[rorschah]

So I've been learning to play guitar for about half a year. Started out banging away and have gotten through some basic fingerpicking and stuff like that.

I've started playing slide, and I love it like hell, but it's tough as hell on my Taylor Big Baby. The action's set pretty low, and, I think, I want to keep it that way while I'm still learning. So: guess I should buy another guitar. And I really have no idea what to get.

I can spend maybe up to $300. I'm a graduate student. I can go used, trawl through ebay all that stuff. Acoustic or acoustic electric is preferable, but I'm open.

So I'm mostly into Delta blues stuff - Robert Johnson, Fred McDowell, Bukka White. I'm looking for a nice, bluesy sound - some capacity for depth, some capacity for twang and bite, more important to be intense and expressive than pretty, though being able to do everything would be nice. Mostly, I'm just looking for something non-crappy to play that's within my teeny budget.

Suggestions?

I was looking at Takamines and Takamine acoustic electrics, I was reading up a little on Regal resonators, but really, I have no idea. Saw something on some absurdly cheap Washburn OE30. I'm pretty new to this. I looked up Takamine at Harmony Central and almost crapped my pants when I saw all the model numbers. I need help. Help?

Thanks.

-thi

[Frankenstrat2]

Tough call.
I love my Takamine's. Lots of bang for the buck, but mine are higher end models and older ones too. I dont know what their more recent stuff sounds like, and what the quality of their cheaper stuff is like more recently.
I would do three things:
1. Take a slide and get thee to some music stores. Big ones with lots of guitars. Play tons of them. Washburns, Takamines, Seagulls, There are so many lower price guitars now- they are all made on computer guided machines in Korea- the quality control and consistency is quite high- you need to take notes on the make and models that feel the best and sound the best to you. Go up quite a bit over your price range in the stores because you may find the same guitar cheaper elsewhere, especially used. Look at new guitars up to $600 if you have $300 to spend.
2. Now go read the reviews on Harmony Central on those models that you played. Look at what they paid too. Keep in mind there is a strong Honeymoon factor, everyone loves the guitar they just bought. Look for the most objective reviews from people who have owned the instrument a while, and are experienced owners with many guitars.
3. Shop for the guitar on-line, second hand on Harmony Central, E-Bay, The Gear Pages, and other places where used gear is bought and sold. Be careful. But you can get a great deal and get a much better instrument for less money second hand. Lower priced acoustic guitars can be purchased very reasonably at pawn shops and used electric guitar stores also, where they are not in demand or well respected. You have to know what you like, and be prepared to bargain a bit if you find something you want. Do your research on-line so you know your values.
barry