Help on buying new acoustic guitar!

[samHDS]

Hi all,

Got to try out the different guitar brands i was recommended previously such as Cort, Takamine, Custom acoustic, Maestro, Taylor and more. Now there are a few guitar that caught my liking. My budget is about 400-800. Basically, its my first acoustic, and I want to invest in something better for the long run. played electric guitar previously. I'm looking for one that's value for money.

Decided to go for the dreadnought shape. However still thinking whether I need the pick ups for the guitar(playing for leisure, however i have a Cube30 lying at home, thinking whether getting one with pups will give me more versatility, ability to add chorus reverb etc) but is it worth that extra money or should I use that 100-200 dollars to invest in a better acoustic and leave the pick up to future use.

Songs I usually play are more pop, rock (boyce avenue cover songs, john mayer, coldplay). finger picking and strumming are kind of balanced, looking for one guitar that balanced overall.

And i have no idea which should i actually go for. Here are some that i have short listed
1) Maestro ED-1
2) Maestro ED-2
3) Takamine EG510SSC
4) Taylor Big Baby - love the neck of these, but unsure about the whole shape.

Any other recommendations? and i read up on previous threads, most people favoring the ED-2 over Takamine G series, does it stand the same for the EG510?

Would appreciate any help and suggestions! Feel free to input your comments and views on this!

Sam

 

[Santana]

Out of the 4 brands you mentioned, the order of quality from highest to lowest is this: Takamine, Cort, Custom Acoustic, Maestro.

 

[samHDS]

in terms of the overall brand? or just looking at the lower-end products of the brand?

 

[Santana]

Overall. Maestros' price to quality ratio is not good. Can get equal or better quality from Custom Acoustic, but at cheaper price. But if you want superior construction and quality, Takamine and Cort are the way to go.

 

[theunknown]

hey try out Crafter guitars. have a dreadnought DE-12/n. semi acoutic solid top. got it for <600. they're available at ranking and music theme.

 

[samHDS]

Hi, i tried the crafter as well, was using the DE-12 when i started out playing acoustic, borrowed from my friend. therefore looking for something different. didnt quite like the neck feel of the crafter. prefer a more slim, taylor type of neck.

I am leaning more towards the takamine eg510ssc now, however still skeptical about the nato back. anyone have any experience with takamine products? can to shed some light?

and how does our local brands actually compare with these huge brands?

 

[Phil]

Overall. Maestros' price to quality ratio is not good. Can get equal or better quality from Custom Acoustic, but at cheaper price. But if you want superior construction and quality, Takamine and Cort are the way to go.

Hmmm, not meaning to sound biased here.
But have you actually had an extensive try-out of all the various models of the various brands mentioned?

I find the blatant generalization rather hard to swallow. Quality itself is hard to define.
Custom Acoustic has full-solid guitars for really good prices, in that sense, quality is great.
But what about their sound quality? We have to remember that we are buying a guitar, not fine furniture.
Full-solid or not means nothing if the guitar doesn't project or sound good.
Then again, how a guitar sounds is highly subjective again -
I may like the crispness of maple, you might prefer the fuller bass response of rosewood.
Our determination of 'good' differs again.

With so many variable, surely we cannot simply generalize our advice for something who's new to this, can we?

SamHS,
All the brand that you've mentioned are viable options.
All that you mentioned are credible companies, that much is assured.
What you choose largely depends on your preferences.

My honest advise is to go try all the models out again, sit down with it for a while and play it.
See how it feels, how it handles, how it sounds to you.
Brand itself is a good guideline, but is never a definite indication.
I've tried cheap china-made guitars that sound superb, defying all conventional belief that cheap plywood and ugly paintwork equates to bad sounding guitars.

Paper and specifications can only tell you so much about the guitar.
Hope this helps!

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

-Full-solid or not means nothing if the guitar doesn't project or sound good.
-I've tried cheap china-made guitars that sound superb, defying all conventional belief that cheap plywood and ugly paintwork equates to bad sounding guitars.

I second those 2 points. Looks can be deceiving. Price can be deceiving. Specs can be deceiving. And i've tried so many times, the same models of the same brands one after another, and they felt/sounded different. The only thing you can really tell if the guitar is good is to sit down and just try all of them. If you can't tell, then try to bring along a friend you trust who can! =D