I’ve played for years, have a few electric, so though it time I add an acoustic to the collection.
It would be a dreadnought style guitar, and preferably not electro acoustic, though wouldn’t rule it out.

Budget is around 3 to 600 (so £600 then).

Can anyone recommend any brands to look at? I like the look of Faith guitars, but that’s as much as I’ve seen so far.

Thanks,

despite not having a cache name Yamaha’s range of acoustic are amazing value for the price, and sound lovely.

Tis true. I bought my daughter a little 3/4 yam to learn on, and for the money (just over a ton) its bloody lovely.

IMHO due to construction methods, woods used and skill required there is more variability in acoustic at any price point IME

Personally i would go to a guitar shop and play some guitars in your price range and pick the one you like the most

The price itself tells you very little – perhaps the woods used, metal v plastic tuning keys[machine heads] etc but not which sounds best.

For £600 you can get a lot of guitar second hand and as you play already you should know what to look out for.
Depends on the sound you like and playability – does it have to be a dreadnought? I find the smaller bodied guitars easier to play and handle and more suited to playing at home. It depends also on the type of playing you do – finger style, strumming or a mix?
I’d look at Martin and Taylor guitars and work from there.
Lowden make great guitars but you’d have to spend £1000+ even second hand.

As you know a little and can play a bit would suggest you buy used.

Have a look at Simon and Patrick.

FWIW I would go for an electro acoustic, as it gives more flexibility, especially these days playing through computers etc.

I’ve been playing a few different guitars recently as my son is into his band. All the ones I liked were electo-acoustics. At £600 they all played fine (or would have done with a little more truss rod tension or a filed bridge) and sounded fine, but some were more to my taste than others. And there you have the key word, “taste”. Play untill you find one you fall in love with.

My son bought an Epiphone Jumbo because he plays a lot of Oasis and it’s what Noel uses – it’s a delight to play. Plugged into a Marshal acoustic amp with effects pedals we can make it sound like anything from Joni Mitchell to the Stones. I play an old Sigma Martin which may get replaced one day as it lacks a Nanomag and the pre-amp has a hum.

Remember that the guitar chooses you 🙂
As a rough guide – spruce top = very bright sound, cedar top = very warm sound.
Just got myself a parlour guitar – lovely to play, can’t put it down.

Oh if you want a pre-amp stick with Fishman

The Fishman on my Sigma Martin hums, the Esonic on my son’s Epiphone works perfectly.

A 2nd hand takamine or Cole Clark. I imported a high end takamine from USA a few years ago and even with import duty was half the price than I could find in the UK

Yamaha are so good for the money. Just have a play on a few and get the one you like the best 🙂

I’ve actually played better Yamahas than some Martins and Taylors I’ve tried.

A 2nd hand takamine or Cole Clark

ha, beat me to it …. if it’s electro acoustic try takamine.
I used to have a lovely Takamine – same as this:
https://vimeo.com/2222969

sold it as not quite up to the standard of top full-acoustics when played without an amp.

Go play a few, lots of variation. I’ve got an ibanez, ovation, Yamaha and a couple of older ones.

For a full dreadnought at that pice point I’d be looking at Yamaha or ibanez new, or hunting for a solid body Taylor second hand, a decent one would push your budget though.

I’ve got a Faith and I think they are excellent, though as others have said you just need to go and play one. I felt the Faith had more life to it than any of the equivalent Takamines etc.

I have also heard good things about this, and they are very cheap: http://www.nineboys.co.uk/blogs/news/4107992-nineboys-j17-jumbo.

I also looked for a Vintage Gordon Giltrap signature but couldn’t find any at the time.

I have a Norman. Great sound from them, and can be had for a reasonable sum.

http://www.normanguitars.com/

http://www.ayers-guitars.com if you can find one (which I did) they sound fantastic!

http://www.ayers-guitars.com if you can find one (which I did) they sound fantastic!

post a pic of it Mr. Nutt – please!

here you go

oh, I broke a bloody peg whilst playing, go figure!

Sounds incredible though, way better than any low end Martin I’d tried. (even the old stock)

Guild!

Don’t buy anything with a cutaway from any brand, they’re ugly and completely pointless.

Simon and Patrick or Seagull for me. I own a Seagull S6 Slim.

Beautiful cedar (solid) guitars.

From the number of people I’ve seen playing Takamine guitars on stage, I would suggest one of those, or a Yamaha. Seagull guitars are good, too. Takamine may not be quite as subtle, perhaps, as something like a Taylor or a Martin, but they’re a pretty robust guitar that seem able to take a lot of abuse, and come back for more.
I’ve actually got an old Sigma Dreadnought, bought it, oh, must be thirty-odd years ago. Haven’t played it in years, I ought to dig it out, really.

The cut away isn’t pointless if you want to play notes on the last half a dozen frets.

This “better sound” or “sound fantastic” is all subjective. The number of suggestions on the thread should be enough to tell the OP that in the price range he’s looking it’s mainly a matter of taste. I don’t like the flat neck and high action on a friends Yamaha but he does. My Sigma Martin is a solid thing and sounds bright rather than mellow – I like that but MrNutt probably wouldn’t. Which artists do you like the sound of? What do they play?

An obscure Australian thing in this case:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S33tWZqXhnk[/video]

Another vote for guild, I bought one of the newer Chinese ones and it sounds beautiful. I think I paid £500 for it but I have compared it against guitars my friends own( Baden,lowden,Taylor etc.) and I don’t think I could ever justify paying the difference.

Bizzarely the Ayres is very “full” both bright and bassey. It’s all solid, to br honest it sounds better than some guitars I’ve played worth 4 figures or more, they’re going to be highly sought after you mark my words.

As most others have said already – it’s a matter of going out and trying a few guitars to see what you like the sound of. That’s massively important as the better it sounds to you the more likely you are to play it and enjoy playing it. I nearly bought a Simon and Patrick a few years ago but in the end it just sounded a tad harsh to me. Yamaha acoustics are indeed often very nice sounding. However the electro acoustics, especially the shallower body ones, tend to sound quite hard to me. I ended up getting a Seagull when in Canada. Loved it when I got it. Probably would change it now as I prefer a warmer and brighter sound. If I had the cash I would probably be tempted by a Taylor – but still need to go and listen to other guitars. Had a baby Ovation many years ago. That sounded very nice when amplified but was thin when only played acoustically.

Love my Simon & Patrick Woodland Cedar

Cheers guys. Plenty of names to go on. Guess ill just have to pencil in an afternoon going round the shops playing a few. /sigh 😀

Guess ill just have to pencil in an afternoon going round the shops playing a few. /sigh

Lousy job, etc… 😀

I tried a Faith a few years back, really nice sounding instrument – if I had the cash burning a hole in my pocket that’d be top of the list.

MoseyMTB – Member

Simon and Patrick or Seagull for me. I own a Seagull S6 Slim.

Beautiful cedar (solid) guitars.

+1 for the Seagull S6

I’ve played loads of guitars over the years, but keep coming back to the Seagull. Lovely rich tone, brilliant for finger picking etc – and it cost me about £200, used. Bargain.