I want a decent acoustic that is cheap. I just need it to take around in my car and just to have laying around in case something strikes me. I'm looking for something in the range of $300. Any suggestions?
You could hunt down a used 80's Yamaha for maybe yard sale prices and just upgrade the nut and saddle. The wood finally sounds pretty good after 20 years. :laugh2:
I swear by my Yamaha FG-411. I got it in '98 for a little under $300 Canadian (~$225 USD at the time) and it is still one of the best sounding acoustics I've played. I have played Takamines, Ovations and even some Taylor's that don't sound as good as mine. However I'm not saying all Yamaha's are like this. My friend has the FG-410 and it sounds great but nowhere nice as mine. Maybe I just happened to get a lucky one out of the batch.
A used Yamaha, or even new ones will go for under 300. IF you are planning on leaving it in the car as you mentioned, I would recommend a laminated wood guitar. This will definatley not sound as good as solid woods do, but it will be more stable. Solid woods will react tothe atmosphere, where a laminated wood won't move around as much. It will be easier to keep it in good playing condition.
I swear by my Yamaha FG-411. I got it in '98 for a little under $300 Canadian (~$225 USD at the time) and it is still one of the best sounding acoustics I've played. I have played Takamines, Ovations and even some Taylor's that don't sound as good as mine. However I'm not saying all Yamaha's are like this. My friend has the FG-410 and it sounds great but nowhere nice as mine. Maybe I just happened to get a lucky one out of the batch.
Taylor Big Baby's are a sweet deal for 350$, run around 275$ used.
Anything by Alvarez, most of the Regent series they make is around or under 300$, sometimes you can find Something from the Artist series used for around that much. They make some really good stuff.
I Would agree with the call on the used Ovations too.
Any and all of those are good sits-in-the-case-in-your-car-until-you-want-to-have-an-impromptu-jam guitars as well as awesome in general for their own sake, as they're all sturdy and sound pretty freakin' good for the price you pay