Babachoo
12-18-2005, 03:59 PM
When deciding to buy your first guitar, a lot of us have made mistakes. There are so many choices, and so much you don't think about. So I thought I would post a beginners guide to buying a guitar. This thread will be some good tips for beginners looking to buy their first guitar. Feel free to add anything you'd like to it if you think it would help someone avoid the mistakes that we made!
Before you buy your first guitar, there are a few things to consider.
How much money can you spend?
What is your skill level?
What type of music would you like to play?
Let's look at why these are important things to consider and how they will help you find the right guitar for you.
1. How much money can you spend on one?
With guitars you usually get what you pay for. Some guitars are a little overpriced and some are excellent values, but you can find a decent guitar at nearly any price level. A lot of people buy a $500 guitar and then a year later they tell you that they haven't played it in 10 months. I recommend getting a really good deal on a decent guitar that is recommended by others as a good beginner guitar. That way if you decide that guitar isn't for you, you won't feel too bad about how much you spent on your guitar. A few that I can definitely recommend for beginners are the...
Fender Squier electric guitars - they are a pretty close to a regular Fender, but much more inexpensive.
Epiphone Les Paul electrics - The "Special II" and "Les Paul 100" are particularly good deals.
Yamaha acoustics
Seagull acoustics
Jasmine acoustics - Made by Takamine
Most of those guitars can be purchased for between $100-$200, and some of the Squier or Epiphone Les Pauls come in a kit with a free practice amp, gig bag, cables, strap, picks, etc... These kits are very good for beginners, a great value. But the most important part of buying a guitar is playing it before you buy it, and make sure it sounds good to you. I'll talk more about that later.
Now lets look at the next question
2. What is your skill level?
This question is important because if you are a beginner, it's good to start with a guitar that is easy to play and doesn't have too many radical modifications. Another thing that may come into play is your knowledge of music. If you have never touched a guitar, but have been playing another instrument like piano, you may already have a good grasp of music theory and the fundamentals of music. This will speed along your process of learning guitar, and may be a factor in how soon you may need to purchase a better guitar to suit your skill level.
If the average beginner has not played any instruments and doesn't understand music, he may buy an inexpensive model guitar and after a year or two might be good enough to want to buy a better guitar. But if you already know a lot about music, just not guitar specifically, it may only take you a few months before you are ready to upgrade your guitar. So if you already have some skill and knowledge of music in general, I would recommend spending a little more and getting a guitar that you would be happy with a few years from now.
And now we'll look at the last question...
3. What type of music would you like to play?
Try to pick an instrument that fits the type of music you are most interested in playing. Your playing style will greatly affect the guitar you buy. Jazz guitarists usually play archtop guitars. A lot of blues players play Strats, or Gibson ES-335's. If you like country, you should look into a Strat, or a Fender Telecaster. If you like rock, you should look into a Les Paul or Strat type of guitar. Good acoustics fit into any type of music you want to play, and using different types of strings offer a good variety of sounds.
Another factor in what type of sound a guitar has are the pickups. The pickups are what "hear" the sound your guitar produces and sends it to your amplifier. The pickups are placed in the body of the guitar underneath your strings. Bridge pickups are closest to the bottom of the guitar, neck pickups are closer to the neck. The two most popular type of pickups are single-coil and humbuckers. Humbuckers produce a fatter, lower tone that are great for distortion based rock. Single-coil pickups have a twangy tone and are popular with country and blues guitarists.
If you have a particular sound you are looking for, such as your favorite guitarist or band, try looking online to find out what guitars they use. Or go to your local guitar shop and talk to someone who knows what sound you're looking for.
Some more Tips
No two guitars are alike, if it sounds good to you, buy it!
If you want to hear a guitar played before you buy it, but you can't play one, have a salesman play something on it. If he can play it clean (with no effects) and without using flashy techniques, and it sounds good, it probably is a good guitar.
Make sure it feels good to you. Make sure it is comfortable to hold, wrap your hand around the neck, pluck the strings, etc...
Make sure it stays in tune. This is tough sometimes because new guitars in showrooms have new strings and new strings go out of tune until you break them in. Strum the hell out of the guitar for a minute and then check the tuning and see if it is out of tune. Tune it back up and try again, if it keeps going out of tune you will probably be stuck with a guitar you have to retune after every song. But like I said, it's kinda hard to tell with new strings.
Check for any damage. Hold the guitar up in front of you in different positions. Make sure the neck is straight and the strings are not touching any where on the fretboard. If they are you probably can hear a slight buzz when you play it. Sometimes this can be fixed by adjusting the action height, but most guitar stores take care of things like that before they sell them so this could be due to damage or defects.
If you can't decide whether you want an electric or an acoustic, know that electrics are a little easier to play and offer a wider variety of music you can play. If you choose an acoustic first though, your fingers will be properly trained and toughened up when you do get an electric.
