Where to buy a good acoustic guitar in Chiang Mai

[telstrareg]

I have a long background in music but I've only played around with guitars over the last few years and now I want to take it seriously. I don't think it's appropriate that I buy a Rolls Royce instrument at this stage, just something decent quality. To be honest, I don't know how to tell a good guitar from a bad one by looking at the construction, I can only judge by the sound I prefer.

Can anyone recommend a shop that sells decent quality guitars and that hopefully isn't going to sell me a piece of junk at a high price. Also can anyone can give an approximate price range for a good quality (not top of the class) guitar and what to look out for in the construction. Thanks.

[FolkGuitar]

Personally, I think the best shop for acoustic guitars in Chiang Mai is the one on Changklan Rd, 4-5 blocks south of the Empress Hotel. http://goo.gl/maps/fpDl3

They have a great selection of better acoustic guitars, and the smarts to let you play on them and decide which you want. For a good mid-range guitar, expect to pay at least 25,000-30,000 baht. I just bought an excellent dreadnaught-style acoustic there last month, and had difficulty deciding which of their guitars I wanted... until I picked up that one and played on it a bit. But... (and I wonder, MODS, if I'm allowed to say this,) because I bought this new jumbo-bodied guitar, I have my other guitar relegated to the closet. It's a Yamaha Compass acoustic, but with built in electrics; a transducer pick-up under the saddle and a sound hole mike, with switches for sound control... in perfect condition, I might add... for sale at a VERY attractive price.... The only reason I bought a different guitar was that I wanted to different sound quality that only a dreadnaught-shape can give. The Yamaha Compass is a great playing instrument at less than 1/2 the original price...

[Torrens54]

OMG, 25-30K for a guitar, I paid that for a refigerator at Homepro. Glad I bought my daughter a good acoustic guitar in Australia before we moved back here. Come to think of it, that amounts to the cost of a return airfare to Perth from CNX.

Have a Pluck'n Good time !

[wigantojapan]

there are 2 Facebook pages 2nd hand chiang mai buy and sell chiang mai.There is a guy selling a no bad acoustic there,go check it out

[curtklay]

30,000 baht for a "decent quality" guitar is insane. A lower end Yamaha will cost you half of that, and is more than decent. Look around.

Edited August 2, 2013 by curtklay

[Wavefloater]

Don't rush an expensive purchase. I always find it hard to be confident that the brand names shown on products here in Thailand are legitimate, so I could never have the confidence to put out 25-30 K for one here. Because of my paranoia about Thais and their numerous copies, I picked up a cheap (3k or so) Yamaha, and after tweaking the action a bit, I've got something very enjoyable to play. I've being enjoying it for many years. I've got a Martin back home, so if I ever decide to take to the stage or the recording studio, I'll bring it back after a visit home or get it shipped, but as that's not very likely to happen, it gives me good guitars to play here and there.

--------

It seems I was typing while Curtklay was posting, and I see we agree that a lower priced Yamaha can be enough. Check them out, and don't forget to come back to tell us what you ended up with.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Wavefloater

[curtklay]

The Yamaha FG700S is a very highly rated guitar and sells for 12,000 baht in Thailand. For under 5,000 baht, you can get the entry level F310.

Do buy from a reputable shop. Thailand is the Counterfeit Capital of the World.

Edited August 2, 2013 by curtklay

[wolf5370]

Newly opened on the 4th floor of Airport Plaza by the food hall is a shop that sells guitars, keyboards and similar - various quality and prices, plenty to choose from - worth a look I think.

[wolf5370]

The Yamaha FG700S is a very highly rated guitar and sells for 12,000 baht in Thailand. For under 5,000 baht, you can get the entry level F310.

Do buy from a reputable shop. Thailand is the Counterfeit Capital of the World.

Of course the F310 is a steel string guitar - better to go classical if he wants to use nylon strings - a good guitar for steel though (bought one from Yamaha shop in Airport Plaza), but got the kids classical guitars because better for their little fingers.

