What brand of Accoustic Guitar should I buy?

Martin

brand: Taylor
place: Guitar Center

@wenn Yes on Guitar Center…
I fell in love with a Mitchell MD-50 acoustic i bought at guitar center… never looked back.
It’s inexpensive, has awesome sound quality, is sturdy and feels great in your hands.

I don’t know a ton about the technical stuff with guitars, but I have an Ovation Celebrity and I love it. My dad is a guitarist and he bought it for me, so I assume it’s a good one. Plus round-backs are so much more comfortable in my opinion.

depends on your budget. you can buy a Montanna for like 60 bucks(my first) it’s a crappy guitar but it’s cheap and I’ve never had an issue with finger strength since that one lol. you can get a pretty nice Epiphone acoustic for 100–300. I used to have an acoustic-electric Epi, which I liked a lot.

My most recent favorite is an Ibanez PF acoustic electric. Great tone, built in tuner and easy playing.

Whatever guitar you buy, make sure you play the specific guitar for yourself (and, if possible, by a player equal to or better than yourself either in terms of playing or knowledge of guitars). Don’t assume that one particular model or brand is going to be better than another particular model or brand.

The only thing I would tell you regarding brands is please, please, please don’t buy an Ovation. They sound awful, especially if you try to put them through a sound system.

Know if you want to be able to plug the guitar in. If you won’t ever need to plug it in, then you’ll be able to get a better guitar for a lower price. But if you need to plug it in, you’ll be out of luck if you haven’t bought one with electronics (yes, you could mic it, but you’d be a lot better off being able to plug it in).

My son used to work at guitar center. Go in and play a bunch and see what fits YOUR style and budget.

If you have a couple thousand to burn I would absolutely go with Martin, they just sound awesome.. but it really depends on your budget and what sound suits you. There’s plenty of decently priced guitars that sound great. Strings make a bit of difference too, I personally have a Yamaha that I love.

@Rickomq This is a question that bugs me just as much as it does you.

@generalspecific I had an Ovation for several years. Got the job done, but I got tired of it and it got old, so I swapped it for a Yamaha. Not a great Yamaha, but decent for now (I don’t play professionally anymore anyway).

@wenn tried a Taylor when I was looking around for a new guitar (just before the swap) as well as a Guild. Neither was what I was looking for. If I’m going to spend $3000 on a guitar, it better be perfect and last me a decade. I’m not saying they are bad, just not for me.

then I bought a Fender which stays in its case most of the time and sounds like a toy.

And I’m still on the lookout for that special sound. I use a borrowed Takamine for now, but Martin sounds like an interesting option. I may take Supermouse’s advice.

If you’re looking for a bargain, nothing’s better than looking in your local classifieds or Craigslist. Guaranteed you’ll find a few guitars being sold at fractions of their prices, and sometimes people sell or include their accessories/books/etc as well.

It’s a good idea to get to know what style of guitar you like and enjoy. Nothing beats going into your local guitar shop and holding/strumming the different guitars for a few hours. That’s how I fell in love with my current guitar, it was the wonderful sound it produced that sold me (and its wonderful color too).

My guitar is an Art and Lutherie guitar, it’s a brand that exists here in Canada, guitars are made mostly of Canadian wood too. I love my guitar, it’s a wonderful instrument. And it was a pretty good price too, only a few hundred bucks ($cdn).

@Jack79 its funny that you say the Fender sounded like a toy, my friend had one a while back and I thought the same thing! It was awful! I’m definitely not impressed with Fender acoustics.

Epiphone!
or Takamine

A Martin would be your best bet if you have money to burn. They’re high quality, with consistently great action on the neck and a really classic sound. Taylors are also nice, though in my experience they tend to get banged up pretty easily.

If you’re looking for a great guitar for not a lot of money, I would suggest the Mitchell MD-100, which sells for just under a hundred bucks and plays like a Taylor.

Yamaha also makes some really nice, light acoustics which I don’t know too much about. Beware of getting suckered in by companies that don’t make musical instruments as their primary product. These axes will be somewhat lower-quality, will not last long, will not play or sound as well after a month, and may melt if you leave them in the sun.

Thank you all for the Great Advice! I will definately go looking with the right attitude and Idea of what I am looking for!