Acoustic for an electric player

olafgarten

Hi,

I have a friend who was previously a devout metal head, but something has changed recently and he wants to start learning acoustic. 

His birthday is coming up and me and a group of friends thought we might all chip in and get him a nice guitar. 

There are a few of us involved so we could probably go to around £700 with the ability to stretch a bit for a good guitar.

It would have to be new as it's a gift. 

In terms of requirements I'd say playability and low action would be at the top of the list, he plays 9s on a Les Paul and has quite a light touch so something easy to play would be good.

In terms of size I think a OOO/OMish size would be ideal, maybe even concert size.

A pickup would also be nice although not necessary as he won't be using it live. 

I was thinking maybe a PRS or a Taylor for playability but let me know if there is anything else out there. 

drofluf

The tone of an acoustic is a very personal choice. Taylor, for example, make great guitars but the sound has left me cold. Any idea what his preferences are? You’ve got a good range at that price point: a quick search on PMT using the price filter (£600-800) throws up Yamaha, Faith, Ibanez, Martin as well. 

sev112

Can I be your friend too
great friends you guys have 

prowla

Ovation are pretty good, bar the issue of them sliding off your knee.

I've got a couple of Applause ones and they're great for sub-£100 (used) instruments.

earwighoney

olafgarten said:

Hi,

I have a friend who was previously a devout metal head, but something has changed recently and he wants to start learning acoustic. 

His birthday is coming up and me and a group of friends thought we might all chip in and get him a nice guitar. 

There are a few of us involved so we could probably go to around £700 with the ability to stretch a bit for a good guitar.

It would have to be new as it's a gift. 

In terms of requirements I'd say playability and low action would be at the top of the list, he plays 9s on a Les Paul and has quite a light touch so something easy to play would be good.

In terms of size I think a OOO/OMish size would be ideal, maybe even concert size.

A pickup would also be nice although not necessary as he won't be using it live. 

I was thinking maybe a PRS or a Taylor for playability but let me know if there is anything else out there. 

Is there any chance you can take him to a guitar shop and whilst he's there get him to try as many guitars as possible to find out which body shape suits him the most?

Even though you've mentioned something around the OM size, IMO it could be best to find which type sits with him the most comfortably and there's the issue of different guitars having different sounds, if I recommend something by sound it'd be for my ears not his, also the ergonomics (waist of the guitar, neck profile, nut width etc) will be very personal to him as well.

In terms of playability, whatever guitar you'd get I'd recommend factoring in a set up to have the action reduced as low as possible for his playing style and his strings of choice, and maybe even a hard case if it's not included.

However my personal recommendation would be for a Eastman E1OM/E2OM-CD, or the Faiths, and the new Yamaha short scale mini folk style instruments eg

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/yamaha-csf3m-travel-electro-acoustic-tobacco-brown-sunburst/915194

munckee

I like the Martin dreadnought jr in that price range. 

earwighoney

munckee said:

I like the Martin dreadnought jr in that price range. 

Good call, forgot about that one.  Short scale too.

They have a new 000-Jr as well,

The neck profiles are supposed to be very close to an electric from what I recall, I think the depths are 18mm at the 1st fret? It has the same profile neck as the 00-17S

Fuengi

+1 for Ovation, really good necks for an electric player.

Counter intuitively the deeper bodies are easier to hold and stay on the knee better than the slim ones. 

zepp76

I’m going to recommend Tanglewood acoustics, mine (x15 ns) is a great guitar, dreadnought in size with solid spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides. Grover tuners, Bone nut and saddle and comes in at just under your budget. They are seriously underrated guitars. Don’t overlook them. I tried all different makes and models including Martin’s before settling for the Tanglewood, I believe I made the right choice.

p90fool

Try a Faith Venus, they're very familiar feeling for an electric player. 

BRISTOL86

Definitely look at a Taylor Academy 12. Change out of £500 and very playable, grand concert body shape with an armrest bevel. 

Nikc

I'm an electric guitarist who plays a Yamaha APX - action is nice and low the neck is great the body is comfortable - I get a great sound out of it direct into a decent PA and they're not expensive at all - just good guitars. 

ESBlonde

Another shout for Ovation being 'Leccy' player friendly as are many Taylors and Yamaha gacoustics guitars. In practice the guy needs to select the guitar under your budget and reserve something for a decent action setup if not included in the purchase price.

CarpeDiem

I understand that Auden guitars are designed with electric players in mind, and ones I've tried were very comfortable to play. As others have already suggested, Faith and Taylor are worth considering too.

olafgarten

Thanks for all the advice everyone. 

I actually won't be able to take him to a guitar store as he is working abroad for the next few months. The gift is also meant to be a surprise but I'll try to work out what he likes.

Worst case if he doesn't like it we can swap it out for something else. 

I'll have to do some research regarding the suggestions and will update you when we gift it to him! 

Snags

+1 for Faith and Yamaha. Every one of either I've played has been very easy to play, particularly for someone who's used to an LP style neck.

At the price point I'd probably prefer Faith, and maybe look at Eastman.

icu81b4

I think Takemine is also a good choice, and you don't have to break the bank to get a good sounding one, ... whichever you do get I'd advise taking it for a decent setup as many acoustics have the string action set too high. 

boogieman

icu81b4 said:

I think Takemine is also a good choice, and you don't have to break the bank to get a good sounding one, ... whichever you do get I'd advise taking it for a decent setup as many acoustics have the string action set too high. 

Thing is, there’s so many different models of Tak’s that I don’t think you can generalise. My one for instance has a wide deep-ish neck that feels nothing like any of my electrics. 

I was going to say Ovation too. Personally I don’t like the sound of them, especially the lyrachord ones, but they do have great necks and usually feel familiar straight away to someone who’s used to electrics. A guy I knew had a custom shop model (? high end one for sure) with a v shaped neck. Most comfortable feeling guitar I’ve ever played. 

Jalfrezi

Probably a daft suggestion, but I'm primarily an electric guy, looking at a Yamaha SLG200 (Silent Guitar), that I can use with my THR10 if I need more volume.  Like I said, probably daft, but I reckon that's what would work for me.

ICBM

boogieman said:

I was going to say Ovation too. Personally I don’t like the sound of them, especially the lyrachord ones, but they do have great necks and usually feel familiar straight away to someone who’s used to electrics. A guy I knew had a custom shop model (? high end one for sure) with a v shaped neck. Most comfortable feeling guitar I’ve ever played. 

I find the exact opposite - they feel weird both sitting down and standing up, usually have odd neck profiles that don't feel like an electric at all save for having a low action, and are just odd and awkward. Some of my least favourite of all acoustics, and I used to be primarily an electric player.

My first choice would be a Taylor or Yamaha. Most of their models have fairly slim necks, low actions and don't need heavy strings to sound good, unlike things like Martins.