Overwhelming choices for beginner..your thoughts?

[Rinaz]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I have often mentioned that money would have been saved by buying my ultimate goal -- a Martin -- right away, instead of working slowly up the food chain. I have even used the phrase, "buy nice or buy twice". However, it is *probably* too soon for you to know what you really want in a guitar for the long run. And keep in mind that there is no such thing as a "lifetime" guitar. I bought one thirty years ago, but my tastes, hearing, playing style, and my hands have changed over time. That Martin guitar is long gone, along with several others. This is a moving target, in other words.

The positive side of spending that kind of money is that a well-known brand name like Martin, Gibson, or Taylor will retain a much higher percentage of its initial price when selling used, and will sell quicker. Many lesser brands lose so much value as to be almost not worth selling. If you can find guitars that you like used, someone has already taken the price hit for "driving it off the lot". Then your reselling will not cost you as much.

Same thoughts here. I try to flip and buy the guitar that I can keep for a long time if not life time. If Anything I can just sell it. I may lose or make some money depends on the guitar that I used.

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by Earl49

...However, it is *probably* too soon for you to know what you really want in a guitar for the long run.

Yeah, that's the thing. When I got back into acoustics about 10 years ago, I knew next to nothing. I was quite happy with Epiphone Masterbilts for a while. 500 bucks for what I thought was a really nice guitar! But as you say, tastes evolve....

Originally Posted by Earl49

And keep in mind that there is no such thing as a "lifetime" guitar. I bought one thirty years ago, but my tastes, hearing, playing style, and my hands have changed over time. That Martin guitar is long gone, along with several others.

I'm not so sure about that. My modest collection is now pretty well set. I figure my Guilds are holy grails. I keep a few lower-end guitars because they're worth more to me than their value in the marketplace.

Originally Posted by Earl49

If you can find guitars that you like used, someone has already taken the price hit for "driving it off the lot".

Call me lucky -- most of my guitars were bought used off the internet.

[charles Tauber]

There has been a lot of good advice provided.

I started playing the guitar - and taking lessons - when I was 13 years old - I'm now 60. By the time I was 18, I'd saved all my nickels and bought what was then my Holy Grail of guitars, a Martin D-35.

By a few years later, my musical tastes had grown and a D-35 wasn't cutting it. I traded it for a beat-up Larrivee classical guitar, one that had been made by Larrivee and his apprentices. By that time, I was well into handmade guitars by one-off luthiers, leaving the factory-produced guitars behind. I never looked back.

There is always something new, better, more exotic for offer. It has become a pastime and/or obsession for many to continually change what they have and acquire the next great thing. That's fine. However, be aware that that is an activity in and of itself that has little to do with the quality of one's guitar playing or musical ability as a whole. Many guitar players confuse buying a "better" guitar with their sounding better - that is, their ability to have better sounds come out of the instrument they play.

Improving one's knowledge of music and ability to play one's chosen instrument is an activity very different from constantly pursuing a "better" instrument. Sure, having a nice instrument can motivate some to play more and strive to be better at it, but so long as one has a well-setup instrument that sounds "acceptable", that's really all one needs in an instrument to be able to focus on improving one's playing. Beyond that, for many, it is largely a pride of ownership thing.

[Earl49]

Charles has some great points. I'm a pretty good player after all these years and have a number of really nice guitars. I can afford them and I like having the size/wood/tone options to choose among. But if all I ever had was my trusty ~30 year old Seagull S6, I could still happily make music for the rest of my playing days.

[54TS]

I've really enjoyed reading all the replies and I'm not done yet. I'll read them again and again.
It's clear that there is always more than one school of thought and no substitute for experience that brings you come through the other side.
I am also a saxophonist and regards musical taste etc...I can say that my choice of mouthpiece today is as far removed from what I considered was the holy grail back in the 80's that you couldn't get any further away.
Nice to know similar things happen in the guitar world and that you all go through it without exception.
'Working your way through the food chain' and 'buy nice or buy twice' sum it up nicely while keeping in mind the capability of some more affordable guitars, moving goal posts and mastering what you have.
Oh boy....
I guess I'll settle on a way forward over the coming months after much reflection on this thread so many thanks to all.
Either way, the most important thing except making sure I don't end up bankrupt is to enjoy the path and not worry about finding the destination.

[TBman]

I'd spend about $600-$900 on a first guitar and get an all solid wood one.

You could spend $2,500 on a Martin and discover a year later that it has too much bass for your liking or if you got a Taylor you might say it doesn't have enough bass or is too bright. You don't know how your ears are going to develop.

As long as you are careful with it and keep the guitar humidified you should have no problem trading it in towards something else later on down the road. Consider the "loss" you take on trade-in as rent for the guitar while you had it.

Guild makes decent all solid woods for around $800 and is a middle of the road guitar as compared to the tone of Martin and Taylor. Yamaha is another to look at (not sure of which price point the all solids begin at though). There are Eastman guitars also that plenty of people here love and can give you guidance on them.

