Need help in choosing acoustic guitar

[MyStICal]

Hi guys , i kinda need help over choosing a acoustic guitar.

Picking up playing guitar as a hobby again, my previous attempt was kind of turn-off because of the lousy guitar that, in combination with my lousy skills, churned out very ugly notes.

Really love playing the guitar, however my previous guitar was a cheap one bought off from ebay, i had problems playing notes that require me to press down on the whole fret(my fingers isn't exactly very long), therefore i was wondering whether if i invested in a good guitar this will still be a problem.

My budget is about $300 and currently i'm looking at the custom guitar FG27E and another maestro guitar (dunno what the model is, the guy told me it was limited production for that particular model).

Which one is actually a better choice? And what the difference between a full solid acoustic and one that isn't? Does maestro have any full solid acoustic guitar?

Want to start off on the right foot this time round by investing in a good guitar.

Thanks in advance for all the inputs!!

 

[MyStICal]

Anyone? =)

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Custom Acoustic and Maestro are recommended brands, so it's down to which one you try and personally prefer.

Solid woods tend to sound better, and the tone improves with age over time. Downside is that they need more maintenance and care because solid wood is more vulnerable to growing soft and warping due to moisture.

Laminate woods don't sound as good, are cheaper, and tone doesn't improve over time, but are nearly resistant to humidity and require very little maintenance.

Of course, just because it's laminate doesn't mean it sounds bad. There are good sounding laminate guitars too. I personally prefer laminates because they're stronger and more durable. I'm not that particular about tone either, so yeah.

Hope this helps.

 

[MyStICal]

Custom Acoustic and Maestro are recommended brands, so it's down to which one you try and personally prefer.

Solid woods tend to sound better, and the tone improves with age over time. Downside is that they need more maintenance and care because solid wood is more vulnerable to growing soft and warping due to moisture.

Laminate woods don't sound as good, are cheaper, and tone doesn't improve over time, but are nearly resistant to humidity and require very little maintenance.

Of course, just because it's laminate doesn't mean it sounds bad. There are good sounding laminate guitars too. I personally prefer laminates because they're stronger and more durable. I'm not that particular about tone either, so yeah.

Hope this helps.

Is it very hard to care for full solid guitar?

Anyway, thanks for your advice!

I'll be going down to test the custom guitar.

=)

 

[EugeneSmasher]

If I'm not wrong you have to have the guitar dehumidified every now and then... To keep the guitar dry. Tossing in silica gel packs also helps, and it'll also help to keep the guitar in its case when you're not playing it. I'm not too familiar with full-solids though, so perhaps someone with experience could enlighten.

 

[Tomo]

Hi guys , i kinda need help over choosing a acoustic guitar.

Picking up playing guitar as a hobby again, my previous attempt was kind of turn-off because of the lousy guitar that, in combination with my lousy skills, churned out very ugly notes.

Really love playing the guitar, however my previous guitar was a cheap one bought off from ebay, i had problems playing notes that require me to press down on the whole fret(my fingers isn't exactly very long), therefore i was wondering whether if i invested in a good guitar this will still be a problem.

My budget is about $300 and currently i'm looking at the custom guitar FG27E and another maestro guitar (dunno what the model is, the guy told me it was limited production for that particular model).

Which one is actually a better choice? And what the difference between a full solid acoustic and one that isn't? Does maestro have any full solid acoustic guitar?

Want to start off on the right foot this time round by investing in a good guitar.

Thanks in advance for all the inputs!!

There is a guy at www.guitar4christ.com who is selling his brand new Ibanez AW series acoustic guitar, solid top, laminated sides, for $400+.
Ibanez AW is a good guitar, you can try to bargain with him.
As for the upkeep of solid wood guitar, just use silica gel and keep it in its case when you are not playing it.
Go to the buy/sell section for acoustic guitar in the web site above.

 

[Valentinoz]

to bar chord the whole fret, simply try to place your whole finger close to the fret bar. this way, you needn't much strength to press the strings down as compared to barring the frets in the middle of the fret. maestro's my reccomendation for your budget, its local dude. however, do try each and every model out and eventually, evaluate which one suites you best.

 

[LadyInTears]

Swing SM100, plays like a dream, pwns every other guitar in its price range, im serious. dont bother with the rest... and i never was a fan of maestro's low end range anyway..

 

[MyStICal]

Is $200+ considered low end for maestro?

I don't really need a performance grade guitar, but at least something that produces good tunes and lasts till my skills are honed, by then i might change to another better guitar.

I'm leaning towards the choice of maesrtro, but i just wanna be sure that their $200-$300 price range of guitar is worth buying.

Thanks all for the helpful advice so far!

 

[LadyInTears]

Is $200+ considered low end for maestro?

I don't really need a performance grade guitar, but at least something that produces good tunes and lasts till my skills are honed, by then i might change to another better guitar.

I'm leaning towards the choice of maesrtro, but i just wanna be sure that their $200-$300 price range of guitar is worth buying.

Thanks all for the helpful advice so far!

come SV at penin, you can A-B the swing and maestro, you wont be disappointed.

