Birthday guitar for my son???

[JERZEY]

The absolute best bang for the buck in the sub 500$ catagory are all solid Eastman e1d, e1om, e2d, e2om , ac 122 cedar and spruce. Followed by Anything from Godin/Seagull in this price range.

[botofogo]

I sent my son off to college with a Yamaha FS830. He loves it but does want to play mine when he comes home.

[Carmel Cedar]

Here's an offbeat thought... a Voyage Air guitar (folding neck). Might fit the vibe of a soon-to-be-college kid (if he's planning for that), they are really easy to carry around, bike with, store in a dorm, etc. Plus, the tone is great on these - they are first of all a great sounding guitar, that happens to be easily portable and store-able.

You'd need to buy used to hit the price range, but there is a good used option in the AGF Classifieds if you're interested.

[Doranged]

Takamine would be first on my list in that range! Happy hunting.

[ricfreak]

When my 15 year old started to show interest in playing, heaven rejoiced with me.
I bought him an Aria and eventually gave him access to any guitars he chooses.
He is now playing the J-45 true vintage and is improving well.

This is the Aria he started with ..... a FET-F1-LVS which I bought at a great price.

[SalFromChatham]

Gibson has some great entry models. The G45s...

Double your budget though. Worth it. Made in USA. Montana.

[Cool555]

Originally Posted by AusTexMurf

My vote is for the GS Mini. Smaller size makes it more comfortable to sit around a dorm room/apt and play while seated. Sounds pretty darn good w/ plenty of volume. Great backpack/gig bag makes it inviting to take with him outside, around campus, even on a bicycle, etc...Portability w/o too much $ risk.
We have a GS Mini in Koa and my wife loves it for all the reasons above.
I am sure that most 17 year olds would love a GS Mini if interested in the guitar.

+ 1.

My vote goes to the GS Mini Koa or Hog or Spruce. I still love my gs mini Koa even after 2.5 years of owning it.

The usual YMMV & IMHO applies....

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by prusaw

I'd like to get him a $300 - $500 guitar for his birthday next month.

Pete

In this price range I generally reccomend either:

Alvarez Artist Series
Breedlove Discovery series.

However. MF has the Breedlove Organic series on sale for $399 right now!

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...lectric-guitar

Or for $100 more with cutaway and pickup:
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...ompare|ClickEV

These are all solid woods, and part of Breedlove's sustainable woods series.

[Laynej37]

I have a gs mini mahogany and an Orangewood Brooklyn live. The gs mini in my opinion sounds slightly better. The Orangewood is great for the price but the sound is pretty bright with little low end. The gs mini is both louder and bassier if that’s a word (better low end), which is unexpected for a small guitar. My advice is if you think your son would do better with a larger, full scale guitar, and If you want to go with Orangewood, I would recommend an Oliver mahogany. I haven’t played one but I did had an Oliver jr mahogany and it sounded great. The Oliver I’ve heard has better low end and an overall more open sound. With that being said, if you think he will do fine with a small acoustic, I really enjoy my Gs Mini Mahogany. And I definitely recommend the mahogany over the spruce.

[Laynej37]

To add, I also would look into Martin. If you’re considering the gs mini, the Martin 000-jr or dread-jr have a larger scale and wider nut width. I haven’t played these guitars so I have no idea how they sound but I’ve heard good things. This might be a good in between option. It is all solid so has good specs and is the same price as the gs mini.