What may seem confusing is that you will get different opinions on this and each of them is right! Everyone has their own preferences that arose from their experiences.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt!

[Rinaz]

Originally Posted by TBman

I'd spend about $600-$900 on a first guitar and get an all solid wood one.

You could spend $2,500 on a Martin and discover a year later that it has too much bass for your liking or if you got a Taylor you might say it doesn't have enough bass or is too bright. You don't know how your ears are going to develop.

As long as you are careful with it and keep the guitar humidified you should have no problem trading it in towards something else later on down the road. Consider the "loss" you take on trade-in as rent for the guitar while you had it.

Guild makes decent all solid woods for around $800 and is a middle of the road guitar as compared to the tone of Martin and Taylor. Yamaha is another to look at (not sure of which price point the all solids begin at though). There are Eastman guitars also that plenty of people here love and can give you guidance on them.

What may seem confusing is that you will get different opinions on this and each of them is right! Everyone has their own preferences that arose from their experiences.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt!

Played some eastman and guild when buying my guitar. I would say go with GA Eastman or Dreads with Guild or Eastman. My opinion on it

[RP]

If I were you, I'd set my sights on a Taylor Grand Auditorium (model number ends in "4"). The Goldilocks of acoustics - not too big nor too small. Generally comfortable to play, do everything well and should be easy to resell if you end up going in a different direction at some point...

[Vognell]

Yamaha also puts out some pretty good all-solid instruments at a reasonable price point.

I have the LS-TA, and like it enough to be considering a mahogany B/S 000/Concert like the FSX5 or AC-5M.

Both are made in Japan with solid woods, bone nut and saddle, good electronics, scalloped braces, and aged tops. Body size is great for a couch guitar. $1299 for the AC-5M, $1399 for the FSX5.

Without electronics, the FS5 is about $1200. Or you can get the made in china FSX3 for $999 (with electronics) or the FS3 for $799 (without electronics).

Can't say for certain what's "right for you", but these are worth considering. The budget Taylors are also a good choice, though I might recommend against the Mini... not that its a bad guitar, but I don't like the scale of the neck... feels kinda cramped to me. You'd want to try one for yourself to see if you like it.

[handers]

Originally Posted by DukeX

I can't tell you what guitar to buy, but the first thing you should do is set a hard ceiling on your budget, say $1,500 USD, e.g.

Then focus on guitars in legit budget range.

And stretch your budget by buying used. There is a very large used market of good guitars. Get someone with experience to guide you. Two of my four guitars were bought used and they were a bargain. Also, they were experienced meaning they had made any major adaptations post-build which they were going to make. I knew what they were when I played them as they were each >10y old/played.

hans

[Kyle215]

The Martin 000-16’s are a great value, imo. You get high quality guitar for a very reasonable price. The 000-16 GT has a 1 11/16 nut and the newer 000-16E has the 1 3/4 nut. I’ve seen used GT’s listed for $1000 or less.

[Br1ck]

Go find a used D 18 or 000 18. Maybe you loose $200 if you sell it someday. Maybe not. Get something from 2000 to 2018 or and earlier guitar that's had a neck reset. Play it until you have some chops under your belt. You won't spend the next couple of years playing what if.

One day you will either say, boy I made the right decision, or I should have gotten the other size, or a rosewood guitar, or a Gibson, etc. But you will know a level of quality and saved yourself money in the long run.

[Tico]

Originally Posted by jpricewood

Buy a standard Martin or Gibson and be done with it. Otherwise, you’ll spend a lot of time and money continually trading up.

+1

Buying your last guitar first is cheapest.

[chimayred]

Personal taste aside (love Martin workmanship. Rarely heard or played one that sounded especially great. Guilds are terrific. Haven’t played a taylor. They’re all good.
I’ll say this.
In 1972 I bought one of the first high end totally handmade Yamahas. Fg1500. Breathtaking.
Until yesterday it was the best sounding guitar I’ve ever heard.
Yesterday my Furch Violet GSY arrived.
Very plain guitar.
Immaculate fit and finish.
Without a doubt the most incredible sounding acoustic I’ve ever heard. And this is their intro model. Solid top. Laminate back. Open pore satin finish.
The sound, action, resonance, sustain, and overtones have absolutely blown me away. < $900 US. if this is what their base model sounds like I can’t imagine their “better” guitars. Dealer told me they absolutely leave Martin and Taylor in the dust. I bought it online sight unseen and I’m sold.
For less money can’t go wrong with yamaha seagull guild and despite what you hear a lot of Korean and Chinese guitars are pretty good. Find a good local store and play everything you can. But for the money the Furch violet is better than anything I’ve ever seen or heard.

[54TS]

I'm still listening to all the comments...congrats on your Furch Violet GSY @chimayred