Recommendations for an electro acoustic

imalrightjack

I’ve also posted a TWB/WTT but could do with some advice on what to aim for. 

Looking for an acoustic with pickup/pre-amp that preferably doesn’t have a huge body and will record well with impulse responses. I’m using Quad Cortex. 

I’ll be banging out chords, some lead lines and maybe a little finger-picking. 

Any suggestions?

Timcito

I'd go for an Ovation. Great plugged-in sound, decent acoustic sound, great looks and easy playability. You can also buy them in three bowl depths: deep, medium, and shallow. The shallow ones are extremely easy to hold and manouevre. The ones from Korea are also very competitively priced.

hollywoodrox

Yamaha Apx 600
  one of those new Sigmas in your favourite style 
  Epiphone Hummingbird inspired by Gibson 
  Takamine Santa Fe 
  Epiphone hummingbird studio , a lot of people knock it  but it looks the absolute shizzle  if you dig Keef 

can you ever go wrong with an Apx if you wanna play lead too .

also those Nuno style washburns  & there was a style that Robert plant & Craig Chaquico played 
and that nylon string  tree of death thing by Ibanez or a vai model 
  

TTony

Timcito said:

I'd go for an Ovation. 

Having had one, I wouldn't!  Because of the bowl back, I found it always slipped away from me if I was playing sitting down.

imalrightjack said:

Looking for an acoustic with pickup/pre-amp that preferably doesn’t have a huge body and will record well with impulse responses.

Do you actually want an acoustic, or something that will sound like an acoustic when plugged-in via pickup and/or IRs ?

imalrightjack

Thanks, guys.

@TTony - I'm toying with heading out to do some open mics/acoustic gigs, so I guess an actual acoustic.  I've an EBMM JPXI that has piezo (I've had passable piezo sounds with IRs through Quad Cortex) but it's not quite there.

TTony

imalrightjack said:

 so I guess an actual acoustic.  

In which case, take a look at Richards Guitars.  They've got the Eastman range at all price points - you have a decent choice <£1k.

If body size is a real constraint, the Taylor mini is ridiculously good (I like the ES2 pickup system), and sounds far bigger than its body size.  Often around s/h.

Leftfield - and not acoustic - is the Godin A6 ultra.  I've found the piezo system on that to work far better with IRs than any of my "proper" electros.

imalrightjack

Thanks, @TTony ; - I will almost certainly go used to try and get more for my money.

marktheharp

I have a faith naked Venus all mahogany, cutaway. Sounds great plugged in or just acoustic. Very comfy neck and sounds lovely. Always get compliments at open mic nights…happy hunting for your new acoustic 

ESBlonde

Find a nice acoustic you like the feel and sound of. 

Fit a decent PU system or upgrade the PU already there - budget £2-300 for a quality PU or if not using real tones then most PUs with IR get you decent output.

ScreamingDave

I use an Ibanez Talman with a mag pickup live.  I think it gives a great acoustic sound without that horrible piezo “quack”.  I also use a Wasburn Woodline series, which has a nice small body and a Fishman Presysy pickup, but it still has that nasty quck if you hit the strings hard

imalrightjack

Cheers, all. I’ll be using Quad Cortex, so hopefully get a decent sound even out of piezo. 

I think I need to just go buy a Taylor or something. 

BigPaulie

Yamaha FSX3 or AC3R/M?

Snags

If you're going through IRs anyway I'd go with Faith or Yamaha over Taylor, personally. There's less of a badge premium, and to my mind nothing inferior in the product; quite the opposite £ for £.

DavidR

If you want a smaller instrument than some of the above excellent options take a look at Vintage too. They are definitely in the optimal quality/cost range. You have not said what type of acoustic you want but I've been looking at Vintage's Paul Brett range with interest of late.

Vintage Paul Brett Signature 6-String 880 Electro-Acoustic ~ Natural (rguitars.co.uk)

I agree, Yamaha always worth a look. 

Whether you "just go and buy a Taylor or something" is up to you but @Snags has used the term 'badge premium' and I agree. There are excellent options available which are just as good quality as some of the supposedly 'top end' makers for a fraction of the price. Most have already been mentioned. There's some amazingly good instruments about at the moment for as long as the link between Western customers and Far Eastern manufacturers lasts.

Crazed_Fandango

I've recently bought a Lag slim cut auditorium:
https://www.lagguitars.com/en/sm_lag_tramontane_118/562-T118ASCE-BRS-Auditorium-Slim-Cut-Acoustic-Electric-Brown-Shadow.html

Very nice guitar that punches above its weight.

Kittyfrisk

This one's near to me (hopefully still there) & could get it to you if you're interested?
https://www.gumtree.com/p/guitar-instrument/faith-venus-gloss-acoustic-/1476272109