Members dahagaku Posted September 10, 2009 Members Share Posted September 10, 2009 I just want a start-up acoustic guitar for now. Once I get better i'll probably try to buy a better quality guitar but for now what are the best acoustic guitars for under $100( preferably $60-$80). The walmart guitar is $60 but I feel there is a better guitar out there for a similar amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members revive Posted September 10, 2009 Members Share Posted September 10, 2009 JasmineMitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members illcoyote Posted September 10, 2009 Members Share Posted September 10, 2009 walmart guitars are usually terrible =P I'm no expert, but for that price i'd probably get any Ibanez, Jasmine, Yamaha, etc I could find. Anything will probably work so long as it's not First Act or some something like that. In the end though, if you find one locally that plays good enough for you, that should be your main choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gitnoob Posted September 10, 2009 Members Share Posted September 10, 2009 Get a Rogue from musician's friend. Either their dreadnought or the OOO. They're actually not bad, and you'll be able to sell it on craigslist without taking a huge hit when you're ready to upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Stay away from any guitars sold in department stores. I recommend that you save up another $50 and buy a $149 Yamaha F335. Why? It will stay in tune better than anything in the under $100 range (very important - it's impossible to learn to play on a guitar that won't stay in tune longer than 5 minutes like the typical $100 guitar) and more importantly they sound like a real guitar: It's not a toy. Seriously. It will be money well spent and you could always sell it on Ebay for $100 when you get ready to upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carguy Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 If you ask 100 people you are likely to get 100 different answers regarding the purchase of acoustic guitars. However I think it needs to be said that you can't really get a whole lot for $100, at least for a new guitar. I did a search of acoustic guitars on Musician's Friend and changed the search to show lowest to highest price. You'll see that there are some sub $100 guitars there, but I didn't see any that I could really recommend. Keep in mind, in that price range you probably will not find a guitar with a solid top. Actually a solid top is not a necessity in that range anyway. I would suggest that you look for a decent used guitar. Try to stick to a well known brand and maybe take someone with you who is knowledgeable. Guitar Centers and a lot of local shops carry used guitars and I think you could probably find something that way. Good luck! Edit. I just read Hud's post above and I would agree with that if you want to stick with a new guitar. Yamahas have a great reputation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opa John Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 I just want a start-up acoustic guitar for now. Once I get better i'll probably try to buy a better quality guitar but for now what are the best acoustic guitars for under $100( preferably $60-$80). The walmart guitar is $60 but I feel there is a better guitar out there for a similar amount. Good advice from everyone so far. Whatever you do, stay away from Walmart's First Act guitar. (They should rename it "Last Act"). For $100 I think I'd go to GC and buy the MD100 Mitchell. And, like Hudman said....another $50 gets you into a decent Yamaha......you could also get a decent guitar for $100 on Craig's List if you know what to look for. Get a guitar buddy to help you find one there. If you intend to learn to play one, you first need to get one that's playable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KwadGuy Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Excluding closeouts/blowouts, there's nothing at the $100 price point that I could really get behind recommending. As others have noted $150 gets you into an entry level Yamaha and that's about the best you can do on a limited budget. Below that, the Seagull is probably your best bet. Forget about solid wood vs. laminate, etc. At $100 it isn't about great sound, it's about finding a guitar that's easily playable, stays in tune, and is properly intonated. Again, the Yamaha should meet those criteria, but it's more like $150 than $100. But you can sell it later for $80 to $100, while the cheapos are worth maybe $10 used if you can find a sucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steadfastly Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Go and find yourself a good used guitar. If you are patient, you will likely find something that's at least decent for that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members geezah Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 What F3 said...take a knowledgeable friend with you and hit the pawn shops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members usc96 Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Used is your best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fred Fartboski Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Add the Epi AJ-1 and DR-100 to guitars under $100 worth checking out. $79 and $99 respectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Used is your best bet. Mostly. At that price range, new is hit or miss with mostly miss. That being said, GC had a Silvertone acoustic for $49 recently which actually played and sounded quite good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jon