[FolkGuitar]

In musical instruments, you pay for sound. A 5,000 baht guitar isn't going to sound like a 15,000 baht guitar, assuming we're talking about genuine instruments and not copies. There is a reason the better guitars cost so much... Effort put in needs to result in quality sound coming out. Better guitars are easier to play with sound quality that is nicer to listen to. Sound quality is the real key though. Just ask someone who spends $150 on their stereo headphones rather than 150 baht on ear buds in Icon Square. There actually IS a legitimate reason to spend more...

Edited August 5, 2013 by FolkGuitar

[FolkGuitar]

Of course the F310 is a steel string guitar - better to go classical if he wants to use nylon strings - a good guitar for steel though (bought one from Yamaha shop in Airport Plaza), but got the kids classical guitars because better for their little fingers.

What style of music do your kids want to play? If they can't reproduce the sounds they like (electric, for example,) they aren't going to continue practicing. If they like classical music, jazz, or Latin rhythms, nylon string guitars are perfect for them. And classical music lessons are the very best way to learn the instrument. (I really wish I had started out that way myself.) But if they want to be rock stars, they are NOT going to be happy for long...

[wolf5370]

Of course the F310 is a steel string guitar - better to go classical if he wants to use nylon strings - a good guitar for steel though (bought one from Yamaha shop in Airport Plaza), but got the kids classical guitars because better for their little fingers.

What style of music do your kids want to play? If they can't reproduce the sounds they like (electric, for example,) they aren't going to continue practicing. If they like classical music, jazz, or Latin rhythms, nylon string guitars are perfect for them. And classical music lessons are the very best way to learn the instrument. (I really wish I had started out that way myself.) But if they want to be rock stars, they are NOT going to be happy for long...

They were doing classic guitar lessons and that's what they still play really (they like Christmas songs - they can play from score sheets as well as tabs, they play songs from an old xmas score book I have). I have offered for them to try my electric but other than a strum or two each a while back they prefer their acoustic classical Yamahas.

[FolkGuitar]

Of course the F310 is a steel string guitar - better to go classical if he wants to use nylon strings - a good guitar for steel though (bought one from Yamaha shop in Airport Plaza), but got the kids classical guitars because better for their little fingers.

What style of music do your kids want to play? If they can't reproduce the sounds they like (electric, for example,) they aren't going to continue practicing. If they like classical music, jazz, or Latin rhythms, nylon string guitars are perfect for them. And classical music lessons are the very best way to learn the instrument. (I really wish I had started out that way myself.) But if they want to be rock stars, they are NOT going to be happy for long...

They were doing classic guitar lessons and that's what they still play really (they like Christmas songs - they can play from score sheets as well as tabs, they play songs from an old xmas score book I have). I have offered for them to try my electric but other than a strum or two each a while back they prefer their acoustic classical Yamahas.

That is just sooo damn good! If the kids like it, it's the very best way to learn to play guitar. With the music skills they get right at the start, they are completely prepared to turn to any style of music that they want to play as they get older. Unfortunately, I wanted to play like the singing cowboy heroes that we watched on Saturday morning TV, and that only needed three chords... The rest of my music I learned on the streets of Greenwich Village, trying to be the next Woody Guthrie... again needing only three chords. Your kids are off to a great start!

[Somnambulist]

I don't play as avidly as I once did but I've owned many guitars and I know that for several hundred dollars or less, you can't beat a Yamaha for value. As for fakes, well, the difference is clear to anyone who knows guitars. I once walked into a little shop in Bali that had Yamaha fakes selling for around a thousand baht but it was obvious. The color was dull and they produced a very muted, dull sound. You could barely hear the damn things. Obviously, the makers knew nothing about bracing. Anyway, these days I'm perfectly happy with my mahogany Baby Taylor.

