Best Budget (<$600) Guitar for 60s/70s Sounds?

[Wellington]

You'll get lots of Eastman recommendations personally though I do think they can be a bang for the buck they are also the 'flavour of the day' so I would just suggest to try it with your eyes closed and see if the sound and playability strings your fancy, so easy to get convinced of something because of trends/reputation rather than being convinced by the instrument itself.

My recommendation is the Epiphone Masterbilt Texan or AJ, they're are some really really good ones, and solid wood in that masterbilt line. Id recommend the Guilds as mine is incredible, but I've never played the westerly ones.

Also, reading my post i don't mean to bash eastman, they're good, I'm just not sure they're great by my experience trying them.

[emtsteve]

I'll 2nd the S6 suggestions, about $400 new. Then experiment with a bunch of different strings. I suspect a bit of age on the strings will help too.

Let us know what you end up getting.

[wguitar]

The best way to get that 60's or 70's sound would be to find a nice vintage acoustic from that era. There are many out there. Yamaha and Alvarez from that period are outstanding IMHO. I still have my early 70's Yamaha FG-110 (my 1st guitar) and it sound pretty good. Best of luck with your search and enjoy making music!

Cheers!

[JERZEY]

Originally Posted by emtsteve

I'll 2nd the S6 suggestions, about $400 new. Then experiment with a bunch of different strings. I suspect a bit of age on the strings will help too.

Let us know what you end up getting.

I love my Seagulls but they are as far from vintage sounding as you can get.

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by guitararmy

I had a used Guild D55 that had that sound, but needed a neck reset so I traded it away.
I would also suggest that Eastman dreadnought or even a budget Martin to get that mellow sound.

That is like trading in a car because it needs new tires. The Guild D55s I have played rank amongst the loudest guitars I have ever gotten my hands on. While I am a bit hazy on it all having not owned a Guild in a while, I believe the 50 series had scalloped bracing.

[buddyhu]

The buzz back in the 70’s was that a Yamaha (Like an FG180: a dread with laminate back and sides and a solid spruce top). was the poor man’s Martin.

I’m sure used ones can be bought for under $600. They might look bad after many years of use, , but the necks tended to be pretty stable, so you might find one that would be worth a try.

[ataylor]

Yamaha FG800 for something that sounds more like a mahogany dreadnought, or the FG830 for more of a rosewood tone.

Obviously they're not going to be 1:1 equivalents of a D-18 or D-28, but at their price points, the Yamaha FGs are just lovely guitars that look, feel, and sound better than I expect every time I pick one up. In fact, there may be a 12-string with my name on it under the tree in a couple months...

[SJ VanSandt]

If there is a 60's acoustic guitar sound, it was more a matter of the recording technology than the guitars selected. Most guitarists from the 60's just played whatever they could get their hands on. The Beatles, for instance, played second-rate plywood Gibsons early on (probably because they had built in pick-ups), and only after some years of success upgraded to Martin D-28s. In the recording studio, the engineers tended to make them all sound the same.

I would go for a solid wood guitar if possible, which the Taylors and Martins in your price range are not going to be. Seagull, Eastman, Recording King all seem like good suggestions - in my experience all of those seem pretty playable right out of the box. Save some money back for a good setup anyway.

[catdaddy]

Originally Posted by Ralph124C41

When I think of "tradition" sound I think of first Martins, second Gibsons and perhaps a third, Guilds.

So of those guitars listed I just wouldn't put in the Eastman because it has its own sound ... but I don't know if it could be called a "traditonal" sound.

If you like the Martin sound, then maybe the Blueridge, just bear in mind that newer Blueridge guitars have Santos rosewood (Pau Ferro or Morado) and not true rosewood but I do think they have a very close sound to a Martin, especially the older models with the laminated rosewood back and sides.

For the Gibson sound, maybe an older Epiphone Masterbilt? I'm not impressed with the newer models.

I can't suggest anything if you are after the Guild sound.

As for getting a cheaper Martin I do think that you are paying a lot for that Martin name, but maybe you want that and also maybe you are thinking about the resale value. However I've played some of the cheaper Martins and frankly I was not blown away by their sound.

But I do think an older Masterbilt or the BR40 would be a good choice. The Masterbilt, moreover, will have all solid wood construction, either back and sides of mahogany or rosewood. I got my AJ500MNS with a case for $300 from Guitar Center but it was a heck of a deal which I haven't been able to find since, but I did find one without a case for about $350.

I'll second the Epiphone Masterbilt AJ500M recommendation. The one I owned did a right fair impression of my '69 Gibson Hummingbird. Unfortunately, that model has been discontinued, so looking for a used one would be necessary. I'm also a fan of the Seagull S6 Cedar as a good sounding sub-$500 guitar, but I don't think it has that 60's/70's vibe.

[danishsloan]

Thank you! Simon & Patrick sounds like a good option that I had not heard of. I'm afraid maybe Martin is what I mean by a traditional sound — a proper one is definitely out of my price range.

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hi Danish, Welcome to the AGF!

Have you ever heard of Seagull or Simon & Patrick guitars? They're made in Canada by Godin and most of them are priced well under your $600 range. A nice cedar topped one will suit your needs and they also have spruce. Give them a try.

When you mention 'tradition sound', are you talking about Martin or Gibson? If so, Seagull probably wouldn't do it for you (nor would most other guitars in that price range).

[danishsloan]

Haha very true — I more meant that I was trying to avoid a bright-sounding guitars (like Taylors), which I was thinking of as "modern" and maybe desirable to a lot of people.

Maybe a "Martin sound" would have been a good way of phrasing it.

Originally Posted by paulzoom

I never thought of guitars from that decade of having a certain sound. Doesn’t just about any guitar have ability to play 60s and 70s tunes?

[danishsloan]

Thank you guys so much for the phenomenal suggestions, I'm going to look more into Seagull, Seagull, older Masterbilt, Eastman, Blueridge, Recording King, the Martin DJR-10, maybe even a vintage Yamaha or Alvarez.

I really appreciate the help. I feel like now I have a better idea of what I was looking for / asking for, if that makes sense.

[Brent Nelson]

Ovation.. .Doesn't get more 70s.

[Mjme123@aol. Om]

Have you considered trying to find a 1970s law suit era Japanese Martin copy? At the time many folks thought they were better quality than the real thing and they can be had in your price range. Having been around in the 70s, at a distance, it was hard to tell the difference between a Martin and a takemine. Sounded like them too.

[FrankHudson]

Let me echo what SJ VanSandt said above in the thread. The attractive sound you hear from these artists (I assume you weren't around hearing them play in a small rooms back in the day) is to a very large degree the sound of skilled recording engineers using what is now considered vintage recording equipment in fine studios. That of course, and the music these players were playing irrespective of the timbral nuances that you hear on the records.

The usual response to "What Guitar?" threads still applies: you should play a few and make a choice based on your response to the instrument and how it feels for you to play it. If you're new to guitar, your preferences may change with time, but that's the way to find a guitar. The thread has already given you the "usual suspects" regarding good sub $600 guitars. If you (perhaps because of the pandemic or remote location) cannot try some guitars, then choosing an instrument that appeals to you from the brands discussed in this thread (perhaps based on something as shallow as looks if you don't have experience with guitar that lets you choose on anything else) will get you started.

A few have said to aim for all solid wood. I think most acoustic guitars these day near the upper half of your price range have solid tops. That's good for sound quality as a specification. The importance of solid back and sides is much less, and in your price range laminated back and sides should not eliminate an otherwise pleasing instrument for you.