Suggestions on a decent under 800 dollar acoustic electric.

[Duffy]

I gave my blonde Seagull anniv. spruce top/flame maple body S6 to my son.

I am now thinking about getting a decent acoustic electric for myself.

Any suggestions, based on your own experience might be helpful. I know that some of you have some real nice acoustics that cost less than this amount. Ideas are appreciated. How does a Yamaha FG or A1M sound?

I'm playing everything around here and will make my own decision in the end; so the "personal preference" thing is irrevelant here, as it goes without saying. What's your personal preference?

Thanks for the ideas.

[sunvalleylaw]

My first thought is to find a decent used Takamine.

[Tig***]

The choices are plentyful in the sub-800 price range.
Just for fun, browse this group of this acoustic/electrics in the $500-$750 range at Sweetwater:
http://www.sweetwater.com/c602--Acou...UiOlsiMTAiXX19

There are several Tak's I like there.

[sunvalleylaw]

The Martin DR series is nice too. I tried the Epiphone in that price range and was not that impressed. The "Recording King" guitars are a thought, as are the Blueridge guitars. The Blueridge guitars are a little heavy on the finish, but sound really good. I don't know about the electronics available though in the Blueridge and Recording King guitars though. You would have to check it out.

Here is a Blueridge with onboard electronics. http://www.sagamusic.com/catalog/det...uctID=BR-343CE
the street price might be better than here. I don't know. EDIT: Sure enough. here is is at musician'as friend for under $700. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...r-gospel-model

Here is another Blueridge, not in the Gospel series, that is a little over $800. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...lectric-guitar

I know the Blueridge and Recording King guitars have been well regarded asian guitars in the acoustic world. The Recording King series looks a little more expensive on MF.

Here is a cool looking black Martin with Fishman electronics for $799. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...lectric-guitar Or a natural colored one: http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...lectric-guitar

IMHO, hard to go wrong with a Martin these days. They are making some really good stuff.

[Duffy]

Played a nice Yamaha LSX6CA today. Medium Jumbo with Englemann Spruce solid top and laminate rosewood sides and back. Mahogany neck with rosewood strip like some strats. Awesome pickup/preamp section including two pickups, one under the saddle and another goose neck mic inside the body. It has a three band eq and two knobs to blend the pickups, plus a master volume and tuner. Ebony fretboard. 499. Salesman is a friend. Cream binding on the neck and headstock and nice body binding as well. Really nice guitar.

Have any of you heard of this Yamaha? It looks like I am getting a fairly good deal on it, considering the overall guitar, ebony board, and pickups/preamp, gold trim, and nice binding. It plays well and has a very beautiful full tone with a good deepness and very nice highs, played acoustically. I didn't even plug it in.

I put it on lay away and will pick it up as early as next Monday.

I gave my gold trim, blonde flame maple with spruce top, S6 anniv. Seagull to my son along with a nnice new black Snark headstock tuner and case. He enjoyed that gift. I delivered it to him in Harrisburg on Monday, a 100 mile trip, each way. He really likes the guitar and he is a talented trained muscian. He writes his own stuff and sings while he plays fairly complicated things. I'm glad I gave it to him and I'm looking forward to getting my new Yamaha. I will be getting rid of my white with blue pearl Oscar Schmidtt dread possibly. It is so cool looking and sounds so good that I may just keep it. I gave away some guitars and a nice old solid state Marshall thirty watt amp lately, and I think I have had my fill of giving stuff away. These kids these days just don't seem to appreciate things much.

As a result I am probably going to keep my collection of equipment. A lot of it is not expensive but almost all of the guitars and amps are special in some way and very cool. I play most of them and enjoy going to my music room and selecting a guitar from a nice variety..

How about the Yamaha LSX6CA? Anyone heard of it or its reputation?

[Duffy]

Those Blueridge'es are some very cool guitars. I like that "Gospel" one a lot.

Something like that would make a nice Christmas present.