[wolf5370]

There are some cheapish non-Yamies that are quite good here though - while I was waiting for my guitars to be shipped (they had been in storage in the UK for about 3 years and I eventually got to actually ship them and my amps etc) I bought myself a simple metal stringed acoustic made by Storm (a Japanese company apparently), CAG-515/NA. It's pretty simple (quite good looking though), but has a nice bright, rich sound - cost me 5k at Kad Suan Kael (music shop on 4th? floor central well) - about the same as an F310 - minor annoyance is only one strap pin (same as F310 I think).

[mania]

On the top floor of kad suan kaew

Is a very large guitar store.

They have a big selection

[FolkGuitar]

There are some cheapish non-Yamies that are quite good here though - while I was waiting for my guitars to be shipped (they had been in storage in the UK for about 3 years and I eventually got to actually ship them and my amps etc) I bought myself a simple metal stringed acoustic made by Storm (a Japanese company apparently), CAG-515/NA. It's pretty simple (quite good looking though), but has a nice bright, rich sound - cost me 5k at Kad Suan Kael (music shop on 4th? floor central well) - about the same as an F310 - minor annoyance is only one strap pin (same as F310 I think).

Don't remain annoyed... Install another strap pin. (It ain't rocket science.) Or have the shop on Changklan Rd do it for you for a few hundred baht.

[Trujillo]

The Yamaha FG700S is a very highly rated guitar and sells for 12,000 baht in Thailand. For under 5,000 baht, you can get the entry level F310.

Do buy from a reputable shop. Thailand is the Counterfeit Capital of the World.

At 12,000 you are paying double its actual value in the West, just so you know.

[rickthailand]

there is a new guitar shop in the new tesco lotus on meechock opposite rimping in san sai

[elektrified]

I concur with FolkGuitar. A 5,000 THB guitar is going to be a piece of junk. A 30K THB will be O.K. for here probably. I've been to a few factories in the USA where they manufacture acoustic guitars. A skilled guitar maker will spend days working on a single guitar. It's all about good sound.

[mania]

I concur with FolkGuitar. A 5,000 THB guitar is going to be a piece of junk. A 30K THB will be O.K. for here probably. I've been to a few factories in the USA where they manufacture acoustic guitars. A skilled guitar maker will spend days working on a single guitar. It's all about good sound.

You know guitars are funny that way.

Sometimes price means nothing.

If you go thru a batch at times you will find one that sounds so sweet.

Resonates so nice & weight etc is great.

Because it is a dynamic thing many times you can find something special

by luck or what ever it is.

Fender Mexico use to be like that. You would find an incredible beautiful sounding guitar

Fender Japan actually at one time was making better guitars than Fender Custom shop & had to be basically

hidden from US buyers.

Best bet is go try a bunch of guitars & dont shop price... shop sound,feel, frets etc. etc. Then look at the price.

You might be surprised.

Edited August 8, 2013 by mania

[FolkGuitar]

Many years ago I was going to take a canoe trip down the Delaware River Gap National Recreation Area. I wanted to bring a guitar but wasn't about the bring a Martin guitar on what might be some white water paddling. I went to Montgomery Wards (I did say this was many years ago...) and bought a $12 "Silverstone" guitar for the trip. The strings were 1/2" off the fret board and the sound couldn't have been worse if they use sheetrock for the body. This guitar was lashed to the top of our gear as we paddled along, baking in the hot summer sun all afternoon as we went down river... and then capsized in some rough water. The very hot guitar hit the very cold water... and 1/4 of the top face peeled away from the sides and the neck bowed back. The result was that the strings were now 1/8" off the fingerboard, making the playing easy, and the resulting sound was almost as sweet as my Martin... almost. I played on this for the next 4-5 days of the trip, until we capsized again and the guitar virtually disintegrated from the temperature changes. There is just no figuring the 'why' of sound!

