Concert or Parlour steel string for around £200-300? (UK)

JamesC01 · February 2021

I'm looking for a good build-quality, unused, small concert or parlour size guitar. A few brands I've noticed are yamaha, tanglewood, alvarez, takamine, sigma. I was look at the yamaha fs800, which goes for about £250 in the UK, but noticed that the US price is closer to £140 ($200), so I'm not sure if the build quality is very good.

I'd like the sound to not be too boomy. Just in the middle, a decent balanced sound. There's too many choices, and I'm so scared I'll end up buying one that isn't right for me, or one I'll end up disappointed with. I have a yamaha c40 classical, for ~£100, and while it's not bad, you can definitely tell that it's a £100 guitar. I'd rather something much higher quality than that, if it's possible for my budget.

I've found this one: https://www.andertons.co.uk/sigma-sig-00m-15 but am still unsure about it. I like the colour, it's solid top, and it's about the size I want.

Milk · February 2021

probably best asking on the acoustic sub forum but in my opinion you can't go wrong with Yamaha and sigma

Neckwringer · February 2021

Recording King for me,mine is excellent.

Andy79 · February 2021

For a marked and noticeable difference in quality you may need to be in the £500 bracket, so think about used in your budget (?)

Tannin · February 2021

Hi James. Sounds as though you are looking at one of the great divides in guitar buying. Below about £300 (give or take) you'll only get plywood specials. From around about that price up you can get guitars with actual wooden soundboards. Sure, the back and sides will still be plywood at that price, but the top is by far the most important part.

So start by crossing off anything that doesn't have a solid top. Hint: sales staff often won't know, and manufacturers are coy to the point of outright deception, so you need to know the code words. "Laminate", "HPL", "layered" and "multi-layer" are all code for plywood.

"Solid" is code for real wood. In this market segment, timber names such as "mahogany", "cedar", "maple" and "rosewood" when written without that key word "solid" mean it's plywood. (Is this a deceptive trade practice? Sure it is. But it seems to be just barely legal enough, and they all do it.) Remember:

"Solid spruce top" = real wood.
"Spruce top" = plywood.

In this price range, you are looking at an instrument made in China, Indonesia, or some other low wage country. That is a given. First-world guitars (Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, and so on) start somewhere close to double your budget, and First World guitars made out of solid wood generally cost more again.

So you are looking for something with a solid top, very likely from among the brands already mentioned. Two others to consider are the gigantic South Korean companies Samick and Cort, which are little known but probably the biggest makers in the world by quite a margin, with factories at home, in China, and in Indonesia too. They sell under their own names, but mostly do the actual manufacturing for other firms. Both Washburns and Epiphones, for example, are made by Samick.

TheMadMick · February 2021

Tale a Look at:

https://www.guitar.co.uk/guild-p-240-memoir-parlour?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7bjjhMq87gIV0oBQBh3bSQn4EAQYAyABEgLvevD_BwE

Guild make good guitars (even in China) and the only criticism I could find was that the neck was a bit chunky.

Andy79 · February 2021

Some laminate guitars sound as good/better as some mid priced overbuilt solids. Example, the Vintage Statesboro is fantastic at £100. Lightly built and a fair joy to play I’m sure @WindmillGuitars has them and could come up with a deal

WindmillGuitars · February 2021

@Andy79 cheers for the tag - yes I have the Whisky finish Statesboro in stock at £99, the always popular V300 kit at £230ish is also worth a look.. Or for a little more at just over £330 you'd get an OM Eastman @JamesC01 ;

JamesC01 · February 2021

Tannin said:

Hi James. Sounds as though you are looking at one of the great divides in guitar buying. Below about £300 (give or take) you'll only get plywood specials. From around about that price up you can get guitars with actual wooden soundboards. Sure, the back and sides will still be plywood at that price, but the top is by far the most important part.

So start by crossing off anything that doesn't have a solid top. Hint: sales staff often won't know, and manufacturers are coy to the point of outright deception, so you need to know the code words. "Laminate", "HPL", "layered" and "multi-layer" are all code for plywood.

"Solid" is code for real wood. In this market segment, timber names such as "mahogany", "cedar", "maple" and "rosewood" when written without that key word "solid" mean it's plywood. (Is this a deceptive trade practice? Sure it is. But it seems to be just barely legal enough, and they all do it.) Remember:

"Solid spruce top" = real wood.
"Spruce top" = plywood.

