Acoustic Guitar Advice

[Dan L]

Hi all,

I’ve been away from active melody for quite a while and haven’t played for months due to moving into and renovating a house.

I am looking to buy an acoustic guitar in the next month or so, I have around £550 ($760) to spend and have my heart set on a Martin. I’ve considered the Martin 0-x1e but not much else.

I was wondering if anyone has any guitars they know of around this price and could give me a few other options.
I’d be grateful for any advice!

Cheers!

[sunjamr]

I would say Martins and Taylors are among the 5 most popular acoustic guitars, but there are countless others that are also excellent. My advice would be to consider this: How do you normally play your guitar, sitting down or standing? I am among the 99% of us who mostly play sitting down. If that is true for you, do you like playing with your right elbow way up in the air, and having the guitar cut off the blood flow to your arm? I can only play a few minutes that way on a full size guitar before my arm starts to go to sleep or hurt. For that reason, more and more professional guitarists are playing on small body guitars. Justin Johnson told me he much prefers small body acoustics. I have several of them: Taylor GS Mini, Alvarez AF30CE, Martin Dreadnaught Junior. I wish I had a Washburn G-Mini 15S with a pickup, because it has an ergonomic cutout allowing access to the higher frets.

Lots of people operate under the delusion that a full sized guitar is louder (they aren’t) or sound better (they don’t) or look cooler (they don’t – Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift both play Taylor GS Minis).

Sunjamr Steve

[Dan L]

Thank you that’s great advice.
I do like the smaller bodies much more than bigger ones. And yes, I play sitting down most of the time.
I will have a look at the models you mentioned.

Thanks again, I appreciate it!

[sunjamr]

Also, I’ve found that I prefer an acoustic with a pickup and belt-in tuner. Acoustics get out of tune very easily and often, and being able to just grab it, turn on the tuner, and quickly tune it leaves more time for playing. And a pickup is good, because you can just plug in and start recording yourself, vs setting up a mic and having to wear headphones if you’re recording to a jamtrack.

Sunjamr Steve

[Martin W]

Hi Dan , my advice would be when considering purchasing a acoustic guitar , firstly as mentioned there’s loads of different brands and price points , but look at the tone woods ie is it totally solid top back and sides , just the top solid with back and sides laminated or fully laminated , in my opinion this makes a difference . At your price point check out FAITH guitars they use all solid woods right through the whole range , I don’t know of many other brands that offer this , you mentioned the Martin o-x1e which is fully laminated . I agree with Steve the smaller body guitars do pack a punch. I guess get along to your local guitar store and try a few different sizes / brands out and choose one that suits . Hope this helps

Martin

[Richard G]

Dan, the best advice I can give you is, take your time and visit the largest guitar shop(s) convenient to you and really spend some time trying out the instruments in your price range. Everyone has differing ideas as to what is important but that doesn’t mean that advice will suit you. Irrespective of whether the guitars are made of laminate or solid wood, you will know instantly if it sounds right and it feels right to you.

If you take your time and try out quite a few instruments from different manufacturers you will pick the best one ……for you.

Richard

[San Luis Rey]

Hey Dan,
Richard said it….you’ve got to drive it before you buy it! What you feel in your hands, see and hear is what matters. Consider used acoustic guitars as age well also.

Mike

[GnLguy]

The PRS SE acoustic guitars are exceptional and for the money, you won’t find a better built or better sounding acoustic. Many models in your price range and should be fairly easy to find in your area.

Don’t overlook the used market – many great gently used guitars available

https://www.andertons.co.uk/search?categoryId=&storeId=10151&catalogId=3074457345616676668&langId=-1&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&showResultsPage=true&searchSource=Q&pageView=&beginIndex=0&pageSize=24&searchTerm=prs+acoustic&authToken=-1002%252CXZvf36sLiPiYegUJrwTEpYgBzE92SYyViFqNTYY0v8k%253D&#facet:&productBeginIndex:0&facetLimit:&orderBy:&pageView:grid&minPrice:&maxPrice:&pageSize:&

[John H]

I have a really nice 000-size Blue Ridge acoustic with a JR Baggs pick up in it. P paid $800 for it about 9 years ago. I can reduce that price by about 50%. Let me know if you are interested and I can reach out to you.

