Looking for a good quality first acoustic guitar

I've been thinking about picking up the acoustic guitar. I was at Guitar Center over the weekend and "played" (I know like 3 guitar chords) a bunch of guitars in the $400-600 range (Epiphone, Seagull, Laguna, etc.). The Epiphone Masterbilt guitars (AJ-500 & DR-500) seemed to be head and shoulders better sounding than anything else in the "import guitar" room. I even tried it against a Breedlove Atlas Studio and like the Masterbilt better. I don't really know what makes a good sounding guitar, so I'm wondering if I'm on the right track. Those Epiphone Masterbilt guitars seem to get great reviews, but are there others in the price range I should check out?

Thanks.

Yamaha

I own about Acoustic guitars including some expensive martins and gibsons and will tell you that the guitar that I own that sounds the best to me is my $250 Yamaha. If you can try out the Yamaha acoustics I bet you will be a believer! My guitar playing buds agree as well. Not only does do they sound awesome for the price but they sound awesome period.

i did something similar a few years back. went into guitar center looking at guitars in your price range, ended up with a Seagull. i thought it sounded great for the price.

by now, you should know that what matters most is how it sounds to you. hahaha. but really, there are so many guitars out there in that price range that are going to blow you away.

before i bought my taylor, i was shopping for one. was thinking about a 314ce. yeah, LOOT. so after spending some time in the "expensive acoustic room" at GC, i went back out into the main acoustic guitar area and by chance picked up a yamaha APX900. solid spruce top with laminated maple back and sides. i thought it was too good to be true. it sounded BETTER than the taylors i was looking at. it played BETTER than the taylors i was looking at. and it was a fifth of the price. i bought that guitar.

i eventually got my 614ce which is soooo much more expensive than the ones i was looking at before. and when i took her home and played the two guitars back to back, the difference was only enough that a seasoned player could notice.

now, at the same time, i keep preaching about how, with the proper know-how, you can take almost any lower-priced instrument and turn it into a performance ready beast. i sold my yamaha because i could no longer justify owning it with the taylor on standby. now, my player guitar is a crafter that i bought for $100 and customized slightly. might not sound like the greatest guitar, but its not bad. fairly decent actually. and it plays like a dream.

I took a 2-hour ride to the nearest Guitar Center about 2 years looking for my first acoustic guitar as well.

I ended up picking up one of these.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone-AJ-100CE-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-518364-i1150008.gc

I was only 14 at the time so the guy there was pretty nice and gave me a discount. He sold it to me for $120 along with a gig bag and a capo. Probably the best purchase I've made in my life. I love GC employees, they are incredibly nice and I would not be where I am now without them.

Now a days I'm playing Blackbird and Here Comes the Sun. I can't describe the sound, its absolutley amazing.

Thanks guys for the ideas so far.

NukeDoc - yeah, I should know that how it sounds to me is the most important thing, but right now my brain is only wired for re-entrant ukulele and I don't really know what a good guitar is supposed to sound like yet. Heck, I can't really even decern a high-end low-G uke from a low end one...

I went to a Guitar Center briefly tonight and walked into the "expensive guitar" room to check out the higher end stuff just for the heck of it. There was this Taylor T5 Koa thinline guitar that I haven't seen in person before . Man I REALLY liked that one! Perhaps one day when I actually could play a little guitar...

in my opinion for a good sound at not a huge price, i would go Takamine everytime. there is just something about those guitars i cant get past. since the first day i played mine i just couldn't put it down... again thats just my opinion

GX9901 said:

Thanks guys for the ideas so far.

NukeDoc - yeah, I should know that how it sounds to me is the most important thing, but right now my brain is only wired for re-entrant ukulele and I don't really know what a good guitar is supposed to sound like yet. Heck, I can't really even decern a high-end low-G uke from a low end one...

I went to a Guitar Center briefly tonight and walked into the "expensive guitar" room to check out the higher end stuff just for the heck of it. There was this Taylor T5 Koa thinline guitar that I haven't seen in person before . Man I REALLY liked that one! Perhaps one day when I actually could play a little guitar...

Click to expand...

my brother and i drool over the T5 (he more than i). its like the best of both worlds! and i keep kicking myself everytime i see one on craigslist for about $1500 in excellent condish. i would have to sell a kidney for that kinda loot nowadays. this recession is making a lot of people dump some awesome gear for a song!

well i got my guitar for free! I was driving down the road to a spot i like to chill out and think about life with the GF and found it in the bushes! its a Yamaha that has a spruce top and i tell you what it is a great guitar! i still have not fixed the action of it but its great! try looking at the Yamaha line. great price decent sound!

Another vote for Yamaha. Great guitars that usually outplay everything in their price range as well as the ones in the next tier.

1st guitar,no joke!!! lucero classical guitar. $99 your chioce natural or what i got black. just change the strings.

my first classical was a lucero too! i traded it for a car radio amplifier..haha! then i got a Sunlite classical acoustic/electric from the swapmeet! then an ibanez classical, then another ibanez classical, and now an ovation classical which im sticking to...for real this time! haha!

I really like the Yamaha's and the older ovations, not much money and really good playability and tone. The CS257 is my personal favorite for used gear, cheap and durable.

I am partial to Taylor but thats me, Nuc if you don't know the Taylor factories have seconds and demos for sale at the factory after you take the tour, they had a T5% in koa there for some ridiculous low price like 1250$ when I was there last year.

wearymicrobe said:

I really like the Yamaha's and the older ovations, not much money and really good playability and tone. The CS257 is my personal favorite for used gear, cheap and durable.

I am partial to Taylor but thats me, Nuc if you don't know the Taylor factories have seconds and demos for sale at the factory after you take the tour, they had a T5% in koa there for some ridiculous low price like 1250$ when I was there last year.

Click to expand...

mike, you know if i had $1250 to drop on an instrument, i woulda gotten your CE1 by now! hahaha.

but dude, i just might take a tour one of these days. ive been wanting to see the place for a while now. just been so dang busy lately.

NukeDOC said:

mike, you know if i had $1250 to drop on an instrument, i woulda gotten your CE1 by now! hahaha.

but dude, i just might take a tour one of these days. ive been wanting to see the place for a while now. just been so dang busy lately.

Click to expand...

Tell me about it, been in and out of town with the biz's. Wife's out of work for the next few months so even I have slowed down on the whole UAS, I even passed up a K5 Tenor on the bay that had my eye on.

BUGOY said:

my first classical was a lucero too! i traded it for a car radio amplifier..haha! then i got a Sunlite classical acoustic/electric from the swapmeet! then an ibanez classical, then another ibanez classical, and now an ovation classical which im sticking to...for real this time! haha!

Click to expand...

right on!!!! i told myself this is the last guitar but ....... still like buy that koa taylor guitar thats been haunting me!!!!!!