I have a PRS
Fender bender
My sister had a 3/4-size Fender acoustic that was a happenin' little guitar for less than $150. It sounded good in Nashville tuning.
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gdavis5446
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Neverwonagrammy
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Another good "cheapie" to look for, is a Peavey acoustic. I had one called a "McComb", that had a solid cedar top, and sounded as good as you'd ever need an acoustic to sound. Paid 150 bucks. Found it on ebay. They still make it, but it's not the Peavey brand name anymore, they call 'em "Briarwood" now. It's also not called a "McComb" anymore, it has a different model name. Look for the one with the solid cedar top. Don't worry about the price on the Peavey website, dealers always come down on the price. They're 150 dollar guitars.
The one I had was the best 150 dollar acoustic I ever heard.
Of an Epiphone, Jasmine, or, Washburn bottom of the line model, it seems like the Washburn has the most to offer. They feel the best to me anyway. All those ubercheapies sound very similar. The Peavey/Briarwood is head and shoulders above them, soundwise, for about the same money.
Brian
The one I had was the best 150 dollar acoustic I ever heard.
Of an Epiphone, Jasmine, or, Washburn bottom of the line model, it seems like the Washburn has the most to offer. They feel the best to me anyway. All those ubercheapies sound very similar. The Peavey/Briarwood is head and shoulders above them, soundwise, for about the same money.
Brian
I would just play 'em each and see what sounds best to you. You will definitely notice a difference. Solid tops are usually better, but not always. I've heard $500 guitars that sound worse than $150 guitars. From what I recall epiphone made some decent sounding cheapo acoustics.does anyone have a recommendation on what to buy if i want a cheap (i mean really cheap) acoustic just to play around the house? i mean, is there any difference between the washburn or the epiphone or the jasmine if they're all 129 dollars?
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the art guy
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i recall being entertained (no, make that enthralled) for hours just watching bob mould kick serious ass with nothing but a beat-up yamaha 12-string and a chair. more than once.
does anyone have a recommendation on what to buy if i want a cheap (i mean really cheap) acoustic just to play around the house? i mean, is there any difference between the washburn or the epiphone or the jasmine if they're all 129 dollars?
does anyone have a recommendation on what to buy if i want a cheap (i mean really cheap) acoustic just to play around the house? i mean, is there any difference between the washburn or the epiphone or the jasmine if they're all 129 dollars?
http://www.harmony-central.com/Events/S ... PX15E.htmltwitcher73 wrote:I can believe in the playability... but the sound is good? I seriously thought they only made laminates... apparantly I was wrong... what kind of wood is it?
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twitcher73
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twitcher73
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TinyElvis wrote:I can believe in the playability... but the sound is good? I seriously thought they only made laminates... apparantly I was wrong... what kind of wood is it?twitcher73 wrote:TinyElvis wrote:
I love my Yamaha acoustic. I went to the store determined to buy a "nice" acoustic (i.e. Martin, Taylor). My Yamaha sounded better than all of them.
Yamaha makes very nice acoustic guitars. I have the CPX15E. I hate the way mine looks, but bought it because it sounded so good and played so nicely.
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cathodebias
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As far as neck resetting...I read an article in guitar player magazine about 10 years back. Dan Erwlewine of Stewart Mcdonald fame used to have a tech column every month. It was about resetting a neck on a cheapo garage sale type acoustic. Its quick and simple. You take a hack saw and cut down 3/4 of where the heel meets the body. Then take a syringe and reglue where the gap is. To re anchor it use a wood screw and screw through the heel and into the inner block. You can disguise the screw by mounting a strap pin with it. By doing this it pulls the neck backwards and thereby lowers the action of the strings. I've tried this on a $30 garagesale acoustic and it lowered the strings about 1/4 of a inch and made an unplayable guitar playable.
Not a remedy for Martins, Taylors, Bonanzingas, etc. but for your $100 and under guitars it works perfectly.
Not a remedy for Martins, Taylors, Bonanzingas, etc. but for your $100 and under guitars it works perfectly.
Yamaha makes very nice acoustic guitars. I have the CPX15E. I hate the way mine looks, but bought it because it sounded so good and played so nicely.twitcher73 wrote:Yamaha sounding better than a Taylor...TinyElvis wrote:
I love my Yamaha acoustic. I went to the store determined to buy a "nice" acoustic (i.e. Martin, Taylor). My Yamaha sounded better than all of them.
take the crack pipe from your mouth...
(Wonders - does Yamaha even MAKE a hardtop acoustic?)
my guitars
I had a Yamaha acoustic 12-string for about ten years. I bought it used for $130 in 1986. It might not have been the best guitar in the store that day, but that thing was one tough little machine. It had one of those open-key, strut-type heads like a classical or National. It was my main axe until the crack in the head grew to where the tuning pegs couldn't be turned any longer. Then my wife bought me a 1976 Yairi Alvarez DY68, which has a feel a lot like my Yamaha did, but is lighter, louder and better-looking. I've had that for ten years now, and it's still going strong.
My first guitar, which I still have, is a Strat copy from Sears. It cost $100 in 1981, and I tell you, I've played guitars that cost ten times that much that weren't half as good. I have upgraded the electronics, bridge and tuning pegs over the years, but that maple neck has stayed true all this time and it still plays as well as it did 24 years ago. It never had a name on the head, so other guys would try it and ask me what it was. I would tell them it came from Sears and the general reaction was always something like, "No way!" I call it my Kenmore-caster.
