Will my fingertips ever stop hurting?

A little bit of this, a little bit of that! :D

Yes, your fingers are weak at first, your tips will hurt, you will strain unnaturally until you get a better feel for it, you will put too much pressure on the strings until you have a better idea of what you actually need, etc etc.

That said, very little good can come of a guitar that costs $30 new. Chances are high you have slipping tuners, poor fret work, lousy intonation, plywood neck, etc etc. Chances are at least one person is going to suggest just dumping it and finding something of a more reasonable quality, and that's not the worst idea.

Virtually every major guitar manufacturer makes an entry level model now in the $200 range, and they have a lot more going for them. Recommended brands are Takamine, Seagull, Fender, Ibanez, there's even a taylor in the low 200 range now I believe... any of these would likely increase your playing pleasure approximately 2000%.

:D I'm trying to learn my first set of chords now. I'll see if maybe I can ease off a bit on the pressure. Are all frets on guitars the same height? Are frets ever serrated to hold the string from sliding sideways, and would anyone want that?

By any measure, I know this guitar is a cheap one. I bought it (retail) from a little "Hole in the Wall" off an alley in Guangzhou, PR China, where I am on a business vacation this month. It is brand is "Ocean," and it was the lowest priced guitar they had. The highest priced acoustic they had was just over $50. I didn't price the electric guitars. Problem is, I may have to leave it, things cost an arm and a leg to ship from China to the USA, thats one reason I went for the low price.

I appreciate your information on recognized brand names, I had no idea what to look for. And as for how my "Ocean" is made, or what it's made of, I can't tell by looking. If I have to leave it behind, won't matter to much though.

:D I'm trying to learn my first set of chords now. I'll see if maybe I can ease off a bit on the pressure. Are all frets on guitars the same height? Are frets ever serrated to hold the string from sliding sideways, and would anyone want that?

Some guitars have taller frets, yes. And no, they don't come serrated, and no, you wouldn't want that. It would make bends impossible and vibrato a pain.

I'm guessing you're having problems with the high and low E strings sliding off the fretboard. I used to have that happen to me quite often, it was frustrating to be playing through this cool riff only to have it ruined by a string sliding off and going "TINGK!!". You will eventally gain finger control and that won't be an issue anymore. Practice, it's a cure-all.

Your current axe is probably sufficient to let you bang out a few open chords. I'm fairly sure you'll grow out of it relatively quickly, and it sounds like you won't even bring it back to the states with you. Undercat hit some good brand names above, look into those when you get back.

Maybe it was so cheap because it's made and sold in China and it's not as horrible as we're all thinking it is. At least it doesn't say ESTEBAN on the headstock...

Yes, as Undercat says, guitars matter and unfortunately is seems to go by price.

I had a $179 Hohner that was very difficult to play. I just bought a knockaround Fender DG-10 to drag out in the extreme weather to work for my lunch break and to lessons and the strings are a MILE off the fretboard. Easier to play than the Hohner but annoying just the same. My favorite guitar for ease of playing, quality and quality tuners and sound is my Dean Performer SE, I love this guitar, not high end but not bottom end either.

I have been through some electrics too and presently have a warranty issue with a Jay Turser Telecaster. Between my Hohner 440, Johnson strat, the Fender DG-10, and now the Jay Turser, I have learned and made the decision to never buy a low-end guitar ever again. My Dean is the only decent guitar I have ever owned and I will never sell it.

Something that will help your fingers is switching to very light strings and taking frequent breaks in your practice, running cold water on your finger tips. There may come a point down the road (what I did) is then after a while switch back to cheap medium strings and beat up your fingers for a month and get it overwith and be done with it.

I hope this helps some. :D

pain in the fingers just means your becoming a guitar player

there is no gain with out some pain when it comes to the axe

and just when you think your going well with learning it there will be something to hols you up

At least it doesn't say ESTEBAN on the headstock...

Hey now! Mine does say that, but on the inside not head stock. My wife got it for me for christmas. Hey, she didn't know any better. Heck, neither did I. Nothing like having to lift your fingers 3 inches off the fretboard to hit the next note because of the action. It doesn't seem bad to me for what she paid for. It doesn't sound bad, just a little difficult to play, but it's good enough to learn on to see if I stick with it to justify buying a descent electric for myself. Anyone else have experience with the Estaban guitar care to comment on it. I'd like to see what others have to say. Works for me so far anyway. Of course, I've never tried any other guitars, and not sure I want to yet after reading reviews on the net about the one I got. I'll get the basics down first before trying anything else so that I can actually play something then be like "Wow!" when I pick up something good.

Mike

Gotta love that entrepreneurial spirit in China.

I was there in the 1980s, and a guy I met gave me a tour of his factory. They were building bicycles. Inside the building there were no work benches, just a dirt floor... one worker was squatting down to weld a frame together (without welding goggles) and a few feet away, another guy dressed in a heavy leather jacket - the temperature was nearly 100F that day - was holding a frame while a third guy used a hand grinder to smooth out the welding seams... which threw showers of sparks on the guy holding it; hence the leather jacket.

