# New guitar for a weekend player



## chola (Jul 13, 2009)

Howdy fellas. I am looking at getting a new guitar possibly. My last purchase was back around 88 I believe and was an Applause AE28.
I like the rig,but I find it much harder to mover around the fret board and find that the neck is now a bit to narrow for my liking. 

I ran alot of power saw over the years, so my dexterity and flexibility have diminished a fair bit. I need something that will be fairly light (action wise) and comfortable enough to get my sausage fingers on the fret board without mashing into each other..LOL

I was looking at a TakamineG440C as a new unit to try. I like the fit and feel of it and it sounded great to me. Any thoughts and or opinions as well as other options would be greatly appreciated.

My budget is quite limited due to a shortage of work($300), but no harm in looking in case thing finally pick up or if sell my current rig


----------



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Welcome to forum Chola. :wave:

I can't help you much, other than to say play as many makes and models of guitars as you can so that you have a good basis for comparison. I'm sure that you knew that gem of wisdom many years ago.

I was a tourist in Victoria, BC a few years ago and found a great music store with fantastic acoustic instruments (some were used...but very high quality) in the downtown area. Not sure if you ever go to Victoria....but that store certainly impressed me. I can find out the name if you want me to.

Hope you find a guitar soon.

Enjoy the forum and post often.

Cheers

Dave


----------



## blurr (Jul 2, 2009)

A satin finish is nice. there is no sticking when going from fret to fret. I [now] have both and prefer the satin.


----------



## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

Try a Seagull Folk. They are short scale and have a wide fingerboard. If you strum quite aggressively, go for a spruce top; if you are a light fingerpicker, go for the cedar top.


----------



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

WHOA...I looked up Cranbrook on the map....it ain't close to Victoria at all..... kqoct. 

Oh well, it was my enthusiasm that counted....Sorry.

Dave


----------



## canadian tyler (Jul 7, 2009)

Go to the Kimberley music store. I know it changed ownership since I was last there, but they some times get some used instruments there for a great deal. I hooked up a friend with a beautiful dreadnought guild for a unreal price one time there. geez, I don't even know if its still around, but I would definitely check there first.

Kimberley has a surprising amount of great guitars kicking about.


----------



## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

Guilds can be very nice if you can get one around there. Consider making a trip to Calgary sometime to try out the guitars at L&M.

If you like the feel of the Taks, I'd suggest something with an "S" near the end of the number: ex: EG341SC.
The "S" means solid top and you don't seem to save much money with the Taks by getting one without the S anyways, so you might as well have a better sounding guitar.

Around the same price, I like the Simon & Patrick guitars (by Godin). They resonate quite well. There is even a limited edition all solid wood (top, back and sides) at L&M now for $499. You can have them set one up with a nice low action for you for free.


----------



## chola (Jul 13, 2009)

Thanks a million for the advice and info fellas.

I thought the music store in kimbeley shut down..wow...gonna have to beetle up and check em out:smile:


----------



## lyric girl (Sep 4, 2008)

I would have to add to check out the Larrivee 03 series, but I'm really not sure what your budget is.


----------



## Mike MacLeod (Nov 27, 2006)

Budget a few bucks for a professional set-up. Especially if you have some mobility issues. You don't live too far from Michael Heiden (Creston) who is one of the 10 best luthiers in the world. Michael does do a few repairs and set-ups these days.

If you are interested in a used guitar, I can put you in touch with a lady here in Calgary who has just purchased a brand new Thompson T-1 from me and has a very well maintained Guild cutaway dread with pick-up that is now redundant.


----------



## canadian tyler (Jul 7, 2009)

Kimberley music store might have closed, I'd phone first. I was last there 4 years ago and they were still going strong.


----------



## dhutchings (Feb 16, 2007)

bcmatt said:


> Around the same price, I like the Simon & Patrick guitars (by Godin). They resonate quite well. There is even a limited edition all solid wood (top, back and sides) at L&M now for $499. You can have them set one up with a nice low action for you for free.


Are you sure it's all solid? I queried Godin directly about that and they got back to me saying that the L&M Model they produced was solid top only, laminated back and sides.


----------



## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

dhutchings said:


> Are you sure it's all solid? I queried Godin directly about that and they got back to me saying that the L&M Model they produced was solid top only, laminated back and sides.


Yes, I called Godin twice about that one because the price was suspiciously cheap. Also, the inside sticker says Solid Mahogany/Spruce as well. If they wanted to be tricky they would say Solid Spruce/Mahaogany and then they could leave people to assume the back and side are solid when they might not be. Their Woodland series is not regularly solid back and sides, but this Limited Edition Guitar (I speak for this June's one only) is definitely all solid wood.

Another guitar that is also quite nice for not much more is the Masterbuilt DR500 by Epiphone. I generally am not impressed by Epiphone at all, but I can't deny that Masterbuilt stuff sounds and plays very nicely. It is the next cheapest all Solid wood guitar next to that SIMPAt Limited Ed.


----------



## dhutchings (Feb 16, 2007)

Damn. I have been setting aside funds to buy one of the Mahogany/Spruce Showcases (my first guitar being an S&P Woodland Cedar - wanted to stay with the same manufacturer, Go Canada!). I might scrap that in favour of buying one of these babies at about half the cost.

Edit: Just called L&M Waterloo. They confirm that it is all solid wood, and were surprised themselves that it was priced as it was. They had one in stock and have set it aside for me. I suspect I'm going home with a new acoustic tonight


----------



## BarracudaWashie (Jul 14, 2009)

Try a Washburn D10S. Cheap, but a really good guitar!


----------

