Advice needed for a new guitar

[slackerboon]

Hi all

I'm just a beginner player and have been playing an old classical guitar. Thinking of getting a new acoustic guitar now and my budget's about 300-400. Any recommendations on any specific brands/models that I should be getting? I went around several shops in bras basah complex and peninsular/excelsior and there were 2 that I was interested in. One's a Maestro ED-1 that is made of a solid spruce top and mahogany sides and back. Costs $499, a tad higher than my budget. I liked the sound and feel of it pretty much. The 2nd's a Crafter (not sure of the model) but it's made of a solid Cedar top and I cant recall whether it was mahogany or rosewood sides and back. Costs $360. I'm not really sure about the comfort when playing. It's my first time getting a new guitar and I really have got no idea what to look out for, nor do I understand the guitar lingo (e.g resonance, sustain, action.. etc.) and is rosewood better than mahogany/cedar better than spruce? Hence needing a lot of help here. I'm open to options Thanks in advance!

P/S: Any idea what tunes to play when testing out an acoustic guitar? Complete idiot when checking the guitars out, could only manage strumming a few chords. The salespeople at the shops were all playing the same tune though. Kind of curious bout this...

 

[Jumpin'Jellybean]

I have a ED-1, it's a pretty good guitar and the top has aged very nicely..
I would recommend that, great beginner-intermediate acoustic.
Resonance refers to the 'loudness' of the guitar.
Action refers to the height of the string from the neck/body.
Just google them and you will find all you need to know.........
There is no 'better' wood per se, they all sound different so let your ears rather than eyes make the decision.
Play whatever you normally play, it's gonna be the guitar you practice/even gig with, so play what you want, who cares what others play.

 

[Vax]

I annoy shop keepers when I test guitars, cause I don't play tunes (at least, I reserve tunes for later). I check for every note on every fret, to see if there are fret buzzes or dead spots. I'll then pick an open chord and strum with increasing intensity, from a light drone to the hardest possible to examine the guitar's projection and clarity. Some acoustics will "distort" when strummed too hard (sorry, for lack of a better term).

 

[fgl]

Great Post Vax