khorn58 Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 For cheap guitars your better of buying a good used one. better if it a few years old, as by than most of the wood has done is thing and should hold up ok. I had the same problem last winter with my daughter. except shes a lefty which really limits the choice. c. I tried to get her to play righty as I have a few. My first choice for her was a old lefty fender Mustang but dam they are rare and not cheap. To bad fender dos'nt re reishe them as with the smaller scale neck they play like butter. Was gfoing to buy a big baby talyor but had to order it. I must have play 20 good sub 200 guitars that all pledy well At guitar center but all were righty. Well in the end I found a nice mint used Gibson epiphone left hand thin body Acoustic with built in pickup.She was in love. My choice for good cheap guitars Yamaha red lable fg75. Geat tone built like a tank. I used to keep on in my trunk for years ,it even went back packing for a week in the rain. still play great. Any martin thats cheap even if it plays bad it can be fixed but there never cheap. Gibson new epiphone line. Baby taylors no name gutars that play and sound good, But make shure there old as new one can driff out of tone and palyablity. Olvations did I say yamaha any pre 1960 lespaul, fender strat. Just go to any big guitar store and play them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m00n Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 ---------------- On 12/10/2004 2:57:42 PM Klipsch RF7 wrote: ---------------- Oh yeah... Great taste! George is one of the best hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Robinson Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Kerry, first, you need to get a new keyboard or get your "e" key fixed The piece about the daughter that we don't know is what her development level is ... Putting a novice on a solid body is not helpful. IMHO, it is better to start on a steel string acoustic to develop hand position and tone before plopping a newbie in an electric (low-action) rig. With all my kids, they started with acoustics. Kind of like driving a car. If you can drive a stick, you can drive an automatic. If you can play an acoustic, you can play an electric. The big diff, IMHO, is folks tend to play an electric like an acoustic, i.e., too much playing. Electrics are for musical accents; you have to pick your rhythms, your entry/exit points, and less is more, in general. I think I confused everybody now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Takamine could quite possibly be the best for your money. Or a classic Gibson used and beat up on ebay, but it may be a super duper good investment or the biggest risk depending on what you spent for it. Look into Godin also. One thing if buying on ebay ask if they will set the guitar up if you win the auction, and ask if they are a music store. Many are guitar shops that sell on there and are really good people. Many are not too. But I have had alot of people say they would set it up with the gauge strings I wanted and set the action. Your basic setup that my tech would charge 40 for, but I always get a new pickup installed when I do it. I may get an acoustic also. My last one was a takamine and it was pretty nice and it had a really nice case. It sounded really good plugged in. It's not hard at all to get a really good deal on ebay. It's a matter of having patience and alot of emailing to see if they know anything. Never buy from a pawn shop or someone selling for someone. Or anyone that knows nothing about guitars. I have seen some remarkable deals on martins. Another one to consider is Carvin brand new. I never played one but I hear the action on them are really low. A guitar is going to play easier with lower action and a smaller string guage for sure. It will be like butter with the extra light strings. Guitar World just came out with their buyers guide, and it would be a great reference point to check out different brands that you may never heard of. If you don't want to spend alot a takamine is a pretty good deal. Sweetwater.com deal with alot of high end studio equipment and they sell guitars setup for you perfectly before they are shipped. And checked over so they are flawless. Talk about service. Service like no other. If you go to a Guitar Center and check them out in person. Make sure you grab the neck and wrap your hand all the way around the neck and carefully slide your wrist down the neck with not alot of pressure. If the frets scrape you don't buy it. It's junk and be carefull it could cut you but a nicely built guitar will be smooth without the jagged fret edge. Very annoying and common in the price range your looking at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnellis Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Fini- Get that D28 fixed ASAP. Earlier Martins are notorious for having the standard pick guard "pull". Unfortunatley, what usually happens is a crack will develope between the bridge and the pick guard. Once that happens, you are sh*t out of luck. Yes, you can have it repaired but the crack will always remain. I have three earlier Martins as well and I have replaced the stupid pick guard on each and every one of them. Fortunately I had them replaced before a crack developed. Martin glued the pick guard directly to the wood prior to varnishing and this was a design flaw for obvious reasons. It has since been remedied. Go to an authorized Martin repair shop and have it replaced. Shouldn't be more than $75.00 to $100.00 and it will by no means damage the value or integrity of the guitar. