Buying advice needed for acoustic noob

chris_john

Long time electric-only player here, now tentatively looking into the acoustic world. I really don’t know much about different brands, tonewoods etc, so any advice would be appreciated.
My budget would be around £1500, and if possible, fitting these requirements:

1. Low action. I know acoustics need higher action than electrics, but I have a fairly light touch and I’m used to playing quite low.
2. Not too wide at the nut.
3. OM size body, or similar.
4. Good for strumming and some fingerpicking.
5. Not made in China. Just for ethical reasons.
6. Maybe a pickup if it’s not a piezo, but that’s not crucial to me, as I’ll be playing mostly at home.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

bertie

Furch

sev112

Or Dowina from same geographical region as Furch.  Great prices at the moment.  They will both no doubt be going up in price.  

Murray_B

Some good suggestions re brands here - I would recommend keeping some of your budget back for a set up by a skilled luthier who should be able to get a great low playing action on any guitar in the £1000 + range. Although having said this there is a point where an acoustic guitar's action can be too low for it's own good - it kind of stifles them a bit. 

Tannin

Hi @chris-john Do not pay any attention to action in the shop (within reason). ANY new acoustic guitar needs to be set up, and it is normal for them to come ex-factory playable but rather too high. This is not a mistake or sloppiness, the manufacturers know that it is trivially easy to lower an acoustic guitar's action, but quite difficult (and more expensive) to raise it, so they ship a little bit on the high side just in case.

In your price range, you should be good for the following not-made-in-China brands:

* Cole Clark (Australia) 
* Dowina (Slovakia)
* Furch (Czech Republic)
* Kremona (Bulgaria)
* Maton (Australia)
* Seagull (Canada)

American guitars are of similar quality to those listed above but grossly overpriced. No-one in the UK makes guitars on any sort of scale other than Lowden, and they cost more than many of the overpriced American ones.  The two Australian makes and the Canadian one have excellent ethics re timber sourcing. I'm told Furch are good too. I know less about the other two, but they couldn't possibly be as bad as China or Indonesia and are probably far better. 

Second-hand is a great way to go, but takes some shopping around.  A really good trick is to buy something second-hand that has a low resale value in the UK (Larivee, Maton, Guild, Lakewood, etc.) for perhaps 60% of new price, as opposed to the ~90% of new you will pay for Martin or Gibson. Factor in the reality that, even brand new, those four makes just mentioned (and many others too) offer a significantly better guitar for the same money as the likes of Martin, and you are streets in front.

chris_john

That’s some good advice so far. Pretty useful to have specific brands I can look into, so many thanks. Unless I find an amazing deal on a famous American model, I’ll definitely look into the smaller companies. 

drofluf

Some great advice, you may also want to consider Faith. But the best advice is to go and play as many as you can and see what speaks to you. 

Smellyfingers

If I was you I would make an appointment with a big high end guitar shop like peach guitars or Andertons and try out as many as possible. You are unlikely to bag a bargain.. but

There is no way that a written review can tell you what you personally are going to like sonically.

Mellish

I'd echo the advice to try as many as you can. Don't get too hung up on brand. I'd urge you to go for tone and feel, not what it says on the headstock. Action can be adjusted but you still want to see plenty of saddle.

And take a guitarist friend with you if you can, so that you can listen up front as they play.

 

ICBM

Although the smaller companies may make more *interesting* guitars, with those criteria the benchmark is probably Taylor. They are not the most distinctive-sounding but I've yet to play a bad one, ever. The 12-series body is roughly OM-size, not sure if that's still a current model range but you're probably looking for a second hand one at that budget anyway.

bertie

ICBM said:

Although the smaller companies may make more *interesting* guitars, with those criteria the benchmark is probably Taylor. They are not the most distinctive-sounding but I've yet to play a bad one, ever. The 12-series body is roughly OM-size, not sure if that's still a current model range but you're probably looking for a second hand one at that budget anyway.

12 is more 000    -  having owned a 612 and a 614  - the 14 is closer to OM

ICBM

bertie said:

12 is more 000    -  having owned a 612 and a 614  - the 14 is closer to OM

000 and OM are the same size .

I owned a 312 - I'd agree it was slightly smaller than my Martin OM-21. The 14 is noticeably bigger.

bertie

oh alright 00 then    -   but the 14 is (was)  as I remember closer to the OM  -  the 12 was certainly much more "boxy" and smaller sounding  - which is why I only kept it for two weeks   - 

CoolCat

Another good brand which you might want to consider and falls within your budget is Tanglewood. 

Winny_Pooh

Om size tend to have wide nuts. So check spec carefully if buying online.

bertie

Winny_Pooh said:

Om size tend to have wide nuts. So check spec carefully if buying online.

big generalisation that 

my Furch is 43   Atkins are 43.................which according to Tanin  - is "narrow"  as 44 is "normal"  

sev112

So at that price point the key is whether you want to pay for (a) a name, (b) import costs from halfway round the world (US or Far East), and (c) whether you want laminate sides and back or solid wood.

 Laminate gets a really bad name from some, but in sides and backs it makes only a little difference to tone.  Some people think it is a cheap aspect, but for example Driftwood who charge $10k to $20k for a handmade guitar use Laminate.  Of course there is laminate and there is laminate.

The Taylor call is a good one.  But below £1000 used price you are looking at laminate, ie their Mexican 100/200/10/12 series’s.   But they are very good, they sound fab.  I have a friend who finally bought a solid Martin as his life dream.  We gigged together with my Laminate Taylor and he thought the sound of mine was fantastic.

so tone is very important but perhaps not so much the laminate / solid consideration.

so do you want to pay for flights from US/ Mexico/ Far East or prefer to pay for the guitar quality instead for the same price, which brings Uk and Europe into the equation.  And there are some fabulous choices there; but if you do choose local then do you want factory production or hand made, the latter giving you an experienced instrument maker’s selection of top wood and maybe even “tap tuning” if that’s your thing, but certainly hand carving of top bracing etc.

Then lastly, which I think seems to be a massive factor, do you want a name which is recognised or does it matter to you what’s on the headstock.

Tannin

chris_john said:

5. Not made in China. Just for ethical reasons.

CoolCat said:

Another good brand which you might want to consider and falls within your budget is Tanglewood. 

Tanglewood guitars are made in China 

drofluf said:

Some great advice, you may also want to consider Faith.

Faith guitars are made in Indonesia, which amounts to the same thing.

Tannin

Generally speaking, laminates in high quality guitars are used for the sides (which play little role in sound production) rather than the backs (which play a big role). 99% of the time, solid backs simply sound better.

Taylor's "cheap" laminated models (1xx and 2xxx) are always very playable and amazingly good for what they are, but are very expensive for a laminated guitar and don't stand up to comparison  with all-solid guitars from good makers. You could do worse, but then you could do better.

International shipping costs very little in the scheme of things. On a commercial scale, it is about $100 USD from anywhere that has reasonably direct flights to anywhere. Guitar importers, however, very often stick a huge mark-up on their products and pretend that it's down to freight.  

RickLucas

The Martin 0015M for sale here should tick your boxes.

chris_john

RickLucas said:

The Martin 0015M for sale here should tick your boxes.

Unfortunately I’m in South Korea. Most of the big names are available, but at huge markups. Maybe it’s worth it to ship from overseas and pay the 20% duty.