Help on Acoustic guitars.

Man I guess everybody plays electric guitars here.  Nobody has any advice at all on a decent Acoustic guitar?

So many to choose from. Make sure you play before you buy..... They're a different animal as opposed to electrics.

I would recommend these brands to check out:

    Blueridge, Simon & Patrick, Alvarez, Larrivee (used), Yamaha, Epiphone Masterbuilt Series.

    Look for a Solid Top. This is the "Sound Board", and is the most important piece of wood. A Solid Back is also nice, but definately secondary. Don't worry about the Sides. Laminated Sides can be a big plus, as they provide a stiffer support to the Top's vibrations.

    When you go to check out guitars, take $20.00, some Picks, your own Strap, and your own Electronic Tuner.

    When you first pick a guitar up, how does it feel? Is it comfortable? Does the Neck feel good? What is the overall "Vibe" you get from it? Any sharp Fret Ends, etc.? Does the Action feel good?

    Also, very important: Is the guitar already in Tune? I find that guitars that are already in Tune after hanging in a Music Store with a lot of different people having already played them, is a great way to see if a particular Guitar will stay in Tune for me. Some Guitars just stay in Tune better. Some always seem to find a way to go "Out" of Tune.

    Next, Tune the Guitar yourself. With your own Electronic Tuner. How does the Action feel now? Still feel good, up on the higher Frets? Are the Strings still close to the Fretboard, but with no Buzzing? Is the Guitar in Tune at the Open Strings, AND at the 5th. Fret? How about at the 12th. Fret? It should be VERY close at all 3 Positions. Check it with your Electronic Tuner. Your Ears can trick you.
    (Sometimes an unscroupulous Store may tune a Guitar to Eb or even D, just so it plays better at the Store. When you get home and tune it to Standard Pitch, all the sudden the Guitar is Stiff and hard to play).

    Try playing sitting in a good Chair or Stool. Then while standing, with your own Strap. Comfortable both ways?

    Make sure all 6 Strings ring at an even volume. You don't want any Strings booming out louder than the others. And you don't want any weak sounding Strings, either.

    Play up and down every Note, on every String. Listen for good, solid Notes. No weak Notes, or Buzzing.

    Having a nice, even Volume and Tone from String-To-String, will help yield a Richer, more Pleasing Sound. Not too Bassy, with a weak High End? Not too Thin and Trebly, with no Bass response? Not Shrill? Not too Dark and "Woofy"? Etc.

    So, Feel, Vibe, Action, Intonation, Comfort, Looks (Yep, it's also important!), and overall Fit & Finish.

    Now, Tone is one of the BIG aspects. And, everyone hears things differently. But, be aware of the fact that each maker has a "Family Sound". Almost all Alvarez' will have a certain sound. There is a basic "Taylor Sound", that all Taylors share. A Martin Sound, and a Gibson Sound, etc. So, you may quickly narrow your search, when you find one maker has too Trebly a Tone. Or, maybe too Dark sounding? That type of thing.
    Of course, there is a lot of variation between each and every Guitar. 6 different Epiphones of the same Model, WILL all feel and sound differently. You've got to play them all.

    Spruce, Mahogany or Cedar Top? Mahogany, Rosewood, Koa, or Cherry Wood Back and Sides? There are many more options nowadays. And, you need to try a few of every type you can lay your hands on.

    If you have a guitar playing Friend, take them to see your "Finalists", and have them give you their impressions of each. How does it sound to them, when they are listening from 10 Feet away? How does each sound to you from 10 Feet away, as your Friend plays each guitar?

    If you find a couple of "Winners", use the $20.00 to have the Shop put new Strings of your liking onto the Guitars. See how they feel with your preferred Brand and Gauges.

     Whenever you listen to Music that has a beautiful Tone to it, set your new Prize on a Guitar Stand next to your stereo speakers. Let it soak up the good Vibrations and Tones. It'll "Break-In" quicker, and sound richer.

    Try to keep it in Tune as much as possible, for at least the whole first Year. Once the Guitar gets used to the Tension of being "In Tune", it will want to set-up and stay that way. So, it'll be more In-Tune over the rest of it's life.

    I hope this helps.

So do you really like the Silver Creek?  I had a Martin 000-28 which I loved but let go 2 years ago.  Do you think it compairs to the Martin at all?  I've read good things about them on the Musicians Friend web site but was scared they look better then they sound.  One thing that really scared me was if I had a problem with it after 45 to return the guitar I wouldn't have much help in the customer service area like one review said.  OOO's are what I'm used to and would love to have that style guitar which was why I was looking at a LL-6 by Yamaha.  I don't like the entry level Martins one bit, they truely are not the same and you get what you pay for with them.  Anyway I've found everything very use full and as soon as the Tax money pours in rest assure I'll post pictures of what ever the heck I get.  I've debated throwing in an electric to go along with the buy a new acoustic only because I'm no longer playing out anywhere live with anyone.  I was thinking that acoustics would be better for the solo route then trying to play electric guitar by myself every night at home or out somewhere from time to time.  Anyway thank you all very much and anymore advice will be great.

Well I spent about 4 hours last night going thourgh Musicians Friend and checking out their acoustics.  I have played most of them but I was truely going for what it featured and what it looked like.  So anyway I had it narrowed down to 4 last night that I wanted to try based on pro and cons I wrote out, price, and if it had a case or not.  Seeing this was basically a budget guitar anyway and my max was $500 I was very careful about what I put on my list.  As I was looking I kept going back to the Yamaha's. I really wanted an L series but didn't want to blow my whole budget on just the guitar.  I read many reviews off of every site I could find about them and then I found one that looked very much like the LL-6.  It was a Yamaha FG720S  which is much less then $500.  I know you guys will be disappointed but I found that guitar with a solid spruce top and Nato sides and back.  Nato is also called African mahogoney and is just slightly softer then mahogoney.  It is considered a budget wood but so was mahogoney many years ago.  Anyway it was $260 with no case and I found one under the scratch and dent for $235.  I know you guys will say you should try it before you buy it so I'm going to try it for a week and see what my friends think of it.  If we deem it sucks I've got 45 days to return it for a full refund.  Everything I've read says its plays great and sounds better then it looks.   Thats good because I basically decided to buy it because I liked the way it looked.  So I purcahsed it online last night at 1am so maybe by Wednesday I'll have it in and can post some pictures and let you know what the thing sounds like.  Its different but hey so am I.

I play a Takamine EF-261, red-brown-coloured. It sounds great!!! But it's about 1000$...

Here are my tabbed songs by "Smokin' Joe": http://www.jbonamassa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7236
I LIKE MUSIC!