Advice on Smaller acoustics needed

mazzoo

Hi everyone, I'm new here. I thought this would be a great place for some advice in choosing my next guitar.

I have come back to guitar playing after a few years and want to buy an electro-acoustic. In the past, I've had dreadnought style acoustics and given up on playing them. The one I have now is an Epiphone Hummingbird pro which I inherited from a family member...but being of virtual hobbit-like stature  (5 feet 1), it’s just too big for me. I never really had problems spanning frets on electrics but with acoustics, it seems a whole lot more difficult and just generally an arse getting my arms around them.

So I want to get something smaller but am a bit overwhelmed by the array of choice, body type etc.  I have looked at some 2nd hand Ovation Celebrity cc-57 but some people say these have certain problems such as bridge popping off or the back cracks? Some people hate the way they sound and some people love it. So I’m not sure if I should gamble with buying something older that could have problems to fix.

For new guitars, I have looked (online) at IbanezTCY10 Talman and TCM50, some people say the sound is weedy or crap and some love it - which is confusing. I like the fact the body is similar to an electric. I’ve also looked at the Fender CD-60SCE Mahogany which apparently has a lovely tone.  There's the new Ibanez AW54 Junior,  which was released last year. It’s not a cut-away but a smaller dreadnought and it’s 23.9 inch scale length. Then there's  the AE245 which sounds great from the demos but doesn't have the forarm contour.

 The other measurements such as body depth only seem to be a bit smaller than the Epiphone Hummingbird I have but the fret board must be smaller? 

So I’m not sure what to go for, my budget is up to about £300. As far as I can see no shops near me have any of these in stock, so I’m trying to base a decision on what I can find online. In terms of what I want to play, it would be maybe finger picking and blues, rock, folk etc -  my guitar heroes being people like Jimmy Hendrix, Nuno Bettencourt and Nick jones, that’s the kind of thing I aspire to! As I say I have not been regularly playing the last few years and would like to get back in and practise more with something that I can look forward to playing instead of wrestling with!

So I would like to know if anyone has any advice, any vertically challenged players out there?

Jontommy

I’ve got a guild m120. Absolutely love it. Small body, all mahogany. Very much a keeper for me. I’d imagine you could pick a used one up within your budget

mazzoo

Jontommy said:

I’ve got a guild m120. Absolutely love it. Small body, all mahogany. Very much a keeper for me. I’d imagine you could pick a used one up within your budget

Thanks for that. I had a look on youtube and they sound really good!

Jontommy

It’s a guitar I always want to pick up. 
Really nice boxy sound. I wouldn’t be without it. 

mazzoo

Jontommy said:

It’s a guitar I always want to pick up. 
Really nice boxy sound. I wouldn’t be without it. 

I had a quick look and they seem to be few and far between!

Jontommy

They do come up for sale now and again.
the Yamaha fs800 is a Good value small bodied acoustic. Worth a try if you can find one locally

Andy79

https://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/product/fender_pm-2_am_ne_natural_2nd_hand_-yfender84145/

Kilgore

Have a look at 000/OM and '''folk" guitars. These are generally smaller than dreds. They have a smaller waist and body depth, but are good all rounders for strumming, finger picking, etc.

 Is a pickup a definite requirement? You may have to compromise on acoustic/electric tone at that price point.

thermionic

Unless you need it for playing live on stage, forget the pickup and spend your £300 on quality wood and workmanship.

There’s a lot of small bodied guitars around from Recording King, Art & Lutherie, Alvarez, etc, as well as the obvious Sigmas. I would recommend the excellent The Loar LH-200 but they are getting hard to find now.

mazzoo

Thanks for the advice everyone, I don't suppose I need the pick-up. Thought it might make it easier if I wanted to record stuff but haven't attempted any recording for years.  

mazzoo

thermionic said:

Unless you need it for playing live on stage, forget the pickup and spend your £300 on quality wood and workmanship.

