Recommend acoustic

Oldguy

Hi, new member, first post. 

I currently own and play several electrics, Strats, Tele, semi etc but wish to branch out to try an acoustic. I have tried jumbos, but I am not comfortable playing them, bodies far too thick for my arm to get around.. can anyone from experience recommend a mid priced, slimline electro acoustic. I would e very grateful for any pointers as to which would be suitable. 

drofluf

What’s your budget?

Regarding the size does it have to be slimline? My view is that will give you a thinner tone. I can’t play larger bodies guitars but am comfortable with 00/000/parlour sized. Just a thought? 

Spikeedog

With an acoustic guitar you should persist and find a comfortable sitting position. I find a medium height stool with a wee bit of back support combined with a footstand with the guitar waist on my right
 knee is perfect for gigs. Always stand up with a guitar strap when playing electric though. If you want real tone, I think you'll have to get a full bodied acoustic guitar. The Taylor mini GS have plenty mid range tone are are quite easy to handle maybe as a starting point but doesn't really rival a bigger body imho. Good luck and let us know how it transpires.

Mellish

@Oldguy what they said ^^^ welcome to the forum

Tannin

@drofluf is on the case. Finding a jumbo too big for comfort is like finding an articulated lorry awkward to park - of all guitars made, jumbos are the biggest, followed by dreadnoughts. What you want is one of the small to mid-sized bodies: these have more names than a wallaby has fleas, but some of them are 0, 00, 000, 808, OM, concert, auditorium, grand auditorium, and traditional. These are all roughly jumbo shaped (two distinct, rounded bouts, similar to a classical guitar, or a Les Paul for that matter) but smaller and all fit easily under the arm. Some are a bit deeper, some are shallower, some are a little bigger,. some a little smaller. All are very playable. Bear it in mind that the volume of the body is a very significant factor in the sound production. All else being equal, a shallower body will have a weaker sound. Slimline acoustics are designed for amplified use on-stage. Used as actual acoustics, they don't sound fantastic. That is just physics - you can't make a violin sound like a cello.

Spikeedog

Agree with @Tannin ;; My own wallaby is flea free btw.

WBT2079

Agree with what others have said above. I had a dreadnought and a super folk. I began to find my dreadnought uncomfortable to play being too big in the lower bout, but still wanted something that projected well so I have moved to concert size and now have a Yamaha AC3R. It’s a lovely guitar, loud and comfortable to play. Slightly smaller than my dreadnought but not too small that you feel hunched over it. I would go to your local shop and try some out until you find the size/shape/style you like, then investigate options online where you can easily compare size specs. Then when you’ve a couple of options if you can, find somewhere to try them.

bertie

define "mid price"  and then we're on a starter 

TheMadMick

Yamaha make decent models at most price points and they are all good value for money in my experience.

Mellish

Someone has already mentioned the Taylor GS Mini. It's a decent little guitar for the money. I tried one in PMT Manchester which I'd have bought if Mrs Mellish hadn't put her foot down

Cirrus

They've got a lot more expensive in the last few years though. When I got my GS Mini Mahogany in 2013 it was £329, and I thought that was a great price for a well put together little travel guitar. Now they're £550, I don't know if I feel the same way.

Switch625

Yamaha APX series? An APX 700 Can be had for around £300 second hand.

Mellish

@Cirrus I hear you. The one I tried was the Mahogany, too. But such a sweet-sounding little fella that, even at today's price, I'd still find it hard to say no. In fact, I sneaked back next day. Gone

bertie

Oldguy

Hi guys. Thanks for the welcome to the forum and for all the information and advice. Although I have been playing for a good few years now, all my experience is on electrics and have become somewhat stuck in a rut. So I am now researching online all the types, sizes, manufacturers you mentioned and will hopefully arrive at a preferred option. I will follow your advice and try out a size before purchase. Thanks again for all the input. 

fatherchewielewie

Buy an Eastman E1D...... a modernish sounding all-solid dread with a traditionalish kind of a neck profile,1 3/4" nut, and fantastic build quality. Just got one recently.... huge amount of guitar for very little money. I've played/owned/own enough US-built boxes and I'd be happy to play that E1D in the company of any of them. An even better bargain used.

shufflebeat

I definitely, for a variety of reasons, don't need one of these and didn't go looking to buy any guitar but very nearly bought one. For someone coming from electric-land I would strongly suggest you find one and try it:

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/14100712040932--takamine-ef407-koa-new-yorker

bertie

Id only really be looking at a "thin"  A/E  if you're looking to use it live.  If you want to just "get into"  playing acoustic more,  get a "normal"  depth body,  and TBH leave out the electronics  - you'll get much better bang for buck and better tone/fullness of sound

ICBM

bertie said:

Id only really be looking at a "thin"  A/E  if you're looking to use it live.  If you want to just "get into"  playing acoustic more,  get a "normal"  depth body,  and TBH leave out the electronics  - you'll get much better bang for buck and better tone/fullness of sound

This - unless you actually *need* an electro-acoustic (for playing live, or because using it with effects is your main objective) then don't get one - you'll spend more money than you need on a less good guitar than you can get if you buy a plain acoustic. The electronics package does compromise the tone to some extent as well.

Even if you want to record with it, you'll get better results with a mic or a simple pickup and an impulse response/modelling-type system than with a typical electro.

They also have reliability problems and the system will be obsolete before a decent guitar has even aged nicely, and usually very difficult to replace with something different without major work to the guitar because they are very rarely designed to be backwards-compatible.

If you wonder how obsolete a pickup and preamp system can be in twenty years, listen to the sound of a 90s Takamine .

bertie

ICBM said:

bertie said:

Id only really be looking at a "thin"  A/E  if you're looking to use it live.  If you want to just "get into"  playing acoustic more,  get a "normal"  depth body,  and TBH leave out the electronics  - you'll get much better bang for buck and better tone/fullness of sound

This - unless you actually *need* an electro-acoustic (for playing live, or because using it with effects is your main objective) then don't get one - you'll spend more money than you need on a less good guitar than you can get if you buy a plain acoustic. The electronics package does compromise the tone to some extent as well.

Even if you want to record with it, you'll get better results with a mic or a simple pickup and an impulse response/modelling-type system than with a typical electro.

They also have reliability problems and the system will be obsolete before a decent guitar has even aged nicely, and usually very difficult to replace with something different without major work to the guitar because they are very rarely designed to be backwards-compatible.

If you wonder how obsolete a pickup and preamp system can be in twenty years, listen to the sound of a 90s Takamine .

that

drpbier

So what's a good pure acoustic OM for 500-750?