Need some guitar advice.

S

sharpguyjp

Joined
Jan 6, 2009
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157
16 year old guy, here. Looking to start playing the acoustic guitar. I know very little, but am very much willing to learn. Much like knives, i didn't know where to start when i began looking. I come to you guys, praying there is a guitar player kind enough to help me out.

Are there any great beginning guitar packages out there? I'm looking for an acoustic, maybe some accesories to go with it. Any other guidelines would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance!

-JP
 
Well there are a number of starter kits for acoustic guitar (Yamaha, Ibanez, Epiphone). I started out with the Yamaha starter pack and would recommend it highly. If you don't have a local guitar store, you can buy from musiciansfriend.com. Myself and friends have purchased guitars from there well over $1000 and have had no problems w/shipping, ect. DO NOT get from music123.com They have terrible reputation (among my friends).

Hope you enjoy playing! It's a great instrument!
 
When I started I got a great recommendation from a smart salesman.

Don't buy the cheapest guitar you can find.

Cheap guitars often sound bad, are harder to play (press the frets down), and if you continue to play you will probably end up selling it or trading it in for a loss so you can buy a better guitar.

If you buy a decent guitar from the start you have a higher chance of success. Easier to play (Push down the frets) Looks better, sounds better. When you meet other people who play you can say you have a decent guitar.

I really would recommend an electric guitar. They are usually easier to play than an acoustic. With all of the different effects pedals they make you can keep yourself interested longer. Also a distortion pedal helps to hide small mistakes :D I spent about $350 on a guitar when I was 14 from money that I made from mowing lawns. Until I saved the money to buy an amplifier I played without one for a couple of months. It's like a really quiet acoustic!

Interesting fact, If you put the headstock against a wall, and your head up against that same wall and it is quiet. It is sort of like an amplifier. At least it was in our cheaply paneled mobile home. You have to put your head and the headstock in the same wall cavity though (headstock directly over or under your head) :D

Edited to add: My first guitar was a Yamaha too, only an electric. I've owned a Gibson Sg, flying V, miscellaneous fenders. That Yamaha is still the easiest to play.
 
The guitars that are being made in China (machined nicely) these days will play as well as a guitar that used to cost $1000. You can spend well under $300, and get an acoustic that you will likely never outgrow. It will sound great and have great action. I would go into a few places and try them out. If you are not confident, bring your music teacher or someone who can check it out for you. But you will likely not go wrong with Ibanez, Yamaha, etc.
Make sure you go to a place that doesn't just take guitars out of a box and throw them up on the wall. Find a place that "sets up" the guitars, and most places will offer a free set-up if you buy from them.

You will have fun, and get a lot for your money. Hope that helps.
 
try some of the online classified sites, (craig's list, kijiji) I have picked up some great deals off of people that bought decent gear and stopped playing and just want to get rid of it , I picked up my yamaha 310 acoustic for for 60 bucks, it is a great guitar, sounds good easy to play, around here they retail for about 165-199

I agree with what has been said get a decent starter, you get more out of it in the long run, even in regard to resale.


have fun

jimi
 
I've been picking since the 70s, and being sort of obsessive about my interests read everything I could get my hands on. My sofa is presently covered by cigar-box instruments I've made and the guts of a cheap electric I'm turning into a solid-body cigar-box electric...

Went shopping for an inexpensive acoustic early last year and I was pleasantly surprised by what's available. I ended up with an Indonesian-made "Mitchell" cutaway dreadnaught with pickup for a mere 200.00. Good fit, finish, and setup, all out of the box.
Sure, it's plywood... But it sounds decent.
There were several instruments in this price range at the Guitar Center store, all quite playable.
For another hundred you could get a definite improvement.

I would suggest at least going to a big chain like Guitar Center, if only because they have a lot of instruments that you can actually sit down and play.
See what you like, and what sounds good to you.
Many new players get discouraged when they buy a cheap instrument that's not set up properly. In short order, they have painful fingers and can hardly hold a chord down.

Having your new axe set up by a good repairman is money well spent, IMO.