Originally posted at http://www.keepmusicalive.com, I am the author though. I just wanted to share it with Mx'ers. :)
Before you buy your first guitar, there are a few things to consider.
How much money can you spend?
What is your skill level?
What type of music would you like to play?
Let's look at why these are important things to consider and how they will help you find the right guitar for you.
1. How much money can you spend on one?
With guitars you usually get what you pay for. Some guitars are a little overpriced and some are excellent values, but you can find a decent guitar at nearly any price level. A lot of people buy a $500 guitar and then a year later they tell you that they haven't played it in 10 months. I recommend getting a really good deal on a decent guitar that is recommended by others as a good beginner guitar. That way if you decide that guitar isn't for you, you won't feel too bad about how much you spent on your guitar. A few that I can definitely recommend for beginners are the...
Fender Squier electric guitars - they are a pretty close to a regular Fender, but much more inexpensive.
Epiphone Les Paul electrics - The "Special II" and "Les Paul 100" are particularly good deals.
Yamaha acoustics
Seagull acoustics
Jasmine acoustics - Made by Takamine
Most of those guitars can be purchased for between $100-$200, and some of the Squier or Epiphone Les Pauls come in a kit with a free practice amp, gig bag, cables, strap, picks, etc... These kits are very good for beginners, a great value. But the most important part of buying a guitar is playing it before you buy it, and make sure it sounds good to you. I'll talk more about that later.
Now lets look at the next question
2. What is your skill level?
This question is important because if you are a beginner, it's good to start with a guitar that is easy to play and doesn't have too many radical modifications. Another thing that may come into play is your knowledge of music. If you have never touched a guitar, but have been playing another instrument like piano, you may already have a good grasp of music theory and the fundamentals of music. This will speed along your process of learning guitar, and may be a factor in how soon you may need to purchase a better guitar to suit your skill level.
If the average beginner has not played any instruments and doesn't understand music, he may buy an inexpensive model guitar and after a year or two might be good enough to want to buy a better guitar. But if you already know a lot about music, just not guitar specifically, it may only take you a few months before you are ready to upgrade your guitar. So if you already have some skill and knowledge of music in general, I would recommend spending a little more and getting a guitar that you would be happy with a few years from now.
And now we'll look at the last question...
3. What type of music would you like to play?
Try to pick an instrument that fits the type of music you are most interested in playing. Your playing style will greatly affect the guitar you buy. Jazz guitarists usually play archtop guitars. A lot of blues players play Strats, or Gibson ES-335's. If you like country, you should look into a Strat, or a Fender Telecaster. If you like rock, you should look into a Les Paul or Strat type of guitar. Good acoustics fit into any type of music you want to play, and using different types of strings offer a good variety of sounds.
Another factor in what type of sound a guitar has are the pickups. The pickups are what "hear" the sound your guitar produces and sends it to your amplifier. The pickups are placed in the body of the guitar underneath your strings. Bridge pickups are closest to the bottom of the guitar, neck pickups are closer to the neck. The two most popular type of pickups are single-coil and humbuckers. Humbuckers produce a fatter, lower tone that are great for distortion based rock. Single-coil pickups have a twangy tone and are popular with country and blues guitarists.
If you have a particular sound you are looking for, such as your favorite guitarist or band, try looking online to find out what guitars they use. Or go to your local guitar shop and talk to someone who knows what sound you're looking for.
Some more Tips
No two guitars are alike, if it sounds good to you, buy it!
If you want to hear a guitar played before you buy it, but you can't play one, have a salesman play something on it. If he can play it clean (with no effects) and without using flashy techniques, and it sounds good, it probably is a good guitar.
Make sure it feels good to you. Make sure it is comfortable to hold, wrap your hand around the neck, pluck the strings, etc...
Make sure it stays in tune. This is tough sometimes because new guitars in showrooms have new strings and new strings go out of tune until you break them in. Strum the hell out of the guitar for a minute and then check the tuning and see if it is out of tune. Tune it back up and try again, if it keeps going out of tune you will probably be stuck with a guitar you have to retune after every song. But like I said, it's kinda hard to tell with new strings.
Check for any damage. Hold the guitar up in front of you in different positions. Make sure the neck is straight and the strings are not touching any where on the fretboard. If they are you probably can hear a slight buzz when you play it. Sometimes this can be fixed by adjusting the action height, but most guitar stores take care of things like that before they sell them so this could be due to damage or defects.
If you can't decide whether you want an electric or an acoustic, know that electrics are a little easier to play and offer a wider variety of music you can play. If you choose an acoustic first though, your fingers will be properly trained and toughened up when you do get an electric.
Originally posted at http://www.keepmusicalive.com, I am the author though. I just wanted to share it with Mx'ers. :)