Homepage Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar Opinion on buying 1st acoustic

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  • #24087
    GeoNjules
    Participant

    Been playing electric for a few months now and interested in getting a acoustic. I only have around 00 or so to play with. Should I go with the Ibanez JamPack IJV50, or do you have a better suggestion for the money? I saw an Ephiphone for 00 also. Whatta yall think?

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    • #126793
      1bassleft
      Participant

      There is the totally correct point (IIRC, Wasp made it) that, unlike solid bodied guitars where CNC routing and CAD/CAM components have transformed budget beginner’s instruments in 10-20 years, none of the above applies to acoustics. Spending very little money will get you bad wood, poorly motivated workforce and non-existent QC.

      I’m not sure I can go along with the hair-shirt, “playing awful guitars makes great players” argument. Those great players were, erm, great players; they managed despite the instruments, not because of them. For each of those greats, how many promising youngsters gave up a potentially enjoyable life of guitar playing in frustration? It’s like the “my grandad smokes 70 a day and still jogs to the post office” argument.

      Why not spend $30, $15, etc etc? I worked in a primary school where, through limited funds, the Guitar Club provided kids with apppalling acoustic planks. They sound dreadful and are nasty to play. Really, $100 isn’t much and it wouldn’t be too long to double the funds available, surely? I like a bargain myself but I’d spend more than that on a tennis racquet. If it is all you can spare, there have been some good suggestions here that might squeeze in as 2nd hand possibles.

    • #126794
      hayseed4u
      Participant

      Hey Micheal
      When it comes to cheap guitars I’ve got experience. Back in the early sixities my first real 6 string [as opposed to bakelite or other mystery materials] was an acoustic Silvertone, Mom got for my 10th birthday. I’ve still got the grooved caluses in my fingertips and all the muscle memeroy in my fingers that goes with endless hours of playing a guitar of such lowly character. Some folks on this thread of spoken of it being too painful to learn on a cheap guitar. Well I’ve never known a life without pain so I’ve no idea what they are talking about. It is just outside of my experience.
      My take on it is if you want to play the pain won’t stop you. And neither will the sonic qualities or lack thereof inherit with the instrument. I’ve heard of folks so afaird of the pain that they took some idoits advice and put those sustain lacking light or even ultra light strings on their guitar. Then they still complain about pain fron having to depress the strings and have the action lowerd with the truss rod and/or removing shims from the bridge. Now they have a high end guitar with no sustain and fret buzz. There is some useless wood here but it’s not the guitar.
      My take on the guy who had been playing electric for a few months and was looking for an $100 acoustic to further explore sonic possibilities on guitar is either something like an Alvarez RC10 nylon string or Johnson 1G-100-N or B, N or B denoting Natural or Black.
      But the main issue is to play, not to wait ,so get off the internet shopping channel and get to the local Mom and Pop music shops/pawn shops and play until you find something that will fill the need now. Who knows he may find an instrument there that is worth putting on layaway with his hard earned money or buy one that will fill the need now and save money for that sonic monster.
      But no matter the dollar value of your instrument keep it in good shape by taking proper care of it and when you are ready to upgrade the shop owners will have no qualms about taking it in on trade. A relationship with the shop owners who sold you your instrument is just as valuable as the relationship with your instrument.

    • #126792
      glw
      Participant

      Guitars are much cheaper in America. $100 is £50 in real money, and £50 would not buy you ANYTHING worth playing over here in the UK.

    • #67973
      lee_UK
      Participant

      [quote=”hayseed4u”]Yeah? Lee, really much more important than “what” you play is “how” you play. And the most important thing of all is to PLAY.
      The most prominent pioneers in American guitar history learned to play on clobbed together rigs of planks and baleing wire. Then went on to record the most significant records in blues and rock and roll history on the elcheapo Kay’s, Harmony’s and Stella’s
      Maybe Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins and Hudie Ledbetter should of waited to play until they afford a Martin or Gibson Hey?[/quote]

      Ive had my fair share of budget priced ‘duffers’ and believe me, i would have taken good advice if it had been offered, i am offering good and fair advice, save your money and get something decent, a decent budget guitar will cost you upwards of $250, good advice from mneville, and ive said it before, try all the guitars hanging on the wall in your price range, even the same models, some will play and sound better than others.
      And who cares about what some old fart played down in the Delta in 1948, im sure if the old blues farts would have been given the choice then they would have all gone for the Martin/Gibson models, as indeed they did as soon as they earned the cash.
      But of course this is only MY opinion, and my opinion comes from learning the hard earned truth that $100 is going to get the fire started, not a new blossoming career.

      I repeat, All new sub $100 acoustic guitars are old duffers and a waste of money.

