The topic of buying one’s first guitar has been done to death in magazines, store flyers, blog posts, etc. I ultimately believe that the decision is truly up to the budding player.
However, as with all decisions in life, it’s wise to first consider the experience of others who’ve gone before you. Then, form your own decision, and prepare to pass your wisdom to others. Here comes the wisdom…
Learn to play a little before you shop.
Borrow an old guitar from a friend or family member, or rent a guitar from your local music shop. If you enter the shopping experience with no idea how to hold or strum a guitar, you’re starting off on the wrong foot.
Taking an experienced friend is helpful, but you could get stuck choosing a guitar based on their playing preferences and not yours.
Buy the guitar you want to play.
If you sit down at your local music shop with a guitar in your lap, and you really aren’t digging the experience: put it back. You’re not going to enjoy your practice if you have to spend hours staring at something that you compromised on.
The fretwork/detail will bug you. The ugly woodworking will bug you. The color will bug you. The fact that it’s not quite as nice as your friend’s guitar will bug you.
I’m not advocating that you start out by spending a few months’ income on a signature series guitar from your favorite artist—just don’t make your decision based solely on saving $100. I guarantee that you’ll regret it later—you’ll lose more money when you give up and trade/sell the guitar.
Stay away from the cheap stuff.
Spend at least $3-400 on an acoustic or an electric guitar. Pay attention to the craftsmanship (if it feels cheap, it is cheap), and try to get your salesperson’s honest opinion about the guitar. (I like to ask the salesperson to tell me why a guitar’s worth more than another, or ask if he’d buy it as a travel/beater guitar.)
The price above doesn’t include pack-ins such as a case, or an amp. That’s the guaranteed path to regret.
Take your time, but check the return policy.
Try and buy a guitar that you can return. Especially when you’re starting out, you can’t really play it for a reasonable length of time in-store.
When you get your guitar home, try and learn a few simple chords, and put a few hours of practice into it. Don’t give up on the guitar until you’ve put at least 6-8h of playing into it.
While the guitar is in your possession, take very good care of it. Your music store is doing you a huge favour, so don’t be a jerk and try to return scratched up merchandise.
Electric, or acoustic?
I cannot answer this for you. Choose the guitar that most resembles the kind of music you’re trying to learn to play.
I used to agree that one’s first guitar should be an acoustic. It strengthens your fingers, blah blah blah. I no longer subscribe to this theory, as I endured many months of frustration when I got my first electric—I fretted notes way too hard, tried to compensate with a heavier string gauge, etc.
Playing an electric guitar has made me a better acoustic player, and playing an acoustic guitar makes me a better electric player. I could have started on either one, and the transition to the other would have taken time regardless.
If starting on an electric, I think you’ll start to see results a little faster, especially when learning your first barre chords. If you do plan on getting an acoustic, you might want to step up your string gauges for a few months first.
And finally
Don’t sweat it too much. Some folks keep their first guitar forever, and some (like me) sell it with no remorse.
What you like today in music isn’t necessarily going to be what you like 5 years from now. The same goes for guitars—your taste will definitely change.
So get out there and start shopping!
July 15th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
As usual, I’m a weirdo. I started with a classical guitar. Hmm… Let’s say it was my Spanish heritage that made me do it. The good thing is decent classical guitars are ridiculously cheap. I got a Yamaha C40 for what? $120 or so? That was almost ten years ago and I still use that guitar almost every day. I love that I don’t have to worry about it. If the kids play with it or drop or or whatever the beast still works and sounds fine. Sure, I wouldn’t record any masterpieces with it but it is still great to learn with. BTW, I do have four other guitar in addition to this one, all the way up to a Gibson DarkFire. And yes, it takes a while to get used to different guitar types, but still keep comming back to my trusty C40. I love the way classical sounds and the feel of the nylon strings.
Barres are harder tho :-) Use a strat for that.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
@Jose: Yamahas are built incredibly well for the money. The FG700s, for instance, is a fantastic buy at around $200. However, I think that if you can save up a bit more, ~$100 extra could go a long way. For instance, it’ll buy you solid wood back/sides in Yamaha’s range (though solid wood’s not necessarily a silver bullet on an acoustic, IMO).
And, a Gibson DarkFire? Yikes, that’s a pricey axe! All four of my guitars combined didn’t cost that much! That’s Gibson for ya… ;)
How’d you manage to get one? Weren’t they hard to buy?
July 15th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
@chris: I agree with you point, a hundred dollars more gives you a much nice guitar.
I thought the same thing about the DarkFire. It was a gift from my wife. What can I say? I love my wife :-D
Very cool toy, not entirely sure who’s needs it fills… people with gadget lust and money to spend I guess. Seems to me a real concert giving artist would have more than one guitar with different tunings. The guys from Rush for example, seem to use a different guitar/bass for each song. Maybe a gigging artist wants something with different tunings, but then it’s pricey… I dunno.
Like I said, it’s a really cool toy. Pretty versatile sounds coming out of it too.
July 15th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
@Jose There are many gigging musicians who I’m sure would kill to have a stage guitar that they didn’t have to change between songs.
Also, the lazy among us (myself included) who can’t be assed to take a tuner out of the drawer to tune to concert pitch. Of course, I tend to use Capo for reference tones now. ;)