Recommendations for medium-bodied acoustic please (up to £500)

DartmoorHedgehog · June 2022

My almost-17yo daughter has been using my guitars up to now, which works out fine while we're both living in the same house, but it's about time she had her own. It's her birthday coming up, so we've been talking about getting her an acoustic.

We need to go out and try a few different styles and sizes, but I think she'll be after something bigger-bodied than my parlour but smaller and more comfortable than a dread. She's got quite into doing open mics, so something that suits the solo-singer-with-guitar thing (my parlour works quite well, but sounds better picked and she's more of a strummy player than I am, although she does do some picking as well). I suppose that would be 00 or OM sizes would it?

Anyway, once she's decided what type of guitar she wants, we'll be on the lookout for one, so looking for any recommendations for what's good. No strict budget in mind, but let's say up to £500, but happy to buy second hand. My Tanglewood solid mahogany parlour cost me less than £200* new (reduced because supposedly marked in storage but I never found anything) and I think it's a fantastic bargain (that was quite a few years ago now though), and I've heard lots of good things about Faith guitars, but otherwise I don't really know much about acoustics.

Couple more points: needs to have a pickup (but I think pretty much all acoustics do now apart from the very high-end ones) and purely aesthetically she's not keen on the usual acoustic very light top, so would prefer something that's available with a stain or some other colouring (but I always associate painted acoustics with "cheap" so if that's the case I'm sure she could learn to live with anaemic spruce).

So, over to the forum wisdom... what do you think we should be looking at?

* EDIT - looks like my Tanglewood would cost me £350 now

BigPaulie · June 2022

Peach sell brand new Yamaha LS6 for £479 which is brilliant value. You might get a used LS16 for £500 if you you're lucky.

Mellish · June 2022

Faith Nexus Neptune
Brunswick Grand Auditorium Tobacco Burst

But whatever make or model, try first if you can

PD1598 · June 2022

I'm very fond of my Fender CC60, it's on the cheaper side maybe you'll want to spend more. It's marketed towards the beginner intermediate level I think. It's lovely size, pretty loud, looks good, immaculate thin neck, great plugged in (almost like an electric) available in mahogany or black I think.

munckee · June 2022

I’ve got a guild 140ce om which go for £450 ish second hand. All solid, semi hard case, decent pickup and mine is sunburst.

Not selling mine but great guitars for strumming or picking.

hollywoodrox · June 2022

Sigma seem good , I like their take on the hummingbird but that’s dreadnaught size

DartmoorHedgehog · June 2022

Thanks folks - a few there I hadn't considered. For some reason I hadn't been thinking Yamaha at all, but they seem obvious now they've been mentioned.

The only guild I've played was a 12-string I borrowed for a recording once - was very nice from what I remember. TBH I would have assumed Guild to be out of my price range, so thanks for the mention @munckee ;

@PD1598 - I'm no price snob so if a less-expensive guitar fits the bill that's a good thing. That £500 was really just an arbitrary figure to give an idea of what I'm prepared to spend and avoid people pointlessly suggesting £3000 Martins and the like.

@hollywoodrox I'd forgotten about Sigma - aren't they Martin's "Epiphone equivalent"?

hollywoodrox · June 2022

DartmoorHedgehog said:

Thanks folks - a few there I hadn't considered. For some reason I hadn't been thinking Yamaha at all, but they seem obvious now they've been mentioned.

The only guild I've played was a 12-string I borrowed for a recording once - was very nice from what I remember. TBH I would have assumed Guild to be out of my price range, so thanks for the mention @munckee ;

@PD1598 - I'm no price snob so if a less-expensive guitar fits the bill that's a good thing. That £500 was really just an arbitrary figure to give an idea of what I'm prepared to spend and avoid people pointlessly suggesting £3000 Martins and the like.

@hollywoodrox I'd forgotten about Sigma - aren't they Martin's "Epiphone equivalent"?

They used to be in the 80s and a small part of the very early 90s but are now Chinese made and no attachment to Martin but they seem to be well thought of

bertie · June 2022

used Taylor GS-mini

you'll pick up a good'un for under £500. Nice size and fun (easy) to play and sound pretty good

Mellish · June 2022

A Taylor GS Mini *is* a great guitar @bertie, or the one I tried in PMT was.

Bags more volume than the body size suggested and so easy to play, so a worthy consideration here

Wazmeister · June 2022

I cannot recommend the Guild DS 240 enough. £449 new.