Be patient. In my case, entirely self-taught, I kept hitting "breakthroughs" that were actually very simple but very satisfying.
Actually being able to reliably repeat that "Boom-chicka-Boom country/bluegrass strum reliably was pretty cool.
So was being able to finger a "G" chord with my little finger....

Little triumphs...They add up.

I would shy away from used instruments unless you have an experienced buddy to go with you.
 
Don't know what type of music you want to play, but keep in mind that a classical guitar (classical music, Spanish/flamenco/mariachi) is a different instrument than an accoustic guitar (folk, etc.). The classical takes nylon strings and is plucked with the fingers, the accoustic takes steel strings and is played with a pick. My friend learned this the hard way in high school.
 
I'd also suggest considering an electric guitar. Overall, an electric is more versitile and easier to play. With the proper effects, you can mimic an acoustic effectively. I'm partial to Fenders and Ibanez. For the money, Ibanez is tough to beat. I might have to go dust off my Strat, as I haven't played in years.
 
Have someone teach you to tune by ear. Even if you don't have perfect pitch, knowing how to keep your guitar in tune with itself will help you learn much faster. Another good ear-training trick is to keep your guitar handy when watching TV and try to pick along with the melodies of commercials and theme songs. Doesn't matter if you like the tune or not, it will help you with your relative pitch and rythm.

Have fun!
 
Some great advice already given. Let me restate some and add a bit more.
1. Don't buy a cheap guitar. THIS IS IMPORTANT! It doesn't mean that you have to spend a fortune. It means don't shop for the cheapest guitar you can find. Figure to spend about $250-$300 USD on a guitar bought in a shop. A really cheap guitar won't give you the sound-quality results you'll need to keep you wanting to play.
2. Don't keep your guitar in its case. Pick up a cheap stand or wall hook for it so that you can just pick it up and play instantly without having to remove it or replace it in a case. You will play a LOT more this way.
3. Sorry to say, but expect a LOT of finger pain during the first two months or so. You need to build up calluses and there is no easy or painless way to do this. BUT... you can make it easier by only playing for 2-3 minutes at a time in the beginning. Then set the guitar down for a bit, then pick it up and play another 2-3 minutes. No need to really make yourself suffer. After a couple of weeks you'll find yourself playing for 10-15 minutes before needing to put the guitar down and recover. After a couple of months you'll be playing for an hour or more before the finger pain gets to you.
3. If you like to watch TV, keep your guitar next to you while you watch, and play during the commercials. This will give you 2-3 minutes of playing every 10-15 minutes, and by the end of an evening you will have played a total of an hour or more without too much drain on your finger tips!
5. Although playing songs is a lot of fun, if you can pick up some on-line scale instruction (lots of free stuff on the Internet,) and learn some basic scales along with your favorite songs, it will speed up your learning curve for everything else. Scale practice doesn't have to be boring, and scales are the building blocks of everything on the guitar!
6. It's easy to teach yourself how to play guitar. But 2-3 lessons by a good teacher, especially right in the beginning, will help you avoid getting into bad habits. Sure, regular lessons would be even better, but even 2-3 will do the trick to get you off on the right foot. It's all too easy to fall into bad habits that will seriously hold you back later on in your learning.
7. Keep the guitar fun. Too many people turn practice into work. Remember why you wanted to play in the first place. Because playing guitar is fun!

Stitchawl
 
Yamaha makes some great guitars. I started with a Yamaha Pacifica when I was about 13 (I'm 32 now). I think my parents paid a whopping $150 for it. I've had a few other guitars since then but I always come back to that old Yamaha. It just sounds great.

One of the best suggestions I can make is start hanging out with other players. You will pick a lot of things up just by playing with other people no matter what their skill level is.
 
wintermute said:
Don't know what type of music you want to play, but keep in mind that a classical guitar (classical music, Spanish/flamenco/mariachi) is a different instrument than an accoustic guitar (folk, etc.). The classical takes nylon strings and is plucked with the fingers, the accoustic takes steel strings and is played with a pick. My friend learned this the hard way in high school.
Click to expand...

