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#31
11-16-2017, 10:07 AM
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Go with Ted, he won't let you down!
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#32
11-16-2017, 10:09 AM
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Dotty, a sure bet would be a Yamha FG8 series, it comes in well under your budget and the extra money could go toward a good set up, strings etc... My hands are quite small and I have no trouble with it. Good luck to you, you sound like an awesome mom to go through all this trouble. 
__________________
Why would you be reading a signature when there's so much V-Brace stuff to talk about?
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#33
11-16-2017, 10:15 AM
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There has been some excellent advice given in this thread. The only thing that I could add is a question as to where you are located. Oh, not your street address, just the town will do. The reason for the question is that, if you are in or near a major metropolitan are with guitar shops, many of the habitue's of this Forum spent (far too much) time visiting them. Someone may know of a particular instrument that might fit your needs. Particularly a used one,which would give your far more bang for the buck than a new one likely will. For example, not to far from me here in Seattle is The Trading Musician, located close by the UDub (University of Washington). Given their access to 40,000 college students, their forte is a lot of less expensive used instruments. There may be similar near you. Or if not, no harm, no foul. Best of luck in your search. TW
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#34
11-16-2017, 10:20 AM
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a Taylor Mini GS mahogany would be a great choice. brand name, good resale if that's ever and issue, and they are fun to play. Great guitars.
Another Great Choice would be a Martin Dreadnought Jr. Same price range and it's a Martin! Advantages would be a wider nut and solid back and sides rather than laminates on the Taylor.
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#36
11-16-2017, 10:25 AM
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I’m fortunate to have several high-end guitars but bought a Big Baby as a travel guitar. I never expected to play it much at home but I find myself playing it much more frequently in my bedroom than I ever anticipated. https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitar...eries/overview
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#37
11-16-2017, 10:45 AM
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I love my Mini but that too was over $600. I used to own a Martin LX1 and it has a bad wrap but a great little guitar well under your budget. Never was a fan of Yamaha's but they have a lot of guitars under your price range. Just seems like you want a lot for very little and in guitar/bass world, $600 budget has a lot of limitations.
__________________
Taylor 314c; GS Mini Koa; Fender American Elite P-Bass; Fender American Pro-J-Bass; 2 Hohner Marching Band key of C harmonica; Fender Rumble Amp; Ukulele
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#38
11-16-2017, 10:59 AM
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EDIT: I missed that you were wanting to stay USA built. My suggestion below is for an instrument built in Asia by Epiphone which is a company owned by Gibson USA. It's still very much an Asian built instrument but it's all solid wood... If you truly want to stay USA built (and this may be a very big deal for your son... a lot of players do not want to play anything except USA built guitars) then my suggestion would be to look for a used Guild D15 or D25. These models would be right in your price range $450-$600 and are popular for Folk and Americana music. If you want to make it even more special you could try to find one built the year he was born. The site Reverb.com is a good place to look. https://reverb.com/item/7223105-guil...um-brown-stain Hi Dotty, Both the guitars you mentioned are great choices in general but I'm not sure either is best suited for Blues/Americana. Also while these are built in North America, neither are USA built guitars. The Taylor is made in Mexico and the other in Canada. I'm going with the assumption he likes to sing and play at the same time.... Given his genre choice and your budget I'd recommend the Epiphone AJ45ME. It has a built in pickup systems so he can plug it in for when he wants to play out. The most popular accompaniment guitar for Americana is probably the Gibson J-45. That model is pretty far outside your budget, but the AJ45ME is a nice more budget focused guitar built by a Gibson subsidiary Epiphone. Unlike a lot of inexpensive options the AJ45ME is made of all solid wood: top, back and sides and has a great mid-range focused timbre for accompanying a vocalist. It's also a good all around instrument so he can play blues on it as well. If you buy on-line you can avoid local sales tax. Believe it or not there are a few outstanding on-line music stores who inspect each guitar before they go out... If you consider the Epiphone mentioned, I recommend Sweetwater Music. They also offer great 0% interest financing options for short term (no credit check) and long term options. I feel like I'm helping them a bit too much here, but they really do offer great service and fair pricing. Send me a private message if interested and I can refer a sales associate there.
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Wayne J-45 song of the day archive https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis..._Zmxz51NAwG1UJ My music https://soundcloud.com/waynedeats76 https://www.facebook.com/waynedeatsmusic My guitars Gibson, Martin, Blueridge, Alvarez, Takamine Last edited by Rmz76; 11-16-2017 at 02:28 PM.
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#39
11-16-2017, 11:20 AM
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So many recommendations so far that we may be making it more confusing - but my 2 cents is that I'd strongly recommend thinking twice about made in the USA as there are PHENOMENAL options at that price point if you're flexible on the location of its build. I am not well-versed on the Yamaha models, but I'm blown away by the quality for the price. In fact, I'd take a $300 Yamaha over my GS mini all day long if I could only have one acoustic. I like the Mini for what it is - but wouldn't want it as my only acoustic. Also, for what it's worth, I do find Taylor necks to be the most similar to electrics, if that matter. Either way, your son is lucky to have a Mom going to these lengths to find him something special!
__________________
Collings: OM1-TA (‘18) Froggy Bottom: H-12 German/Koa (‘08) Martin: OM-21 (‘13)
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#40
11-16-2017, 11:31 AM
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__________________
Couple of CF guitars, Couple of wood guitars Bunch of other stuff.
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#41
11-16-2017, 12:03 PM
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Go with a mahogany gs mini. He'll love it
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#42
11-16-2017, 12:17 PM
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Dotty - You Rock as a Mom
 Years ago, my Mom did similar thing for me on my 50th Birthday. She was 89 years old at the time. She called me and said she was sending me $500 gift to "buy a Guitar". I do understand your idea of choosing and buying it for him. I am sure it will give him joy ..... trust me, he will think of you every time he sees or plays it. No recommendations.. Since you have lots of great advice. Or put your trust in a dealer like Ted in LA (mentioned earlier) or Maury at Maury's Music in PA (610) 871-1673). Tell them you were referred by AGF for special deals.
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#43
11-16-2017, 12:22 PM
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Dotty,
No advice here, but a similar sentiment. You're a fantastic mom for wanting to get your son a guitar as a surprise. I know someone else said this already but I'm very sure all of us here have loved getting guitars from their parents or would have loved that. So thanks for being a great and considerate mother! PS...is it too late for me to ask for adoption 
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#44
11-16-2017, 12:23 PM
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In addition, GS Mini Koa or go home!
__________________
Taylor 314c; GS Mini Koa; Fender American Elite P-Bass; Fender American Pro-J-Bass; 2 Hohner Marching Band key of C harmonica; Fender Rumble Amp; Ukulele
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