My brother is looking to upgrade his guitar. He wants recommendations for an acoustic steel string that’s good for finger picking, and he wants to spend less than $1000.
I’m pretty useless in my opinion, in that I exclusively play electrics. I can drop the names Yamaha, Guild, and Martin, but beyond that I have no clue.
Ideas?
One or both of you should head over to the Acoustic Guitar Forum and do some thread searches.
There are a ton threads asking very similar questions.
If he is looking for fingerpicking, that typically points to a guitar smaller than a dreadnaught - e.g., a Martin 000 size or smaller. Many, many folks do fingerpick with dreads, though - so it really depend on his preferences.
There are a number of brands made in the U.S. that have guitars in that price point - even Martin. Many/most have solid tops, but economize on other features - but some I have played have sounded great. By the same token, there are some brands coming out of the Far East like Recording King (which revives an old brand name used in the 30’s as a Montgomery Wards brand), Silver Creek and a few others. I am not familiar with them first-hand, but if you read up on the AGF you will see a lot of reviews and questions and feedback.
Best of luck - come back if you have questions…
Tell him to buy a Recording King RD-310: http://www.recordingking.com/guitars_rd310.html
Adirondack Spruce top, mahogany body. Very nice for finger picking (I prefer the dreadnought body for a richer sound). $499.
Could also spring for the RD-316 if he has the means and desire. http://www.recordingking.com/guitars_rd316.html
Here’s a review of the 310 with lots of pictures:
I have never heard of Recording King before, but that seems like a nice choice. Thanks, I will pass that along.