Beginner's Guitar

It depends on the guitar. The lower you go on the price scale, the more likely it is the guitar won't do the job; the higher you go, the better the odds.

Price isn't a guarantee, though - there are some stellar inexpensive ones, and some marginal expensive ones out there.

Two of my students (a brother and sister) came to their first lesson with guitars they'd received as Christmas gifts... bought at the same time, and I believe from the same store, his was pretty good - hers was nearly unplayable. It's more about the quality of the particular instrument than the brand name or price.

Certain techniques will be affected by the build of the guitar. Eventually you'll be limited if your instrument isn't a good one... but that doesn't mean it needs to be expensive, just that it's well set up, has good tone, and is responsive to your playing style.

I have a Johnson JG620 that's really pretty okay. I got it to be a slide-only guitar, but I've used it on quite a few tracks on our songs as a slack-key guitar.

Frets where a little sharp on the edges but I smoothed them out with a file and the nut slots were a little high so I took those down a little. Like NoteBoat said, part of it's in the setup.

I'm thinking of getting a backup 12-string and I think I'm going to be trying the JG670 at a certain point.

But you don't want to go inexpensive to the point where there's no neck adjustment rod in the neck or things like that. Just try a few out before you buy - even if you're trying locally and buying online. Look for things like "Adjustable Truss Rod" in the descriptions, and then look a see if the thing is not physically obviously falling apart or not made well - bridge lifting up, cracks in the top, separations betwee the top and sides or back and sides; that sort of thing.

Hope this helps :)

I think the lower you go, in price, the more you become involved in a quality control raffle. Some "budget" instruments are better than guitars 5 times their price. Sadly, many are worse than guitars a fifth the price.

Rule 1: The less you pay, the more you have to invest in checking out the particular instrument.

I was looking at a Squier Bullet the other day. This is about as low as Fender gets on the Beaufort Scale. Trouble was, apart from the quality of the furniture, this guitar felt great.
On the other hand, I tried out a "Light Ash" Fender MIM Strat, that played like the frets were made out of old metal files. It was 6 times the price of the Bullet.
So what do you do?

Thanks for the advice, I was looking at Seagull S6 with the cedar top. Haven't got a chance to play it yet but heard some good things and its not that expensive.

Jadda, I just bought one of those last night and it sounds fantastic. Mellow and bright at the same time, not tinny at all. It's very playable. The only weird thing about it is the neck size, it seems a little thicker than other guitars I have been playing.

It DOES matter what you learn with. Some guitars are very hard to fret strings with.

I started with a hohner @ $179 and I hated it. I got rid of it in short order.

I wound up with a Dean Performer SE and it is awesome and helped me to learn to play. It has a slightly smaller body than a full size dreadnaught, easier to handle, the strings are light, action not too high and fretting strings is easy. I use it unplugged and also plugged into a basic acoustic amp and I love this guitar. The quality is also very good and has grover tuners and they dressed it up nice with abalone around the soundhole and binding. I may add more guitars to my collection down the road but I will never sell this Dean. :D

This is a very important thread and should be posted in a beginners advice section!!!!

I agree with whoever said it is important - the reason being, if a beginner buys an unplayable guitar, what is going to happen? One of two things -

1. They give up pretty soon after starting, disallusioned
2. They go and buy a better guitar

I fell into category 2.......and regretted it.

My advice to any beginner is to take a reasonably competent player with you when buying your first instrument. Do not rely on the store for advice (let's face it, they are not going to tell you the guitar they are selling you is rubbish). Get the experienced player just to play around with it for a while and give their opinion.

I think that a lot of people go into music stores thinking they "might" get a guitar, get talked into buying a "budget" or "beginner" model, and then gets it home and wonders why its hard to play.

I remember someone on this site said that the day of the week that the model was assembled influenced the quality - one built on a Friday afternoon when the guys building it can't wait to go for a beer and a curry afterwards, is not likely to be as well built as one on a day where he's come into work fresh and raring to go...the thread was very funny, but true.

I feel also that its the responsibility of the shop, to make sure that a raw beginner is NOT sold a pile of cr*p - sure they can't spend hours and hours setting up a $100 guitar, but they can make sure its playable.

All the best

Matt

feel also that its the responsibility of the shop, to make sure that a raw beginner is NOT sold a pile of cr*p

Part of the problem is that there's a market for cr*p - folks who buy a guitar for someone else. Some of those folks will head to a music store... but others are going to be out shopping for something else, see a guitar, think "oh, Suzie said she wanted to learn - I'll pick that up for Christmas".

Great intention, bad idea. Their next step might be finding a guitar teacher for the little one... of the 7 new students I've gotten since Christmas, I've had to tell two mothers that what little Suzie has she's never going to play - because I can't play it either.

Within 3 miles of my house, there are three stores that sell guitars. One's a Wal-Mart, another is a Best Buy. Your chances of getting a good instrument at either of those are pretty close to nil - but I'll bet they sell as many "first guitars" as the music store does.

Jadda, I just bought one of those last night and it sounds fantastic. Mellow and bright at the same time, not tinny at all. It's very playable. The only weird thing about it is the neck size, it seems a little thicker than other guitars I have been playing.

That might be good for me since i have the hands of a giant. What about those cedar tops, i hear they scratch really easy. I think theres a gt model of the same guitar and 1 of the differences i saw was that the gt has a high gloss top. Does that help to protect the cedar?

If it helps any, I have the cedar gloss-top and it is very durable for normal use. I also think it's a great looking guitar with a little richer stain coloring. Did I mention that it also sounds great?

I started playing 2 months ago and wasn't planning to start. I was in walmart (mentioned in above post) and saw acoustic guitars selling for 85 bucks so little to lose bought one. The company who makes them is 'firstact' (has anyone heard of them?) it has a natural spruce top, hardwood sides and back, rosewood bridge and neck, adjustable truss and chrome plated tuners. Unsure of what I bought at the time I brought it to a music store. The guy said it wasn't full size (38'') but was ok to learn on. Haven't compared it to anything else yet or checked the action. Songs sound ok, sometimes it sounds off but that could be me. To anyone that knows more then me does this guitar sound OK?

joetone...don't worry about how others think it sounds. When we are learning, a $700 guitar will sound just like a $100 dollar guitar.

Tune it before you practice (a quicktune is a good investment) and just practice. Most important that the guitar is easy to play for you, some guitars are difficult to fret strings on. If you pick it up each day and practice, then you made the right decision buying it. The smaller body of your guitar is a blessing, will be easier for you to handle and get comfortable holding it and learning than wrestling with a full size as it can feel awkward in the beginning.

In time you will be able to appreciate a better guitar and will know what you like and want in your next guitar.

For now, enjoy the guitar you have. There is nothing wrong with it if it is not just sitting in the stand collecting dust. :D

Josephlefty

Hi, I am learning on it, but since I haven't tried another guitar I'm not sure if its difficult to play. I get some soreness from fretting but maybe I need to relax.....when I get a chance I'll bring to someone to see if the action needs changing. Anything that helps me play better i'm willing to do