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help buying an acoustic!


twotimingpete

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I need to be able to put down some acoustic for an upcoming project. I've had an acoustic around all my life. Just the one. It's a Yamaha. My mom got it when she was a kid in the 70s.

yamaha.jpg

It's really old and beat up, which means it sounds pretty good, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to play, and more impractical, especially up the neck. The frets are beat to **** and the neck is too bowed. The intonation is bad. It needs major restoration to be a practical guitar anymore.

I'm curious about getting a new acoustic, but unlike with electrics where I've bought, sold, traded and owned many of them in my life -- I've never actually purchased my own acoustic. Ever.

I'm looking to spend $500 or less. My preliminary research and bias towards Yamaha has led me in this direction:

Yamaha FG730s

 

DV016_Jpg_Large_519049.010_natural_R.jpg

 

Ultimately I'm not married to anything, the criteria would be -- most likely a dreadnaught style, 6 string, and no tacky electronics or onboard anything. I just want a core, 100% acoustic guitar. My mom's Yamaha is known to have a very deep, warm tone that I rather like, and this is the type of sound I'm interested in from an acoustic.

I see there are many brands, and many of them I am completely unfamiliar with. Would appreciate any advice. 

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I have a good friend who is into acoustics and he tells me buying used is the only way to go.

He claims that not only are you saving money but if the guitar has been taken care of properly it will sound better due to aging of the wood;

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Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Yamaha acoustics. They are fine, but not the greatest really. For $500, you should be able to get a used Taylor or Martin. They won't be fancy, but either a Taylor (for brighter, punchier tones) or a Martin (deeper, boomy tones) are as good as you'll need. Try to get one with solid back and sides, if possible.

You might find a Parkwood (has solid back and sides) for a good price, amd Takamines are pretty good and easy to find. My Tak plays like a dream anr ssounds great plugged in, though it's not very good at natural tone, IMO (but some friends like it a lot). My favorite acoustic maker is Larrivee, but I they are not often sold for $500.

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Years ago I used to have a nice Takamine Jasmine that I liked a lot, and I just recently bought a very pretty and decent sounding Fender Sonoran Bucket off of eBay for $188 brand new shipped.  The Fender needed a little setup, but now it's great: sounds good and plays like a dream.  Sounds damned good plugged in, too.  It's odd in that it has a Strat-style Fender headstock, but that just makes it unique, IMHO.

 

Takamine Jasmine

 

 

 

Fender Sonoran Bucket

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For less than $500 new I would be looking at Takamini; I think the current crop sounds a little less sterile than the low end Yamahas. 

But, I would also look to buy used.  In a lot of ways it's easier to evaluate an acoustic when you hold it in your hands and play it than an electric: check the neck, make sure there aren't any splits in the top, etc. and play it to hear how it sounds.  FWIW I picked up a used Carvin acoustic a few months ago for $160 and it sounds and plays very nice.

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For your money, you won't get a better guitar than that Yamaha FG730S, however, if you spend $500, you'll be getting into all solid bodies.  The Blueridge, Eastman and Recording King lines have some pretty amazing guitars for that kind of money.  I'm partial to the Blueridge as they are Martin copies, whose sound appeals to me.  For recording, I find mahogany back and sides better, in which case, you should consider the Blueridge BR140, they run right around $500.  I dare you to try one.

reviews...  http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/blueridge-br-140-historic-series-dreadnought-acoustic-guitar

ebay...   http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=Blueridge+BR140&_sop=15

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gdsmithtx wrote:

Years ago I used to have a nice
Takamine Jasmine
that I liked a lot, and I just recently bought a very pretty and decent sounding
Fender Sonoran Bucket
off of eBay for $188 brand new shipped.  The Fender needed a little setup, but now it's great: sounds good and plays like a dream.  Sounds damned good plugged in, too.  It's odd in that it has a Strat-style Fender headstock, but that just makes it unique, IMHO.

 

Takamine Jasmine

 

 

 

Fender Sonoran Bucket


 Here's Johnny Cash playing one with a Strat headstock.

I like it

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D Carroll wrote:

Have you thought about taking your acoustic into a shop to have a neck reset, and a refret? They shouldn't charge you to look at it, and tell you how much it would be to get it fixed up.

 

A neck reset and refret will be much more than the guitar is worth. Yamahas are murder to do resets on because of the glue used to attach the neck. IIRC it's epoxy so the normal method of dissolving the glue with steam won't work.

As for a replacement, Knotty mentioned Faith but they're generally not available outside Europe AFAIK. Yamahas are generally well regarded over in Acoustic Guitars but they're not the end-all-be-all, as kayd_mon posted. Gardo would normally be right about buying used but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for someone who doesn't know acoustics and what to look for. If you have a friend who knows his/her acoustics, that's another story. If you do find a used Martin, make sure it's not made of HPL, which is basically Formica. Their cheaper guitars are made of that stuff, their better ones are made of actual wood but you'll have to look tofind one in your price range. One more comment to say that while Ibanez acoustics don't get a lot of love I happen to like mine a lot. Anyway, do some looking to see what's available where you are and post back.

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kayd_mon wrote:

Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of Yamaha acoustics. They are fine, but not the greatest really. For $500, you should be able to get a used Taylor or Martin. They won't be fancy, but either a Taylor (for brighter, punchier tones) or a Martin (deeper, boomy tones) are as good as you'll need. Try to get one with solid back and sides, if possible.


 

 

No offense, but good luck getting a taylor, or a martin with solid wood back and sides, for about $500... Also its been my expirence that the lower end taylors and martins suck... The taylors always seem to be missing something (hollow, lifeless), and the martins are usually boomy, in a bad way... the cheap ones, mind you eg. under 1k... I have played an original 1968 d28, and 1969 d18, so I guess im spoiled as to what a martin SHOULD sound like.. Also go to A'B a martin "custom" (solid wood) to them , just to see.. no contest,,, yes, I know thats an unfair comparison... lol

As far as sub $500 guitars: Seagull is a worthy contender, as well as alvarez.. I actually prefer the alvarez over the yamaha's.. dont even consider fender... My alvarez rd20sc, for $300, sounded much better then a buddy's taylor 214ce... Had another guy (not a guitarist), there, who agreed..

I feel with too many companies these days your paying more for the name, alot more, and could be getting a better product from another company.. Use your ears, go try out a bunch of guitars, buy what ultimately sounds best for you... dont shop with your eyes.. Your using it for recording anyways, so sound is what really matters here..

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