    • #126791
      Michael
      Participant

      If all GeoNjules can afford is $100, than by all means buy a $100 acoustic. It will be better than nothing and no doubt still a lot of fun. However, if he can he hold out a month or two longer, buying a better model will be of much more help in the long run.

      I agree with you hayseed4u that plenty of players learned on what we today would consider piles of shit, but it still doesn’t change the fact that a $250-$300 acoustic will be a much more sensible purchase. Especially for someone who is already a guitarist. For someone just starting out – a $100 acoustic may be just fine… for school or whatever.

      Nevertheless, if I was going to buy an el cheapo acoustic I’d get a Yamaha F310P.

    • #126790
      hayseed4u
      Participant

      Yeah? Lee, really much more important than “what” you play is “how” you play. And the most important thing of all is to PLAY.
      The most prominent pioneers in American guitar history learned to play on clobbed together rigs of planks and baleing wire. Then went on to record the most significant records in blues and rock and roll history on the elcheapo Kay’s, Harmony’s and Stella’s
      Maybe Charlie Patton, Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins and Hudie Ledbetter should of waited to play until they afford a Martin or Gibson Hey?

    • #126789
      mneville
      Participant

      It appears that the general consensus is to wait and buy a better Guitar.
      Believe me if you buy a (cheap) lesser model, you could be discouraged very quickly. Trust me, the action alone will probably be the main factor. There willl be quite a difference between an electric setup and an acuostic.
      There will be pain. Another thing I recommend is to play any of the acoustic guitars you are interested in even the same mafg. and model numbers hanging next to eachother. Each guitar has it’s own uniqueness. Sometime there can be the difference of night and day.

    • #126787
      lee_UK
      Participant

      IMHO ALL new guitars priced at $100 or below are firewood.
      Why would you want to keep it in a hard case? the case would cost more than the guitar, wall hangers to keep it safe? does it matter if it gets kicked over?
      The original question was to recommend a guitar for $100 and i don’t think anyone could.

    • #126788
      hayseed4u
      Participant

      I’ve read the other replies in this thread. And there are a few things not mentioned here. First off not all guitars in this price range are s**t. They just won’t be first rate. Most notably fret ends won’t be smooth. And not all laminated tops sound bad, just not quite as good as sitka or aronidak spruce.
      Second visit the smaller shops they are more willing to work with you and may even have a lay away option so you can get a slightly better guitar along with the stuff you need like a decent hardshell case. You really can get one that is sturdy enough to keep it secure and safe for less than $100 bucks. A hanger to keep it on the wall ready to play and handy for those spare minutes when you can squeeze in a few licks. An electronic tuner[just how many of us have perfect pitch?].
      When you visit a shop wear clothes that won’t scratch the finish. The owners will be more willing to let you play. Just talk to them, develop a relationship, so you and them will get a better idea of what will suit you best. They really want to sell you a guitar just as bad as you want one.
      So buy that cheap one [as long as your comfortable with it]and play it for all your worth. Keep it looking nice.no scratches beyond the pickguard. And do all your business for picks, strings, setups, adjustments with the shop you bought it from. Save all your spare change and within a year both you and the shopkeepers will be willing to do business again. You can put another on layaway while you still have one to play and they will take your old one in one trade providing you’ve kept in nice.

    • #126786
      Michael
      Participant

      Like the others, I stress: wait a few more months if that’s what it takes before you can afford a better model. You will appreciate it in the end. Then take a look at some of the lower priced Yamahas or Epis. If you have Seagull guitars in your part of the world, try out them as well. They will all be better than a $100 clap trap.

    • #67869
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Im with Youngwasp on this one, save up your money and buy something decent.
      Nobody can recommend an acoustic guitar for $100, everything in that price range is going to be sh*t, sorry but it is.

    • #67876
      thecadillackid
      Participant

      You could buy a brand new Ashton for that sort of money. They are more than just excellent value for money. Don’t just buy the first one you pick up, though. Play a few of them and don’t be in a hurry. A fellow I know got himself one that sounds as good as many guitars that cost many thousands. Good luck!

    • #67891
      youngwasp
      Member

      I realise the temptation is strong, but from my experience and even having said in another thread that the cost of guitars has come down and the quality gone up, then I would not buy a really cheap acoustic.

      Chances are it will be poorly finished, the action will have been set up by a space shuttle pilot and resultingly be difficult to play and make the entire experience decidedly unpleasant.

      Unless you can get a more upmarket secondhand model, then I would wait until you had more money and look to buy something more attractive and accomodating – I have several ‘cheaper’ acoustics, the most recent being a Takamine that cost me just short of 300 english pounds – it is stonking, silky to the touch and responsive.

      Wait a while.

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