I've always had high end expensive acoustics, and was happily going along with my excellent Atkins The 43. My mate bought the Guild, and I couldn't believe how good it played and felt. I ordered one new day.

Straight out the box is was perfectly set up and in tune.

Sold the 43.

Love the Guild still. Great play and feel, and stays in tune for ever.

DavidR · June 2022

DartmoorHedgehog said:

Thanks folks - a few there I hadn't considered. For some reason I hadn't been thinking Yamaha at all, but they seem obvious now they've been mentioned.

The only guild I've played was a 12-string I borrowed for a recording once - was very nice from what I remember. TBH I would have assumed Guild to be out of my price range, so thanks for the mention @munckee ;

@PD1598 - I'm no price snob so if a less-expensive guitar fits the bill that's a good thing. That £500 was really just an arbitrary figure to give an idea of what I'm prepared to spend and avoid people pointlessly suggesting £3000 Martins and the like.

@hollywoodrox I'd forgotten about Sigma - aren't they Martin's "Epiphone equivalent"?

Yamaha London on Wardour St is a fun visit, although not near to Dartmoor!

The guitars are all downstairs and the staff are jolly people. There are small rooms where they are happy for customers to try out instruments away from other peoples ears. Quite important for student players like your daughter I think. Its easy to get a bit overwhelmed by the buying process when you're young. The LS range has been suggested but the FS guitars might be more in your price range. In Yamaha terminology S equates to Concert size/Martin 0 size instruments so smaller than Yamaha marques with G in which are dreadnought sized and L which are Jumbos - but any shop (and you!) will help with all this and your daughter can try them all out to see which suit. Good Luck.

DartmoorHedgehog · June 2022

More good suggestions, thanks. I think London's a bit too much of a trek, but Exeter has a few decent music shops left where we can try a few out. Or possibly even Bristol. She's a pretty confident performer so I don't think she'll worry about people being around.

BigPaulie · June 2022

Wazmeister said:

I cannot recommend the Guild DS 240 enough. £449 new.

I've always had high end expensive acoustics, and was happily going along with my excellent Atkins The 43. My mate bought the Guild, and I couldn't believe how good it played and felt. I ordered one new day.

Straight out the box is was perfectly set up and in tune.

Sold the 43.

Love the Guild still. Great play and feel, and stays in tune for ever.

Wish they did a DS-140.

Tannin · June 2022

DartmoorHedgehog said:

The only guild I've played was a 12-string I borrowed for a recording once - was very nice from what I remember. TBH I would have assumed Guild to be out of my price range,

@hollywoodrox I'd forgotten about Sigma - aren't they Martin's "Epiphone equivalent"?

Guilds ain't Guilds these days. There are two completely different sorts of Guild guitar. The ones to have are made in the USA and superb, the best-made (and in my book also the best-sounding) guitars America makes outside of boutique brands like Collings. However, they are priced to match - think £2000 to £4000. The other Guilds are made-in-China cheapies starting around £400. My impression (and it's just an impression, I haven't gone out of my way to try many in the way I have with the US-made ones) is that they are among the better examples of their kind. Guild these days is part of Cordoba, the American-owned, Chinese-operated classical guitar company, and seems to be thriving under their management.

Sigma hasn't had anything to do with Martin for more than 15 years. Sigma started in 1970 as Martin's cheaper offshore brand, but made in Japan where quality is a way of life. The brand rapidly became well respected. However, Martin kept trying to cut costs, eventually shifting production to South Korea, then again to Taiwan, and finally to Indonesia. They couldn't find anywhere even cheaper than Indonesia, so in 2007 they closed it up.

The brand resurfaced when a German company bought the name and started importing guitars from China under the Sigma brand. They are still doing that. Yes, they are guitars from the usual Chinese factories with the usual opaque timber sourcing and labour practices, but many people regard them as among the better examples of their kind. The ones I've played (only a handful) have been consistent with that view.

OK, enough obscure detail you don't need to know. What to buy for your daughter? As always, you have to play them. But one make I would look at for sure would be Dowina.

Kilgore · June 2022

There is a vast choice available at this price point. All the brands mentioned so far are excellent options.

The majority will be solid top and laminate back and sides. The vast majority will probably be far Eastern made.

A non natural/burst finish, etc will reduce choice somewhat.

Second hand will probably get you an all solid guitar, but beware of over priced used models.