That's my whole guitar collection: a 12-string Carvin, a 12-string Yairi Alvarez, and the Kenmore-caster. I'll always remember an interview I read with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, of Steely Dan and Doobie Brother's fame. I had just started playing, and I read about about how he always looked around for good deals on instruments. Sometimes second- or third-tier manufacturers produce first-rate instruments. It might be that they got hold of a really solid piece of maple, or had a particularly good day at the factory. He said how he thought it was bullshit the way kids would save up for a $1000 guitar just because it might be the same one Eric Clapton plays, thinking that the guitar is going to make them sound like Clapton, or whoever. He said he always bought cheap guitars so kids seeing him at shows wouldn't think they needed to spend all the money from their paper routes for the whole year just to get his sound. That interview had a big impact on my attitude toward instruments. It helped that I happened to get a better-than-usual Sears guitar.
That said, Taylors are sweet. Of course, if I were to buy the Leo Kottke signature model 12-string I've wanted ever since I played one that belonged to a friend, the value of my entire collection would increase five-fold with the addition of just that one instrument. But I'm not deluded enough to think it would make me sound like Leo Kottke. Guitars are tools, and for certain things, certain guitars are the right tool for the job. I can think of a few ways I could put a Taylor to good use.
My first guitar, which I still have, is a Strat copy from Sears. It cost $100 in 1981, and I tell you, I've played guitars that cost ten times that much that weren't half as good. I have upgraded the electronics, bridge and tuning pegs over the years, but that maple neck has stayed true all this time and it still plays as well as it did 24 years ago. It never had a name on the head, so other guys would try it and ask me what it was. I would tell them it came from Sears and the general reaction was always something like, "No way!" I call it my Kenmore-caster.
That's my whole guitar collection: a 12-string Carvin, a 12-string Yairi Alvarez, and the Kenmore-caster. I'll always remember an interview I read with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, of Steely Dan and Doobie Brother's fame. I had just started playing, and I read about about how he always looked around for good deals on instruments. Sometimes second- or third-tier manufacturers produce first-rate instruments. It might be that they got hold of a really solid piece of maple, or had a particularly good day at the factory. He said how he thought it was bullshit the way kids would save up for a $1000 guitar just because it might be the same one Eric Clapton plays, thinking that the guitar is going to make them sound like Clapton, or whoever. He said he always bought cheap guitars so kids seeing him at shows wouldn't think they needed to spend all the money from their paper routes for the whole year just to get his sound. That interview had a big impact on my attitude toward instruments. It helped that I happened to get a better-than-usual Sears guitar.
That said, Taylors are sweet. Of course, if I were to buy the Leo Kottke signature model 12-string I've wanted ever since I played one that belonged to a friend, the value of my entire collection would increase five-fold with the addition of just that one instrument. But I'm not deluded enough to think it would make me sound like Leo Kottke. Guitars are tools, and for certain things, certain guitars are the right tool for the job. I can think of a few ways I could put a Taylor to good use.
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Neverwonagrammy
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Some Yamahas will shock you, especially some of the really old ones. The only thing with Yamahas, is, the older they get, the more they all seem to need their necks reset. The tops bow up, and the neck blocks kinda sink in as they age. All acoustics do this to some degree, but Yamahas seem to do it worse than others. That's why you'll see all the old ones with either A: HIGH string action, or, B: The bridge saddle shaved down to nothin'. I used to have an old one, probably early '70's, and it sounded incredible. I don't think I've had one since, of ANY brand, that bettered it. Look for the ones with the pinkish red label inside that says "Nippon Gakki made in Japan". If you can find one with a reasonable action, they're friggin' amazing. That is, SOME of them, not all of them, just gotta try it and see.
I had a REALLY nice Yamaha a couple of years ago, I got it at a Guitar Center Memorial Day sale. It was the top of the line, ALL solid wood, played like a dream, sounded like a dream. Called the "LL 500", or, something to that effect. I didn't really need it, got to feeling guilty for buying something SO superfluous in my life, and returned it. It was flat-out THE SHIT though. Mark Spencer played it. He agreed, and you GOTTA take his word, he doesn't look at his neck position markers.
The new, 200 dollar Yamahas ain't that great, but, if you compare them to the 200 dollar Epiphones, you'll wonder why anyone ever buys the Epiphone.
COOL GUITAR ALERT!!! The new Epiphone "Masterbuilt" series. They're Chinese, all solid wood, satin finish. They don't look that cool, but, they sound great! They're in that 350-500 dollar price range.
I'm through with acoustic guitar shopping, since I've been Bonanzingafied.
They're the end of the rainbow for me. Bill Bonanzinga makes fantastic acoustics. He'd make a KILLER electric, if he built electrics, but, alas, he does not. Just ask him...
Well, all this typing has really taken a toll on my nail polish, plus, I gotta go sit down and take a piss...
XOXOXO
Bri Ann
I had a REALLY nice Yamaha a couple of years ago, I got it at a Guitar Center Memorial Day sale. It was the top of the line, ALL solid wood, played like a dream, sounded like a dream. Called the "LL 500", or, something to that effect. I didn't really need it, got to feeling guilty for buying something SO superfluous in my life, and returned it. It was flat-out THE SHIT though. Mark Spencer played it. He agreed, and you GOTTA take his word, he doesn't look at his neck position markers.
The new, 200 dollar Yamahas ain't that great, but, if you compare them to the 200 dollar Epiphones, you'll wonder why anyone ever buys the Epiphone.
COOL GUITAR ALERT!!! The new Epiphone "Masterbuilt" series. They're Chinese, all solid wood, satin finish. They don't look that cool, but, they sound great! They're in that 350-500 dollar price range.
I'm through with acoustic guitar shopping, since I've been Bonanzingafied.
They're the end of the rainbow for me. Bill Bonanzinga makes fantastic acoustics. He'd make a KILLER electric, if he built electrics, but, alas, he does not. Just ask him...
Well, all this typing has really taken a toll on my nail polish, plus, I gotta go sit down and take a piss...
XOXOXO
Bri Ann
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jay's_goatee
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