someone from the UK to buy it for me.

    Slaan.

    [This message has been edited by Slaanesh (edited 13-06-2001).]


  • Subscribers Posts: 4,419 ✭✭✭PhilipMarlowe


    Been out of the mucis "scene" for quite a few years now... frown.gif
    The nicest acoustic I have heard/played was a Gretsch something or other.. http://www.gretsch.com/

    Think I saw one in waltons before? probably incredibly expensive though.. as I say, I am way out of touch...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭OSiriS


    If you are looking for an electro-acoustic, then I think you should have a look at Ovation

    http://clans.quake.ie/osiris
    Fragnet


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    <font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by black_wizardd:

    AngelWhore -> What's the Virgin like to play and setup (good points/bad points), what series is it NJ, Handmade (doubtful, unless your loaded smile.gif) etc, please be honest. I'm thinking of getting either a Virgin, a Warlock or a Jackson Kelly/Dinky series, I dunno which I want yet. I'm gonna go into Instrumental and play test the new shipment of Rich's and Jackson's they have coming in eek.gif, but there's only so much you can learn from a guitar when you play test it in a shop.

    </font>

    Well... Personaly it's the best guitar I've ever played in my life, and I'm glad I've got one, because you cannot buy them any more.
    It's very light, just like I like it, but many people I've talked to don't like it like this...
    But it's just pure fantastic, great action, strings are locked and all. It's just a dream to play on.
    I was talking to this band Mael Morda last night after their gig, and I was playing their guitars, ESP, I think, but the Virgin is a lot smoother.

    It's all about personaly preffernce, but the Virgin is very light, if thats what you like...
    It's not handmade though... NJ series I think.

    The new one is out now though, The Beast, and I've heard it's something else alltogether, haven't played one myself, but it's meant to be fantastic!
    I'd say go for that or the Warlock, or if you'd like something light, the Virgin, if you can find one.
    Personaly I don't like Jacksons, but they are pretty good none the less, haven't really played many though...

    Gibsons would be a nice choice, the Epiphone's are really good.
    It's what Tony Iommi plays.

    Personaly BC Rich or Epiphone are the only real heavy metal brands...
    There's also a Specialist company called Lloyds that do gothic guitars, but I don't really know anything about them.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    <font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by K!LL!@N:

    I would have to say avoid Music Maker at all costs. From my personal experience, they are ignorant and unhelpful in there ( this may have changed? ). When i was looking for my first guitar i went in there ( not knowing any better ), i picked up a guitar strummed it and it practically fell to pieces in my hands. This kinda put me off buying anything from the place.
    </font>

    WHAT???
    You're joking me!
    I buy most of my stuff there, and I find it a fantastic shop.
    Well... I've only recently been going there, like in the last year or so... Probably changed a lot then...
    Maybe you had a bad experience with some old staff or something, but I find the guys who are there extremely helpfull, and really helped me out in buying a decent FX panel.

    I recconmend the place to everyone...

    [This message has been edited by AngelWhore (edited 14-06-2001).]


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 221 ✭✭black_wizardd


    <font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by AngelWhore:
    I've got one, because you cannot buy them any more.</font>

    Virgins are available in the 2001 Platnum and NJ series, woo-hoo smile.gif.



    But oh, no tears please, fear and pain may acompany death, but it is desire that sheperds its certainty, as we shall see...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 29,130 ✭✭✭✭Karl Hungus


    <font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by black_wizardd:
    Virgins are available in the 2001 Platnum and NJ series, woo-hoo smile.gif.

    </font>

    Really?

    From what I've read, they've been discontinued...
    Could be false info though... :/


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