i wanna buy an electro acoustic help!

[Oldrottenhead]

i am getting a bit fed up with my 8 year old daughters £10 ikea acoustic guitar, so i want to upgrade.............. not too much tho...................i'm on a budget, not too expensive that mrs orh would notice. so cheap....unfortunately ikea dont do electro acoustics

[henwrench]

There are loads of half decent electro-acoustics out there... the best bet would be try before you buy,  Tanglewood...Vintage....Encore....Yamaha....Fender even, all do good guitars priced from £100-£150.

                                               henwrench

[Geir]

... Ibanez ....

Before buying my Morgan el/ac I tried a whole lot of guitars ... and having good experience with ibanez I tried one very cheap one even tho I willing to spend from 500-1000£ ... That was one of the guitars I tried with the best neck .. a dream to play ... intonation close to perfect .. little to no fretbuzz...  didn't try it plugged it tho .. and the sound wasn't as good as the more expensive guitars I tried but still decent considering the price. 

But like Henny said .. in the lower pricerange it is essential to try before buying. Bring your mbr and your headset so you can get the best possible test. Also try recording with the mic (FX turned off) ...

[Flash Harry]

I have a second hand tanglewood bowl back. Its got a lovely neck, more like an electric neck. You can pick them up second hand on eBay for not too much.

[Pete C]

I have a Tanglewood bowl back too.  Quite good value - nice neck and good tuners.  It was a Christmas present from my wife about 15 years ago and still wearing well.

[SE]

Hi I,m in the market too, have got a tanglewood elecrto, but the pickup stopped working so don,t know if I, ll get it repaired or go for a new one, well anyway I usually go to Merchant City music Glasgow.
I bought an Ibanez bass from there about 7 or 8 months ago and it,s been great so I was looking at there electros and quite like these two Ibanez  TCY 10E £ 165 and Ibanez SX 60 £ 199. Check them out ,hope this helps.

[Oldrottenhead]

i will have a wee peek in merchant city next time i go intae the toon

[Greeny (No longer active)]

You can't go wrong with a Takamine. I have a fairly cheap one that I bough second hand, and it's my reliable work-horse.

I love my Tanglewood most of all, but it was quite an expensive all-solid wood model, and I don't know what the cheaper ones are like. I tried all sorts of brands before I bought it: Simon & Patrick, Blueridge, and Taylor to name but a few. It was the one guitar that felt right from the first moment I played it.

Ibanez aren't well known for their acoustics, but I have an Ibanez Masa, and it was my main live guitar for several years. I still play it a lot, and it sounds and plays brilliantly. It's probably around £300.

Your best bet is to go to a guitar shop with a set budget and play everything in your price range. Make sure you play them acoustically AND plugged in.

[flyon90]

You can get an Applause acoustic/electic with a composite back in the states for about 200 USD, or if you want a more traditional guitar ibanez has plenty of decent budget models for around 200 USD.

[SteveB]

Good posts, Peeps. 
Just a personal point on the 'bowl back' suggestions. I have the Applause version, and while it's a beautifully-made and sounding guitar, I would suggest that anyone who is contemplating purchasing a bowl back guitar tries out a couple (varying depths of bowl) before parting with the moola. Quite simply, they can slide around, which isn't everyone's cup of tea. Others will have their own opinions, and that happens to be mine (and I know I'm not alone in this preference). I think I may have been blinded with the beauty, and the sale price (roughly £100 GBP), but if I could choose again, I would plump for the traditional flat back. Good luck with any future purchase.