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Man, for people who are such strong opponents of Best Buy for "Wal-Mart-izing" audio, I'm totally appalled at the number of people here that are suggesting you go to the "Wal-Mart" of music shops, Guitar Center. So you say you like having nothing but Behringer effects and PA equipment, to plug your Hondo guitars and basses and your Behringer microphones into? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 fini what do you think of this travel guitar? It's got a cool look. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TravelGtrOv/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/2201Nat/ here it is. It looks interesting for the price. Its a little more than you wanted to spend. I just heard of these ,and they really don't look bad for a guy looking to save a little dough for what seems like a descent guitar for the money. I never heard of the guy who designed them but i have heard of some of the guys he made guitars for. I am actually thinking of going with a travel guitar for the convience of jamming anywhere and oh man are they comfortable. You just won't want to put it down I am thinking. Chuck em in the back seat where ever. I checked Wechter guitars and they have really expensive guitars also. Those travel guitars are pretty cool though. 199 dollars I am thinking of going with a greenburst one. I got an email out to my rep to see what these guitars are about will have an answer tomorrow most likely. He probally will say takamine for the money though. We'll see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4583 Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Walked into a Salvation Army one day about 10 yrs ago to drop some stuff off and sitting in the corner was a 66 Strat for $50 !!! Not saying it happends all the time but it might be a place to check out for one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 In most Cities, there is usually a small dealer that has been around for years. We have one called "The Guitar Center." They will trily help find a guitar, new or used, that will fit your bill. Make sure the neck is straight, proper intonation. New or used. If you're worried about hand size vs fret board size, try getting a tracing of her hand. I've seen that work. Make sure the bridge is set properly and that there are good strings on it. Also make sure that the tuning heads don't slip. Epiphone, Fender, or check some the the "in" record shops. A lot of guitarists sell their equipment that way or even a bulletin board at your local instrument center. I've seen Martins, Ovations in great shape for around $200.00. I play bass, have a September 19, 1963 Fender Precision. dodger Win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 ---------------- On 12/10/2004 11:16:26 PM Griffinator wrote: Man, for people who are such strong opponents of Best Buy for "Wal-Mart-izing" audio, I'm totally appalled at the number of people here that are suggesting you go to the "Wal-Mart" of music shops, Guitar Center. So you say you like having nothing but Behringer effects and PA equipment, to plug your Hondo guitars and basses and your Behringer microphones into? ---------------- Griff, I'm not sure I follow you on this, Guitar Center in my neck of the woods has a great selection of what ever your looking for. The only thing that bothers me is the hounding sales reps. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 ---------------- On 12/11/2004 10:10:48 AM rf3iicrazy wrote: ---------------- On 12/10/2004 11:16:26 PM Griffinator wrote: Man, for people who are such strong opponents of Best Buy for "Wal-Mart-izing" audio, I'm totally appalled at the number of people here that are suggesting you go to the "Wal-Mart" of music shops, Guitar Center. So you say you like having nothing but Behringer effects and PA equipment, to plug your Hondo guitars and basses and your Behringer microphones into? ---------------- Griff, I'm not sure I follow you on this, Guitar Center in my neck of the woods has a great selection of what ever your looking for. The only thing that bothers me is the hounding sales reps. Tom ---------------- Hi Rick: I think he means that they come into town and low ball all the locally owned shops until they go under. Their prices are good, some medium lines for P.A.. Their sales clerks do hound you though. Since I have an odd first name and I mentioned my last name I've had one of their clerks call me 3 times. Looking for an acoustic bass guitar - low price, but something to play around on. Win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 ---------------- On 12/10/2004 11:16:26 PM Griffinator wrote: Man, for people who are such strong opponents of Best Buy for "Wal-Mart-izing" audio, I'm totally appalled at the number of people here that are suggesting you go to the "Wal-Mart" of music shops, Guitar Center. So you say you like having nothing but Behringer effects and PA equipment, to plug your Hondo guitars and basses and your Behringer microphones into? ---------------- I was thinking the same thing. But in his price range your not gonna get that good of a product period. What are your options? Jcpennys? In my entire life I have yet to see a guitar brand new that is even fun playing let alone have good tone for 200 dollars. Sweetwater is the best mail order