Electro Acoustic? Or Regular Acoustic?

[emzella]

i'm very VERY new to guitar and am thinking about buying an upgrade from the awful cheap one i found in the loft. should i buy n electro acoustic or a regular acoustic? if i get an electro acoustic, do i need an amp? 

 

this is the guitar i would like to buy, this is the regular acoustic version.

 

any help is really appreciated! thank you all <3

 

[Dad3353]

Good evening, @emzella , and ...

 

 

Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share. 

 

You will want an electro-acoustic if you intend to play in public, amplified, either by your own amp (there are specific amps made for this purpose...) or by sending the guitar signal to a PA system. It is also a useful feature if you intend to record the guitar, at home or in a studio. You don't need an electro-acoustic if you have no intention of any of that. An acoustic (with no electronics...) can serve for any of the previous uses, with an external microphone; this is another 'rabbit hole', though.

An acoustic is fine, simple, and will have easily enough 'features' to contend with whilst learning. The model pictured is from a reputable maker (Tanglewood; I have one myself, as my 'go to' guitar...). There's no need to pay for facilities you'll not need; the difference in price would be better spent choosing a model higher up in the range.
If you're beginning, I would highly recommend finding a decent tutor for a few lessons from the outset; a lot of time and trouble will be saved. It's a worthwhile investment. If you intend to leave home with the instrument, invest, also, in a suitable gig-bag, or hard case.
Ask again if there are any other issues the Forum can help you with, and Good Luck on your adventure. 

[ezbass]

 

I concur with everything that Dad has said above. I have owned a Tanglewood in the past and wouldn’t hesitate to include them in any search for a new acoustic guitar, they really punch above their weight. Your choice of a Dreadnought style guitar is wise, as this really is a great all rounder for strumming, fingerpicking and all and any stops in between. 

[EdwardMarlowe]

Yip. Big fan of Tanglewood here. I've got two of their guitars. One is my old TM07NC bowlback from the early 90s, which lives at my parents' place back in Ireland (I really need to sell it eventually). That's an electro acoustic. My other one is one of the all-solid, TW15NS dreadnoughts. Cracking guitar. Would definitely consider them again in future. IMO, acoustics and electro acoustics are a bit of a rabbit hole in that you can always spend more.... The Tanglewoods, though, imo are as good as a hobby player will ever actually *need*, and plenty of working musicians out there use them too. 

As to the electro or no question.... Personally I would start off with a pure acoustic, and add a pick-up at a later stage. That way you can spend the full of your budget on the guitar itself (rather than some of the cost going into the electric gubbins - as a rule of thumb, I think you get a better acoustic for the money at £200 than you do when that £200 also has to cover the pickup system...). 

Also, though, worth thinking about the playing experience. You don't, in my experience, tend to get a pure acoustic that has a cutaway. That works for me, of course as I don't like a cutaway on an acoustic, but worth bearing in mind if that sort of thing (also some acoustics have a more electric-style neck - some folks will prefer that as a matter of course) will matter to your playing. 

Brand-wise, I'd look to Tanglewood, also Vintage. Worth trying a few different shapes as well, in case you find you prefer a smaller body to the dreadnought style of that Tanglewood pictured in the OP. There's a great range of choice in the sub £300 bracket these days, really impressive compared to how it was in my day, when you weren't allowed to buy a guitar until you'd licked the road clean with your tongue ("and you try and tell that to the young people of today..."). 

 

Worth bearing in mind too that if you really like your acoustic, it is always possible to fit a pickup system later on, including a range of options that won't require any irreversible modifications to the instrument, so you're not cutting off that option or committing yourself to having to buy a whole nother guitar in future if you do decide you want to be able to amp it.