You have to play it. No one can give you meaningful advice on the subject of
the tone of an acoustic. You must determine that for yourself by playing it.
An acoustic's tone is everything. If the sound isn't what
you want, there isn't much you can do about it, except buy a Fishman aura pedal
and download the Gibson J-45 tone from their library. But the pedal costs much more
than $100.
Things to look for when you inspect your hundred dollar wonder:
1. Straightness of the neck... everybody does that
2. Truss rod function: take off the cover and look at the truss rod end... make sure it actually works
and hasn't been snapped off or stripped. So you'll need to find out what size wrench you need for that
model and year class.
3. Proud frets: run your scales up and down the neck to make sure none of the frets are protruding.
Look carefully at the fret ends, to make sure none are protruding.
5. Cracks in the top: Look carefully... these happen from dryness in Northern Winters and excess heat
in Southern summers. Then look at how level the top is: watching for bulges from string tension.
6. Bridge: Look carefully at the bridge saddle, make sure it isn't chipped or worn lower than 3mm.
Look carefully at the bridge pin holes, and see if they are all chewed up or if the strings have worn a
deep groove between the hole and the saddle. (All acoustics wear grooves here, so you're looking for
excessive depth and wear). inspect the wood of the bridge itself, looking for cracks. Inspect the rear
of the bridge to see it it's pulling up from the guitar top.
7. End pin: check to see what it is. On an acoustic-electric, it should have a usable jack to plug in.
On an acoustic, it should be strong and in good condition.
8. Action: Check to see how high the action is at the 12th fret. If it's high, it can be adjusted by
filing down the bridge saddle and/or turning the truss rod.
9. Intonation: listen to it. If it's off, that's a deal breaker.
10. Nut: look carefully at it, make sure the slots are correct for the strings you intend to use. The nut
is crucial to good tone and intonation. If the slots are too deep, the strings will buzz, if they are too
shallow, the intonation will be thrown off by finger pressure.
11. Tuners: If I can't tune a guitar, I don't buy it. Check for firm response, solid mounting, no wiggling posts,
no slipping.
