Help me buy a new acoustic.

breakstuff

I've finally decided its time to get myself a half decent acoustic.I currently own a Cort Earth Mini 3/4 size travel guitar but have never got in with it due to its cramped fingerboard and crap sound so I'm looking to upgrade.

My budget is around £400 - £500 and I've been looking at the usual suspects like the Taylor Big Baby and GS Mini and also like the look of some of the Sigma models around that price range.

Can anyone recommend any others I should consider?

Cheers.

rossyamaha

:-\"

ThorpyFX

Yamaha guitars are great, top end ones are on a par with things costing hundreds more. Faith guitars are also superb and I have a faith eclipse (black finish) that plays astonishingly well. Perfect second hand buy!

breakstuff

Lol. @rossyamaha

What particular models would you recommend?

rossyamaha

We can literally cover anything you want. Give me an ideal guitar and I'll find something for you. £400 - £500 gives you a fair few options. Also you wouldn't necessarily need to go that high to get something that you like. 

All that said, Faith, Sigma, Taylor etc are all great. 

Roland

Someone n here has a Taylor 314 for sale. That would be a not too expensive venture into acoustic

Sambostar

Seriously check out some Chinese guitars.  You could get a fake D-45 for less than half that and they sound seriously good and are very well made too.  Of course get your name inlaid on the headstock eh and do your research, but fairs dues, in their own right they are good instruments.

I got an APC EA100, yeah it's cheap and light, the kind you get off Amazon for £130, I got it cheaper, but with a solid spruce top, sapele sides, sapele neck, zero fretbuzz, actually looks like real blackwood fretboard it's nice.  Binding is a bit cheap, but the thin satin varnish feels like bare wood, so it's really honest, sounds good, if not a bit thin, but it is Parlour kind of size and it plays well easy.  I suspect it's made in China, although it says made in Portugal.  I love it, it's so easy to play and it suits me as I'm cheap and it's very comfy to play as it's not a dreadnought.

So if you took a punt on £200 or £300 for a MIC, you could end up with a very good guitar indeed.  Either that or get something old and seasoned.

Personally I wouldn't spend £300 on anything new, I just don't reckon you'll get the sound and quality for the price.

breakstuff

That's quite interesting @Sambostar.Which brands would you recommend and where to buy?

I'm very tempted by the Sigma brand which I believe are Chinese made and seem to get excellent reviews.Looking into it they seem to do what appears to be some quite decent kit for less than £300.

I'm going to keep my eyes on eBay,I think to see what used one's go for.

richardhomer

If you fancy a smallish guitar which sounds bigger than it is, the Taylor GS Mini is fantastic. Great playability, brilliant quality padded gig bag - I love mine.

dtr

Hi @breakstuff,  a guitarless fortnight away had me looking for decent travel acoustics recently and I've been pondering a Journey Overhead ever since (they'll count as hand luggage even with Thomson's OTT restrictions).  Can't comment on them, never played one, and haven't yet made the leap.  Thought I'd mention them as you appear to have travelling in mind too.

http://www.journeyinstruments.com/product/sitka-sapele-acoustic-travel-guitar/

I'm really interested in hearing from anyone who's played one. I'm still mighty tempted.

breakstuff

I am tempted by them @richardhomer but the shorter scale kind of puts me off.Could you tell me if the fingerboard feels cramped because my Cort travel guitar does?

Oh yeah,welcome back by the way.

@dtr I've already got a travel guitar so was after something a bit bigger but thanks anyway.

richardhomer

^ The scale-length is 23.5" - about two inches shorter than a standard Martin - though OMs and most Gibsons were/are shorter.

As you can probably tell from the picture in my avatar, I'm a biggish bloke. The GS Mini certainly feels smaller than a full size guitar - but not in a way which makes it feel awkward to play.

breakstuff

Thanks Richard,that's very helpful.I'll bare that on mind.

randomhandclaps

As mentioned Yamahas are really worth thinking about and with the huge discount @rossyamaha will offer you then I doubt you'll do better.

equalsql

Walden... seriously!

Here's a real bargain:
http://www.kennysmusic.co.uk/walden-cg4070-cert-acoustic-natural

I've owned a Natura since 2006 and it is a stunning instrument. The neck is is slim superbly stable thanks to the carbon-fibre rods and the tone is just stunning.

breakstuff

That looks a bit of a bargain @equalsql

Thanks,that's another one to consider.

Ianpdq

Tanglewood are pretty good

breakstuff

randomhandclaps said:

As mentioned Yamahas are really worth thinking about and with the huge discount @rossyamaha will offer you then I doubt you'll do better.

Good call @randomhandclaps

Awaiting reply from @rossyamaha ;

rossyamaha

Happy to help wherever I can but I got kids to feed. ;-)

DaevidJ

I do rather enjoy my Faith Eclipse Venus. For the price it is a rather good guitar.

crunchman

Martin X series are just over £500.  Purists might not like the materials but they are brilliant.