John H.

[snakechisler]

recent purchaser of a PRS se Parlour they are made in china and you can’t beat the range for price or quality at the moment they’ve really got a handle on the quality control

[Brian Lama]

Take a look at the Taylor Academy e10. Because my budget was a little tighter, I went with a Fender but the Taylor was a beautiful guitar.

brilama

[Derek H]

You can find a nice used 16 series Martin for just a few quid more. I’ve had a DC16-RGTE (Rosewood body, spruce top) for over 20 years. Sounds and plays like a dream.

[Richard S]

What are your thoughts on Breedlove guitars?

[GnLguy]

Richard S wrote:

What are your thoughts on Breedlove guitars?

I apologize ahead of time but Breedlove guitars are my passion

I’ve owned a Bredlove Oregon Myrtlewood Concerto for a couple of years now and when I bought it, my search for MY acoustic ended. Not only a beautiful well built guitar but the tone of this guitar grabbed me as none other before and I’ve bonded with it like no other guitar that I’ve owned.
The Concerto is their largest body size and it was designed to compete in volume & tone with a dreadnought. The body is deeper at the bottom of the lower bout than it is at the upper bout and the sound hole is 1/2 inch smaller than other brands. All of this adds up to a very loud & focused sound
Breedlove sands their tops thinner on one side so that the sound is very balanced. In one sense, the volume is so balanced on my guitar is so even that its like an electric guitar with a compressor on it.
Breedlove also makes a Concert size and a proprietary Concertina shape, which is the Concert shape but a smaller body size.

I have a 25th Anniversary Alvarez that is hand built and all solid woods. Its a good sounding guitar but when I pick up my Breedlove after playing the Alvarez, I can’t help but to smile because of its beautiful tone. I had gotten burnt on a very expensive Martin that I developed a love/hate relationship with; fortunately, I was able to get my money back out of it and the new owner loved it.

Myrtlewood is described as having tone like mahogany on steroid. And the neat thing about Myrtlewood is that every guitar that is produced is so different. Myrtlewood is a very beautiful wood and the grain is very different on every guitar
Interesting thing about Myrtlewood is that is indigenous mainly to Israel & the Pacific Northwest; the Bible mentions Myrtlewood in different places

https://breedlovemusic.com/instruments/acoustic-guitars

[Richard S]

Very nice!! Thank you for the tip.

[Lights]

Dan, did you already made your decision? If not, take a look at this, just for every case.
https://www.thomann.de/intl/ee/harley_benton_custom_line_clp_15m_vs.htm
https://www.thomann.de/intl/ee/harley_benton_clf_200_wn.htm
I’m the owner of both, and they are fantastic. Check out the Youtube reviews too.
You don’t have to spend a huge money to get the parlors “plinky-planky” sound, it’s available almost for free.
Lights.

[Dan L]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. I’ve still not made a decision. I know it’s a nice position to be in, but it’s very hard to choose! Lights, I had never heard of these guitars but the reviews seem really good and the price is extremely low.
I’ll keep going and hopefully come to a decision soon 🙄
Thanks again!

[AK]

New subscriber. First post.

FWIW, I just went through the same process. Starting point was also Martin 0-x1e. Looked at Taylor GS Mini, PRS SE P20. Ended up ordering a Yamaha CSF1M. It’s on its way.

Good luck with your search!

[Dan L]

So, I thought I’d let you all know that after a long search I finally made a decision and went for a Martin 000-x1ae. I also tried a 00-1xae in the shop which was great but didn’t sound as full as the 000. I’m really happy with my choice, sounds great with a plec and fingerstyle.
Hopefully I’ll post some videos of me playing on here soon.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my thread and gave me advice!

[Dan Murray]

Dan, congratulations on your new Martin! Great choice. I’m sure you’ll get a lifetime of enjoyment from it. Make it sing!

“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you” ~ B.B. King

[Author]

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