I am seriously considering purchasing a new acoustic guitar. The acoustic I have is functional but not the easiest guitar to play. So, I'm looking to upgrade. I am torn between two guitars. First, a Taylor Academy 10e and a Takamine G Series CD71Ce. They are roughly in the same price range and both are dreadnaughts. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi Keith i love my Taylor GSe Mini .... I love Taylor acoustic guitars for the money you cannot make a better choice..they are easy to play, stay in tune, and sound sweet. Next on my list is a Martin OM but it is out of my price range right now. ... one can dream. Good luck with your choice! just Go with your gut!
Hi Deb, thanks for the input. I'm leaning toward the Taylor, but it is a bit over my self-imposed budget.
@Keith Altazin I also have a Yamaha FG75 from 1969 which was my very first guitar and a PRS OM 40 and an Ibanez Art Works that is about 20 years old. They all sound good and were in all different price ranges... go with your gut oh yeah and the BreedLove is a pretty cool guitar also for sure as mentioned by @Irwin1957. You can never have to many guitars .... I want more I keep them all in different tunings and drives hubby CRAZY!
@Keith Altazin - I'm assuming these guitars are in the $600-700 range which is a good sweet spot to be in. I'll start with guitars I own: I have two acoustic dreadnoughts, a Yamaha FG-TA which is in that price point, and an Epiphone Masterbilt DR 400 MCE that was actually less than $400; I have yet to see or play a $400 guitar better than that Epi. There is a DR 500 that moves into a higher price point. I like both the Yamaha and the Epi, and these are two brands that give solid value for the $, particularly at lower price points. Martin and Taylor are top of the line for sure, but you are paying for that privilege. For me, they are something to aspire to. I also just bought a Breedlove Concert Size, from the new Organic Series they just introduced. All wood, and very well priced, worth a look for sure. Last word: a dreadnought guitar I've always loved but don't have that in this price point is the Seagull S6; a classic! Keep us posted!
Irwin, thanks for the advice. I have looked at several Epiphone and Yamaha models but the main problem with both of those brands is most of the models I looked at (Yamaha 800 series and Epiphone ET 200 SCE) are not in stock. I am not very familiar with Breedlove so thanks for the input there.
I bought a Taylor Academy 10e a little over a year ago and I'm still absolutely in love. I played almost every guitar my music store had available in that price range and the Taylor was by far the best sounding guitar of them all. It's not just the sound that's amazing but also how the guitar feels and how easy it is to play.
So I can absolutely recommend going for the Academy 10e. You will not regret it :)
Thanks Merlin. It's a bit over budget but I am leaning in that direction. It's not often you can get a Taylor guitar in the $600 prince range.
@Keith Altazin yeah I agree, it's a pretty good bargain at that price. Even if it's a little over budget I'd probably still buy the Taylor but a bit later rather than buying a cheaper guitar that's not up to the Taylor and regretting it later on. But that's really up to you to decide :)
@Keith Altazin : The good news is the quality of many guitars at the lower price points is surprisingly good, and there is a wealth of information out there. Once you figure out your maximum price point, I think you'll find a ton of good options.
Well after several days of indecision I finally settled on a Taylor just not the Academy 10 e. I opted for the Academy 10. I didn't really need an acoustic electric guitar and the Academy 10 was $150 cheaper, which put it in my price range.
Congratulations on your new guitar. Great idea to skip the pickup system if you don't need it anyway. I'm sure you're gonna love your new Taylor :)
Woohoo! I'm team Taylor all the way. :)
@Keith Altazin -Congrats, and you cannot go wrong with any Taylor. Enjoy it!
@Keith Altazin Oh man. I wish I would have seen this conversation here on the forum while I was on vacation last week. Anyways, I'm so happy that you pulled the trigger on the new guitar. I would have recommended the Taylor hands down. This is going to be a big upgrade for you Keith. You will enjoy this one a lot!
Finally arrived this afternoon.
Sweet.congrats. Enjoy.
Woohoo!! It's beautiful! 😍
@Keith Altazin So what do you think of it? How is the set up on it?
Nate, the first thing I noticed was how easy it is to play. The second thing I noticed is that it has such a bright, deep sound. The set up is great! I really didn't realize how hard my old acoustic was to play until I started noodling on it after it came in. I really love it and haven't put it down much since last week.