You could buy an acoustic and have an aftermarket pickup installed. I realise this is complicating the process, but IMO you'll probably end up with a "better" guitar overall.

If you're not confident about doing it yourself, factor in money for a set up. Nut, saddle, frets, etc.

Youtube is OK for demos/reviews (with the usual caveats). The rule of thumb (if possible) is of course, try before you buy.

Sorry for not being specific in terms of brands and models, etc but the choice and overall quality at this price point is generally quite consistent.

equalsql · June 2022

A used solid wood Walden is definitely worth considering. Incredible guitars for the money with very slim necks which are stabilised with carbon fibre rods. I've owned a Walden Supranatura for 16 years and am very happy with it.
This model on ebay is definitely worth considering:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Walden-Concorda-CG2010-Acoustic-Guitar-Walden-Hard-Case-Immaculate-Cond/134148907008?hash=item1f3be5e000:g:KEIAAOSwa85iaY8O&pageci=b00a9962-e40b-4275-9f10-ea4b4669fa2e&redirect=mobile

bertie · June 2022

DartmoorHedgehog said:

More good suggestions, thanks. I think London's a bit too much of a trek, but Exeter has a few decent music shops left where we can try a few out. Or possibly even Bristol. She's a pretty confident performer so I don't think she'll worry about people being around.

Mansons had a reasonably good acoustic room last time I was there, not sure if Project M are still requiring "pre booking"

ICBM · June 2022

If she doesn't want a "light" top, I would highly recommend one of the mahogany-top Guilds - they do a small-bodied one with a pickup system that's sort-of within your budget - the M-120E.

I think it may be discontinued now but there are bargains around...

https://www.guitar.co.uk/guild-m120e-electro-acoustic-guitar

They're not as dull-looking in reality as some of the catalogue photos make it look - the mahogany grain figure is quite light-dependent so it has a bit of 'sparkle' to it as you move it around.

DartmoorHedgehog · June 2022

Thanks again people. I realise £500 doesn't get anything posh these days (and is considered cheap by many) so perhaps it's true that everything at that price is going to be made in the same few factories and just "badge-engineered". Still good to hear suggestions though - I'm sure some must be better than others.

ICBM said:

If she doesn't want a "light" top, I would highly recommend one of the mahogany-top Guilds - they do a small-bodied one with a pickup system that's sort-of within your budget - the M-120E.

My mahogany Tanglewood looks quite nice IMO (although a bit '70s furniture) - and it's all solid wood and didn't cost me much. I'm sure there's some hope of finding something nice for £500ish. As I said, that's not a strict budget - but, apart from not wanting to spend a fortune, she's likely to be living in a student house in a year or so, so probably best not to have anything too valuable!
I'm sure she could learn to live with a light-coloured top if a guitar she likes doesn't come in any other finish.

bertie · June 2022

DartmoorHedgehog said:

she's likely to be living in a student house in a year or so, so probably best not to have anything too valuable!
I'm sure she could learn to live with a light-coloured top if a guitar she likes doesn't come in any other finish.

then get her an old Eko, it can double up as a table, or should things escalate in eastern europe, an air-raid shelter

earwighoney · June 2022

I've played/own the majority of brands mentioned on this thread, Yamaha, MIC Guild, Recording King, played a number of Sigma, they are the same quality as RK.

FWIW I think the Adirondack RK could be the best sounding guitar under £500 (no pickup though), with the widest nut of them all, which might not suit everyone. Thomann have a few all solid RK's around £350, they have pickups too.

Like ICBM I like the all Mahogany Guilds, I have played a number of them, superb guitars. But, the laminate back Guilds are actually traditional, some of their old American models had arched laminate backs. They have a model which is their take on the GS Mini.

The Yamaha LS6 has the deepest body of the ones mentioned here which could be an issue for playing seated down, but I think it's on paper as good as it gets. It has a 5 piece neck so it should be rock solid for playing gigs. I played a few at the Yamaha shop in London and thought it was an excellent guitar.

If she's going to be in a student house soon, I'd factor in a good case as well (just go for a Hiscox, expensive in the short term but not in the long run!), tell her to keep the guitar in the case when she's not playing it and it should be ok.

DartmoorHedgehog · June 2022

earwighoney said:

If she's going to be in a student house soon, I'd factor in a good case as well (just go for a Hiscox, expensive in the short term but not in the long run!), tell her to keep the guitar in the case when she's not playing it and it should be ok.

