Decent beginners guitar

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2008-09-24 11:07am

Basically I'm going to learn guitar this Winter,

What i'm looking for is an idea of price range and brand for a decent learners acoustic guitar.

Any suggestions?

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2008-09-24 11:27am

I know fuck all about acoustic guitars but I'll ask a friend of mine later today if you're still interested.

For beginner electric guitars, I'd suggest a Squier strat model. They're around $100 and for the price they're pretty good. There's not much reason for you to buy anything more expensive than that when you're just starting out, since if you decide you don't like playing guitar you haven't lost much money, and it'll be a while before you can get a higher quality sound out of a better guitar anyway.

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2008-09-24 11:31am

I want to learn acoustic due to not wanting to buy an Amp just yet, so if you could ask your friend that would be good.

Kanastrous · Post by **Kanastrous** » 2008-09-24 12:17pm

Is there any advantage to learning acoustic before electric, or is it equally good to start with either one?

Darth Ruinus · Post by **Darth Ruinus** » 2008-09-24 12:29pm

I started out with an electric, and I don't really see a difference.

Oh, and I got my acoustic for $30 because it had a ding on the back, so I guess you can try looking around for guitars that have such "blemishes (I think they are called) unless of course you want a completely new one. I personally didn't care, the ding was small, on the back (so you never see it anyway) and hard to see.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2008-09-24 12:36pm

Zac Naloen wrote:I want to learn acoustic due to not wanting to buy an Amp just yet, so if you could ask your friend that would be good.

You can get "beginner amp and guitar" sets, but the amps are shit. I've never been a fan of acoustic (plus you can use the clean channel on an amp anyway), so I can't tell you where to go there. If I were you, I'd spend about £100 and get a roland cube plus 100 or so for a strat. If I was going to invest in an acoustic, I'd just aim for something under that.

TithonusSyndrome · Post by **TithonusSyndrome** » 2008-09-24 02:07pm

Entry-level acoustic guitars don't differ much, they all cost about $300-$400 and give pretty much the same basic value for your buck. Different vendors are bound to carry different brands with acoustics and scant few are common to every store, so it's not really realistic for me to say "get model xyz" without actually seeing what's in stock wherever you're shopping. But have no fear; it's hard to really screw up buying a beginner's acoustic. Just try them all out and pick the one whose tone and feel you like best.

Kanastrous wrote:Is there any advantage to learning acoustic before electric, or is it equally good to start with either one?

Not especially. I started formally on the electric and I can play acoustic perfectly fine, but playing without distortion is bar none the superior way to practice, since distortion can blur out note definition that you may be botching with poor technique. Also, I used to practice a lot with my father's acoustic before moving onto my electric because it was much harder to play and served as a sort of "handicap" that made me faster and more clear on my electric, but the action on it's neck was a hideous disaster because he'd allowed it to get warped by exposing it to too much moisture.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2008-09-24 02:10pm

Zuul wrote:
Zac Naloen wrote:I want to learn acoustic due to not wanting to buy an Amp just yet, so if you could ask your friend that would be good.
You can get "beginner amp and guitar" sets, but the amps are shit. I've never been a fan of acoustic (plus you can use the clean channel on an amp anyway), so I can't tell you where to go there. If I were you, I'd spend about £100 and get a roland cube plus 100 or so for a strat. If I was going to invest in an acoustic, I'd just aim for something under that.

He doesn't need a good amp if he's just starting. And honestly I think that $200 for a starter amp is probably a bit much. That's more than I spent on my entire kit, including the bag and cables.

Of course now I'm painfully aware of the deficiencies of my gear, but I've also been playing for a couple years.

Darth Paul · Post by **Darth Paul** » 2008-09-24 02:17pm

<edit - TithonusSyndrome's advice is good, although I wouldn't spend that much on a first guitar>

For an acoustic I would say look at Yamaha in about the $150 (100GBP?) range. Too much cheaper, and you will just get frustrated with junk that buzzes, has lousy intonation and won't stay in tune. Washburn would be another option in that price range. Epiphone also makes some low priced acoustics ($120 Cdn) which may be a good option (I don't have any experience with them - their cheap model electrics are so-so as starters).

(for electric, Ibanez is hard to beat for all-around playability in the $200 range in my opinion)

As mentioned, scratches and dings are a good option for beginner instruments since you will eventually trade up anyhow. I would avoid the kits that are sold in Electronics stores - the "extras" usually suck anyhow.

Have fun!

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2008-09-24 11:13pm

Kanastrous wrote:Is there any advantage to learning acoustic before electric, or is it equally good to start with either one?

If you learn proper playing technique, there shouldn't be any problems, but starting on acoustic will give you much more hand strength and fingertip resilience. The sound in a cheap acoustic will tend to be better than that in a cheap electric + amp package, as well; and it'll be that much cheaper, in case you decide that guitar just isn't for you.