I think I'll be having my hands full with my Yamaha though. I like the simple, demure look of the unpretentious Yamaha. It is a sleeper. The pedal hits the metal when you strum it and it sings out, loudly, and sounds totally awesome with a soft hand.

[Tig***]

I can't find anything on that model. This is the closest thing, the LSX26C.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music...product_lineup

Yep, the Blueridge's look good.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/6-str...catId=site1ABA

[Duffy]

[QUOTE=Tig;229305]I can't find anything on that model. This is the closest thing, the LSX26C.
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music...product_lineup

They are there, just hard to find.




http://usa.yamaha.com/products/music...product_lineup

The guitar has a very full, smooth, balanced, tone that is rich and musical; not brash or harsh or a cacaphony of sound. It has strong projection with moderated strumming and sounds great played softly as well. The ebony board feels great. I'll play it mostly acoustically, but that preamp looks like a very cool item and I bet it will sound great thru my DRRI, not to mention my Crate Gunnison sixty watt acoustic amp or my very decent home PA. I'll probably just plug into the DRRI, although my Marshall JMD-1 two twelve combo has an "acoustic" setting on it - I'm not sure if that is for an acoustic guitar or if it's supposed to make an electric sound like an acoustic, but I have heard of people plugging in their acoustics into it and using that channel. That Marshall is an awesome amp, purchased at a blow out price. I can't say enough about it. I wish I had the knowledge to post a clip of it. My laptop sits just over it at my desk, amp station. I should be able to use the built in mic on the laptop to record a clip. I think it has a built in microphone - it has a built in camera, so I suppose the mic is in there too. It is like a foot or so above the amp, sitting on a work table made of two by twelve dried pressure treated boards. I need to learn how to do this probably super simple thing.

Another option is to get a Yamaha A1M for about the same price at the same place, but it doesn't have an ebony board or nice binding and other stylistic appointments, and it's a dread. No problem with a dread, but the medium jumbo is cool and sits on the leg comfortably. Plus the Englemann Spruce top on the medium jumbo has a distinctive charm to it, combined with the shape I guess. Either way they are both great mellow and rich sounding acoustic electrics.

I'll take some pictures of the actual item when I get it. Some of the details might be slightly different.

[sunvalleylaw]

I don't know that particular Yammy. Congrats though!

[Duffy]

Actually the one I'm picking up on Monday is slightly different. It is the LJX6CA and it has a different preamp with separate controls for the bass pickup of the under saddle system and a knob for the treble pickup of the under saddle system. It also has the goose neck microphone inside the body and a master volume plus eq and other controls including a decent tuner.




I have never had an acoustic electric this nice and have known for a long time what kind of tone I want - the deep, full tone that is balanced and not full of a lot of overly bright dominance. Getting a great deal on this brand new guitar is one thing, but getting a real nice acoustic that has the qualities that I have been wanting is more important than just getting a good deal.

I have played a few great sounding Yamaha acoustics going back to when I was one of the last guys drafted into the Army and one of my Army friends bought one. I had a junk acoustic that I think was free. But any real wooden guitar is better than no guitar. You know what I mean. That Yamaha was so awesome to play compared to mine, but we did have some fun jams - using garbage can lids as cymbals and upside down metal waste baskets as drums. Throw in some half assed vocals and a harmonica and we sounded like Woodstock to our ears. Those were the days.

Now some of us have some real decent gear and we can't re-capture the glory of the old days when we had so much fun and didn't have shit.

Time has a sneaky way of picking you up and carrying you along; and then leaving you behind and you look in the mirror one day and your hair is grey and you wonder where all that time went. Careers, etc., aside, you don't want to wake up and find out you missed all that time that slipped by unnoticed. You have to be alert and make the most out of every day, and not forget that each day is like a precious jewel to be appreciated no matter how dreary or uneventful it may "seemingly" appear at a cursory glance. It's a beautiful day here today in the mountains along the river in North Central Pennsylvania.