|
3 Go D3ath
Student Of Life


Registered: 01/21/20
Posts: 104
Loc: Earth
Last seen: 2 months, 13 days
|
Best new guitar
#28269456 - 04/09/23 12:53 AM (9 months, 15 days ago) |
|
|
Im considering buying a guitar & learning how to play. I have zero knowledge of what I should be looking for or what a decent entry level guitar would be. My price range is $350-450. Oh & acoustic. Any suggestions are welcome & appreciated. π
-------------------- We are the music makers, & we are the dreamers of the dreams...
|
stubb
Dahg Rastubfari


Registered: 03/23/19
Posts: 1,310
Loc: Memory
|
|
Can't really go wrong IMHO, I started learning on a shitty Harmony I got at Cash Converters for $10. I say go cheap to learn and worry about guitars later, hard to pick a guitar that suits you when you haven't yet developed a preference. Also 'Smoke on the Water' sounds more or less the same on a Les Paul Classic as it does on a stringed 2x4.
--------------------
ππ΄π
°πΌ π
²π»π
Έπ½π
Άπ
ππ°π
Ώ You wake up. The room is spinning very gently round your head. Or at least it would be if you could see it which you can't. It is pitch black. > TURN ON LIGHT
|
Intrepid
Stranger



Registered: 12/15/19
Posts: 83
|
Re: Best new guitar [Re: stubb]
#28269701 - 04/09/23 08:42 AM (9 months, 15 days ago) |
|
|
If you buy a cheap guitar take it to a tech and make sure that itβs set up properly. It can be extremely frustrating to learn to play guitar if the action is too high or if it wonβt stay in tune. Also, consider buying a used guitar. The resale value can be about 50% of the new price and if you eventually sell it you can recoup most if not all of your investment.
|
Yuggoth
Mi-Go Cultivator


Registered: 03/04/23
Posts: 493
Loc: Lost Carcosa
|
Re: Best new guitar [Re: Intrepid]
#28310814 - 05/07/23 10:10 PM (8 months, 17 days ago) |
|
|
I'm a relatively new guitar player too and I did alllll kinds of research on the same question. Here are my two cents.
First, I think it is a really good idea to go to a music store and try different sizes of guitars. A big ol' dreadnaught is what everyone thinks about when they think "acoustic guitar" but you may find a different size is more comfortable. I learned this the hard way when I couldn't get comfortable with the dread I bought. My wife, who started learning at the same time, also didn't like it. We both turned out to be happier with the slightly smaller "concert" sized body.
It is hard to evaluate stuff like fit when you are new because everything feels weird. But evaluating the size and how it fits you is a lot easier than evaluating how it plays before you can play anything at all!
Second, there are a lot of really good guitar options, and if you want to put the time into studying the good makers you can start looking for good deals on used instruments. But I have to tell you, if you just want a good guitar and you don't want to have to become a freakin' expert before you pick it out... Get a Yamaha. It is a safe pick and they make instruments with really great bang for the buck. Yamaha may seem boring but plenty of real musicians love them... They are the real deal. And they are easy to find, used or new.
Like @Intrepid said it is a really good idea to pay a guitar shop for a "setup," even on a new guitar. Even expensive guitars don't come optimized, and budget guitars definitely do not. A guitar tech will make sure that the string height is right and you should also ask them to check for uneven frets, and get them leveled if needed. A good setup will make it noticeably easier to play.
With a $350 Yamaha and $100 of setup fees you'll be in a great spot to get started.
You may even be lucky enough to find a used instrument that the previous owner had set up, as I was. I got a sweet Yamaha AC1M with a couple of upgrades, a recent setup, and low hours for less than $400 thanks to Craigslist. It's not the fanciest guitar in the world but it lacks nothing important and it will be all I need for years. I love it.
No lie, the guitar is really fucking hard to play ... but stick with it, it's worth it.
-------------------- We have not succeeded in answering all our problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things. -- Earl C. Kelley Things I really wish I knew when I started // Vacuum sealer discussion thread // Shroomery gif zoo
Edited by Yuggoth (05/07/23 10:24 PM)
|
|