Beginner's guitar

[Gunbucker]

Check out Maestro and Yamaha.

When it comes to acoustic guitars, there's basically two school of tones. One is with Rosewood (or its more affordable variants) bodies, and the other Mahogany. Rosewood is good for finger-style due to its nice mellow tones, where Mahogany excels at flatpicking, loud and in your face.

As to the top, the traditional Spruce top is fine. At this stage, let's not get too fancy.

In fact, the people at the Maestro store or very knowledgeable and helpful. They are at the basement of Excelsior hotel (opposite Peninsula Plaza).

 

[Denosha]

Takamine. As with most brands they have stuff ranging from cheap to really expensive. This semi-acoustic (has passive pickups and pre-amp that allows it to be plugged into an amp for sound reinforcement) one that i bought like 8-9 years ago for around $600+ sounds good (esp for the price) and the hardware is pretty solid (rarely goes out of tune). You should be able to get a "similar" non-semi-acoustic version for around 300 or less I suppose?

 

[lsisaxon]

I want a guitar that sounds more natural.. something with a clear sound.. not bass bloomy or too bright sounding.. (If you know about headphones, I want the Beyers, not the Grados nor the Seinheissers nor the Sonys :bsmilie Definitely something as full sounding as possible (within my budget).

But Beyer is not really flat... there is a slight dip around 400Hz-2kHz range.. Sony Studio Monitor is flat.

An easier way is just to run the guitar through an EQ. ;p

 

[IfourDesign]

go get a fender beb.

swee lee selling one at $200+ for a semi-acoustic one.
rich tones, great bass. plus you can plug it in the amp if you want too.

haha. its at brass basah rd.

 

[Lolrence]

But Beyer is not really flat... there is a slight dip around 400Hz-2kHz range.. Sony Studio Monitor is flat.

An easier way is just to run the guitar through an EQ. ;p

I have a Beyer DT880, and it's the most natural sounding HP I've listened to.. It's not really flat, but it's natural sounding..

 

[Lolrence]

So many new recommendations coming in.. lol. Anyway, I'll be going out with my friend to check out guitars this weekend.. I agree that I'll have to test them out to find the sound signature I like.. anyway, thanks all for the advices =)

 

[lsisaxon]

I have a Beyer DT880, and it's the most natural sounding HP I've listened to.. It's not really flat, but it's natural sounding..

Yeah.. that means that there is a chance that it may not sound good with certain genres of music. There are a lot of natural sounding headphones out there but many are inadequate to be considered as studio monitors.

Good luck with hunting for your guitar.

 

[since63]

I'm looking for a guitar is the 200-300 price range.. my friend recommended the Fina FAW 3150, (I know of someone who's selling a 2nd hand one, which I guess should be better cause the sound would have opened up?) and another recommended me a Maestro (not sure which model.. heard that their QC is bad though..).. I don't have prev. experience in guitars (not even playing it), but need one cause I'm starting lessons in a few weeks time.. any comments on those 2 brands, or other good recommendations?

The Fina 3150 is a very good guitar for that budget. Have tried a lot of guitars that's of similar budget and those that are more expensive like the Big Baby Taylor, Corts and Ibanez before settling on this.

TRy out as many as you can before buying. Do try those that are outside your budget, as this will help you understand the value of the guitar you'll be choosing.

 

[Lolrence]

The Fina 3150 is a very good guitar for that budget. Have tried a lot of guitars that's of similar budget and those that are more expensive like the Big Baby Taylor, Corts and Ibanez before settling on this.

TRy out as many as you can before buying. Do try those that are outside your budget, as this will help you understand the value of the guitar you'll be choosing.

I went to try out the Fina just now.. but I noticed that the top is laminated.. Hmm.. I've been hearing from people that it's suppose to be a solid top..

 

[Lolrence]

Ok... I need more opinions. Haha.

I went to test out (or rather, the shop owners played the guitar for me) today, (sinse my friend coundn't make it) I found that I like the brighter sounding guitars. So for me, the Johnson, Ibanez and Cort is out.

I didn't really get to try out the J&D guitars, but noticed that they have a laminated top.. :think:

Also noticed that the guitars don't have a very full sound.. is my $300 budget too low??? :bsmilie:

The Fina sounds good.. but I need confirmation why is a laminated top and not a solid top like what I've heard from pple? :think:

 

[Denosha]

You might want to try Takamine then. I find the sound quite bright. Not really into acoustic guitars though, so i'm probably not the best judge. Hur hur.

 

[Barrios]

Take up classical guitar lessons. It's good foundation for other genre, especially fingering style.

True. I took up classical training for 3 years but eventually gave up due to work. It really benefits the player in any genre of guitar playing outside classical. I was so crazy about classical guitaring that I got myself a 1993 John Hall (Australian) lattice brace. It's a white elephant now. :bsmilie:

 

[since63]

I went to try out the Fina just now.. but I noticed that the top is laminated.. Hmm.. I've been hearing from people that it's suppose to be a solid top..

Mine is a solid spruce top. HEre's the link to the Fina 3150c "http://www.davisguitar.com/flash/DavisGuitar.htm"

Fina has a diverse range of models and some of the other models is laminated!

 

[psychobiologist]

True. I took up classical training for 3 years but eventually gave up due to work. It really benefits the player in any genre of guitar playing outside classical. I was so crazy about classical guitaring that I got myself a 1993 John Hall (Australian) lattice brace. It's a white elephant now. :bsmilie:

i see that you play augustine barrios :bsmilie:

how much did you pay for the john hall? i've been drooling at greg smallsmith, but unable to afford ;p

 

[Lolrence]

Mine is a solid spruce top. HEre's the link to the Fina 3150c "http://www.davisguitar.com/flash/DavisGuitar.htm"

Fina has a diverse range of models and some of the other models is laminated!

Haha thanks! I think I've mistaken the finishing as lamination. :bsmilie:

Anyway, I've narrowed down to the Fina 3150 and the 1216.. I've not tried playing the 1216, but just from a strum at the 1216, I hear a fuller sound from it than the 3150.. now I don't know which I should go for :bsmilie: $70+ difference..

Heard alot of the sound from the other guitars.. really CMI.. I think having listened to guitars on good headphones have affected my judgement (Have to raise budget). :bsmilie:

 

[since63]

Haha thanks! I think I've mistaken the finishing as lamination. :bsmilie:

Anyway, I've narrowed down to the Fina 3150 and the 1216.. I've not tried playing the 1216, but just from a strum at the 1216, I hear a fuller sound from it than the 3150.. now I don't know which I should go for :bsmilie: $70+ difference..

Heard alot of the sound from the other guitars.. really CMI.. I think having listened to guitars on good headphones have affected my judgement (Have to raise budget). :bsmilie:

The 1216 is solid cedar top and it produces a different sound from the 3150. IMHO both are nice. As I had set a lower budget, I went for the 3150.

Do note that after acquiring the guitar, the strings can be change to make the sound brighter or more mellow. Have fun.