Case goes without question! I find it bizarre that new guitars are sold without cases - although I play a lot of guitar these days, I'm originally a wind player, and if a shop sold somebody a clarinet/sax/flute and just handed it to them bare they'd get it straight back! But with a guitar it seems to be OK.

RK is another make that wasn't in my mind, so thanks for adding that to the list. We'll see what there is available to try when we make a trip to the shops.

Tannin · June 2022

earwighoney said:

FWIW I think the Adirondack RK would be the best sounding guitar under £500 (no pickup though), with the widest nut of them all, which might not suit everyone.

This must be a different model - I tried to look it up and it was specced for a 43mm nut, narrow for an acoustic. I probably didn't look hard enough at the different models.

I would be careful about buying a guitar with a Red Spruce ("Adirondack") top, @DartmoorHedgehog ; It can sound great and there is nothing else quite like it, but they tend to be quite a handful and take a lot of control to get a good consistent sound out of. Red Spruce is the 17-hand thoroughbred of top woods - great fun but only if you can stay in the saddle! You will know your daughter's playing and be able to make a judgement. I know it took me the best part of a year to get a proper handle on my Red Spruce Guild - which now that I've finally found the right strings for it and figured out how to drive it, has turned into a blues monster.

DartmoorHedgehog · June 2022

Tannin said:

I would be careful about buying a guitar with a Red Spruce ("Adirondack") top, @DartmoorHedgehog ; It can sound great and there is nothing else quite like it, but they tend to be quite a handful and take a lot of control to get a good consistent sound out of.

How do you mean? Loud with lots of dynamic range so it's harder to get consistent strumming/picking volume (without cheating and using a compressor live)?

sev112 · June 2022

I was in the same boat (including the non-pale top) as the OP a year ago with daughter’s 18th birthday coming up, and she’d been playing my big old fender f3. So I went to Andertons and spent a couple of hours trying out all sorts. The one that I got which blew everything away by miles was the Taylor GS mini. And she loves it, and it is a really good size for her.

the one that I thought was a really good surprise was the Alvarez range, lots of volume , nice non-plain tops, and pickups.

earwighoney · June 2022

Tannin said:

This must be a different model - I tried to look it up and it was specced for a 43mm nut, narrow for an acoustic. I probably didn't look hard enough at the different models.

This is the model I had in mind, about £500 or so in the UK. It sounds great as well.

https://www.recordingking.com/ro318

Website says 1 3/4" (ie 44.5"), but according to a few online it is a touch larger, I think around 45.5mm. My RK has an advertised nut width of 1 11/16" (ie 42.8mm), but in reality it's 43.5mm if my memory serves me right. I'd recommend this model instead (and it's £330 or so from Thomann, even in the budget for a Hiscox case and keep in under £500). also has

I agree with your observations about a Red Spruce/Adirondack soundboard. I have one guitar with it and I find it handful to manage.

DartmoorHedgehog said:
How do you mean? Loud with lots of dynamic range so it's harder to get consistent strumming/picking volume (without cheating and using a compressor live)?

Yeah exactly, works well for strumming.

DavidR · June 2022

DartmoorHedgehog said:

Thanks again people. I realise £500 doesn't get anything posh these days (and is considered cheap by many)

No not really. £500 is quite a reasonable budget. You should expect to get a very decent student instrument + electrics for that. This is the low end of mid-price. As others have said, the mid-price point market is full of nice guitars.

e.g. I've just bought an all-mahogany unamplified 00 sized guitar for £220 and I'm quite pleased with it!

Hate to say it but its all about shopping! :-)

earwighoney · June 2022

DavidR said:

DartmoorHedgehog said:

Thanks again people. I realise £500 doesn't get anything posh these days (and is considered cheap by many)

No not really. £500 is quite a reasonable budget. You should expect to get a very decent student instrument + electrics for that. This is the low end of mid-price. As others have said, the mid-price point market is full of nice guitars.

e.g. I've just bought an all-mahogany unamplified 00 sized guitar for £220 and I'm quite pleased with it!

Hate to say it but its all about shopping! :-)

What is the 00? Is it one of the new all solid Harley Bentons?

DavidR · June 2022

Vintage V300MH. I did a review of it which should be here somewhere. Yummy guitar.

Dave_Mc · June 2022

Tannin said:

As always, you have to play them. But one make I would look at for sure would be Dowina.