company. They are more a studio catalog, but offer up some good guitars as well. The reason the maple lake looked interesting is I never heard of them, and they file the frets so they aren't jagged when they come back from the foreign lands. And that is the biggest deal with these guitars in this price range. But I got looking and you can get a martin baby for a really descent deal, or a taylor baby. So I would look into them also and they may be more comfortable for a beginner. Back to the maple lake I have my doubts about this guitar also, because of the High res pictures on their site. The rosewood looks suspicious to me. Not a good rosewood. Don't buy from the others like m friends, 123 M. (Connect the dots). Alot of these companies will give you b and c stock items passed of as new, or banged up returned ones. If we were talking electric guitars and tube amps I would be of much better service. I'm just pshyched to see any guitar thread. By the way the martin lxm aka little martin is 249. Then theirs Taylor baby 259 which both probally would blow away the maple lake. These are smaller guitars but at least you get the quality at an affordable price. Good brand name and it just may be better for a beginner. You can take it anywhere. That's the coolest. These two little guitars are what I would recomend at a new price. Ebay would be an entirely different game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 You can always check out Elderly Instruments in Michigan. They have an excellent reputation. They have new and used instruments of ALL kinds. I have purchased supplies and music through them, but have always found instruments locally when I have purchased anything. Elderly Instruments If you scroll down on the brands on the left and pick one, a list of new and used of that brand will show up on the right side of the page. These guys are really good, and honest. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fini Posted December 11, 2004 Author Share Posted December 11, 2004 I took her out shopping today. I should have asked you all what was the shiniest one, and which would impress her friends more...*sigh* She liked the Samick D5. It didn't seem TOO bad (Grover tuners, solid top), and it was REAL shiny. There's not much info on 'em on the web (in terms of reviews). I really tried to get her to like the Yamaha, as I'd be able to pick one up for a very reasonable price, but she'd have nothing of it. She also kinda liked a Seagull, and a Hohner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Some of the Seagulls are very decent guitars. They are made by LaSiDo, one of the worlds largest guitar companies and located in Canada. They have many different lines of guitars. I almmost bought a Simon Patrick model, and ended up spending more more (way more as it ended up) and bought my first Taylor. It is important that she likes it. I think the Samicks are made in Korea, and that isn't ncessarily bad. There are bad guitars made in every country. Even Martin makes that stupid guitar out of some synthetic laminate material similar to formica. It has hurt their reputation. My first guitar in the '60s was a cheap Regal. I went from that to a Martin. Marvel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Fini,I have purchased some very nice guitars at a pawn shop when I lived in Dallas.This may not be an option but I just mentioned it cause I got very nice Takamine 12 string w/built in pre amp for $160 bucks,about a 1/5 its value. Check out www.americanmusical.com for some great pricing,selection,info and free shipping.Also musiciansfriend.com.If you do go to the Guitar Center just be sure to haggle.Merry Christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sivadselim Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 world's largest piano company. korean. i went through this about a year ago and ended up getting the D5. i was skeptical at first, but short of the great pawn shop discovery, that samick really is about the best $250 guitar you'll find. with the grover tuners and the solid spruce top it's head and shoulders above what ALL the usual names offer at that price point. if the shop has several of that model, try several of them; the sound and action can vary considerably from one to the next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Just helped a friend purchace a used seagull for 100 dollars from another friend. He was needing a good sounding beater becaouse his young son is getting interested in the noise dad's making and wants to help! The seagull is really nice I don't think you could go wrong here. I play a Taylor 410 that was purchased used and really like the playability and sound. It replaced my Gibson SJ-deluxe that was stolen from me when I lived in an apartment. I agree that a used instrument in good condition is the best bargain that you could find and the guitar would already be seasoned.IMO I have played Yamaha's that were very nice. Had an Epiphone that wouldn't stay in tune. Played Ovations that were very nice. Am impressed by some Alverez guitars. Hope you find one that your Daughter likes. Randy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtaylor Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Here's Dan with the Seagull I believe Nope, he's got mine and that's me with my back to the camera with the Seagull, not a good pic of the Seagull, sorry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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