good and "cheap" steel string guitar.

[nw-productions]

Hi,

i wanted to buy a steel string guitar a long time ago but never did it. Now after watching Breaking Bad and have to buy one. Love the Sound of the Intro Which type would be the best for getting that sound? My budget is around 300 € but cheaper would be better .. if there is any special tip ... there are always guitars that cost 10% of expensive ones but are equal in quality (maybe not the same wood and so on but nothing anybody would notice on a record)



Thank you

 

[Sethis]

I can tell you about the Yamahas in this price range cause I have experience with them. Amazing value for money - the whole FG series. Nice, rich and loud sound. I also know Takamine makes good instruments although I haven't played with them that much. Just get one with a solid top and preferably without a pickup.

 

[egan.]

Even more than electrics, you really have to go play the exact guitar you're going to buy. Even with expensive guitars of the same model there is a fair amount of variation instrument to instrument. Also, playing style makes a big difference too. Some guitars sound beautiful finger-picked but really bottom out when strummed hard.
Brand-wise I think it's worth looking at eastman. They're made in china but put out some nice instruments.

 

[nw-productions]

I can tell you about the Yamahas in this price range cause I have experience with them. Amazing value for money - the whole FG series. Nice, rich and loud sound. I also know Takamine makes good instruments although I haven't played with them that much. Just get one with a solid top and preferably without a pickup.

Thanks to you 2 for the answers.

Why you suggest without pickups?

 

[Sethis]

Cause chances are that at the same price a guitar without pickups will be better built than one with them. Especially at this range it makes a big difference. And if you want it to record you don't need pickups that much.

 

[egan.]

To add to Sethis' point, you're allocating part of your budget to a pickup system that isn't great and you'll likely never use in recording. Additionally though you're adding parts and compartments that may well add rattles or weird resonances to the guitar that you don't want.

 

[nw-productions]

Cause chances are that at the same price a guitar without pickups will be better built than one with them. Especially at this range it makes a big difference. And if you want it to record you don't need pickups that much.

ok that make sense. thx

oh and my question what type would be the best? (dreadnought, roundback ...)

 

[MatrixClaw]

I've recently gotten the urge to really delve into acoustic guitar and I have played A LOT of acoustics over the past week...

General consensus from myself and a few people I had taken with me to check them out was that all but one Taylor (I played ~20 from their bottom of the line to top of the line) I tried was very bright and not very full bodied. I feel like they'd sit well with other instruments, but as a focal point, they'd fall to the back. I wish I would've written down the name of the Taylor I liked... but it was out of my price range, anyway ($2400, I believe).

Wasn't hugely impressed with Takamine - The only one I liked was a 12 string, and I can't seem myself owning a 12 string anytime soon, as it's kind of a specialty instrument.

Breedlove's line was alright. Nothing to write home about IMO, except on one guitar - The Revival Black Magic - which was easily in my top 5.

The guitars that were far and above the most consistently great throughout their range were the Martins. From their $500 guitars up to the $2600 HD28, they all sounded very good. The HD28 is my favorite of all the acoustics I tried.

Gibson had quite a variation in their sound, not that any of them sounded bad, but their line ranged from Taylor bright to Martin big. Weird. The Advanced Jumbo was in my top 5, though. Great sounding guitar!

The Seagull guitars I played sounded fairly similar to Breedlove, but at half the price. Interestingly enough, I tried about 5 of the same model at one point and they all sounded vastly different. Case in point - Try and make sure you can try out the guitar before you buy it.

I really love the feel of Ovation and they sound pretty cool through an amp, but I definitely wouldn't use one for recording. Not very full acoustically. The carbon fiber shell doesn't really allow for much projection.

For $300, the Yamaha FG700 was a HUGE surprise. I own a 60's FG-180 red label Nippon Gakki, and I've heard this is the closest you can get to it in modern-production. Man... these guitars sound GREAT. I liked it much better than my 60s Yammy (though, to be fair, mine hasn't been humidified its entire life ). Out of all the very expensive guitars I played, this was another in my top 5!

Ultimately, I ended up trading a 24" computer monitor I got for free like 4 years ago for a Tacoma DR38. The guitar has the typical finish peeling Tacoma is known for, so I really wasn't expecting much, especially considering I basically got it for free... but HOLY FUCK, this thing sounds great! Apparently they cost $1900 brand new back in the day... so I definitely got an insane deal on it. Definitely a guitar brand to keep an eye out for, especially if you can get a deal on one.

Favorites were:

1. Martin HD28
2. Tacoma DR38
3. Gibson Advanced Jumbo
4. Breedlove Rival Black Magic
5. Yamaha FG700
6. Martin D-28
7. Unknown $2000+ Taylor

Really wanted to try a Larivee, but no one had any in stock


That being said - I know people who LOVE Taylors and wouldn't touch another guitar... so the moral of the story is... GO TRY A BUNCH!

 

[Melodeath]

Take this with a grain of salt, but when I was trying out acoustics, Martins were the only ones that had any kind of low-end to them. (Maybe I just like full acoustics, or that's what I'm used to hearing...) So I picked a Martin that had low-end but wasn't too muddy and still had clarity. It happened to be a DRS-2, and I picked it over a more expensive Martin.