Ok, I'm new here and BRAND NEW to guitars. It all started about two weeks ago. I saw an esteban guitar for sale that a friend of mine had and he practically gave it to me. I got the whole kit. guitar, chart, amp, cable, case ect. it is a Esteban starlight limited model accoustic / electric.
I started goofing around with it and was immediatley,,,well "addicted" would be a good word. I haven't gotten far into his 6 dvd set but I'm practicing scales, a simple finger "THING" and switching between E and A chord... I haven't gotten any farther in the lesons because I'm just practicing and practicing until I get that much right.
ANYWAY... I got a chance to buy a Carvin 980 Accoustic Electric in MINT condition. You honestly can't even tell the owner ever played it. I stoped at his house to look at it and he has about 20 guitars in his Guitar room... anyway, he sold me the Carvin, case, and a little clamp thingy for the neck that he said I wouldn't need right away for learning.. a capeo? I paid $450 dollard for the Carvin. Even I can hear the difference between the two.. and I'm not just saying that..
SO here is my question.
I've had some guys tell me to learn on the esteban because it is high action and I will learn to really press on a chord string ect....
Others have told me that the carvin is a MUCH better guitar and that the esteban is not even in the same class and if it were them the would learn on the Carvin and put the esteban away for later if I was traveling to use it for a "bang around" guitar....
What do you guys think.. I know the carvin isn't some Super guitar but it is better. would you recommend learning on the carvin or the esteban?
I would play on the Carvin. Guitar is difficult enough without having to learn on a guitar with super high action. That said, my first guitar was a cheap acoustic, I think the strings were about a half inch above the fretboard. :D
When I finally got a good guitar it seemed so much easier to play.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I'd go with the one easiest to play.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Play the Carvin ........ burn the Esteban. :shock: :lol: Seriously, I'd play the Carvin if it were me, and I have a lot of cheap guitars that I love but my cheap guitars play well and sound good. I'm not sure about the Esteban though. I've seen one of the plain acoustic ones and was not impressed. It was a terrible guitar. Even though yours is a higher end Esteban, I'm willing to bet your Carvin is going to be alot easier to play.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Estebans' Horse suggests this grip he learned from Segovia
#4491....
yes, El Kabong that Estaban. nice pic Twisted.
welcome to the forum. there is a reason that cheap guitar is so cheap. learn on the Carvin and things will not only go smoother, but sound better.
that thingey for the guitar is a capo. a handy device, but you wont need it for a while.
I was hoping you guys would say to use the Carvin.
I can see where the esteban would build finger strength and calouses faster but it is actually more FUN to play the carvin. or in my case... pick and pluck and learn.
One of the reasons that people tend to give up guitar is that is it too tough and or it hurts to much and or that they dont like their guitar. Chances are that you will be more likely to stick with it if you enjoy the instrument you are playing. I dont know that I would burn the other, I mean what if the carvin has to go to the shop for a few days. You are going to get callouses no matter which one you play. Main thing, just keep playing no matter what you got.
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
I don't think you should dismiss the crappy guitar and not ever play it.
When you can play something decently on your carvin, pick up the el cheapo and try to play the same thing. It will sound worse and be harder to play but it will help to refine your technique and help point out any bad habits you might be learning.
I do the same thing between steel and nylon string and electric. All very different guitars (quality, actions, price) and i think it really helps by making you take more notice of technique.
Insert random quote here
I don't think you should dismiss the crappy guitar and not ever play it.
When you can play something decently on your carvin, pick up the el cheapo and try to play the same thing. It will sound worse and be harder to play but it will help to refine your technique and help point out any bad habits you might be learning.
And, if you want to take a guitar outdoors to play (camping, park, back yard..) which one are you going to be less worried about getting damp/spilled on/banged/played by drunken party guests?
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I looked like I was deep
yep, I wasn't planning on throwing away or otherwise burning the esteban guitar. I had a few friends that play guitar look at it when I got it and they all thought that even though it wasn't a great guitar it was OK.
I plan to keep it for all of the reasons you mentioned.
Oh God, definitely play the Carvin. I've been playing a little over a year and half, so it's not like I'm really good or anything, but I can play the guitar enough to play songs for people at parties. My buddy got an Esteban from his mother for his birthday as a first guitar. That guitar sucks so bad it's seriously almost unplayable. Not only is the action way too high, but the strings are difficult to press down, AND the guitar doesn't have a sound that even approaches the level of "decent." I have quite a few friends that play guitar quite well, most of them have been playing 7 years or more and many of them have been to school for guitar. Every single one of them who has played the Esteban has recoiled in near horror. We all told my buddy to get rid of that thing, get a decent guitar, and take some lessons. Seriously, a First Act guitar from Toys R Us or Costco is easier to play and sounds better than that thing. All my friends who played my buddy's Esteban said that every one they've played plays just like the one my friend has, so it's not like he managed to get stuck with particularly ill set up Esteban.
When you first start playing, you want the easiest guitar to play/best sounding guitar that you can get your hands on. If it's not easy to play and doesn't sound good, what on Earth would motivate you to keep playing and learning guitar? I've heard from people on here that one of the main things that causes new guitar players to give it up is having a crappy guitar.
Play the best thing you've got, no reason not to, and of course as you get better and the ease of the instrument matters less, the 'ease' of reaching the instrument might make a bigger difference, you can keep one guitar in your living room and the other where ever else you are likely to want to play so whenever the mood hits you can just reach over and play a bit. Of course, there is always another option, of keeping one guitar in a different tuning which is nice though I personally hate retuning.
raise your hand if you bagan on a crappy high action freebie or hand me down.
my hand's up.
once I got my very good acoustic I was amazed how easier things were and how much better I sounded.
Carvin.
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