[FolkGuitar]

I concur with FolkGuitar. A 5,000 THB guitar is going to be a piece of junk. A 30K THB will be O.K. for here probably. I've been to a few factories in the USA where they manufacture acoustic guitars. A skilled guitar maker will spend days working on a single guitar. It's all about good sound.

You know guitars are funny that way.

Sometimes price means nothing.

If you go thru a batch at times you will find one that sounds so sweet.

Resonates so nice & weight etc is great.

Because it is a dynamic thing many times you can find something special

by luck or what ever it is.

Fender Mexico use to be like that. You would find an incredible beautiful sounding guitar

Fender Japan actually at one time was making better guitars than Fender Custom shop & had to be basically

hidden from US buyers.

Best bet is go try a bunch of guitars & dont shop price... shop sound,feel, frets etc. etc. Then look at the price.

You might be surprised.

That's the real bottom line. You do need to shop sound, rather than price. But be prepared to pay for good sound.

In the late 70's Martin guitars needed to find a way to compete with the excellent craftsmanship but low cost of Japanese guitars, so Martin formed the "Sigma" company in Japan, licensed it to use the Martin bracing pattern, sold them aged woods, and hired Japanese luthiers to make the guitars, then selling them at less than half the price of the branded Martins. Virtually the same guitars but at a price that could compete with Yamaha, Takamine, etc. After the Sigma guitars were built in Japan, they were sent to Martin & Co. in Nazareth, PA to be inspected and adjusted by Martin personnel before going to an authorized retail store for sale to the public. These inspections and adjustments were made in the "old" Martin building on North St., then known as the Import house. Unfortunately, they shut down production in 2007. However, a German firm bought the rights to it in 2011, and have just begun shipping Sigma guitars again. I recently purchased a Sigma DR-47, a copy of the Martin D-45 right down to the Mother-of-Pearl inlay bindings around the guitar, and all the rich sound of the original Martin dreadnaught at less than half the cost.

Still in all, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If you want silk, you have to pay for it. You can by Rayon, which 'almost' feels like silk, but is lacking the many of qualities that make silk so very nice. Money talks.

Edited August 8, 2013 by FolkGuitar

[elektrified]

I concur with FolkGuitar. A 5,000 THB guitar is going to be a piece of junk. A 30K THB will be O.K. for here probably. I've been to a few factories in the USA where they manufacture acoustic guitars. A skilled guitar maker will spend days working on a single guitar. It's all about good sound.

You know guitars are funny that way.

Sometimes price means nothing.

If you go thru a batch at times you will find one that sounds so sweet.

Resonates so nice & weight etc is great.

Because it is a dynamic thing many times you can find something special

by luck or what ever it is.

Fender Mexico use to be like that. You would find an incredible beautiful sounding guitar

Fender Japan actually at one time was making better guitars than Fender Custom shop & had to be basically

hidden from US buyers.

Best bet is go try a bunch of guitars & dont shop price... shop sound,feel, frets etc. etc. Then look at the price.

You might be surprised.

Sure, I understand. One time a close friend of mine who is a professional guitarist spent about 2 months traveling around the Southwest USA, staying in cheap motels in small towns. Each and every day he hit every pawn shop he could find in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, etc. He found Silvertone's, Gretsch, Kalamazoo, Dobro, etc. Some of them he paid only US $150.00 for. Some needed work of course. He probably collected 35 guitars during that time; both electric and acoustic. Some were real gems, others not so special, others needed too much work to justify the expense, etc.

But this is Thailand. A cheap guitar will most always sound like a cheap guitar.

[elektrified]

I concur with FolkGuitar. A 5,000 THB guitar is going to be a piece of junk. A 30K THB will be O.K. for here probably. I've been to a few factories in the USA where they manufacture acoustic guitars. A skilled guitar maker will spend days working on a single guitar. It's all about good sound.

You know guitars are funny that way.

Sometimes price means nothing.

If you go thru a batch at times you will find one that sounds so sweet.

Resonates so nice & weight etc is great.

