So today I tried...

Gru

Thanks for your views so far. Keenly watching this as some of the guitars are also on my list.

Martin 000X1AE & OMAXE, Taylor GS Mini Mahogany, Faith Mercury.

I really like my martin LXM although I understand it has some short comings due to body size and materials. That being said I am now very accustomed to the sound it produces.

Martins are on my list in 00,000 & OM format, but mostly used. The Furch OM20SM sounds very nice at £600ish.

Your certainly doing it the right way and trying them to find the one you like, rather than buying the one you think you want (I have been guilty of the latter many times)

Duppy03

@Gru i've done it to many times in the past, made an online purchase based on reviews, youtube clips, looks etc and been a little disappointed once the guitar/amp has arrived.

I'm reverting back to my teen years and spending the time in a shop rather than in front of laptop and seeing/hearing what suits best. Hopefully it'll pay off.

Should have some more to post later. I'll see how I get on with the Guild. I was planning to stay within my £400 budget so it's gonna have to knock my socks off for me to walk away with it. We'll see....

Duppy03

@woozor totally agree, 14th fretter with electronics for all purpose jam nights and playing out and about with and a 12 fretter for at home for that intimate feel. Wish I had the dough for both.

That Faith F000 looks awesome!

Duppy03

Completely contradicting myself, but after doing some more searching the Loar LH 200 ticks all the boxes. It's even got discreet onboard electronics!!!

The only place I can find that has them is Thomann though, any one know of a UK stockist that has one. Would love to try one out. Anyone else tried them out?

Or I spose Thomann do offer that 30 day return policy. Might be worth a punt...

xwoozor

I have played a loar but cant remember the model though.  It did nothing for me personally was pretty dull ok for a bit of bluesy stuff.  I also dont like glossy necks though especially on acoustics.

xwoozor

Also check out blueridge you might find something you like in there range.

thomasross20

Try a Larrivee

Duppy03

Nice, but they're both out my price range I think. I'm trying to stay around the £400 and below mark. Ultimately i'm looking for a Parlor guitar that joins at the 14th fret. Such a model doesn't seem to exist. 000'ds are a teeny bit larger than i'm looking for, although I really liked the Sigma 00015m I tried. But the Martin 000X series didn't do it for me.

I think Grand Concert is the way to go for me, mahogany would be a bonus too.

thermionic

Duppy03 said:

Completely contradicting myself, but after doing some more searching the Loar LH 200 ticks all the boxes. It's even got discreet onboard electronics!!!

The only place I can find that has them is Thomann though, any one know of a UK stockist that has one. Would love to try one out. Anyone else tried them out?

Or I spose Thomann do offer that 30 day return policy. Might be worth a punt...

I bought one from Thomann a couple of years ago. I played a couple of Gibson 1930s-style guitars in guitar shops when I worked for a company whose HQ was in Silicon Valley and I liked the small body and boxy, raw sound of those. I was also curious how good a guitar I could get for £200. It's really well-made, the wood is nicely grained all over, the 1930s aesthetics are spot on and the saddle and nut are bone. Very well set-up out of the box. I bought it as a cheap guitar to leave around the living room and the small body makes it a great sofa guitar. Since I bought it my Taylor has been out of its case about 3 times. The Taylor sounds much livelier and resonant of course, but the Loar is a very likeable and playable guitar. I think they're related to Recording King but Loars are quite hard to find in the UK compared to the USA it seems.

Duppy03

@thermionic which model did you get? Sounds promising

Duppy03

Here's another one that's caught my eye, right at the cheapo end of the spectrum, the Epiphone Caballiro.

The body size looks bang on, it's made of mahogany, got built in electronics and it's short scale. Shame it's not a solid top and the electronics look nasty. I'd still be keen to check it out, at that price you can't grumble... too much.

Anybody played one. My suspicions are that it's not only cheap, but it's nasty too.

Wazmeister

IME, compare any Taylor to any Martin, and the Taylor will always win.

Best generalisation I could come up with on a Sunday morning !!

xwoozor

I think you need to not to look for the perfect one as Its not really gonna exist in that price range.  What can you really expect from a £200 acoustic, its gonna produce a sound and would be a good beater guitar for outdoors.  What are your plans with it is it just the odd strum?  playing live?  what style of music?  The more you pay on a acosutic makes a much bigger difference than it does on an electric.

thermionic

LH-200, no electronics in mine though, I think that may be a new thing.

Duppy03

@woozor your absolutely right, the perfect guitar doesn't exist, especially on a Scrooge budget like mine. I think if I can something that's 75% of the way there I should consider it a success. I think top of my criterea is playability and comfort. I'll use mainly for knock around the house, learning songs, working out ideas and the occasional gig and jam night. Maybe the Epi will do the job beautifully. But I can't imagine it will play or sound half as nice as some of the others I've had my hands on already like the Faith, Taylor and Sigma.

Duppy03

@thermionic nice!

xwoozor

You want a lot out of this acoustic then :P It seems you've tried them all. Why not go for ure favourite of the bunch. If nothing is wowing you you might have to increase your budget then start your search again lol I must try a gs mini out sometime I think they look great.

crunchman

Wazmeister said:

IME, compare any Taylor to any Martin, and the Taylor will always win.

Best generalisation I could come up with on a Sunday morning !!

At what?

If you want thin and tinny with a horrible neck shape (and unreliable electronics) then this might be true, but as a generalisation it's definitely not true.

usedtobe

The only Taylor I ever played left me pretty cold. 

Duppy03

So I got my hands on the Guild M120 today and although it was a really nice little guitar, it didn't do enough to make me reach for my wallet. It's a great size, fantastic neck, lovely finish and spec, great discreet electronics, cool hard case etc etc but it didn't have anything more to offer tonally or from a playability perspective than anything else i've tried so far. I'd happily own one, but wouldn't happily shell out the cash that's on the price tag. Although I will say for an all solid acoustic with onboard electronics and a hard case, it's fair price.

But here's the thing that kept my wallet firmly in my pocket. There was a Recording King RO16 in there, picked it up, looks nice, lovely finish etc, gave it a strum and... man what a sound! 

The body and neck are a little bigger than i felt completely comfortable with. But as we've already established i'm not going to get everything I want bang on fro the money i've got to spend. But now I see what all the fuss is about. I didn't walk out with it but I may well be going back. Very impressed.

I still love the look of the Epi Caballero, but being a laminated top with nasty onboard electronic I feel three much better guitars in a similar price range, like the Recording Kings and Sigmas.