Hiller Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Add the Epi AJ-1 and DR-100 to guitars under $100 worth checking out. $79 and $99 respectively. Yep. Jay Turser has a couple guitars in that price range as well. There ARE guitar out there in that price range, you just have to look for them a bit, and stay away from department store stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Go and find yourself a good used guitar. If you are patient, you will likely find something that's at least decent for that price. Yeah, $100 goes quite a it further if you'll consider "used", dahagaku...I see mid-level Yammies going around $100 quite often, and something like that will have a decent neck and solid top...take along a guitar-savvy buddy (to cull through the problem instruments), and $100 could get you a very nicer "learner instrument"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Abando Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Take a look at this. Seems to have pretty good reviews. Acoustic/electric. If you don't like it or there's something wrong with it, you could always send it back. Good luck. Abando http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Rogue-Grand-Concert-Cutaway-AcousticElectric?sku=519196 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guildfire Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 MItchell MD100Epiphone PR 150Yamaha F335 (used) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seagullplayer77 Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 First Act gets a bad reputation because Wal-Mart et. al. sells their cheap stuff, and I'd agree that their $100 guitars should be avoided. A little-known fact about First Act is that they also make high-quality instruments as well. Here's some pictures of some of their custom models: http://www.firstact.com/Products/CustomGuitars/Gallery.aspx In any case, for $100 your options are kind of limited, especially for new guitars. If you were willing to pony up another $75, or even another $50, you'd have a much better chance of getting a good guitar that'll play easier and sound better than stuff in the sub-$100 bracket. If you know where to look, a used Art & Lutherie or Simon & Patrick could go for around a hundred bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eggyolkio Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone-DR-100-Acoustic-Guitar-518569-i1150079.gc my friend bought this one. plays and sounds great. really nice value for the $$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guildfire Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 There are a lot of $100 guitars out there that look, sound and play great. Go try out a few. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 I really dig the Rogue 000. Usually around $80, but I got one for $60 and one for free (part of string promotion). I've seen them down around $30. Not a bad guitar for that price. New strings are a must and a setup would be nice, but it plays ok out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RizinRico Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 the rogue, epiphone, mitchell, scratch and dent and big stores that give a 30-45 day return policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KwadGuy Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 There are a lot of $100 guitars out there that look, sound and play great. Go try out a few. The trouble is that anyone who asks the question that started this thread probably doesn't have a clue what to look for. Even the very worst guitars can be strummed and sound OK and might seem OK. Beginners don't have a clue about the action, or checking the neck to see it's straight or checking the intonation...So they buy a pile of firewood, take it home, try to play, can't (because the strings are an inch from the neck) or can't get it to sound right (because the intonation is completely wrong) and give up... If you have a friend who knows guitars, then looking around and trying a few could be good advice. Ditto checking out used stuff. But if you're going it alone, and you're not going to go to a store where they know guitars and are willing to spend time with you (not likely for a $100 guitar in this day and age), then your best bet is to take the specific model recommendations here--and stick to those models with good QA, i.e. don't get a hit-and-miss guitar such as Jay Turser or Rogue. I recommended the $150 Yamaha earlier (and yes, too expensive presumably) because at the low price point Yamaha is one of the few brands that STILL enforces good QA. I don't love that entry level Yamaha--in fact, it's kind of mediocre in terms of sound--and I have unquestionably found pig-in-a-poke cheapos that by luck of the draw sound better than the Yamaha and cost less. But again, you gotta kiss a lotta frogs to find those princes, and if you're just starting out, you won't even know the difference. In contrast, just about all the cheapo Yamahas are still playable and decent learning instruments right out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DonK Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Mostly. At that price range, new is hit or miss with mostly miss. ^ This. In that price range, you're going to need some luck to find anything decent. Used would be better. Throwing in another $50 and going used would be even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EdBega Posted September 11, 2009 Members Share Posted September 11, 2009 Epiphone PR 150MItchell MD100 I concur ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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