Ok, so I didn't seem impressed. The factory owner then proudly showed me his catalog of things they made: bicycles, mannequins, coat racks... I guess without tools to limit your direction you can build anything.

The reason I tell you that story is that I've searched to find out who makes Ocean guitars. It's a company called City Ocean International, and in their export listing for products they offer, it says: "all kinds of musical instrument". I'm sure today is probably bassoon day for them, and maybe tomorrow is harpsichord day... or is it tubas?

No matter. For the cost of shipping it home, I'm sure you can find a similar instrument at a garage sale or something.

Every once in a while I get a student who has an unplayable guitar. You can use it to get the feel of fretting notes, although it will hurt (it'll probably hurt a LOT), but you'll never really be able to play it - the sky-high action makes it incredibly difficult to switch chords, and the tone isn't exactly endearing.

Maybe you can sell it to somebody while you're still there, and get a playable one when you get home?

Hmm - I wonder if those guys hanging around the shop where I bought my Ocean guitar were the same guys who made it. I guess I could go ask. I have looked at it more carefully since my first post and can see some of the hurry-ups they took in its manufacture. Pretty quick with the glue and it seems only one coat of varnish. It did include a spare set of strings, a shoulder strap and a soft carry case. But I didn't get a great big chart of chords. :(

As for selling the Ocean here, well ... But I might find time to take it back to the shop where I bought it on my last day here, to see if they will buy it used from me. Never hurt to ask. I'll be here for another month so I'll keep it until then.

As for Mike with the ESTEBAN, I'm assuming thats the one that can be ordered on late night cable TV. Well, I was lucky I guess, because I did order one of those about a month ago but for some reason my credit card was turned down. Probably maxed out as usual. Everything for the best as some would say, though I personally don't suscribe to that way of thinking.

Hey, Thanks guys for all of your imput. And Yes, I can get by using a lot less pressure on my fingers. It sounds the same, I guess that's what counts.

I don't think the real answer to your question was completely told.
A cheap guitar will be harder to play, that is true.
The sore fingers is a different story all together.
Your fingertips will get really sore for awhile no matter how much your guitar cost.
1. you have to build up calluses before you can play without pain.
2. your fingertips, being soft right now, have to press harder on the strings to sound a clean note.
The amount of time it takes to be able to play without really sore fingers varies from person to person.
It took me about 5 weeks or so with about 4 to 5 hours practice per day.
You will notice other aches and pains as the muscles in your hands get use to the new way you are using them.
If you get pain in your wrist or the pain in your hands start getting to feel like more than just sore muscles, STOP playing , take a break for awhile and re-examine how you are holding your guitar.
Best of luck.

Yes whatever guitar you end up using, you can switch to very light strings so you can practice in the first place to get used to it and forming the chords, then switch to cheap medium strings to punish your fingers for a month to get it all overwith. I think this is what was originally asked about the finger pain. :D

Estaban? Love listening to him when he's on QVC... but I seriously doubt that the guitar that his is playing on the show is the exact same one that you are buying. I mean the one he's playing has a high quality pick up in it for God sakes!

Tough it out with the fingers, it gets better and then you'll buy a better guitar! Alveraz makes some nice easy to play beginner models. My first guitar that I still own an play today - Epiphone EJ 200 - had some seriously high action when I bought it, not that I knew any different at that time. Even after having a great guitar tech lower the action as far as you could without getting a buzz some where, my newer Martin 000C 16RGTE is sooooooo much easier to play.

I'm playing with a Ibanez electric right now but I first started with the Estabon that I ordered from that cable infomercial show. No matter how hard I mashed the 5th string (next to the thickest string) it would make this vibrating noise. I know you have to push them harder to make the note ring clear but for some reason, I don't think anyone could make that particular string sound right. My son use to laugh at my struming because of that string. I paid around $130. for mine. I can't believe I got suckered. I did get a hard case and an electric tuner with it though. Why is the body of it deeper (front to back) than every other acoustic I've ever seen? Mine didn't come with that plug in thingy like the one Mr. Estabon played on the show :roll:
Shannon

PS I saw that first posting about the Estabon, and I was embarrased for getting suckered. :shock: :oops: I wasn't going to admit that I had one. Then after I saw somebody else say they had one, I didn't feel as bad. :lol:

A slight adjustment to the truss rod in the neck might relieve that buzz noise you get when you fret that one note on your A string.

As a beginner, I came to really enjoy the sore fingertips after a little while. My fingers would feel like they had wax on them and there would be a dull throb in them. I HATED it for the first month, but after that it was great. Just stick with it and it'll get less and less painfull. I just wish I could play barre chords for more than 5 minutes without my arm hurting!