In this price range, you are looking at an instrument made in China, Indonesia, or some other low wage country. That is a given. First-world guitars (Europe, USA, Canada, Japan, and so on) start somewhere close to double your budget, and First World guitars made out of solid wood generally cost more again.

So you are looking for something with a solid top, very likely from among the brands already mentioned. Two others to consider are the gigantic South Korean companies Samick and Cort, which are little known but probably the biggest makers in the world by quite a margin, with factories at home, in China, and in Indonesia too. They sell under their own names, but mostly do the actual manufacturing for other firms. Both Washburns and Epiphones, for example, are made by Samick.

Are you sure I should cross off all plywood guitars? I've had a quick look, and it seems solid seems to be more susceptible to temperature, and plywood may be a bit more durable. The sound may be better, but I'd probably prefer something a bit more durable than a bit better sounding.

drofluf · February 2021

I wouldn't worry about durability; not an major issue in the UK and guitars at your price range tend to be fairly solidly built.

JamesC01 · February 2021

drofluf said:

I wouldn't worry about durability; not an major issue in the UK and guitars at your price range tend to be fairly solidly built.

Thanks. How about electro-acoustic guitars? Should I avoid them at this price?

JamesC01 · February 2021

Hey everyone. I've spotted this guitar: https://www.andertons.co.uk/sigma-sig-00m-15

I like the colour, and the size seems good. But I'm still open to more suggestions. Thanks!

JamesC01 · February 2021

But I'm still a bit wary of the solid wood. I'd like a guitar where I don't feel the need to baby it, but I also want it to be decent quality. I'm also reading that it needs setting up more often because of temperature.

drofluf · February 2021

JamesC01 said:

drofluf said:

I wouldn't worry about durability; not an major issue in the UK and guitars at your price range tend to be fairly solidly built.

Thanks. How about electro-acoustic guitars? Should I avoid them at this price?

Unless you need to plug it in I'd say yes. To meet the budget the manufacturer would have to reduce the cost/quality of the acoustics to accommodate the electrics.

P.S. I wouldn't worry about having to baby a solid wood guitar; in the temperature/humidity ranges we get in the UK (I'm assuming that you're UK based?) it won't change significantly.

Andy79 · February 2021

JamesC01 said:

Hey everyone. I've spotted this guitar: https://www.andertons.co.uk/sigma-sig-00m-15

I like the colour, and the size seems good. But I'm still open to more suggestions. Thanks!

That has a mahogany top. Think twice about that, compared to a spruce top it will be more mellow sounding, not as crisp n clear. Also new mahogany tops take ages to open up

Andy79 · February 2021

Even though my previous comment contradicts my comment about the Statesboro, the Sboro is a better guitar for me

JamesC01 · February 2021

drofluf said:

JamesC01 said:

drofluf said:

I wouldn't worry about durability; not an major issue in the UK and guitars at your price range tend to be fairly solidly built.

Thanks. How about electro-acoustic guitars? Should I avoid them at this price?

Unless you need to plug it in I'd say yes. To meet the budget the manufacturer would have to reduce the cost/quality of the acoustics to accommodate the electrics.

P.S. I wouldn't worry about having to baby a solid wood guitar; in the temperature/humidity ranges we get in the UK (I'm assuming that you're UK based?) it won't change significantly.

Yeah, I looked up a bit more, and it seems that the humidity doesn't change as much as the US, so hopefully it'll be fine. What do you think about the guitar I linked? I plan on using it for a bit of everything I suppose, bit of strumming, bit of fingerstyle etc.

impmann · February 2021

I dispute the comment that all guitars in that price bracket are ply - there are some solid wood guitars around especially secondhand. The Alvarez AF75 I have would be in that bracket - solid woods (spruce/rosewood) and is a lovely instrument.

I also would say not to get bogged down by this notion of all solid woods is best - they don't 'mature' in the same way, but equally some mature by losing top end sparkle. Some like the 'warmth' but not all. Wood isn't consistent by its nature either.

Once germageddon is over, I'd suggest trying a load out in your price range at a decent store. I certainly wouldn't buy blind...

malcolmkindness · February 2021

Neckwringer said:

Recording King for me,mine is excellent.

I agree, in this price bracket very hard to beat.

JamesC01 · February 2021

Thanks for all of the responses! I may go with a Sigma 00m-15, but I've made another post enquiring about the quality of sigma guitars, asking for more opinions on it.

PD1598 · February 2021

I have a Fender CC-60 - it's concert, electro, cutaway, solid top, finish is impeccable, skinny neck, easy to play, can't recommend enough.

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Concert or Parlour steel string for around £200-300? (UK)

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