Buying advice needed for acoustic noob

chris_john · November 2022

Dave_Mc said:

sev112 said:

Or Dowina from same geographical region as Furch. Great prices at the moment. They will both no doubt be going up in price.

They've already started going up, unfortunately. (The Dowinas, I mean. The Furches have already gone up a fair bit over the last few years.) Dowinas usually have wider nuts, as do Furch, but I think both have the option of narrower nuts- but both Dowina and Furch may be hard to come by in South Korea.

Dowina is non-exsitent in SK, but there a few dealers with limited stock of Furch. The price for a new Furch Blue GG-Cm is around £1000. How does that compare to the UK now?

drofluf · November 2022

@chris_john assume you mean Gc rather than GG? If so looks to be on a par with UK prices.

bertie · November 2022

@goldtop ; - any use ? its on one of the guitar selling pages on FBook

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/678622930272298/?media_id=2&ref=share_attachment

goldtop · November 2022

bertie said:

@goldtop ; - any use ? its on one of the guitar selling pages on FBook

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/678622930272298/?media_id=2&ref=share_attachment

Hmmm - "Grand Auditorium shape" I need to check that, but I think that's larger than I want. I've been looking in the OM/000/GC size range.

Certainly affordable, though.

(And apologies to the OP for hijacking his thread!)

TheMadMick · November 2022

bertie said:

@goldtop ; - any use ? its on one of the guitar selling pages on FBook

https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/678622930272298/?media_id=2&ref=share_attachment

That's a steal at £750.00. Cedar on hog is also a great combination. I'd like to play it if I was truly wanting to buy or get a sale or return agreement with the vendor.

Soupman · November 2022

@TheMadMick I see there was an option of a hard case for £40 too. You'd have trouble getting a decent gig bag for that. It'd be worth a look if I was in the market....Get thee behind me Satan!

Dave_Mc · November 2022

chris_john said:

Dave_Mc said:

sev112 said:

Or Dowina from same geographical region as Furch. Great prices at the moment. They will both no doubt be going up in price.

They've already started going up, unfortunately. (The Dowinas, I mean. The Furches have already gone up a fair bit over the last few years.) Dowinas usually have wider nuts, as do Furch, but I think both have the option of narrower nuts- but both Dowina and Furch may be hard to come by in South Korea.

Dowina is non-exsitent in SK, but there a few dealers with limited stock of Furch. The price for a new Furch Blue GG-Cm is around £1000. How does that compare to the UK now?

I think that's more or less on par with UK prices as @drofluf said. You might be able to get one very slightly cheaper here if you shop around etc., but there's not going to be much in it, I don't think. Not that long ago they were about £800 here, and maybe 3-4 years ago they were £600 (admittedly those were maybe the non-cutaway versions which are slightly cheaper).

I haven't tried them, but the very newest version of the Violet is now all-solid- you have to be careful it's the really new ones, as this only happened a few months ago as before that they were laminate back and sides. You seem to be able to get them for £800-£850 here or on Thomann.

guitarjack66 · November 2022

chris_john said:

That’s some good advice so far. Pretty useful to have specific brands I can look into, so many thanks. Unless I find an amazing deal on a famous American model, I’ll definitely look into the smaller companies.

Never discount Yamaha either.

TTony · November 2022

The best recommendation is really to forget the name on the headstock, and just play as many as you can.

If you can play lots in the same shop, that'll help with the A/B comparison. If they're in different shops, then the environment variables can affect your impression of the instrument. With that sort of budget, the shop should take you seriously too and give you the time/space to decide.

It's so much harder to "mod" an acoustic compared to an electric. Yes, a set-up can address the action, but other aspects of feel and sound are really a fixed and not-moddable part of the instrument (although sound will change as you play it in and the woods mature a bit). Hence the need to play it and feel it.

Smellyfingers · November 2022

TTony said:

The best recommendation is really to forget the name on the headstock, and just play as many as you can.

If you can play lots in the same shop, that'll help with the A/B comparison. If they're in different shops, then the environment variables can affect your impression of the instrument. With that sort of budget, the shop should take you seriously too and give you the time/space to decide.

