[acrossthesirion]

My wife wants to learn to play the guitar, so I'm looking into getting her one for Christmas. She's messed around on my Martin dreadnaught and it's too big for her (she has a very short torso) to the point where it's uncomfortable just to hold it (it comes up too high on her shoulder)

I was thinking about getting her a 3/4 sized guitar. I came across this Oscar Schmidt OG1 and it caught my eye because she loves blue. Looking around, the guitar's gotten pretty positive reviews (at least for the price range) but I've always had it in my head that "good" guitars start at $300...not really sure why, but it's there. It's a "select spruce top" which I'm assuming means laminate but as a beginner she doesn't even know what that means, and as long as it still plays and sounds good it doesn't matter too much either.

Never played one before, and I was wondering if anyone had some experience with Oscar Schmidt stuff in general.

Someone in our area is selling one (though not blue) on Craigslist and I'm in the process of setting up a time to see/play it, but if the the brand quality is inconsistent then I'd be less inclined to purchase one without playing it first (i.e. off Amazon).

Any help would be great.

[dtaylorl]

I've never played an Oscar Schmidt myself, but my impression has always been that they are fairly low quality beginner's guitars. Can't speak for that guitar in particular, but that seems to be their market.

If I were you I would take a look at an Art & Lutherie Ami. Its a parlor sized guitar which you can probably find for under $200. I have an A&L myself (albeit a dreadnought, not the ami) and its a pretty good guitar for the money. There are a few owners of the ami on the forum and they all seem to think very highly of them.

[roscoestring]

I have played high dollar guitars that sound really bad. I've also played cheap guitars that sound really good.

I was looking for a beater to haul around in my truck a few years ago. I always look at the better guitars first and work my way down. I do this hoping that by the time I get in my price range they will sound so bad that I'll change my mind about buying. I had worked my way down into the $150 range and I was just walking down the row of guitars hanging on the wall and strumming them while they hung there. I strummed a Kona guitar and walked to the next and strummed then the next. I realized that the Kona was still humming (acoustic). So I went back and strummed it again. Then I took it down and played it. I ended up buying it, a strap, and a case for $200.

There was a couple of Oscars there but I was not impressed with them. I ddin't even take them down to play. Not sure about the smaller sized ones.

[BillSPrestonEsq]

Art and Lutherie Ami is perfect for what you describe. I am fairly small and it is a little smallish for me.

I love mine. One of my two acoustics. (My other is a Gibson J45) and for sheer grab and go fun, the ami is perfect. I got mine used from a friend for $100. Expect to pay a bit more than that but, not a whole lot. Made in Canada too.