Cheap, but decent sounding small body acoustic recommendations please...

bertie

mrs bert just got a "Maestro by Gibson"  000 from a charity shop for a tenner, in mint condition, she's going to use it to 're-learn' and much about on -  Once its restrung, it'll be alright........ certainly worth £50 or so

Ive certainly played £100 Fenders and the like that are much worse

octatonic

Recording tip- small body guitars often record better than big bodied acoustics because they have a tighter bottom end.

You capture just the frequencies you use, rather than the 80-140hz range that you mostly filter out anyway, esp in a rock band context where acoustic strumming becomes 'sort of like a percussion part'.

VimFuego

hey, won't let me post, says my previous post needs to be approved or some such rubbish

VimFuego

Fretwired said:

VimFuego said:

Misterg said:

Fretwired said:

This might be useful...

Thanks - very interesting. The trouble is that everything gets such glowing reviews! :-/

funny that, if you went by the reviews you'd never buy a bad guitar. Which is odd cos when you actually get to play some, you find some real holwers.

Do you really buy a guitar on the strength of a review? It might be a good guitar, but it may not be right for you. I just use reviews as a starting point.

me? of course not, but I have gone out with massively high expectations after reading some reviews. Expectations that have on more than a few occasions been dashed to the ground (I've since learnt that you should not dash the actual guitar to the ground, music shop staff dislike this, even if the guitar in question is a dog).

VimFuego

hmmm, double post

mellowsun

Vintage Paul Brett Parlour - 14 fret neck join, no cutaway but tbh you don't need one. Decent electronics too.

Misterg

Thanks for the suggestions - mission accomplished
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I made a second expedition Westwards to Music Makers, Colwyn Bay who had a decent selection to try:

A Tanglewood Discovery; A Vintage V880 (no cut away, but body joins at the 15th fret), a 'Richwood' and a Freshman Renegade.

I really wanted to like the Vintage - it looked ace and sounded surprisingly good, but it just reaffirmed my desire for a cut-away. I had high hopes for Tanglewood, but it proved a little underwhelming and the neck didn't feel right to me. The Richwood (can't remember which model) sounded good, and apeared to be all solid construction, but the neck was just a bit too fat/wide to be comfortable. The Freshman played beautifully and felt very comfortable. The sound wasn't quite as sweet as the Realwood, but was still very clear and even (?). It also felt a bit more bomb-proof. I alternated between the Richwood and the Freshman for about an hour, and  eventually came home with....

The Freshman (like this):

http://www.music47.co.uk/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/600x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/1/_/1_2_14.jpg

Then christened it by taking it camping for a few days

streethawk

Misterg said:

Thanks - I've been keeping an eye on evil-bay, but was probably being too specific in my searches (and in any case, I'd like to try before I buy)... but I nearly pressed the button on that Tangelwood TW130 @-)

I'll have to do the rounds of the LGS.

I have a tanglewood folk cutaway and it's fantastic for the money, save for one lifted fret I'm too lazy to sort out. 

In hindsight I would avoid any guitar with electrics because I never play live and they sound shit!

That's a snazzy looking geetaw you got there!

Misterg

streethawk said
That's a snazzy looking geetaw you got there!

Cheers!

Here's a real photo

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/werdnayarg/webstuf/DSC_2552.jpg

It's survived a camping trip and a weekend on a boat so far. I'm still liking it one month in:

streethawk

Oh very artistic. >:D<

 I once sprayed a crappy acoustic I had with a similar colour. No flame on that one though. It's a great look. 

Misterg

I suspect the 'flame' is photocopied & stuck on!

Wolftone

I went into Dawsons and picked up a brand of guitar called a Farida. It was shockingly good. Try one. It wuill certainly 'out tone' any of the Yams or Tanglewoods.

Misterg

AFAIK 'Farida' is Dawson's own brand...?

A friend at work bought one of their high end ones, and it is indeed very nice.

To be honest, I didn't find a bad guitar when I was looking - they were all eminently playable - it boiled down to personal preferences in the end.

Wolftone

Misterg said:

AFAIK 'Farida' is Dawson's own brand...?

A friend at work bought one of their high end ones, and it is indeed very nice.

To be honest, I didn't find a bad guitar when I was looking - they were all eminently playable - it boiled down to personal preferences in the end.

Yes, that's what they told me. The only slight area of negative comment was that the finish on the cheaper one wasn't as good as say the equivalent Tanglewood but playability was impressive without the tinniness of the cheaper TW's. I noticed that they do a model that retails at £1200! I tried the £699 electro and I could happliy own one. 

dampoldman

Hi - bit late to the party I know but I work for Dawsons and can clear this up...

Farida is not Dawsons' 'own' brand, rather we are the sole UK distributor of the range. We're looking at ways of helping Farida grow in the UK and would welcome any feedback from forumites!

We've got some decent endorsees - Vaccines, Bombay Bicycle Club, 2 Door Cinema Club - and we've just started working with London Grammar.

Has anyone played one/bought one? What do you think? 

blueskunk

Iv heard nowt but good tings about Fatidas acoustics. Nearly bought a lovely smaller bodied one on radar ages ago.

My current acoustic is a Alvarez and its well nice. Cheap too

DartmoorHedgehog

I've got a Tanglewood TW133ASM that cost me £150, ex-demo I think but it's pretty much new.  I've not played a posher small-bodied acoustic for comparison, but certainly for the price I paid I'm very happy with it.

Bogwhoppit

£39 and on par with a £120 Vintage

 

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbcg45.htm

 

John_P

Bogwhoppit said:

£39 and on par with a £120 Vintage

 

http://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbcg45.htm

 

That looks silly cheap - might grab one - thanks BW

woody

 for me the recording king ros16 is just about unbeatable and should just about come in top of your budget..its an absolute giant killer.. its an 000 size with a wider nut spacing to suit fingerpicking...ive owned acoustics at almost 10 times the price that I haven't knocked as much enjoyment out of..