Two Guitar Challenge - Moderate Budget Edition

[Headless Axeman]

Say you’re starting from scratch and looking to buy two guitars to cover as much ground as you can. Your budget is $2600-$3400 total. You expect those two to be your only guitars for quite awhile. Your playing is roughly 40% strumming, 40% fingerpicking, 20% blues / improv / flat picking. Which two guitars do you pick, given the following conditions (and yes, everyone knows that I need to go try out guitars in person and decide what I like best on my own):

Requirements:
- At least one is 000/OM size
- At least one has a cutaway
- At least one has built in electronics

Preferences:
- I’d expect to be buying used
- Must be two quality guitars (can’t say an OM-28 Modern Deluxe and a First Act starter guitar)
- Would prefer a diversity of sizes, styles, woods, perhaps scale lengths
- Generally prefer the look of a 000 cutaway to a dread cutaway
- Would be happy to go under $2600, and could probably squeeze out one or two hundred above $3400, but really expect to land in that range

Which two do you choose?

[Sugar Bear]

An Eastman E20SS and a Breedlove Organic series cutaway 000/OM type.

The Eastman is Gibson Advanced Jumbo-ish, the Breedlove Organic series gives you your smaller cutaway with electronics.

And you can buy them both brand new and make the budget cut.

[SRL]

If it were me, I'd get two used guitars, one big sitka/rosewood model and one smaller all-mahogany model.

For me, I got my Breedlove Premier Concerto (sitka/rosewood with cutaway 25.5" scale for $1500 and my Concertina (all-mahogany, 25" scale) for $1300, both US-made, both used, both with built-in LR Baggs active pickups. So, $2800 for both.

Could do the same with Taylor (710 or 714 and a 522) Martin (GPC-16 and 000-15), or save some money with imports from Yamaha, Eastman, Alvarez, Blueridge etc.

[phydaux]

Eastman AC422CE - Sitka & rosewood, Grand Auditorium body, 25.4" scale length, cutaway and electronics. Perfect for flatpicking & bluegrass. ~$1300




Eastman E10OM - Adirondack spruce & mahogany, Orchestra body, 24.9" scale length. Perfect for fingerpicking & strumming. ~$1200

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Headless Axeman

Say you’re starting from scratch and looking to buy two guitars to cover as much ground as you can. Your budget is $2600-$3400 total. You expect those two to be your only guitars for quite awhile. Your playing is roughly 40% strumming, 40% fingerpicking, 20% blues / improv / flat picking. Which two guitars do you pick, given the following conditions (and yes, everyone knows that I need to go try out guitars in person and decide what I like best on my own):

Requirements:
- At least one is 000/OM size
- At least one has a cutaway
- At least one has built in electronics

Preferences:
- I’d expect to be buying used
- Must be two quality guitars (can’t say an OM-28 Modern Deluxe and a First Act starter guitar)
- Would prefer a diversity of sizes, styles, woods, perhaps scale lengths
- Generally prefer the look of a 000 cutaway to a dread cutaway
- Would be happy to go under $2600, and could probably squeeze out one or two hundred above $3400, but really expect to land in that range

Which two do you choose?

I play only finger style, but if I played what you played I would do this:

1. Get something maybe $2,000ish - maybe a new Larrivee OM-03

2. Then look at the $1,000ish range for an all solid wood guitar made by Eastman or Alvarez with a cutaway, etc.

[RussL30]

My Tak GB7C and the Gibson LG2AE I sold to buy the Tak would be perfect for this.

[Bushleague]

My playing is pretty similar to the OP... and I pretty much do it all on my Gibson G-45 so that would be my first choice. As backups I have a couple cheaper Godin guitars, my S&P mini jumbo has a cutaway and is a great smaller guitar with a voice that contrasts my dreds nicely. If you went with the A&L Legacy line though, you could get a cedar top and keep both scale lengths similar. Either way I think keeping the smaller guitar a bit cheaper than the dread so it can double as a campfire guitar is a sensible move.

Those two guitars ran me about $2000 Canadian, and should come in well under that in USD.

[Zissou Intern]

I recommend one of the guitars is a used Martin D18 of some iteration. Then you'd have $800-1400 to find your short scale, cutaway, smaller body, like a Taylor 214CE. If you could forego the cutaway, I'd look at an Eastman E20OOSS. They are great blues guitars. If you can forego the short scale, the Guild OM-140CE would be a great option too.

[wisedennis]

I would buy a really decent one instead of 2

[rollypolly]

If I could start all over with that budget, I'd probably go with something like a used 000-18 for under 2k. And then maybe an Eastman dread, maybe the cedar or Adi top or a D-15.

[emtsteve]

My choices given your criteria would be:

Gibson J-35 or 45 for the dread.

Martin all mahogany 00 or 000-15M.

If I had to have a cutaway (I don't) I'd lean towards getting it on the dread. I'd also add a K&K mini to each for plug in ability.

[emtsteve]

Originally Posted by wisedennis

I would buy a really decent one instead of 2

Geez... the title of the thread is Two guitar challenge. Might as well say "buy a car instead."