www.guitartrader.com
lots of stuff there.
in 5min this will move to the LR by the way.
i just did this myself
I have an Ibanez AW30NT
It doesn’t get a lot of compliments from the online guitar snobs, but it’s a solid top and sounds good to me
check out the yamaha 700 series
this thread has some answers for you too:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337075
also, i got mine in NE pdx at Portland Music Co if you’re near that area…very helpful and friendly, low pressure
Apple row downtown will throw in a 30min free first lesson with a guitar purchase, very friendly too
and i believe there’s a guitar center in beaverton
.
Do you have any experience with a guitar at all?
What kind of music would you like to play?
How many $$ are you willing to invest?
I did this a couple of years ago and wound up with a Seagull acoustic, sounds fabulous and is reasonably priced, made right here in the Great White North. The parent company (Godin) has a few other brands that I recommend you check out. I also really like the lower end Martin’s (DX series)
Whatever you decide on, make sure it has a solid wood top, not plywood. and try before you buy, if you don’t play at all then go with a friend who can play a little bit.
assuming you don’t know much at all - and you don’t have someone who could help you -
I would go where fine instruments are sold (and especially repaired) and see what brands/models they carry in the price range you are looking for. These will tend to be better guitars (will hold up and are playable)
Now if you lived in Southern WI I would recommend these:
http://madison.craigslist.org/msg/1090256185.html
BTW, “Walden” is a good brand.
First Acts are O.K., theyre made by Gibson I believe, Gibson Is awesome, Fender is awesome…
if you want inexpensive then go with ovation, or something along those lines, but ovations are hard to hold w/o a strap
I think it might be a mid-life crisis thing. I went thought it a couple of months ago. Quite painless. I was a rock and roll drummer back in my young days and decided it was time to learn gitar. I got a new one at Target for $90 on sale. It’s a Fender Starcaster acoustic. Comes with a dvd for learning and tuning the strings. Real nice but I haven’t started playing it yet.
to go solid top, which you should do if you don’t just want a beater, is to start @ $200 and go up from there
then it’s just going to be your own ego about such purchases
breedlove is handmade local to OR if you’re back here someday
i’m in the same boat having just done this all of a month ago…i’m 37 and enjoying the new challenge. my wife says she enjoys me picking away in the evening
i’ve bought 6 books (incl an amazon purchase today) to keep me busy
i liked this one for being pretty complete for not too much dough:
http://www.amazon.com/Hal-Leonard-Guitar-Method-Complete/dp/0634047019
one frustration is that there is a lot of good videos on the web for learning, but I decided to play guitar to get away from the computer and the tv in my free time…%^$ it keeps dragging me back in! 
- Spend as much as you can afford without going overboard. What I mean is, a $150 guitar will be like buying a Huffy bike from Walmart. A $1,000 guitar will be like your first bike being a P3 and you haven’t even trained at all.
- Playability is key. If it doesn’t play easily, you won’t want to practice.
With those two things in mind, I’ll cut right to the chase and save you some time and effort. If you have a Guitar Center also www.guitarcenter.com) near where you live, they now carry a line of guitars that are handmade in Candada called the Seagull. The best bang for the buck model is the S6. Solid Cedar top with wild cherry back and sides. It’s a little shorter scale than some acoustics, so it plays very easily. A bonus it that is has a great tone. I gig with one and I can afford a more expensive guitar. I think they are under $400. Another option at that price point is the Yamaha F730S. Solid spruce top. Very easy to play and pretty decent sound, some say great.
If you want to spend a little more, at around $600 you can get an entry level Taylor 110 that is a very solid, giggable guitar. Extremely nice necks so they’re easy to play also.
But most importantly, guitars are very much unlike bikes in that you can have several guitars in front of you of the same make and model and each will be different. Especially acoustic guitars. Best to find a friend or guitar teacher to take with you. Find the one you like the most, then play or have them play every single one they have in the store and pick the best one.
Feel free to PM me with additonal questions.
Edit: I just noticed the reco for the Breedlove above. Another great choice. Maybe the best after all.
I agree absolutely with Vibrolux here - problem is, you’re in Germany.
p.s…have NOS Tungsol 5881s for that amp!!! Try 'em, you’ll love 'em.
Have a little more time to post now, I mentioned the Seagull line as being excellent quality and a gret value. these are a couple more things to consider:
-
playability - especially the feel of the neck. guitar necks come in all different thicknesses and widths, it is important to get something that you feel comfortable with.
-
action - i.e. the height of the strings. a high action is preferable for some players, but it is a LOT harder to play. as a beginner you want something that has a nice low action, with no buzzing on the fretboard. thankfully, the action can be adjusted, but it has to be done by the shop in the case of an acoustic.
-
electronics - a pickup system will add some $$ to the price. you probably don’t need that yet, so look for something without the electronics. it seems like most guitars with a lower cutaway (for access to the higher frets) have a pickup system, the traditional, non cutaway guitars go either way.
-
woods - the type of wood has an effect on the tone, as does the bracing and all sorts of other crap. don’t worry about that too much, and just get what you like the sound of. a solid wood top will “age” whereas a laminate (plywood) top will not to any great extent. essentially the aging is how the vibrations of playing the instrument loosen it up and make it a bit more mellow. You have to play it to age it!!! You will definitely hear a difference between a plywood top and a solid top in the store, and the difference just gets greater over time.
-
finish - as with the solid top, the type of finish used also makes a difference. a lacquer finish will also age nicely over time…
Have fun, and prepare to be endlessly frustrated and also have a load of fun…
edit:
and also make sure you have room in your budget for a Stratocaster and a small Fender amp (the Vibro Champ XD is awesome for the $$). then you’ll want a Les Paul, an ES-335, some kind of a jazz box… if your tastes run to country then you’ll want a Gretsch, a nice Telecaster, and then something slightly unusual like a Jazzmaster, Jaguar, or a Les Paul with P-90 pickups rather than the standard humbuckers…
I think the analogies people have drawn with bikes are right on. I would apply roughly a factor of 2 to have the price/performance issues work out about right. That is:
$500 guitar occupies a similar position in the pecking order as a $1000 bike. (This might fail at the higher price points… not sure which way, since I don’t dwell up there anyway!)
For what it’s worth, I would consider Taylor to be the Cervelo of the acoustic guitar world. Their reputation has been built and maintained by continuous technical innovations. (Taylor still has an extensive line of ‘entry’ level products, while Cervelo has left that behind in recent years.) A low end Taylor would not be cheap, but would keep you going for a good long while. Taylor necks are known for ‘playability’, so you might have an easier time as a beginner.
Speaking personally, I play ‘lowish’ end Taylors (not entry level but close), and ride a Cervelo Dual. In both fields, my instruments are a bit better than my abilities, which feels about right. I wouldn’t hesitate to upgrade if I felt the hardware were a limiting factor, but at my age I don’t really think this is likely to happen any time soon.
By the way, guitarists are every bit as parochial about brands as cyclists. I like Taylor, but there are plenty of options. Plenty of good advice already posted here.
Wes