 

[Dime]

Swing SM100, plays like a dream, pwns every other guitar in its price range, im serious. dont bother with the rest... and i never was a fan of maestro's low end range anyway..

Have to agree.for low end price range.the swings are the best but the body can sometimes a bit cheap for some models.

For best priced acoustic with expensive feel.Go for Epiphone masterbilt series.

 

[Jumpin'Jellybean]

Why not try those starter packs at Davis? With picks, learning videos and whatnot. I'd recommend the Fina, and, for Maestro, you should be getting a midrange one. Ultimately it comes down to what tones you like. I'd recommend you go with Fina or Takamine if you're getting a 300+ dollar guitar.

 

[cwaih]

recommend maestro...
just bought one...
love the clarity and resonance...

 

[Stan_Kumar]

come SV at penin, you can A-B the swing and maestro, you wont be disappointed.

+1

I know I wasn't! :-D:-D:-D:-D:-D

 

[theGroovyMusic]

Maestro's standard series are in the $200-$300 range are laminated ones, topping a few lil bit more, you can get a full solid or at least a solid top (J&D,Cort,Swing,CA). Maestros mid range, for eg the ED-2, retails at around $550, and their full solids range are way above your budget~. But you gotta choose one then you find suits you the best in terms of playability and your usage wise~

 

[manabopo]

IMHO I feel that go for the custom acoustics. Because from what I know. My friends. Friends not one friend. Who owns maestros always have a problem with the heel of the guitar. The paint work and wood always come apart.

For a recommandation. Go for Fina guitars at Davies. Ask for the model 3150. It's ard 250. And it's solid top. The fg27 is good too. Ultimately it's the feel of the guitar and the sound that will appeal to u. And each to his own. All of us perceive sound and feel differently. Just feel comfortable.

 

[loldude333]

I shall attempt to explain the difference between solid top, full laminate and full solid acoustic guitars. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

Firstly, laminate and solid refers to the way the wood is 'built' (can't find a better term). Laminate bsacially means that the piece of wood is composed of many layers of wood, glued together to give the entire top/side/back. A solid piece is one that has been cut directly i.e it contains no layers. What implications does this have on tone and maintenance?

For tone, the glue in the laminate top/back/side generally means that the resonance and clarity of the wood will be less than that of a solid. There's sound/wave physics involved but i will not attempt to explain it, firstly because its largely technical and secondly because i am a bio student.

Maintenance-wise, because of the fact that the solid is a single piece of wood, when compared to a laminate piece of similar thickness, there is more wood in the solid piece. Hence, humidity affects a solid piece more because it has a higher propensity to absorb water and therefore cause the wood to expand. The net result is that the solid piece absorbs more water, expands more, and therefore warps more.

The acoustic guitar has 3 main pieces of wood that makes up the body: back, top and sides. A solid top guitar has a solid top and laminate back and sides. A full solid has solid top, back and sides. A laminate guitar has laminate top, back and sides. I haven't seen a guitar with 2 out of the 3 pieces solid before, but those could very well exist. Please note that these classifications are simply generalisations and not meant to be final or rule of thumb. Hope you found this useful!

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Some Cort guitars have solid top and back, with laminate sides, as do plenty of Boulder Creek's models. But yeah, having 2/3 pieces solid is still quite rare. From what I've read, the top is the most important, followed by the back and finally the sides, in producing good tone.

Personally, a good balance for me would be a solid top with laminate back and sides. Tone does improve over time, it does have better resonance, but it is also more hardy than a full-solid or a solid top and back guitar.

Decent sounding all-laminate guitars are easy to find because of advancement in technology nowadays, but it's difficult to find those that sound good. *So far, only two companies I've come across can make all-laminates that sound good, and these two are Maestro and Yamaha. Other companies can't seem to do it as well. But we're quite limited with the brands we have here so perhaps there're other choices available in other countries.

*Note that this is my opinion and from my experience. I can't claim to have tried all brands and all guitars, so don't take this as a rule or fact as yet. Keep trying different guitars, don't rule any brands out until you've tried them.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Maestro's standard series are in the $200-$300 range are laminated ones, topping a few lil bit more, you can get a full solid or at least a solid top (J&D,Cort,Swing,CA). Maestros mid range, for eg the ED-2, retails at around $550, and their full solids range are way above your budget~. But you gotta choose one then you find suits you the best in terms of playability and your usage wise~

Agreed, Maestro's all-laminates are actually quite pricey in my opinion, even if they do sound good at least to my ears. Personally I consider J&D and Custom Acoustic the most value-for-money brands we have here in Singapore.

 

[loldude333]

Hmmm i'd agree with u if the J&Ds and CAs you are talking abt are the lower end ones. The ones above 400 are terrible IMHO, i've tried them b4 and they simply cannot compare to any other guitar in that price range from other brands.

About top>back>sides, true due to the size of the piece and proximity of strings to the wood. Tops and backs are the biggest pieces of wood in the body, and with the top being closest to the strings, they affect tone the most, that's why many sub 1.2k acoustics out there are solid tops. Back is next because its bigger than the sides.