difference btw $199 guitar and $2999 one

[CyanJaguar]

I play electric, but I started playing some clean chords and I am thinking an acoustic would be nice. I am a lefty and for reference my only electric is a $309 epiphone les paul.

 

looking at musician's friend, they go from $199 to $3999

 

what should I really be looking for in an acoustic. I think I want a dreadnought. do scale lengths matter? what else for good tone.

 

I dont really care about great tone , I just dont want it to be bad tone.

[Cldplytkmn]

go play as many as possible (thats the usual starting line around here, so i had to include it) and see which guitars have necks that are comfortable for you. If the string height is real high, thats totally fixable, so i'd look at that secondary to neck feel. I'd suggest a solid wood top, but there are good guitars with laminate tops. A solid top will get better with time and is generally considered 'better' sounding. find one you can play comfortably and you'll be ahead of the curve.

[CyanJaguar]

none of the stores around here have any lefties.

[Cldplytkmn]

oooh i missed the leftie part... afraid i'm not much use to you then... maybe list a few you're interested in and others will chime in on them, i'm sure any guitar you're looking at in leftie has been played by somebody around here in 'regular' format. (i poke fun at lefties... nobody shoot)

[UGB]

Carvin has a good selection of left handed models. It's a very safe choice.

[guitarcapo]

Personally the only area i wouldn't compromise would be that the top should be solid spruce.

[Khan Fused]

I can only add that I like my lefty Seagull S6+ Cedar GT; my wife's righty S6 Folk is nice as well. You can buy a used one cheap (let someone else eat the depreciation), & play it until you want to upgrade. I'd say search eBayware & Google for left handed acoustics to get an idea of what's available. Aw ra best!

[Cldplytkmn]

 

Originally posted by guitarcapo Personally the only area i wouldn't compromise would be that the top should be solid spruce.

 

 

ahem... aren't you forgetting our friend... name starts with an C and ends with edar...

 

other than that i completely agree. if nothing else, solid top should be sought.

[CyanJaguar]

thanks for the advice guys.

 

my local gc has a fender dg-10 for $199 that I will go play.

 

IT is not a solid top . Is it a waste of money?

[onetubetone]

Originally posted by CyanJaguar thanks for the advice guys. my local gc has a fender dg-10 for $199 that I will go play. IT is not a solid top . Is it a waste of money?

 

Probably... I mean, if it does it for you. In my experience, fender makes some pretty shabby acoustics. Not to be a broken record but if you want a really great acoustic for a good price, you might want to look into something like this:

 

http://www.guitaradoptions.com/prodcat/customer/product.php?productid=18052&cat=&page=2

[CyanJaguar]

Originally posted by onetubetone Probably... I mean, if it does it for you. In my experience, fender makes some pretty shabby acoustics. Not to be a broken record but if you want a really great acoustic for a good price, you might want to look into something like this: http://www.guitaradoptions.com/prodcat/customer/product.php?productid=18052&cat=&page=2

 

$1199 !!!

 

that would pay for all the gear I have now .

 

well not really, but I dont think I'll play it enough to justify spending that much. Not that I have that kind of money

[Cldplytkmn]

well actual price would be much less than that... although thats kind of beside the point. I'd suggest looks at Seagull, Takamine, and Alvarez.

[Chirpy_72]

There are so many low priced quality guitars out there it's amazing. Ok, you can cut that number down by 75% since you're a lefty, but still choices abound.

 

Alvarez, Takamine, Yamaha, Martin all make great guitars for less than $800

 

Things to look for:

 

-Solid spruce top ( if you're going to be doing hard strumming, spruce can keep up. Cedar sounds good for light picking and fingerstyle )

-Comfortable and playable ( neck shape size, body is comfortable, action is good )

-Sounds good unplugged ( some lower end boxes are overbuilt and not that loud when not plugged in. An overzealous salesman may try to push the "plugged in" aspect of the guitar. Kinda defeats the purpose of an acoustic.

[CyanJaguar]

thanks again guys.

 

I just got back from playing the fender. The bad thing is that I played an ovation acoustic before it and there was no comparison. The ovation's sound was genteel, exquisite, silky, while the fender was hard, honky and annoying.

 

I could not afford the ovation and did not want the fender so I have put off buying one for another month or two

[knockwood]

Check these out.

 

http://www.music123.com/Washburn-D10S-Left-Handed-i28729.music

 

http://www.music123.com/Blue-Ridge-BR40LH-i151149.music

 

http://www.music123.com/Alvarez-RD20SL-Left-Handed-i84172.music

 

http://www.music123.com/Dean-Tradition-S-Left-Handed-i161777.music

[ddlingling]

give us a price range and we'll be able to help you much much more.

[FingerBone Bill]

Cort's Earth Range offer a reasonable budget instrument.

 

http://www.cort.com/acoustics/earth/pg3.html

 

Tanglewood have also gotten some good reviews for their lower priced instruments.

 

http://www.guitar.com.au/guitars/acoustic/tanglewood/

 

Seagul & Washburn are also good options.

 

Thankfully you have worked out for yourself that Fender are not great acoustics.

[UGB]

Ovation???!!!!

 

Come back from the Dark side!!!!!

 

:D :D

[FingerBone Bill]

Originally posted by UGB Ovation???!!!! Come back from the Dark side!!!!! :D :D

 

My friend UGB is too modest to recommend his own services.

 

You could do worse than checking out his Nineveh guitar site - got any lefties UGB?

[guit30]

Get an Alvarez lefty RD 20S and you will be fine

Stay away from fenders, takes and everything else unless you want to spend tne money for a Larrivee or Taylor

Jim

[kwakatak]

Originally posted by CyanJaguar $1199 !!! that would pay for all the gear I have now . well not really, but I dont think I'll play it enough to justify spending that much. Not that I have that kind of money

 

Actually, beside that being the minimum price the dealer is allow to post what drives the price up on that model is that it has a cutaway and onboard preamp. Without that a stock L-03 (lefty or righty) is about $750. I've seen used ones for sale as little as $400. Then there's also a similar model called the L-01 that is rare but even less expensive.

 

I second staying away from Fender acoustics in the $199 peice range. I can honestly say that they are worse than Takamines!

 

Seriously, I'm a Tak player and I was looking to replace it when the neck joint started to come undone. The first thing I tried was a Fender acoustic that had a pickup and cutaway and listed for $175. The salesman had me plug it in - which I could care less about - and it still sounded like $#!t. The action wasn't much better and I decided that it would be better to pay the money for the repairs to my old Tak.

[FingerBone Bill]

Originally posted by kwakatak ...I second staying away from Fender acoustics in the $199 peice range...

 

Stay away from Fender Acoustics...period!

[knockwood]

Originally posted by FingerBone Bill Stay away from Fender Acoustics...period!

 

I wouldn't say that without taking a look at their new Ensanada series. Definitely a departure from their usual lineup.

[FingerBone Bill]

 

Originally posted by knockwood I wouldn't say that without taking a look at their new Ensanada series....

 

 

I would.

[freeridstylee]

You can always grab a righty and restring it, and get a new pickguard, or go el natural. my roommate got a factory 2nd alveraz md80 for well under 300 off of ebay, and the thing plays like a high end martin should.