Acoustic guitar recommendations?

J

Jay Miller

Jay Miller
We had narrowed it down to 2 watches for Arnold to buy his father for his birthday. He showed the pictures to his mother to get her opinion and she said she thought he'd prefer a guitar.

Apparently he plays guitar but doesn't have one in the US. Any suggestions? Arnold says he has a Yamaha back home but neither of us know anything about guitars.

Maximum of $1000 budget, it doesn't have to be that expensive if there's something good for less. I know nothing about this, absolutely nothing.

TIA

Jay
 
Martin Guitars are great. They make them at a variety of price points, they have great timbre, and they are wonderful with repairs and customer service!
 
Arnold says largely contemporary church music.

He'll ask his father about the strings, I didn't even know there were different kinds.

I've now had ovet a dozen different brands recommended by people . Though one person did say to avoid the less expensive Martin guitars (I.e. The ones in this price range)
 
It doesn't really matter if the recipient is a learner or an experienced player, you could spend a half hour on the phone with the Guitar Disorderlies at Elderly or Gruhn, and they will find a good option in your price range and have it to your door in few days. Worst case, you'll get some good advice and know more about the possibilities.
 
One other thing about musical instruments: even across a specific make and model, they sound and feel different. A lot of musicians develop strong preferences about what they like. Buying an instrument for someone beyond the beginner or maybe intermediate level can be a gamble if the recipient doesn't have a hand in the selection.
 
So let's approach this a different way.

Can anyone recommend a good guitar store with good saleshelp in the NYC area?
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
And Jay, if he's going to be carrying the instrument around to church be sure to get one that includes a sturdy case.
Click to expand...

Even though a sturdy case is, appropriately, a cross to bear.
 
There are so many options in this category, it can get very confusing very quickly. So here are three ideas from my luthier friends, all well within the budget:

Epiphone makes some very nice instruments under the "Masterbilt" name.

I'd also take a look at guitars by Taylor.

Finally, Breedlove. Several of the guys think the high-end guitars are just not worth the money, but the Pursuit line will still give you a very good, very playable instrument for less than a grand.

I own an Epiphone Masterbilt. Years ago, I went to the Guitar Center in Greenville, SC and played every acoustic they had, including some Martin and Gibson products with very fancy pricetags, but the Epiphone sounded great, played well, and I think it ended up around $650 with case.

Elderly is a good place to shop. I don't know anything about Gruhn, it looks like they have a lot of cool stuff, but kinda pricey.

And now that I've read Jay's last post, forget all of this and just get thee to Staten Island and Mandolin Brothers. For professional players and collectors, the place is unbelievable. But they'll sell you a nice acoustic in your price range. Great guys.
 
And now that I've read Jay's last post, forget all of this and just get thee to Staten Island and Mandolin Brothers. For professional players and collectors, the place is unbelievable. But they'll sell you a nice acoustic in your price range. Great guys.
Click to expand...

Thank you David!

This is about 5 minutes from Arnold's house so I think it's the way to go.

Turns out I was asking the wrong question, so thank you Steve and Steve!
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
And now that I've read Jay's last post, forget all of this and just get thee to Staten Island and Mandolin Brothers. For professional players and collectors, the place is unbelievable. But they'll sell you a nice acoustic in your price range. Great guys.
Click to expand...

Thank you David!

This is about 5 minutes from Arnold's house so I think it's the way to go.

Turns out I was asking the wrong question, so thank you Steve and Steve!
Click to expand...

I shudder to think what my economic status would be if I lived 5 minutes from Mandolin Brothers.
 
originally posted by Steve Edmunds:
it's a good thing to have a guitar in your hands and play it a bit before deciding whether or not to take it home to keep
Click to expand...

This has always been the central dilemma of giving a stringed instrument as a gift.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top