Wow! Thanks to all of you for the warm welcome and also for such varied and rapid replies! In the few months I’ve been reading this forum that is one of the things I’ve really appreciated: how invested in this and how passionate you guys are
. I’m an IT guy by trade and frequently end up waiting weeks for forum replies to solve issues.....so these quick responses are great!
To answer some of the questions:
Unfortunately the car is parked outside, so the guitar would be exposed. In this area of France we’re looking at a temp range of -5 to 40+ for the inside-car temp over the course of a year.
There is nowhere in the building where I could practice, hence me thinking (hoping) the car might work. I appreciate that cold fingers might make life very difficult but once warmed up it should be ok?
We have family all over the place so I’m frequently using air travel and the collapsible Journey is an added bonus, even thought the standard entry-level X7 does come out cheaper.
I agree with the gym membership analogy and am
very wary of investing a lot in a guitar and then not ever getting to the point of really enjoying it and using it to its full. We do have a Craigslist equivalent over here with cheapie mass-produced 2nd-hand Yamahas etc going for $100 but then, as noted, they might not be particularly enjoyable to play either. And just to add to the frustration, anything up for sale via AGF classifieds/members would have the hassle of trying to get it to France.
One more concern is that there is zero CF market in France (at least not that I’ve been able to find), so am not sure I could resell if needed.
So at this stage in my playing life, it seems like it boils down to:
- Entry-level CF (OF660 or maybe X7 for price)
- Wood acoustic that could handle car life as well as possible for a wood guitar (Martin LX, Ibanez AEG10N and Yamaha FG800 have been mentioned)
- Craigslist $100 equivalent and be prepared to throw it away next Spring if needed
The last option is the most rational on price and “commitment”, but will probably be least enjoyable to play.
Middle options will no doubt be more fun to play but likely cost up to half of an entry-level CF?
I am very tempted by the “buy once and it will last forever” logic of a CF, buuuuut just don’t know....
Hehehehe, tough decision to make, especially for a newbie, but thanks for listening to me debate with myself and for offering your advice and experience!