What the knowledge on budget acoustics

Travisthedog

I think it's time I bought an acoustic

I've dabbled from time to time - always hated the neck/frets/action and sold the thing on

I could actually do with something fr a project with a mate of mines missis (no jokes please) she's got a hell of a voice and wants to do some acoustic duo thing

Is there a budget acoustic that can mix it with the big boys like say the classic vibe squiers do in the electric world

The boxes that new ticking are
1. Cheap
2. Plays like an electric with super low action all the way up the neck
3. Cheap

Any thoughts?

Gru

How cheap us cheap? Setup us going to be key here, unless you are lucky, it won't be one straight from a box.

IanSavage

Vintage, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage...;)

Jez6345789

Bought a vintage V300 mahogany a few years back best 200 quid I have spent on a guitar. Stupid value for money

sound great, plays well with minor setup. At the time compared up to 1200 quid martins mahogany D range. Also lot of other budget and mid range stuff this was just too good to turn down.

Deijavoo

I personally love my Taylor Big Baby.

It sounds like this:

Octahedron

I have a Washburn that I really like. That's got a good action right out of the box! Was very surprised when I got it. I part-exchanged a Tanglewood with a solid rosewood back/sides to get that actually. It's the most recent guitar that I've acquired. 

I can't rate Vintage, I've never tried.

Some Fenders are OK but the majority of the budget Fenders are made in the same factory as Cort guitars. I found that out through a local dealer here. 

Personally I highly rate Cort, Washburn and Ibanez for budget acoustics.

The Cort MR710F is a fantastic guitar. I have one that doesn't have a nitro finish (some of the incarnations of the 710F have it, others are without). Yes, it means the wood chips a bit easier but I really feel personally very strongly that the lack of nitro vastly affects the tonal quality and responsiveness of an acoustic. That Cort of mine, I've got a mate who's got an older one of the same model from the early 90s and it's aged well and sounds beautiful too. That's the closest I think I have got to a 'big' Taylor sound (the acoustic I truly desire!) without spending $$$$$$ 

The Cort is a beast. It really is. So's the Washburn. But I have to admit when I was about to get the Washburn I was really really tempted to buy another MR710 and have it as a backup/spare! Cos I just love it that much! I feel that a lot of guitars in its price range don't touch it and I've heard Corts often get bagged-out on the net and I don't really understand why. The fact is that as I said previously lots of budget Fender acoustics and others too are made in the same Cort factory! 

Whatever you do do though, getting a decent set up or doing things as simple as buying a new saddle, nut and bridge pins (Tusq ones) and having them drastically filed down and filing the nut slots a little bit can do wonders for a cheap acoustic too in terms of playability and tone. 

wordy

I was watching a Chappers video about Faith a few weeks back, and he was saying he plays the Mercury as he feels it plays like an electric.

I also quite like some of the Sigma's.

Until a few months ago I had a Faith 730FX (dread) and it was a nice well made guitar, but although the tone was quite warm and nice sounding, it was quiet, almost muted sounding compared to my Faith Mercury (parlour), so I sold it.

midlifecrisis

I have vintage v300 and ve 500, regularly gig and open mic,both nice, terrific value,  but I havnt owned much else acoustic so not experienced much else.

Travisthedog

@deijavoo

 

Fantastic work mate - ive watched that about 40 times now - great demo of the guitar too - thats the one for me i think

Deijavoo

Cheers mate. 

My good lady wife (well she was me bird back then) bought me it as a birthday gift about 8 or so years ago.  I tried 2 identical ones and this one knocked spots of the other. Some people hate the screws in the fingerboard, but I'm not playing acoustic up there anyhow so no worries for me. 

For £349 brand new, built in California (by whatever method) I found it a total steal.

Let us see/hear the result when you get one sir. 

thomasw88

I bought a tanglewood earth 500 2nd hand a few years ago for pennies. Had a solid top and nice low action. Was beat up to crap, but gigged it very happily for a number of years. 

Replaced it with an all solid Simon and Patrick mini jumbo which is awesome. 

 Anyway, I'd go tanglewood or 2nd hand Simon Patrick or seagull, all of which go very cheaply. Stick a good pickup in ie lr baggs m1a and go play..

 You don't need to spend mega bucks on an acoustic, even some of the non solid tops ones sound fantastic.. However I'd get an aftermarket pickup rather than rely on a built in one, as at the lower end of the market the pickups are generally poor.

Spending a £100 on a 2nd hand baggs m1a is going to be a good buy as you can always move it to another guitar should you want to upgrade.

viz

Deijavoo said:

I personally love my Taylor Big Baby.

It sounds like this:

very nice. Guitar and playing.

axisus

secondhand Takamine. Lovely guitars.

Plays like an electric? String it up with 9's - won't sound as good though!

Travisthedog

@deijavoo - what tuning is that in mate?

Bidley

I've got a Tanglewood super folk sized/shaped thing. Much easier to play than the massive Freshman dread I did have (which, I must add, was very nice in it's own right). I can't remember the model name of the Tanglewood I have (I bought it from @streethawk, I think) but I'd buy another Tangle based on that.

axisus

@deijavoo - nicely played and the guitar sounds good!

Deijavoo

@Travisthedog it is C Eb G Eb G Eb

if I remember rightly, I could be wrong though. 

Cheers @viz and @axisus. ;

Deijavoo

@Discostu will be more likely to remember accurately. 

DiscoStu

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/3426/

Deijavoo

Ha!  I was way wrong. 

Too many beers the last couple of days fried my mind.