Right,

I’m looking at getting the Mrs an acoustic guitar as a surprise present for her birthday. She can play a bit but wants to get into it properly and doesn’t currently own a guitar. Looking around the Yamaha FG700S looks to be a good bet. Looking on-line it can be had for as little as £16-170.

Any advice, opinions etc greatly appreciated.

Yamaha guitars are definitely good one and since she’s not an advanced player it will be more than good enough for her. You can guitars quite cheap in online shops or at ebay, just make sure you buy at a trusted seller (check out reviews, e.g. at ebay).

I’d second Yamaha, or go for a brand called ‘Norman’. Funny name, but they are made by the same people that make Simon and Patrick guitars.

I had a Simon and Patrick and sold it cos I was skint. Bought a cheaper Norman because they are made in the same factory in Quebec. Great guitar, great sound. Recommended!

Stay away from cheap Fender acoustics.

You’d be better off just buying a cheap guitar (yamaha or not) from a shop. That way you know the neck won’t get warped in transit. £50 will buy a decent beginners guitar but you might want to modify the bridge to make it easier on her fingers.

friend of a friend used to work in a guitar shop, he said the mark-up on a £60 guitar was only nominaly less than a £160 guitar. As every parent came in looking to spend £60 (as thats what they could get in argos) but the £150-£300 guitar market was much more compettitive. And may even be loss making if you haggled in some extras like getting it set up properly (wahts the correct word for that?) after the first few weeks of living in your living room. They’r hoping you’ll stick with it and come back for strings/books/more guitars.

I bought my son a freshman acoustic recently, seems nicely mad, sounds nice but I know nowt about guitars.

Stay away from cheap Fender acoustics.

why?! i’ve had mine for about five years and still sounds really great.

I used to have one of the really cheap Fenders, an ST1 possibly? It was horrendous, made of chipboard, sounded like elastic bands stretched over a shoebox. Horrible. It didn’t even burn well.

Crafter make some very nice, inexpensive acoustics, I’m not sure where the prices are now but my little travel acoustic was £170 with a case, and it’s bloody lovely. Handles and plays like my telecaster, but it’s still got good volume and a lovely voice despite its tiny size, it’s probably my favourite guitar. I think you could get the Lite T spruce in your price range.

Yamaha are always the easy choice for cheap guitars I think.

as MisterGnar suggested above, acoustic guitars don’t ‘travel’ as well as electrics and are harder to remedy if they come set up all funny. I would always try it (or get someone who can play to try it if you can’t). It doesn’t matter how good it sounds if it feels all wrong; a badly set up guitar is even harder to love than a badly set up drivetrain!

oh and fwiw one of the nicest to play (but not sound-wise) acoustics i ever tried is a cheap second-hand yamaha fg335. (i bought it as well) But a mate had an identical one too once and it was fairly horrible to play. Really, try before you buy.

Washburn D10S, Best budget acoustic you get. Solid top not laminate like cheaper models, will get better with age. lovely sounding guitar. You’ll get one for about £120.

Not long bought a Tanglewood Sundance, it’s all solid mahogany construction and sounds amazing, so much better than the cheaper ones i tried.
It was a lot more than i intended to pay but once i strummed it i was hooked 🙄

i’ve got a crafter gae6, lovely sound and seems to keep tune brilliantly, pity after 2 years i still seem to be a beginner, biking ruins my practice time

Crafter recommended though

I’ve had a Westfield electro-acoustic for about 10yrs now and it’s still nice. Not particularly bling, except for the graffiti all over it, but it works and it was about £120. I gig with it every now and again and it’s a good enough sound for that (just little pub /open mic sessions, mind…)