Because it is a dynamic thing many times you can find something special

by luck or what ever it is.

Fender Mexico use to be like that. You would find an incredible beautiful sounding guitar

Fender Japan actually at one time was making better guitars than Fender Custom shop & had to be basically

hidden from US buyers.

Best bet is go try a bunch of guitars & dont shop price... shop sound,feel, frets etc. etc. Then look at the price.

You might be surprised.

That's the real bottom line. You do need to shop sound, rather than price. But be prepared to pay for good sound.

In the late 70's Martin guitars needed to find a way to compete with the excellent craftsmanship but low cost of Japanese guitars, so Martin formed the "Sigma" company in Japan, licensed it to use the Martin bracing pattern, sold them aged woods, and hired Japanese luthiers to make the guitars, then selling them at less than half the price of the branded Martins. Virtually the same guitars but at a price that could compete with Yamaha, Takamine, etc. After the Sigma guitars were built in Japan, they were sent to Martin & Co. in Nazareth, PA to be inspected and adjusted by Martin personnel before going to an authorized retail store for sale to the public. These inspections and adjustments were made in the "old" Martin building on North St., then known as the Import house. Unfortunately, they shut down production in 2007. However, a German firm bought the rights to it in 2011, and have just begun shipping Sigma guitars again. I recently purchased a Sigma DR-47, a copy of the Martin D-45 right down to the Mother-of-Pearl inlay bindings around the guitar, and all the rich sound of the original Martin dreadnaught at less than half the cost.

Still in all, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. If you want silk, you have to pay for it. You can by Rayon, which 'almost' feels like silk, but is lacking the many of qualities that make silk so very nice. Money talks.

In the 1970's, Japanese craftsmanship was excellent. They made excellent musical instruments, recording equipment, etc. Sony then is not what Sony is today, etc... Sadly, that is the way of the world.

[rookball]

I wouldn't buy an acoustic if my intention was to move later to electrics.

Buy a cheap electric outright....no amp needed...you can hear perfectly the strings.

..so you will get used from the beginning to the neck and the scale of it.

I would go for a 335 copy myself...best of both worlds

Should be had for 14,000b (Epiphone)...cheaper and decent china copies around but you have to make it to Atsadang rd in BKK.

i disagree. learning and practicing through an unplug electric guitar is a beginning disaster for poor picking technique, muting, string noises, dynamic controls. the sound projection just isnt that. i had across so many experienced students who could potentially play very well yet sloppy with tons of background noise, buzz and unintended fret clanks. nearly all of them practice scales etc unplugged, very sloppy in both right hand and left hand technique. it is very commont and many resort in cloth muting on 1st string and higher action to play cleanly in studios

i would suggest to start from the right point, rather than correcting yourself in a later stage.

[FolkGuitar]

To add to what Rookball said, when a person decides to learn to play guitar, the first few weeks and months are critical to their continuation. If the string action (distance from string to fingerboard) is too high, as found on cheap guitars, the finger strength needed to press the string down for a clean sound is 2x or 3x harder than with proper action. And as a new player hasn't developed the callouses on their fingers yet, the pain from pressing down the strings is 2x-3x greater. More pain means they are not so eager to play.

Adding to the pain will be the poor quality sound that is being produced by a cheap guitar. So much work to learn, so much pain to try to produce a song, and the results sound like a dull, muted, old radio... I can't imagine how many people have picked up a guitar to learn, but wanting to save money 'in case they didn't like it,' wound up completing this self-fulfilling prophesy by putting the guitar in the back of the closet and never touching it again!

Too much pain and not enough sound even with all the hard work = loss of interest in learning the instrument. I'm sure we all know people who have tried but given up.

[Wordworx]

May be off topic, but I have an F310, new condition with soft case. Ad on Thaivisa classified under this user name. (Don't think I can post link here.) Recently dropped price (see below). Will drop another 200 for quick sale.

Edited August 11, 2013 by onthedarkside
advert removed