Guitar - What should i do .

dazzer22

I am looking to buy an acoustic guitar and over the years I have liked the Crafter and Washburn models,  although i regrettably don't have them anymore,  I had a Crafter D7/n  -  Washburn J12SN jumbo,   both guitars sounded great Washburn was slightly better setup if i remember but both guitars are not really available new maybe used i found thisCrafter D8N dreadnought acoustic guitar with hard case made in Korea | STARGOAT GUITARS  the bridge dose not have string pins, not sure about the price or what it would have been payed for it new . Well the other idea would just be to buy a new acoustic that are new and in the shops .

TheMadMick

The real problem is that all guitar are individuals and so are we.

The Crafter may not be the same as the dread you had but it may be a sound you like.

If the pics are any guide, the action seems quite low and hence the pinless bridge is probably not an issue. You can always get a bit more by shaving the saddle.

I'd say, that is likely to be worth the asking price if that's what you want and, if buying off the net, you have at least 14 days (more like 30 if I remember the regs right) from the day after you get it, to send it back.

On the other hand, it might be fun to go try some others in your price range.

Mellish

If it were me, I'd want to check it over and play before deciding whether to buy. Do you have that option with the guitar pictured?  

Winny_Pooh

I've bought electrics sight unseen but have never done so with an acoustic. They just vary way too much...

BillDL

On an electric guitar, especially one with a bolt-on neck, there are adjustments that can be made to a guitar that are impossible without major surgery on an acoustic.  One is the neck angle and the other is the limitation of how much the saddle height can be adjusted to create a good action.

It's quite a nice looking guitar but the photos of it are not large enough to allow much zooming in to see finer details.  the description says that it has a "faint blemish mark on the front".  I'm not sure what they are talking about, but what I do see is what seems to be a missing pearloid button inlay on the bridge (see this image).  It could just be a dark shadow, but it seems too dark for that.

Those bridges were first introduced (as far as I know) by Ovation guitars probably back in the early 70s.  Because the string is pulling at a pretty straight angle at the bridge from the back, rather than up against the inside of the guitar and then at an angle over the saddle like a conventional bridge, there is a lot more stress where the bridge is glued to the top at the back edge of the bridge.  Thin bolts are inserted there, with the nuts on the inside up against a reinforcing plate, to make this connection stronger. Occasionally the nuts can vibrate loose and the bridge can begin to pull off the body at the back.  Tey can usually be glued down and the nuts tightened again, however usually this entails picking out the pearloid buttons used to cover the bolt heads.  It is possible (if I am seeing it right) that the button has just fallen out.

One other thing I notice on the bridge is a small chip adjacent to the saddle slot on the bass side.  This is often indicative of a tight saddle having been pulled out, perhaps to shave a bit off the bottom and lower the action.  Nothing wrong with that.  People do it almost as a matter of course with acoustics and it is part of an acoustic guitar setup, but i always worry if an inexperienced, ham-fisted, person may have been messing with a guitar when I see small details like that.

By far the best photo you can ever see of an acoustic guitar you are considering buying online is one taken from the side looking across the top showing the bridge and the top either side.  I don't see such a photo on their page.  You need to get an idea how much of the saddle shows above the saddle slot and how steep or shallow the breakover angle is on the saddle.  You also need to see whether the top behind the bridge has "bellied up" by the string tension.  All acoustic guitars develop a bulge behind the bridge in time (even after about 5 years), and this is the reason that older guitars usually have to have the saddle lowerd by increments until there is hardly any breakover angle on what's left of the saddle height above the bridge and the neck needs to be reset.  If you have too small a breakover angle on the saddle, the strings can feel flappy and buzz at the saddle, especially on that kind of bridge.

I might well be tempted to take a risk on that guitar if I needed a nice looking lower priced dreadnought, but personally I would want to see photos of the saddle height and string breakover angle before committing.  I would also want a guarantee that the bridge wasn't lifting at the back or had any signs of having been reglued at any time.

dazzer22

BillDL said:

On an electric guitar, especially one with a bolt-on neck, there are adjustments that can be made to a guitar that are impossible without major surgery on an acoustic.  One is the neck angle and the other is the limitation of how much the saddle height can be adjusted to create a good action.

It's quite a nice looking guitar but the photos of it are not large enough to allow much zooming in to see finer details.  the description says that it has a "faint blemish mark on the front".  I'm not sure what they are talking about, but what I do see is what seems to be a missing pearloid button inlay on the bridge (see this image).  It could just be a dark shadow, but it seems too dark for that.