There’s a lot of small bodied guitars around from Recording King, Art & Lutherie, Alvarez, etc, as well as the obvious Sigmas. I would recommend the excellent The Loar LH-200 but they are getting hard to find now.

   Thanks for your suggestions. I have looked at the Art & Luthrie Legend although it sounds a bit 'boxy'...maybe not what I want. The Alvarez  AP66 sounds amazing to me in demos, mellow and mmm well, I think I'm in love          There's a place near me with 1 in stock...I might have to go and see!

brucegill

mazzoo said:

Thanks for the advice everyone, I don't suppose I need the pick-up. Thought it might make it easier if I wanted to record stuff but haven't attempted any recording for years.  

To be fair, I’ve not heard a pickup I’d want to record. Only one is the Fishman rare earth blend and that can be added later and moved from one guitar to the next as it sits on the sound hole. The undersaddles all sound terrible to me for recording. Just a thought. 

thermionic

I’m with Steve Albini with this one - a recorded piezo pickup is an abomination. I have a few albums that are spoilt by this.

No excuse these days when a £50 Chinese condenser mike into a laptop will produce great results with a bit of experimentation and care in mike placement.

BigLicks67

I've given this a bit of thought and cannot think of anything I would buy new for £300.00 in the current market. You may be able to get a decent guitar used, but brand new you are going to struggle to find anything that will be satisfactory after the initial honeymoon period. A Yamaha FS will probably do the job albeit they can be a bit boxy. Alvarez in my experience have as much tone as a wet newspaper, especially if it's the parlour guitar you are looking at. Maybe look to a pay a bit more new and look at the better quality Sigmas or try to pick up a Taylor 1 series or Yamaha LS16 used.

Whistler

Manson guitar shop - Vintage V300MH, Mahogany Top, Folk Acoustic Guitar, £179

A friend has one of these and raves about it. I think it shows that while you need to be careful with lower-priced guitars there are little gems to be found.

A couple of years ago I decided to buy someone a guitar so I went into my local guitar shop and tried every acoustic and was surprised as the usual, known manufacturers, including Yamaha, Fender and Cort, were all uninspiring but I came across three guitars that really sounded nice and they all happened to be from the same manufacturer. It is not important which manufacturer (partly because I cannot remember) as the principle is, especially with acoustic guitars, to go and try them feel them, hear them in person as each will have their own voice and one (or three) in a whole shopful will speak to you, "I'm yours."

Andy79

In my opinion those vintage V300s are awful. They may well put you off small guitars for life. They themselves are indeed lifeless 

Whistler

Excellent comment, Andy - it just goes to show that one person's dream is another person's nightmare. Nothing can replace personally playing guitars to find your dream guitar.

Andy79

100% agree to that. 
At least in the lower price guitars there is less financial risk when buying untested. 
If forced into buying blind I would advise to go used for that money. Sigma, Recording King for example do some decent stuff with a bit of mojo about them 

Rocker

Sigma. Amazing guitars for very little money.

brucegill

mazzoo said:

thermionic said:

Unless you need it for playing live on stage, forget the pickup and spend your £300 on quality wood and workmanship.

There’s a lot of small bodied guitars around from Recording King, Art & Lutherie, Alvarez, etc, as well as the obvious Sigmas. I would recommend the excellent The Loar LH-200 but they are getting hard to find now.

   Thanks for your suggestions. I have looked at the Art & Luthrie Legend although it sounds a bit 'boxy'...maybe not what I want. The Alvarez  AP66 sounds amazing to me in demos, mellow and mmm well, I think I'm in love          There's a place near me with 1 in stock...I might have to go and see!

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/139447/f-s-masterworks-alvarez#latest

mazzoo

thermionic said:

I’m with Steve Albini with this one - a recorded piezo pickup is an abomination. I have a few albums that are spoilt by this.

No excuse these days when a £50 Chinese condenser mike into a laptop will produce great results with a bit of experimentation and care in mike placement.

Well I won't bother with a pickup then! I'll cross the recording set -up bridge when I come to it.