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I have a question,
What does everyone think of Stagg Acoustic/Electric guitars?
I haven’t been able to find many opinions, and the few I fine are mostly bad, but there all on the Electric Les Paul look alikes, so I would love to hear some input on what you think of the brand and there Acoustic Electric guitars?
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I know the type of amp, a sort of PA/combo. They can be a good starting point; convenient enough to use when you want in the house (which a full PA definitely is not) yet with about enough oomph for singer/guitarist playing to a respectful audience. They can’t cope with rowdy bar full of drunks on Friday night, but that isn’t a problem for you right now.
It sounds like it makes sense. You can always move up to a more powerful PA later. A lot of Chinese-made product is coming to the market about now (I managed to get a 2x300W stereo PA head with FX for very little money, and used speakers can be had cheap) and this is pushing down the price of used PA as people realize they can’t sell their old PA off if it’s more expensive than brand new gear with a warranty.
If you find out some details about the amp please come back here and post them up. I’d be happy to check the specs. At least I know something about PA and amps, unlike my scant knowledge of acoustics (except you’re right to stay away from the guitar unless you definitely like it).
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[quote=”1bassleft”]I must emphasize that I’m not an expert on acoustic or transducer-equipped acoustics so bear that in mind. First off, though, welcome back and feel free to make a post as long as you like. Especially if you need advice before spending money – I write long posts for no good reason at all 🙂
The first thing that struck me (and I checked just to be sure) is that Alvarez is really a step up or two from Stagg. How ‘good’ an acoustic is, and its price tag, is more than just a brand name. Things like the construction method and woods used play their part, and the quality of the electrics, if present. Even so, an Alvarez ranges from about $125 all the way up into the thousands depending on the quality of the model. Stagg, by contrast, starts at pocket-money price and stops at just over the $100 end. An Alvarez should be relegating your Stagg to the backup; not the other way round.
A lot of guitars like Stagg are just taken out of the box and hung up on the shop wall. It simply isn’t economical for the shop to devote staff time to setup. At the price, the strings aren’t exactly top-drawer either so, yes, a lot of budget end guitars dangling from a wall for several weeks can sound a bit dull. Don’t be afraid of “steel” strings (actually, a nickel/brass alloy). They may hurt at first but they won’t actually cut you. With time, your finger pads will get used to them and harden up a bit.
Does that two-year old Stagg of yours have its original strings? Get them replaced (just a few bucks) with a quality set and that’ll be a big surprise to your ears. If you can, ask an experienced friend to set up your guitar and fresh strings for you. Then have a think about what you want before spending more serious money. A true “backup” is really for broke-string-quick-replacement at a gig. Me, I’d aim for the Stagg being the backup and spending money on a higher-level acoustic as your ability and confidence grows. If you fancy a different sound, ditto. A better guitar is a wiser move than another budget with a different shape.
But what about the amp? Again, this depends on what you want to do. They’re great for using at home and light gigs if you’re not singing. If gigs with a singer are around the corner, you may want to save money for a vocal PA (good ones are so cheap now) and you can plug the acoustic into that.
So many options, but time is on your side. No need to rush before opening the wallet :)[/quote]
Am I think I was typing funny, if I did get a better name/sounding guitar, I would most defintly use that as my first and stagg would go to back up, and a braking string is the very reason I was thinking of for having a back up lol 🙂
It’s my fault I was not going into detail enough (though now not fearing making a long post lol) I left out details. Since I have played pretty long on my steel string stagg my fingers are pretty well built up. The problem with the strings at the shop on there guitars, it felt like the steel strings were almost rusted! 😮 which I can only imagine is bad for guitar strings lol. Plus some times on the other strings they sounded like sand paper when I held them down and when I would move the string back and forth to get that cool sound (no idea what its called lol)
The reason the alverez stuck out at me, was it sounded pretty good, plus it was discounted, however theres a reason behind that. It has a blimish, a small lump of wood say about the size of this o <<<<<<<< which took 100 $ of the price I believe, thought its not in a very easy place to see for anyone looking at it while you are playing, its on the part of the guitar where the fret board is attached to the body. But honostly to be buying it, I would want a dif color, because if it was my main guitar, I don’t want to be stuck with the guiter, however that leads to the amp i’m thinking about. lol 🙂 The amp, is a PA I think, i’m not sure what a PA is but I think it might be one. It is a coffe shop gig acoustic amp, WITH a mic plug in for singing 🙂 I need to go back to the store and price it again, plus ask to try my guitar on it so I know it sounds right. I think it was around 230$. Thanks for all the advice 1bassleft, i’m starting to feel really welcomed and will most defintly start reading the boards more 🙂
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I must emphasize that I’m not an expert on acoustic or transducer-equipped acoustics so bear that in mind. First off, though, welcome back and feel free to make a post as long as you like. Especially if you need advice before spending money – I write long posts for no good reason at all 🙂
The first thing that struck me (and I checked just to be sure) is that Alvarez is really a step up or two from Stagg. How ‘good’ an acoustic is, and its price tag, is more than just a brand name. Things like the construction method and woods used play their part, and the quality of the electrics, if present. Even so, an Alvarez ranges from about $125 all the way up into the thousands depending on the quality of the model. Stagg, by contrast, starts at pocket-money price and stops at just over the $100 end. An Alvarez should be relegating your Stagg to the backup; not the other way round.