Those bridges were first introduced (as far as I know) by Ovation guitars probably back in the early 70s.  Because the string is pulling at a pretty straight angle at the bridge from the back, rather than up against the inside of the guitar and then at an angle over the saddle like a conventional bridge, there is a lot more stress where the bridge is glued to the top at the back edge of the bridge.  Thin bolts are inserted there, with the nuts on the inside up against a reinforcing plate, to make this connection stronger. Occasionally the nuts can vibrate loose and the bridge can begin to pull off the body at the back.  Tey can usually be glued down and the nuts tightened again, however usually this entails picking out the pearloid buttons used to cover the bolt heads.  It is possible (if I am seeing it right) that the button has just fallen out.

One other thing I notice on the bridge is a small chip adjacent to the saddle slot on the bass side.  This is often indicative of a tight saddle having been pulled out, perhaps to shave a bit off the bottom and lower the action.  Nothing wrong with that.  People do it almost as a matter of course with acoustics and it is part of an acoustic guitar setup, but i always worry if an inexperienced, ham-fisted, person may have been messing with a guitar when I see small details like that.

By far the best photo you can ever see of an acoustic guitar you are considering buying online is one taken from the side looking across the top showing the bridge and the top either side.  I don't see such a photo on their page.  You need to get an idea how much of the saddle shows above the saddle slot and how steep or shallow the breakover angle is on the saddle.  You also need to see whether the top behind the bridge has "bellied up" by the string tension.  All acoustic guitars develop a bulge behind the bridge in time (even after about 5 years), and this is the reason that older guitars usually have to have the saddle lowerd by increments until there is hardly any breakover angle on what's left of the saddle height above the bridge and the neck needs to be reset.  If you have too small a breakover angle on the saddle, the strings can feel flappy and buzz at the saddle, especially on that kind of bridge.

I might well be tempted to take a risk on that guitar if I needed a nice looking lower priced dreadnought, but personally I would want to see photos of the saddle height and string breakover angle before committing.  I would also want a guarantee that the bridge wasn't lifting at the back or had any signs of having been reglued at any time.

Yes i wasn't completely happy with the photos i  want more zoom in and  Its not possible for me to visit this shop for this guitar , I think i might hold off getting this guitar and keep my eye out on the  Reverb UK  or Ebay  for one that might turn up with better pictures . thanks for all the info about  guitar tech   as i probably wouldn't know half of what to look out  for when buying a used guitar . 

ICBM

What BillDL said. In particular, the pearloid button is definitely missing from the bridge, and if you look very carefully - difficult to see at this resolution, but I think you can - there are tiny gaps under the pointed corners of the bridge - look at the shadows. This means that the bridge is lifting at the back and that the top is almost certainly badly bellied as well, because that has to happen in order for there to be clearance at those places when the back of the bridge is bolted down again. This can happen if the guitar has been overstrung, or left somewhere slightly damp under full string tension.



The rest of the guitar looks OK, but given these photographs alone I would walk away from this one.

Tannin

With acoustics, play it before you buy it. Every time.

(Well, OK, very nearly every time. You can safely buy without playing first if it is a new guitar from a reliable manufacturer and it is a model you are familiar with. By "reliable manufacturer" I mean one with quality control so good that you can simply assume an unseen instrument will play and sound just like the others of this model you have played previously. That is fairly uncommon. Think of this as the "OK, we have never met but I dated her sister" rule.)

DavidR

Yamaha.

Good combination of quality and economy whilst learning about acoustics.

Also decide if you want small ('Parlour' sized. Melodic. Quiet), medium (OM), large (Dreadnought. More base, less mid range) or very large (Jumbo. Good for loud strumming). And the division into Spruce top/Rosewood back and sides or Spruce top/ Mahogany back and sides (a little more woody tone) or Mahogany top and back and sides (Even more woody) is useful.

Bit more complicated than that but it's fun finding out more - and FB threads, new and old, quite a good place to do it!

CavemanGrogg

It's very hard to  beat Yamaha when it comes to good acoustic guitars at all price points.

lustycourtier

If I was acoustic shopping in that price bracket, Id search out another Mid 90s MIJ Washburn D32. Sub £250 K.Yairi built, that if it have K Yairi on headstock, itd be four times the price.