THE BEST ACOUSTIC GUITAR
By Mazlan Mahdi
29 May 2025
ACOUSTIC GUITARS are the basic fundamental tool for any guitarists. At our old office in Brickfields, I used to grab Johan Ishak green Gibson J-45 to our 30 storey emergency stairwell, just to hear how crispy, weighty it still sounds in the massive washed up reverb in there. Such a sonic fantagasm those sessions were. I fell in love at J-45 on its first note, so to speak.
So I opted for a cheaper version of J-45, which is an Epiphone Slash acoustic guitar, inspired by the Gibson J-45. And wow, I can pledge on any day, that it's almost as good. Pairing the Epiphone Slash with NUX OPTIMA pedal, will get any job done.
We both know one guy (who proclaims to know it all about guitars) who said there're only two acoustic brands in the world to go for, which are Martin and Taylor. He never bought a J-45 nor a SJ-200 though he is financially able. Never liked the sound, he said. Clearly, he needs to have his ears trained, a tad more - before stereotyping it to such. I beg to differ, and still put my foot down for a J-45 as the main workhorse in any condition.