A lot of guitars like Stagg are just taken out of the box and hung up on the shop wall. It simply isn’t economical for the shop to devote staff time to setup. At the price, the strings aren’t exactly top-drawer either so, yes, a lot of budget end guitars dangling from a wall for several weeks can sound a bit dull. Don’t be afraid of “steel” strings (actually, a nickel/brass alloy). They may hurt at first but they won’t actually cut you. With time, your finger pads will get used to them and harden up a bit.
Does that two-year old Stagg of yours have its original strings? Get them replaced (just a few bucks) with a quality set and that’ll be a big surprise to your ears. If you can, ask an experienced friend to set up your guitar and fresh strings for you. Then have a think about what you want before spending more serious money. A true “backup” is really for broke-string-quick-replacement at a gig. Me, I’d aim for the Stagg being the backup and spending money on a higher-level acoustic as your ability and confidence grows. If you fancy a different sound, ditto. A better guitar is a wiser move than another budget with a different shape.
But what about the amp? Again, this depends on what you want to do. They’re great for using at home and light gigs if you’re not singing. If gigs with a singer are around the corner, you may want to save money for a vocal PA (good ones are so cheap now) and you can plug the acoustic into that.
So many options, but time is on your side. No need to rush before opening the wallet 🙂
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I do have one, it was my first Steel string guitar and i’m thinking about at some point getting a back up guitar, for when I might start doing gigs and stuff, and it would simply be nice to have 2 lol, I can’t quite decide if I would get a second stagg, but they are cheap for what I think are good guitars, but i’m not an expert which is what i’m worried about.
I went to a guitar shop yesterday, first time for a VERY long time to try some acoustics, I tried a few staggs with standard body styles, since I have a cutaway and I think it would be nice to have 2 different styles.
Anyways, the store I went to (Same place I got my stagg like 2 years ago)
Has ALOT of staggs, so I of course tried a few more staggs, but the strings were really bad so I couldn’t try the guitars much. The guy pointed out one of there guitars that I had heard of before, Alverez (not sure if thats the right spelling) and I gave it a try, the strings were ok and it sounded about like my stagg quility wise. Then he plugged it into a SWEET acoustic amp that is like made for coffe house gigs he said, and it sounded beautiful. I was really blown away that this Alverez was not even sound wise to me as good as my Stagg which i’m kinda happy about, since from my novice opinion stagg is good when it comes to acoustic/electrics. But i’m novice when it comes to buying guitars, so i’m still a little weary about these things.So i’m thinking about waiting on my second guitar and getting the amp instead because it really is nice, and since I like acoustic/electrics it would be good to have a good acoustic amp. Anyway think that is a good choice?
And one last question, is it possible the guitars haven’t been used much and the strings get old to were there like just plain steel, because alot of the times the strings were what made me a bit scared to test it because I thought on some I might cut my fingers with the steel strings.???
Some about the long post 😕
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I can’t directly help you with acoustics – you really have to try one and decide if you’re happy for the money asked. The likelihood is that they’re made in China and Chinese instruments are getting better and better. I first took notice of Stagg about five years ago. They appeared to be coming from a Belgian distributor and I liked the look of their basses with a Jazzmaster-style body and twin Musicman style pups. At least they looked different to the run’o’mill Precision-alike starter instruments.
As glw says, they are light years better than the starter instruments offered in the 80s and 90s with ply bodies, chronic electrics and even tuners that went “spdoing” and suddenly dropped your string about three tones. Cannot for the life of me understand why people ignore a Stagg with an £80 BIN but pay over £100 for some “classic” plank of twenty years ago.
One more thing. Bassjr took up the trumpet this September. Did I spunk £200 on a Selmer or Jupiter that he might ditch in three months? No, I bought a Stagg trumpet, made in China, for £60 incl case from a pukka music shop. Perfectly decent starter instrument. It’s no Bach, and the middle valve likes a lot of blue juice to keep smooth, but I’ve got no carps for the money.
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