Advice on Smaller acoustics needed

drofluf

I played the Alvarez at the weekend - i think t was that model - lovely sound but I found the neck shape uncomfortable. But that’s a personal thing, hope it works for you. 

mazzoo

BigLicks67 said:

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.

I'm going to go and have a look at the Alvarez tomorrow. It sounded really nice to me online. I think the type of tone you like is going to be subjective, so I won't know until I try.
  I will look also at the Taylor GS mini (out of my price range new but I have seen them go for £350 second hand.) The shop also has the Fender pm2, Washburn and Ibanez parlor models. They have 1 travel size Sigma.
   So I could be there a while!

@brucegill ; Thanks for the suggestion, I'm not sure about OM size though, it would probably be for me like a dreadnought is to an average height player?

Andyjr1515

I was going to mention the GS mini, @mazzoo ;   Yes - new a bit out of your range but, for what you have described, I would have said ideal.  They sound superb and, in my view, are so nice to play.

An acoustic only one would be cheaper and you can always retrofit the specially designed clip in pickup later if you really need one.  They are not overly expensive.  But the mini recorded through a mic is absolutely fine.

Fuengi

The Gretsch Jim Dandy always gets a good review, I think I tried one one and they are good fun, but you'd probably need an upgrade within a year or two. 

Sigma are decent, quite heavily built if the one I had was anything to go by but not bad for the money. 

Chris_J

I have a Alverez AP 66 SHB as my couch/work/pub sesh guitar, it's really nice for the money. Plays and sounds great.

stimpsonslostson

A year or two ago I did a hunt for a new small bodied guitar under £500 (so they should all be in your price range second hand). 

I liked the Jim Dandy by Gretsch- it felt a bit "cheap" but played & sounded FAR better than anything else under £250. 

The clear winner for me was the Faith Naked Mercury- all solid construction & a simply wonderful wee guitar. I've compared it to more expensive instruments & always come back to the Faith. 

Blob

I've just bought a Sigma 000M-15+ which sounds good and is very comfortable to play. I did try a couple from Alvarez but didn't like the neck, Faith Mercury which didn't sound great to me and a couple of more pricey options, a PRS and Faith Naked Venus which were both lovely but too much for me.

I would suggest getting to a shop that has a number of options and giving them a try, it worked for me, as I was primarily looking at the Alvarez or the Mercury and hadn't really thought about the Sigma. 

drofluf

I finally decided to go for the Baby Taylor after “auditioning” a number of potentials so perhaps another one to consider. 

mazzoo

Well thanks , everyone but I went for the Alvarez AP66. I went to a shop and they had no Sigma to try or the Fender Pm2, I tried a few others including Gretsch Dandy)  and it was hard to decide between the Taylor Mini and the Alvarez. In the end I went for the Alvarez because the fretboard felt easier to play for me, it's wider than the Taylor mini.  Also the finish on the Taylor had a few problems and I love the darker look of the Alvarez.
   I did like them both and might have to 'collect' a Taylor in the future!

drofluf

Enjoy it!

Chris_J

Great, enjoy it mate, I love playing mine!

Jontommy

Enjoy pal