It's so much harder to "mod" an acoustic compared to an electric. Yes, a set-up can address the action, but other aspects of feel and sound are really a fixed and not-moddable part of the instrument (although sound will change as you play it in and the woods mature a bit). Hence the need to play it and feel it.

This gels with my experience. The only thing I would add is any try out of multiple guitars maybe should include a Martin. Rightly or wrongly it is still viewed as such as a standard, that if I hadn’t tried out my guitar, a Furch, next to a Martin I would have been left thinking I might have bought something fakery like Pepsi instead of Coca Cola or something.

Creed_Clicks · November 2022

I would be curious to try out Guilds in the future.

TheMadMick · November 2022

Pepsi's not that bad especially with a large dose of white rum in it. Jameson (I think) used to distill a white rum branded Kiskidee. I've drunk quite a bit of it in the dim and distant past with Pepsi.

CharlieShaw · November 2022

What have the poor luthiers at Eastman done to deserve a boycott? Think I’ll boycott Taylor, Fender, Martin and Gibson if Trump gets in again.

Dave_Mc · November 2022

Smellyfingers said:

TTony said:

The best recommendation is really to forget the name on the headstock, and just play as many as you can.

If you can play lots in the same shop, that'll help with the A/B comparison. If they're in different shops, then the environment variables can affect your impression of the instrument. With that sort of budget, the shop should take you seriously too and give you the time/space to decide.

It's so much harder to "mod" an acoustic compared to an electric. Yes, a set-up can address the action, but other aspects of feel and sound are really a fixed and not-moddable part of the instrument (although sound will change as you play it in and the woods mature a bit). Hence the need to play it and feel it.

This gels with my experience. The only thing I would add is any try out of multiple guitars maybe should include a Martin. Rightly or wrongly it is still viewed as such as a standard, that if I hadn’t tried out my guitar, a Furch, next to a Martin I would have been left thinking I might have bought something fakery like Pepsi instead of Coca Cola or something.

Yeah agreed (this applies to electrics and probably basses as well). A lot of people say (and I'd tend to agree) that if you've got your heart set on one of the big names, that the only thing that will scratch that itch is getting the big name. Actually, there's one other thing which will, too- what you said, trying out the big name against one of its competitors and preferring the competitor! But you do kind of have to get there yourself, because I agree that listening to someone else's opinion won't really do it (and it shouldn't, because it's your guitar, not theirs!).

I'd also agree that acoustics are a lot harder to mod. There's a lot more you can do to an electric.

chris_john · November 2022

Well, I ended up buying a Furch Blue OMC-CM. I am really pleased with it. It looks and feels very well-constructed, and has a surprisingly big sound for a smaller guitar. Now, I am just getting used to the technique side of acoustic playing, after years of electric guitar. Thanks for the tips, though!

Tannin · November 2022

Smellyfingers said:

This gels with my experience. The only thing I would add is any try out of multiple guitars maybe should include a Martin. Rightly or wrongly it is still viewed as such as a standard, that if I hadn’t tried out my guitar, a Furch, next to a Martin I would have been left thinking I might have bought something fakery like Pepsi instead of Coca Cola or something.

I agree with this. I don't think Martin guitars are special (other than insofar as they are very good instruments with their own sound, which is equally true of many other makes), but they are so revered in many circles that you'll always be looking over your shoulder and wondering.

I used to make a point of trying out Martins (and Gibsons too) when guitar shopping for this very reason.

I don't anymore simply because I have played enough of them (and enough other makes) to know what I like about them and know how they compare with other popular makes. I could buy a Furch or a Yamaha tomorrow and not need to try a Martin (or a Gibson) in order to make my own judgement. But unless you are an old recidivist serial guitar-buyer like me, checking out Martin is good advice.

Shadow · November 2022

chris_john said:

Well, I ended up buying a Furch Blue OMC-CM. I am really pleased with it. It looks and feels very well-constructed, and has a surprisingly big sound for a smaller guitar. Now, I am just getting used to the technique side of acoustic playing, after years of electric guitar. Thanks for the tips, though!

That's a great choice. I bought one myself about three months ago. I tried a few other similar sized guitars in the same woods but the full sound of the Furch really stood out.

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Buying advice needed for acoustic noob

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