As said above, Washburn and Yamaha make some very good cheap guitars, as does Takamine (the Jasmine line). But mainly, you're looking for something with a decently-low action (the strings shouldn't be more than about 5 cm above the 12th fret, that's the one with two dots), and a full resonating sound (even with dull or untuned strings, you should feel some vibration upon plucking). The neck should be fairly straight (though a slight forward curve is fine), and there obviously shouldn't be any cracks in the guitar. With these few points, you should be able to buy a decent used guitar, and save probably about half the price.

This has the major advantage of allowing you, with a bit of luck, to purchase a better instrument for the same money. Great used acoustic guitars of greater quality in this price range that you might see are made by Seagull (usually a bit pricier used, though), Epiphone, Applause (if you like the roundback sound, like I do), Fender (the sound is a bit too thin for my tastes, but many like them), and Art & Lutherie, my utter personal favourite (good luck finding one cheap, though). The advantage of a better guitar is that it'll be easier to play, and sound better, both factors that will make you more likely to stay with guitar. The resale value is greater too - if you buy a used Fender, you should be able to sell it for pretty much the same price.

Some final notes: Get an electronic tuner, or else you'll sound like shit, and possibly even risk tuning too high and snapping a string. A hardshell case is nice if you plan on leaving the house, particularly if you buy a more expensive guitar, but a padded gig bag should suffice to start. And don't be discouraged when your fingers hurt. You're crushing them as hard as you can (having no technique at this point) into thin steel wires which are strung with 80 lbs of tension. When it hurts too much to play, put the guitar down. If your wrist or shoulder or back hurts, put the guitar down. Pick it up the next day. You'll quickly develop calluses and not have the pain, but it's easy to get discouraged, and this is supposed to be fun, after all.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2008-09-25 12:33am

What's your budget?

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-09-25 02:15am

If you're buying new, you can really only get a nylon string acoustic for the price of a cheap electric stratocopy and amp package; although I like acoustics, IMO you're better off getting the package first, then get an acoustic. Depends whether you want to learn the easy way or the hard way, because electrics are less hard work on the fingers.

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2008-09-25 02:50am

Turns out my gf dad has several guitars in storage (I'd never have guessed that one!)

So I may not need to buy at anything more than a tuner after all.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-09-25 04:06am

And he's cool with loaning you one?

I'm going to take the opportunity to retell an old story Les Paul related in a book. In his youth he had a friend whose father had a guitar. When the friend's dad was out, they would try to make music on it, with varying degrees of success. One day the dad came home and caught them. He snatched the guitar and screamed, "It's MY chord! MY chord! You can't have it!" and then smashed up the guitar and threw the pieces on the fire.

People can be possesive about guitars.

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2008-09-25 04:23am

Yeh he's a reasonably calm guy. Thinks first before doing everything. (hopefully)

The guitars haven't been used for a long while anyway, hopefully the condition is still decent.

tim31 · Post by **tim31** » 2008-09-25 05:01am

They'll probably want a restring, maybe have the neck checked, but you can do that yourself by holding it up and sighting along it.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2008-09-25 02:54pm

Losonti Tokash wrote: He doesn't need a good amp if he's just starting. And honestly I think that $200 for a starter amp is probably a bit much. That's more than I spent on my entire kit, including the bag and cables.

Of course now I'm painfully aware of the deficiencies of my gear, but I've also been playing for a couple years.

I dunno, personally, if it doesn't sound like I want it to sound, I won't do it since the experience isn't as fun. Also, at least in my case, it's a lot easier to play something you know to be of decent quality that you spent more than you would normally spend on, an emotional investment. Sometimes, I wish I'd been introduced to the guitar at a much younger age, since I'd be far better than I am now.

Losonti Tokash · Post by **Losonti Tokash** » 2008-09-25 04:48pm

Zuul wrote:I dunno, personally, if it doesn't sound like I want it to sound, I won't do it since the experience isn't as fun. Also, at least in my case, it's a lot easier to play something you know to be of decent quality that you spent more than you would normally spend on, an emotional investment. Sometimes, I wish I'd been introduced to the guitar at a much younger age, since I'd be far better than I am now.

I agree on pretty much all those points, yeah. As soon as I got to play with my friend's Schecter C-1, it was much easier to play and sounded miles beyond my Squier. If I could get a job I'd run out and buy a new Ibanez but I'm flat ass broke at the moment.

At any rate, I was just saying it wouldn't make much sense for someone who's not even sure if they're going to like guitar to drop so much money just on their starting gear. Particularly since a starter amp's price is such a tiny fraction of a good tube amp, it'll barely be noticeable in comparison.