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Post by gekko on Apr 21, 2016 14:16:14 GMT
Afternoon all. I'm looking to buy a cheap parlour guitar for travel purposes. It'll be used for a combination of weeks away in cottages, weekend camping trips and general noodling on the sofa. Budget is £250-ish and could be new or second hand. Whilst it needs to serve camping needs and might get roughed around a little, it still needs to sound decent or I'll avoid playing it and wont pick it up when I'm in the house. It's for that reason that I'm avoiding so-called travel guitars as I expect I'll get better sound and build quality from a parlour. Models that are already on my radar are: Tanglewood TW133 Tanglewood TWJP Guild M120 (although probably a bit above budget even for a second hand) What other models should I be considering? Of the Tanglewoods, the mahogany one seems to have a better depth of sound and was more pleasing to my ears, although the Java model looks quite cool. I know there is a big fan of Tanglewood parlours on this forum and I had read that particular thread already in depth .
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Apr 21, 2016 14:26:57 GMT
Mel, I really like the Tanglewood TWJP and was seriously considering one just recently. If fact, there was one up for sale here in the classifieds... acousticsoundboard.co.uk/thread/5723/sale-tanglewood-java-twjpOther than that, I'd say have a look at the Faith Mercury. I had scorpiogdog's Mercury for a while and it was a lovely guitar. They come in natural/naked, black or high-gloss, and you should be able to pick up a used one for your budget. Best of all, they're all solid guitars.
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Post by scorpiodog on Apr 21, 2016 14:52:12 GMT
Sent you a pm, Mel. Sorry, I accidentally sent you 3 messages because I thought they weren't going. I have now found they were. I really am a technological dinosaur.
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mandovark
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Post by mandovark on Apr 21, 2016 14:52:51 GMT
I've played a couple of smaller-bodied guitars in the Breedlove Passport series and thought they were nice guitars for the money. A new one might be a bit over your budget, but possibly worth looking out for second-hand ones.
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Post by earwighoney on Apr 21, 2016 15:13:49 GMT
For camping, travel purposes I myself would be inclined to go for a guitar with a mahogany soundboard as I imagine it'd be less prone to humidity issues than a softwood soundboard.
The Tanglewood TW133 seems like a great price for an all solid instrument. Just under it's pricetag, there's the new Recording King RP-09M, which is all solid with a Spruce soundboard.
I've played the Guild M-120, and it's new variant (Westerly Collection) has a slightly wider nut and string spacing at the saddle is a superb guitar. Almost twice your budget, but it's a superb guitar. They have them in stock in Wunjo, and I recommend trying one if you can at sometime. Guild have a new concert sized instrument, the M-240E which I've not tried but looks and sounds like a good guitar for the price (just over £300)
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Post by creamburmese on Apr 21, 2016 15:49:34 GMT
I've been pleasantly surprised by the Art and Lutherie Ami (built in Canada so I don't know how widely available they are in the UK). Surprisingly big sound out of a small guitar - I've used it as a travel guitar in the past it has a solid top and laminate sides, I've never taken any special care of it and had absolutely no problems
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Post by lavaman on Apr 21, 2016 16:15:31 GMT
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Post by gekko on Apr 21, 2016 18:20:30 GMT
Wow - thanks all for the swift responses. I will check out all those recommendations. Why does that Guild M-120 sound so bloody good? I'd like to stay in budget if poss, otherwise I'm not sure I'd feel good taking it camping, but it's tempting . Interesting thought about a hog coping with the humidity better than a softer wood. I'll definitely bear that in mind.
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Post by vikingblues on Apr 23, 2016 10:00:59 GMT
You've already picked what I would have recommended in your opening post list Mel! Those two Tanglewoods - the TW133 and the TW JP - are both remarkably good for the price, and are versatile enough to cover a wide range of music. The TW133 was so good it persuaded me to take it when the competition (that was all within my budget) that day included the Guild M120 and a Martin OO15M!! But it's that very personal thing - which guitar gets me playing music best. The TW133 ended up in a shoot out with the Martin continually swapping the two for quite some time - at £1,000 of a price difference the Martin should have won. Those two Tanglewoods are also very different in sound, but with all Mahogany v Cedar + Amara/Mango that's to be expected. No hesitation in recommending either of them. But that, and all my other comments on other guitars are just on the basis of individual guitars I've tried. I have tied a Tanglewood TW73 in a shop that was VERY different to the TW73 I have at home - that really brought it home to me how true it is when people recommend buying a specific guitar you've tried and not just another one of the same model. The Guild might have been right for me, but it had a bit of a reserved nature to the sound. I suspect that's my fault as I play rather lightly. There's certainly no doubt in my mind that it's a quality instrument. But double your budget. I have tried a Faith Mercury Naked and it did not float my boat at all - sounded rather harsh and nasty when played by me. I've seen demos where the sound was good on these guitars so maybe it was just me, maybe just that individual guitar, or it maybe was a guitar that didn't match my (lack of) playing style. But I was rather shocked by how far short it fell of the quality level I was expecting from the descriptions I'd seen. It seemed to me as if more than just the fancy decorations and finish had been stripped away. I tried the Sigma 0015 mahogany - if I had played reasonable vigorously it could be a good bet but as I play lightly I felt a lack of sustain. It had less of a mahogany sound than I had expected too. Which could be a good thing of course! I also tried the Alvarez AP66 but the sound was a bit bright and brash. Both the Sigma and the Alvarez felt a bit light weight in the hands. A small guitar that is quite fun is the Gretsch Jim Dandy. But while it might work well on things like blues it doesn't go into coping that well with more subtle styles of fingerstyle for me. I've seen varying degrees of enthusiasm (or lack of) for the Epiphone EL00-Pro. Good luck with your search. Mark
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Post by raggy on Apr 23, 2016 10:28:21 GMT
Have a look at Alvarez, they have a nice parlour. I almost bought one
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leoroberts
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My main instrument is: probably needing new strings
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Post by leoroberts on Apr 23, 2016 17:49:17 GMT
I don't know whether the guitbrett Vintage counts as a parlour... It's certainly small and unbelievable value for money.
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vlad
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Post by vlad on Apr 24, 2016 12:03:37 GMT
Yesterday I went to the Guitarguitar shop in Birmingham and tried several smaller body guitars. The best I tried was Taylor GS mini mahogany for £480!
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Post by gekko on Apr 25, 2016 7:18:52 GMT
Hi all. Sorry for the silence - I've been away for the weekend. Thanks for all your responses. Much to mull over so I'll do some more research based on your recommendations over the coming days.
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Post by gekko on May 20, 2016 12:13:26 GMT
Following on from my previous request for recommendations, a purchase has finally been made. Naturally, what I set out to buy and what I actually bought are somewhat different. I went for a parlour as intended, but not a cheapie for taking camping. I suspect that will lead me to another purchase in a couple of months to fulfil the initial requirement . Anyway, as some of you have probably figured out, I've bought Riverman 's Larrivee Zebrano P-03 ZW. Unfortunately, I was unable to collect it in person, but as Richard lives in Greater Manchester, my dad was able to collect it on my behalf. I'll be up north in 2 weeks time, so will bring it back with me then. Here's a photo of my dad collecting the guitar and I'll post more picks and soundbites once I've received it. Thanks very much Riverman . It's always nice doing business with forum members.
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on May 20, 2016 12:23:08 GMT
Smart move Mel - I've played that guitar and did like it very much. Hope the two weeks passes quickly till you get your mitts on it!
Keith
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