What acoustic guitar would you recommend for an experienced guitar players christmas present?

emimj: What acoustic guitar would you recommend for an experienced guitar players christmas present?
I’m wanting to buy my boyfriend a new acoustic guitar for Christmas, but don’t want to get him a rubbish one yet I am on a budget as I am getting him something else as well.
I get 10% off in argos so if there was a good one in there all the better!

Thanks!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Robert D
You will need to spend several hundreds of pounds to get anything decent!

Answer by PIPSMUM
You won’t get a good acoustic guitar from anywhere other than a specialist guitar shop.

Rather than going for a new guitar I would recommend that you look on the web for secondhand guitars which do come in cheaper.

Good makes – Martin, Gibson, Washburn, some Yamaha. Martin are definitely best.

What IS important is that your boyfriend gets to try it before you buy. The width of fingerboard and the action (i.e. the space between the string and the fingerboard, which determines how hard you have to press on the string) are very important and because people’s hands vary so much, what might be comfortable for one person to play, may not be for another.

I was a professional musician playing an acoustic guitar for 25 years and nearly got put off playing when I was young by having a cheap guitar bought for me that was murder to play and had a dreadful sound – most cheap guitars don’t sound good and have a poor action. Fortunately I did persevere but it would have been better if the money had been saved until my parents could afford to buy a good, secondhand guitar – which I eventually did myself.

Incidentally – there are some guitars on Ebay right now worth looking at – but DO make sure you get to see them and that your boyfriend gets to try them out! It may not have the same element of surprise at Christmas but it’s a LOT better than giving him something he won’t be able/won’t want to play!

Answer by song man
A Taylor, they’re high quality and nearly every session player in Nashville uses them on master recording sessions.
Expensive thoug…He definitely won’t like a cheap brand…
maybe you can find something here that he’ll appreciate just as much.

https://www.squidoo.com/the-top-10-best-under-100-christmas-gifts-for-musicians-

Answer by andy muso
Argos?????!!!!! Please don’t insult him if he really is an experienced player!

Answer by cathrl69
Don’t. Just don’t. An experienced player will want to try before he buys, and the chances that anything in Argos is going to be any use are very, very slim.

Why don’t you buy him a case, or a music stand? Difficult to go wrong with those.

Answer by Mikey, just Mikey
Get him a Fylde or a Peter Barton acoustic guitar. Either is prefect for an experienced player.

Answer by Harry
Rubbish is as… rubbish plays, sounds and feels.

He’s got to have a say in this and be able to try them out for himself, being an experienced player as you said. He will know what will do and have an idea what amount of money you are willing to spend it on.

Would you trust him to pick out an evening gown for you, by himself, and expect you to wear it sight unseen and not being fitted for it?

It will be a far better experience to share in the adventure and watch his reactions in the process of such a nice gesture, and freedom to shop for something he appreciates so much. This alone may overshadow anything else you have in mind, and you could just put the money towards it alone.

That’s what several of us have been trying to say.

And, 10% off ANYTHING when it comes to ALL retail in general, is never a bargain. It is a number to have the buyer think it is. Not just for instruments but EVERYTHING. (What’s the sales tax there?)

Or, if all besides… a gift card, to a purchase limit, at a music store.

Answer by Franck Melbine
Well if he is experienced so he plays for a quite some time now you will need a lot of money, you can buy cheep guitars that ar made of sh** but if you want a real good one you better be prepared for a big amount…..my advice get him something else……oh btw It ain’t good to buy him a guitar without him knowing, because he needs to try the guitars himself, because a guitar that suits a professional might just not suit him…..

Answer by RachelS165
Since he’s an experienced guitarist, while you know nothing whatsoever about guitars, the best thing to do would be to give him a gift certificate to a good guitar shop (NOT Argos!!) — or go with him to a good guitar shop — and let him choose his own Christmas present.

Every guitarist has his or her own individual idea of what they want their dream guitar to feel like in their hands, sound like, and play like. You really can’t choose for someone else, they’ve got to pick it out for themselves.

And depending on how much money you’re able to spend on this gift, your boyfriend might or might not be able to find a guitar he likes at that price, and might choose to spend the gift certificate on some other musical merchandise instead — a new guitar case, instrument stands, a digital recording device, or whatever. Or maybe he’ll want to add some of his own money to your gift in order to get a better guitar than you can afford to buy him.

Either way, let him decide.

Answer by Rainer
Experienced players have to choose their guitars themselves. I see a gift coupon…

Answer by Chloe Anne
Don’t get it from argos! I’m learning soon and thats the only reason im getting mine off there but for an experienced player you need to go to a specialist guitar shop. I know most shopping centres like Meadowhall have them so check them out first. Also if you’re not a guitar player yourself maybe get some advise from a friend who does play about good guitars

Answer by skaterchicky12
well, since he is experienced, he’ll want a good guitar. most good guitars are atleast 800 bucks. check out garrisons though. they’re discontinued, so they’re cheap, but sound like a 1500 buck guitar.