Which acoustic < £150

roundthebend · June 2018

I already have an acoustic at home in the UK, but I've recently started working away in Sweden and want to pick up a cheap guitar I can use in the evenings to brush up on my playing.

Prices here are a little higher than UK prices, but I think it's still more sensible to buy one here than to try and bring one over on the plane - I think that means buying an extra passenger ticket which will be in the region of £75.

So I had a look at local shops and found:

Fender CD-60 (£87)
- felt OK, looked boring, about £87

Ibanez V50NJP (£112)
- felt quite nice, looked decent, came with tuner, bag, strap, picks

I'm wondering if anyone knows of something in that kind of budget which is stunning value for money, then I'll hunt one down over here.

earwighoney · June 2018

roundthebend said:

Prices here are a little higher than UK prices, but I think it's still more sensible to buy one here than to try and bring one over on the plane - I think that means buying an extra passenger ticket which will be in the region of £75.

Why don't you get it delivered by Thomann directly to Sweden?

Smaller acoustics should be ok to carry on.

roundthebend · June 2018

earwighoney said:

roundthebend said:

Prices here are a little higher than UK prices, but I think it's still more sensible to buy one here than to try and bring one over on the plane - I think that means buying an extra passenger ticket which will be in the region of £75.

Why don't you get it delivered by Thomann directly to Sweden?

Smaller acoustics should be ok to carry on.

Thomann price for the Ibanez is only marginally cheaper than buying it here in-store, and delivery makes it more expensive. I might try a UK shop, but delivery is likely to push it too high.

I can't seem to find details of prices to carry the guitar on board. It's Ryan Air, so I suspect the price is just that of another passenger.

kaypeejay · June 2018

Is there a Swedish version of gumtree (goomtree or something) where you could look for a secondhand one within your 150 budget? You may be able to pick up something reasonable for less.

roundthebend · June 2018

kaypeejay said:

Is there a Swedish version of gumtree (goomtree or something) where you could look for a secondhand one within your 150 budget? You may be able to pick up something reasonable for less.

Blocket!
There's not much of interest around Gothenburg at the moment, either really cheap tat or too expensive.

kaypeejay · June 2018

How long are you there for? Perhaps you could buy a slightly more expensive one and then sell it back to the shop, admittedly at a bit of a loss, when you move back. It would be like renting a guitar.

Winny_Pooh · June 2018

Gretsch Jim Dandy

roundthebend · June 2018

kaypeejay said:

How long are you there for? Perhaps you could buy a slightly more expensive one and then sell it back to the shop, admittedly at a bit of a loss, when you move back. It would be like renting a guitar.

Nice idea.

@Winny_Pooh that's not the first time I've heard that model being suggested.

roundthebend · June 2018

Gretsch Jim Dandy here is about £175

Phil_aka_Pip · June 2018

roundthebend said:

Gretsch Jim Dandy here is about £175

Worth it though. Fender acoustics at that price (or even more) are IMO firewood. I bought my JD to leave at the GF's flat, left it there for a while, and then when I began to realise I would get dumped in the near future I took it home on the pretext of restringing it and natch never took it back. Just as well, because my hunch was right.

roundthebend · June 2018

Found a YAMAHA FX370C fairly locally, secondhand for about £130. Seems like a decent option, and it's got a pickup so if I get the urge to play at an open mic I'm in a good position.

I'll try and get to the shop to try out a Gretsch Jim Dandy tomorrow.

kaypeejay · June 2018

Make sure you tell us how you got on.

Andyjr1515 · June 2018

roundthebend said:

Found a YAMAHA FX370C fairly locally, secondhand for about £130. Seems like a decent option, and it's got a pickup so if I get the urge to play at an open mic I'm in a good position.

I'll try and get to the shop to try out a Gretsch Jim Dandy tomorrow.

Pretty much all the Yamaha acoustics punch well above their weight. I wouldn't discount even the entry 310 model. In my view, they are all proper acoustics whereas many other entry level offerings from other makes such as Fender sound a bit sterile to my ear. Yamaha necks are also very comfortable to play.

Fuengi · June 2018

Phil_aka_Pip said:

roundthebend said:

Gretsch Jim Dandy here is about £175

Worth it though. Fender acoustics at that price (or even more) are IMO firewood. I bought my JD to leave at the GF's flat, left it there for a while, and then when I began to realise I would get dumped in the near future I took it home on the pretext of restringing it and natch never took it back. Just as well, because my hunch was right.

Reminds my of a story... I have a mate in Cambridgeshire who has made a lot of money from recycling timber for chipping. If you buy chipboard in this country its probably his wood.

He used to live with a girl who was a professional violinist. She cheated on him and he kicked her out of his place, changed the locks etc. Unfortunately for her she had left a Stradivarius at his place and after a bit of back and forth her father was dispatched to collect it plus other items from my mate at his business.

As he tells it, the father turned up, parked his car across everyone else and stormed in demanding the stuff. My friend handed him a bag of clothes and told him he had the violin in the workshop and to follow him. He grabbed it, pushed it in the chipping machine and bagged the wood chip the other end. He handed the dad a clear plastic bag of wood chipping and said "there you go sir, tell your daughter I've made a couple of modifications. Goodbye."

roundthebend · June 2018

Andyjr1515 said:

roundthebend said:

Found a YAMAHA FX370C fairly locally, secondhand for about £130. Seems like a decent option, and it's got a pickup so if I get the urge to play at an open mic I'm in a good position.

I'll try and get to the shop to try out a Gretsch Jim Dandy tomorrow.

Pretty much all the Yamaha acoustics punch well above their weight. I wouldn't discount even the entry 310 model. In my view, they are all proper acoustics whereas many other entry level offerings from other makes such as Fender sound a bit sterile to my ear. Yamaha necks are also very comfortable to play.

I met up with the chap selling the Yamaha FX370C and had a little strum with it. He hadn't changed the strings in 3 years but it felt very dull, lacking any kind of tone and volume. If I was in the UK I could give the whole thing a clean up and restring easily, but being away from home that would mean probably paying a shop to do it for another £25 or so. I think I might just get the cheap Ibanez starter kit, as long as the guitar feels OK it is just for learning some tunes in the apartment.

Owain · June 2018

roundthebend said:

I already have an acoustic at home in the UK, but I've recently started working away in Sweden and want to pick up a cheap guitar I can use in the evenings to brush up on my playing.

Prices here are a little higher than UK prices, but I think it's still more sensible to buy one here than to try and bring one over on the plane - I think that means buying an extra passenger ticket which will be in the region of £75.

So I had a look at local shops and found:

Fender CD-60 (£87)
- felt OK, looked boring, about £87

Ibanez V50NJP (£112)
- felt quite nice, looked decent, came with tuner, bag, strap, picks

I'm wondering if anyone knows of something in that kind of budget which is stunning value for money, then I'll hunt one down over here.

If I were you, I'd go for the Ibanez. Because that you said it felt nice, seemed to like it more than the other.

Yamaha's good for acoustics, and Epiphone so maybe look at both of them. But out of the ones you chose I'd go for the Ibanez.

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Which acoustic < £150

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