Ditto. You'll need to determine what kind of music you'll want to play. If you plan on playing classical music, the nylon stringed classical guitar is the only way to go. If you plan on playing more contemporary music, a steel stringed folk guitar would probably work better.

As someone also mentioned, don't count out the electric guitar as it can be great for playing jazz or the blues.

Who/what do you listen to? That should give you some idea of where to start. BTW, if there are no teachers available in your area, you should be able to find some good tutorial dvds in stores or online.

And yeah, you'll need to accept the fact your fingers (the ones you use to fret the guitar) will probably be sore until you develop some calluses.
 
sharpguyjp said:
16 year old guy, here. Looking to start playing the acoustic guitar. I know very little, but am very much willing to learn. Much like knives, i didn't know where to start when i began looking. I come to you guys, praying there is a guitar player kind enough to help me out.

Are there any great beginning guitar packages out there? I'm looking for an acoustic, maybe some accesories to go with it. Any other guidelines would be much appreciated.

thanks in advance!

-JP
Click to expand...


FWIW

for 2 benjamins This pack will do you very well!

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-IJAE5-Acoustic-Guitar-Pack?sku=519605

Peace
ST~
 
Takamine makes a good "cheap" guitar: the Jasmine. I've been playing for 7-8 years and its the best low end guitar I've handled
 
James_Terrio said:
Have someone teach you to tune by ear. Even if you don't have perfect pitch, knowing how to keep your guitar in tune with itself will help you learn much faster. Another good ear-training trick is to keep your guitar handy when watching TV and try to pick along with the melodies of commercials and theme songs. Doesn't matter if you like the tune or not, it will help you with your relative pitch and rythm.

Have fun!
Click to expand...


+1:thumbup:

Also learn your basic chords ie:B,C,G,D,F,E,A & the majors & the minors.Once you learn how to properly grab those,you'de be surprized how much easier things will be.Heck! most of the guys in the 50's knew like 3 or 4 chords & they became rockstars!

I got my first guitar when I was 13.It was beat up.It didn't have any strings,but the body was in decent shape.I think it cost me about $10 & another $20 to fix it up.

Good luck & don't give up,no matter how bad you think you are.Just keep practicing.
 
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If you're affraid you'll hurt your fingers building callousses, get an electric or a classical guitar, they're for sissies (just kidding guys, just kidding) and won't hurt AS MUCH.

However keep in mind building those fingertips will hurt.

However, when buying a guitar these things are most important:

1) Get one that YOU like the sound of. Not one that someone says is the best. It'll be your guitar so you get one that you like the sound of. Looks will fade into the backround over time, but sound will always be important.

2) Get one that you like the feel of. This also is more important than looks but slightly less than sound. You'll get used to a guitar over time as to the feel. But something that doesn't sound quite right to you will only start annoying you more over time.


As far as acoustics go, have a look at the Takamines. They can be had secondhand for very good prices. Everyone I know loves the sound of mine over the sound of my brothers guitar which is about 3x the price.
 
If you can learn a few chords first. Go to as many guitar shops as you can and play as many of the guitars in your price range as you can. And just start to narrow down which ones you like, that sound good to you, and were easy to play. You will eventually get a "feeling" for one of them and that will be the one you want. I own 6 guitars and I know before buying them I played 200 different guitars in at least 10 different stores before I narrowed it down to the one I actually bought. It's a personal thing. And as has been said before, you can sometimes find a $350.00 acoustic that sounds just as good as a $1,000 one. But there are other things to consider. Sometimes cheaper guitars have cheap hardware and so you'll eventually have cracked frets, a busted nut, warped bridge, or tunning heads that will not stay in tune to save your life. So make sure it's at least decent quality. The thing that makes a more expensive guitar worth it sometimes is that they last. Now you start getting into a $4,000 Martin or something similar and you're just simply not going to be able to find a value guitar that can keep up. I own a very expensive acoustic and it's simply a pleasure to play. And though I love my other two less expensive acoustics, they're just not as substantial an instrument.

With electrics it's a little different. I got a Jackson fixed up with some Seymour Duncans and uprgraded wiring and it completely out jams my Les Paul custom or Strat deluxe plus.
 
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