I'm looking to get an under $2000 acoustic, no cutaways, no electronics, for strumming and fingerpicking and vocal accompaniment. What brands/models should I check out? Thanks
Martians! Guitars from outer space! Oh I read that wrong. I like the low end Larivees. They sound nice. Overall Yamaha are my favorite cheapo dreadnought style tho'.
The maple produces a bright tone that works great for cutting through the mix in a band situation. Since it's a dred, it has plenty of bass and is well balanced.
Like Jon said, for $2k you could pick up a Taylor or a Martin. If I were you, I would play several different styles and makes. I picked up my Tacoma, brand new off of ebay for $875. I think it compares very favorably with a Taylor 610 in both tone and playability. I would definitely try some Larrivee and Tacoma guitars. You will be able to get more guitar for the money with these brands, than with a Taylor or Martin. Don't get me wrong, I love my Taylor and don't plan to ever sell it. There are just a lot of good guitars out there and I would not limit your search to a couple of brand names. Going for the Tacoma was an easy decision. I didn't want to spend another $2k on a 2nd acoustic. I was able to get comparable quality for much less.
My Taylor is a grand auditorium body style with a cutaway. If I only had one guitar, I would choose this size (some mfgs call it a Little Jumbo). It just fits me like a glove. This is a wonderful all around acoustic. The sitka top and rosewood b&s produce a nice warm sound. You can get the GA sized guitars from Taylor without a cutaway, but you might have to order it. It is more common to see a Taylor 714 without a cutaway. The 714 has rosewood b&s with a cedar top. I heard someone say this had a creamy tone, which I think is a good description.
Really, there are so many choices, you need to go try some out.
Here's a pic of my Taylor. I cropped the picture, since there were other folks (from my office party) in the picture as well.
nice sweater
did you get it off of bill cosby ?
sry jk
nice guitar i like the cutaway
yea i forgot about Lar guitars they are made here in vancouver
never have played one though.
Prob the best thing to do is research and then go down to your guitar shop and play their guitars in the $2 k + price range. PLay the expensive ones then find the one you like and look around on ebay and your local buy and sell paper
Bing, I had some Christmas wrap that had that same design on it. (nothing but love, brotha!)
On topic, I'd agree with those that suggested Larivee...my friend has one that sounds really really good. I'd also suggest the Taylor and Martin as Jon did. I've played one of each, and I'd take them both home if I could. (And if I could steal that Larivee from my friend and get away with it, I'd do that too! )
In addition to brands that have been mentioned I'll put 2 cents in for the Carvin Cobalt series. I have Taylor sensibilites. If I could have any acoustic in the world it would be a Taylor. I like the tone and feel.
Having said that, I went to a Carvin outlet a couple of years ago and played their Cobalts and was quite impressed. I ended up buying one and have been happy with it ever since. I won't go into how close it is to playing a Taylor. No doubt there are differences. But I like to say that if you have Taylor sensibilities, you'd probably like the Carvin Cobalt line.
And since they run around $500 (or less) depending on what you get (especially based on what you're looking for) they may be the biggest acoustic value out there IMO. I think they're easily worth twice the price. Mine is a 780 Jumbo with cutaway and electronics and I think I paid about $550 for it.
I'm not putting down any of the other brands mentioned here. I think their quality speaks for itself. I'm just acknowledging how good of a value the Carvin Cobalts are.