Hi,
Ive played guitar for a long time but ive mostly been an electric guy. However, my real love it acoustic and I want to get into it more. Im tight for money, so I was wondering what peoples recommendations were for relativly, generically, good sounding guitars or brands. I know the quality of taylors but I havnt dabbled in much else. I might take a stab at an ebay sale, so I wanna know what should sound good without necessarily trying it. I want something durable and maybe even solid body or something. any help would be awesome. thanks!
In all honesty, nobody can tell this but you. You should just go into the local guitar store and noodle around on some acoustics and figure out what you think sounds nice. If you find a guitar you like, you could buy it on ebay. But it’s just not smart to buy a guitar online without playing it first.
I’d also recommend you buy it off of craigslist rather than ebay, so that you can get a chance to play the actual instrument (and see it to make sure its not falling apart) before you pay for it.
WoodenTaco is definitely right. One of the things I suggest is checking a local shop out for postings on a bulletin board as well, or anything like that. Check local papers as well. I have bought one guitar I didn’t play first, and it was a mistake - I hated it. Sold it two months later at a loss.
Pick whatever you feel most comfortable playing - don’t let a brand-name or anything lead you. I know a guy who plays generic brands, even though he owns an expensive Taylor, because they make him more comfortable. Sounds a lot better, too, because he is comfortable with it.
Brendon Small
I’m very happy with my Oscar Schmidt. I’ve had it for 12 years or so.
We just did something like this (and that’s not meant as a negative comment at all, I just remembered that it was relatively recent). Lemme see if I can find the thread…
Ah yes. Here. Now that thread focuses on finding a good, reasonably priced “beginner” guitar, but the recommendations and discussion are relevant for a cheaper acoustic.
I recently got a Lucero classical guitar at Guitar Center - it was priced at $200 but they let me have it at 50% off. It has all black finish, which looks really cool.
The Luceros were the cheapest of the cheap. Made in Indonesia. My first thought was “yuck, no way.” But then I played this one and loved it and gave it a home. The sound was much better than I expected.
This is not to say that you should take Lucero as the answer to your OP question, but just to illustrate the wisdom offered here that you don’t know if you’ll like it until you play it. It handles well too. I feel like I scored a bargain.
thanks for the suggestions. Im actually looking at the ovation celebrity deluxe right now. does anyone have any experience with that guitar? It is very reaasonably priced, very durable, and has great acoustic and electric sound supposedly. Im gonna try to get to guitar center to try it out.
Looking for informed opinions? IMHO. MOved.
samclem gQ moderator
My old ovation (which I received as a trade for my Les Paul, in addition to a trip to Mexico with some friends) was an Ovation Celebrity. It sounded nice, but I didn’t like it as much as my Ibanez Artwood. The biggest problem was that the back feels like a giant salad bowl. This is no big deal if you stand up and play, but sitting is a different story - well, sitting comfortably that is. I like to lean back slightly and let the guitar sit straight up and down (well, as much as possible) but the Ovation would just slide down my leg and lay flat if I didn’t make a conscious effort to hold it up.
It didn’t sound bad acoustic, but was a lot quieter than most I’ve owned. It sounded nice through my Line6 Spider II, but honest, with that amp I could plug in a $25 guitar from Walmart and it wouldn’t sound horrible.
I ended up trading it for a new pedal and $50 (ftr, the pedal was a rather nice one - for my line6.)
Definitely play the Ovation sitting down, standing up, and all that jazz before purchase…
Brendon Small
I just remembered I was playing a borrowed Seagull guitar in a show once and a musician walked up to me and said the Seagull acoustic guitar is considered almost equal in quality to a Martin, but cheaper. Has anyone tried it? If it was affordable and nearly as good as a Martin, that would be awesome. Vive le Canada.
Seagull guitars used to be marketed under the brand name ‘Lys’. Made by the same company owned by Robert Godin. They are excellent guitars and I owned one of their other models for many years. I also had the opportunity to travel to Canada in the early 80’s to visit their offices & warehouse to inspect several hundred guitars the company I was working for purchased. Robert Godin is a guitar whiz, both as a player and a maker, and I would highly recommend any instrument he was involved with.
‘As good as a Martin’? Well, that’s a subjective opinion 
I’m the one who opened that thread. I ended up buying a Takamine, this one. He loves it, and it’s sounds wonderful. It’s also very pretty, I think. So, that’s my not-so-well-informed opinion.
I JUST got this guitar today. It is a really excellent guitar [for me].
Hey, “not-so-well-informed”?! Who recommended Taks in that thread?
well, I just bought the OVATION Celebrity Deluxe. I should get it soon and Ill let you know how it is. From what ive seen/played this is an amazing sounding and looking guitar. plus I got it for $400 including a hard case!!
does anyone have any experience with ovations?
http://www.simonandpatrick.com/woodlandcedar.htm
You can this around $350 (you have to haggle).
Great? No. Good? Yes.
No guitar for $350 is going to sound like a high-end Martin or Taylor (or other high quality guitar).
I love it…the top scratches if you sneeze in the same room as it, but it’s still a good guitar. I totally prefer my Martin, but the S & P was my first (before I knew I would be serious about guitar).
I’ve always been fond of Sigma. They usually aren’t too expensive but can be hard to find in some places. You can get 'em fairly cheap on eBay.
As for Ovation…well, they aren’t my cup of tea. They’re good enough for Melissa Etheridge, though, so they can’t be too bad. I just don’t like the way the back piece feels when I hold it, sitting or standing.