Wish to buy a good, branded acoustic guitar in Delhi

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by guitardoctor, Jun 23, 2009.

  1. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    Hello!

    Since the past couple of months, I have been trying to learn to play the guitar. I was using a really old guitar which one of my cousins owned (Givson, 20 years old! There is a six digit phone number on the guitar :-D )

    Well it seemed reasonable, But it did have problems with buzzing of strings (or maybe it's just because I'm an amateur). The sound quality wasn't that hot, but hey, it was all I had.

    A week ago I came into some money and I feel it's time to upgrade my guitar. I want something which will last me until I get out of beginner level - So I have a budget of 5K-6K. Now I am not very experienced (I have never bought a guitar) - my brother advised me about going to Daryaganj but I am suspicious of the guitar quality I will find there. I am looking for some advice regarding a GOOD (branded/foreign made?) guitar which will fit in this budget and where to get it from.

    Thanks a lot for your patience, any advice will be highly appreciated.
     
  2. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    Go for a a Yamaha f310.......its one if the best in the budget......
     
  3. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    Thanks a lot, angel.

    I looked at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf5xAuBTQb0 and a few reviews for the Yamaha f310, it seems to be quite popular with beginners. Would it fit in the price bracket mentioned?

    And are there any other companies (branded) which sell good guitars in the price bracket of upto 6K? I think I probably can't afford a Gibson, but which other companies are popular in India for acoustic guitars?
     
  4. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    other companies in the budget are gb&a, pluto, granada, hobner.......but yamaha is the best of the lot......

    having said that, u cannot trust a brand name with an acoustic......every individual guitar has its own sounds...and has to be checked for its defects........try looking at the grain pattern on the fret board......ask if it has a truss rod.......look at the alignment of each fret......its a tedious process....and its better if you take someone who knows how to play a guitar with you.........
     
  5. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    The reason I wanted to go branded was to avoid this - I have no knowledge about what to see in a guitar and wanted to avoid buying crap by accident... Well I'll look around for a knowledgeable guy to come guitar hunting with me... Or last-ditch, I'll have to research off the internet.

    A few more questions before I go to the music shop - what about plug-in? I mean is it sold as a part of the guitar or will I need to have it fitted separately to the guitar? How much would that cost?

    And oh, do I need any other accessories with the guitar? I mean only necessary stuff... I definitely need a plug-in for the guitar.

    Thanks a lot for your patience, angel!
     
  6. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    the F - 310 is a semi electric.....i think by plug - in you mean pickups..........

    other accessories u need are:-
    1) a guitar bag
    2) a few plectrums
    3) spare set of strings
    4) a lead cable for a semi electric.....
     
  7. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    Gosh, one thing. I dont know how other (more experienced) people will react to this, but I wanna say this from personal experience.

    Be sure to buy one with a cutaway!!! God, cant stress that enough! It's hell trying to play solos or anything close to them on a non-cutaway guitar, it limits the stuff you can play enough to drive you nuts (or so was the case with me; anyone else out there sharing this view?)

    Good luck =D

    Edit : https://www.bajaao.com/granada-prs1-medium-cutaway-acoustic-guitar-p-3517.html
    A cutaway-body guitar, just in case you dont know what a cutaway is.
     
  8. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    Okay, that makes sense, a cutaway would allow access to lower frets easier. I see...

    I was inclining towards the F310 if affordable, now I notice that the Yamaha F310 doesn't have a cutaway: what do you think, angel? How important are cutaways?

    Another question - Which of these companies are reliable and well known to produce good guitars? I notice that GB&A and Yamaha are popular and have many fans and followers. I haven't heard of pluto, granada or hobner as much - are these companies as good as Yamaha/GB&A? And I don't mean "they have a cult following"... I am interested in a guitar with mainstream following and the reason for that is simply that I am a first-time buyer and don't want to take risks... And at all costs I want to avoid Indian companies (like givson).

    Thanks for the help so far, guys...
     
  9. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    Firstly, From, my personal experience i didnt like pluto or granada......they have a melodious sound.......but the wood used in it didnt satisfy me ( it was pretty hard ) ............My GB&A acoustic is fine, but its qualities fade away in front of Yamaha.....individually every guitar sounds fine....but you will notice the difference when you will play in groups.........and if you go for a GB&A make sure that the grain pattern on the fretboard is good......and the wood is is not chipped from anywhere........
    Secondly, yes cutaways do help you in soloing..........
     
  10. guitarfan018

    guitarfan018 New Member

    Thanks for info..
     
  11. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    Thanks a bunch angel, although my searchings on the net indicate that the F310 does not have pickups, I'll go and look at the guitars at the actual dealers... I'll definitely post back here after buying the guitar so that it'll be helpful to other people in a similar situation.
     
  12. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    You can get a pickup fitted, or better yet, you can get a clip on pickup. You can use a device that connects two leads (no idea on its market name) to join it to a processor/amp/so on (so you can get an equalizer in too). This setup is good from my experience, and I haven't heard of any problems about it. Don't compromise on wood/tuners/body quality just coz it hasn't got onboard bells and whistles ;)
     
  13. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    Thanks for the pointer, ultrabot, how much does a pickup set cost? And I mean the simplest and cheapest possible setup (the clip on sounds good)...
     
  14. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    bout Rs.350 - Rs.500 i guess.......i bought it a long tym back for my giVson havn't used it in bout 7 years.........and yea the clip on's are fyn but they give way too much feedback sometimes......the only drawback being they can get unclipped if u give it a jerk........and if placed in the sound hole might get in the way of playing.....
     
  15. ultrabot90

    ultrabot90 Like fishes need bicycles

    Are you referring to the clip-on? I dunno bout the price, most prolly something under 500. I got mine free with a tuner.

    Edit : Ah yeah, Angel's right, I don't notice the problem of the clip coming off cos I play sitting...
     
  16. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    Ultrabot, I notice you mention "processor/amp". So here's another query - 500 bucks buys a pickup, so does that connect directly into a loudspeaker or will I have to buy other stuff as well? Because I currently I own no audio equipment whatsoever - total newbie here :)

    Basically the question is this - If my intent is to connect my guitar to a pair of speakers, what is the minimum equipment I have to buy, besides the pickup? No frills required. Just the absolute minimum.
     
  17. angel_of_sin

    angel_of_sin bassist.....

    a guitar with a pickup and a lead cable...............
     
  18. distorted

    distorted satan

    My clip-on pickup came fr sum 400.
    But u need to fix it at the right place to get the sound u want. N in a gud way, u can evn experiment to get different tones.
    U can connect it to the normal computer speakers, u need an adapter fr it.
    If its a clip-on wid 1/4 inch pin, get 1/4 inch socket at one end n 1/8 inch pin at the other which gets into yr speaker system.
     
  19. guitardoctor

    guitardoctor Will Rx for food

    Thanks guys...
     

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