Monkei

I am just getting into Guitar and have an electric at home, but would rather learn on an Acoustic. I am just looking for a cheap one to learn on (a bush-axe if you will). I've heard that with acoustics, the more a guitar has been played, and the older it is, the better the sound (due to the aging and softening of the wood)... that's why I figured I would look for a used one.
Or at least, can someone recommend a good brand to look at for good sound and reasonable price.
Thanks.

jasonintoronto

canadian made guitars are actually quite a value. i picked up a Art & Lutherie one a few years ago - was about $400, i believe.

climacus

I think the Godin people have a line of real acoustic guitar now. I'll try to dig up the brand name for you, a lot of people rave about it as a best-bang-of-the-buck type of deal.

You don't want to cheap out on acoustic guitars because the corners they cut in construction is much more noticeable than on the electric guitars. This leads to two problems: a) weak sound b) lousy action and unstraight neck. Since acoustic guitars are physically more demanding to play, you want the setup to be perfect, otherwise you'll end up with all kinds of wrist problems.

Another thing I can recommend is to start out with flatwound or semi-flatwound strings. They'll be a lot kinder to your fingers than the roundwounds.

As far as wood aging is concerned, it doesn't really apply to the cheaper plywood guitars.

Monkei

Cool, thanks for the input guys.