Yeah they're bound to be worth a look. I caved and got one. DV247/MusicStore has an exclusive model (I checked this with Dowina) called the Albalonga. It's handmade in Slovakia, an all-solid grand auditorium Cedar top (it's not sunburst or anything like that, but it's not just as pale as brand new spruce) with African Mahogany back, sides and neck for £631 (actually I had a voucher MusicStore emailed out which saved me a tenner, but it's expired now

). The African Mahogany is arguably an upgrade on the Sapele they usually use for their cheapest all-solid model, and it's actually cheaper than their cheapest non-exclusive all-solid model (the Sauvignon; it has a different name in the UK which I'm struggling to find!)- DV247/MusicStore also sells the Sauvignon for £631 as well, but it's the non-cutaway/non-electric model- the cutaway/electric version is £799 so almost £200 more for (arguably!) a worse spec! (Bear in mind, there are cheaper laminate back and sides Dowinas with names like Danubius, Puella, and Marris.)

The cosmetics are a little plainer on the Albalonga (but still look good, at least to my eyes); also mine has a couple of bits which are actually plainer than the pictures on the DV247 site (mine doesn't have the binding line down the middle of the back, and doesn't have the stamped "D" logo on the heel cap). However, that obviously doesn't make it a worse guitar, but more importantly (and also different from the published spec), mine has Grover tuners. The official spec for the Albalonga (and the Sauvignon!) is for Dowina-branded generic tuners, you have to go up to the Chardonnay to get the Grover tuners. Now, whether I got lucky and only mine has Grovers (to be clear, mine is the only Dowina I've tried, I had to buy online without trying), or whether they've upgraded to Grovers across the board, I don't know, but I was very pleasantly surprised! (Of course, the Dowina-branded generic tuners may well have been fine.)

It's really, really nice. The setup on it is killer- there was a certificate with it to say that MusicStore had checked it before it was sent out (to clarify- I bought from DV247 in the UK but it was sent from MusicStore in Germany)- whether they did, whether Dowina did a killer setup on it from the factory, or both, I don't know, but whatever happened, it worked! It was perfect out of the box, and feels genuinely "new" (not a mark on it; it doesn't feel like it's been on a wall at a guitar shop or anything like that). It's got a really nice low action (one of the things I'm worried about with acoustics is the action) and also sounds awesome as well. It sounds really "alive", for want of a better word, and very bright and clear. It's probably more towards the more modern type of tonality like Taylor I would say. To be clear, I'm not that well up on acoustics, I'm an electric player and it's several years since I've tried a Taylor- I'm not saying it sounds "exactly like a Taylor", I'm just saying I think the tonality is more modern.

The only real downside is you're limited to one body shape and one wood combination at that price. But if you're ok with a Grand Auditorium shape- from what you've said, that shape sounds like it might suit your daughter, the GA shape to me (and my sister) seems to be a good all-rounder, not too small, not too big- then that doesn't matter. I think it compares pretty well value/pricewise to things my sister and I were trying about 3 years ago when she was looking for an acoustic, and back then prices were far better! My sister went with a Faith HiGloss Venus (also grand auditorium) with Englemann Spruce top and Rosewood back and sides. I wouldn't say the Dowina is better than that (it's different, really), but we did try a bunch of Faiths and picked the best one. Not all of them were as nice, and also that one is a bit of a higher end model, at current prices it's about £900 (we paid more like £700 about 3-4 years ago, plus you got a 2-piece back back then). I'd definitely take the Dowina over the Faith Naked Series, which is around £400-£500 (bar coming across a really good deal) these days. And I really like Faiths, to be clear. (I was a bit sickened I kind of missed the boat with Furches, as they've gone up about £300 since I originally tried them, but now I've got the Dowina I don't really care so much- I like it as least as much as the Furches I've tried, and I think my sister much prefers it!)

I've seen some comments saying that at your budget you're stuck to the usual far-Eastern factories, and will probably have to factor in a setup and maybe even the expense of adding electronics. And maybe even have to settle for laminate back and sides. I know the Albalonga is about £130 over budget (and you probably can't try it first), but with it (at least if mine were anything to go by) none of those things are true.

If you/she can't stretch to it, or would rather get something you can try first, then I do really like the Faiths, as I said (and they have some non-pale models too). The all-solid Guilds look interesting too, but I haven't tried them.

(Sorry for the massive post, I sort of had to explain what the Dowina was considering it's a non-standard model etc..)

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Recommendations for medium-bodied acoustic please (up to £500)

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