electro-acoustic guitar

[peacock1987]

Hi guys, I am in the market for an electro acoustic guitar but am not sure where to start. Firstly I am left handed which is quite a hinderance. My main queries are with regards to what should I be looking for build wise for a good quality guitar. My limit is about 400 pound, and I was just wondering what sort of woods and build materials I should be on the lookout for to maximise the quality of the guitar for the price. Cheers

[smokingbeagle]

With that kind of budget, even allowing for it being a lefty you should be able to get:

1/ Solid top (probably spruce, possibly cedar)

2/ Solid back and sides (likely to be rosewood, but there's a few other materials around - as long as there's no laminated material in the construction you should be fine!)

3/ Good tuners. You may find Grovers or Schallers on a mid-price guitar, if not any decent adjustable types will do the job.

4/ A decent onboard preamp. Ideally a 'name' like Fishman or Baggs, (own brand or something like Shadow at a push) but look out for three-band eq (or at least bass, treble and 'presence'), and increasingly an onboard tuner (wish mine had one).

As far as brands go, I'll recommend Tanglewood for the umpteenth time, Faith, Crafter, Yamaha, Takamine and Ovation IF it's going to be a pure stage guitar and you're not bothered about unplugged tone (as they generally sound like arse on their own).

[peacock1987]

thanks!! ill keep on the lookout, i have a really cheap acoustic but want to venture into the electro acoustic realm so i can start playing open mic nights and what not. A friend of mine mentioned takamine as being a good set of guitars

[Frankscousin]

I guess it also depend as the previous poster says, what you think about unplugged tone. If this is important, I would spend the £400 on the best solid wood second hand guitar I could find then invest the extra £100 in a decent pick up. Although the onboard EQ stuff can be handy - it really depends on what outboard/PA/amp/preamp you are using.

A good quality passive pick up such as the Baggs Ibeam is great sounding but you would want access to the some EQ (unless ther is someone good on the mixer) or get a pedal or rack based preamp/compressor.

but generally it does seem to pay to spend as much as you can on the basic guitar and then add the bits as and when you have some spare greenback.

[peacock1987]

a friend of mine reccomended the Yamaha APX 700. Any thoughts on this product??

[U696783]

Checkout the EW series - not sure about LH availability though
There is a review on this site (search for EW20).
Also recommend looking at B-band transducers - theyre pretty good compared to piezo

[peacock1987]

yeah i went for the yamaha in the end, once i got it home here, iv noticed like a knot in the wood its only noticeable in certain lights its like not been damaged or out it looks like a natural knot type thing. Im not one to complain bout stuff like that but im not sure whether i should or not