There is so much to think about for anyone who makes the decision to jump into a new passion, and certainly this is true for anyone who has the desire to start playing guitar. As someone who has played for many years now, I sometimes forget about the tribulations that a beginning guitarist can go through. You should take comfort in realizing that the fact that I have forgotten about these early issues, means that the process of development is constantly superseding the obstacles that are faced. There are so many things to address here, but for those of you who are about to purchase a guitar, or are staring down an old hand-me-down guitar, sitting in the cobweb filled corner of your room, my advice could be very helpful to both parties. The following are all things that you should keep in mind before making your final decision on the guitar of your dreams.
Acoustic or electric?
This is an obvious question that does not require too much attention, because you can make this first choice based upon your own musical preferences. Chances are you will eventually want to own many guitars of varying make. However, here are the differences between the options that you may want to take into account.
Acoustic
Acoustic guitars are fantastic for someone who is just starting, whom only desires to learn the most basic of material at the current point in time. One reason for this is because they are extremely economical, because they do not require the use of a guitar amp and can be played as soon as they are removed from the case. They are especially suitable for the beginning guitarist, because any chords or notes that are played on an acoustic are well-sounded, which helps in the crucial stages of ear training. The downfall in my opinion of acoustic guitars is the fact that the strings do not have as much flex as opposed to an electric and unless you are schilling out several thousand dollars, the action will not be as close to that of an electric guitar's action. What is action? the space between the fretboard of the guitar and the strings themselves. The higher the action, the hard it can be to finger chords and notes. This also affects the picking hand, whether you are using a flat pick or your fingers.
Electric
The electric guitar has always been my overall pick. The main reason that electrics are great guitars for any player, is because the possibilities are endless. Those same possibilities already begin with the fact that the guitar has 12 octaves to play with, but when you throw the concept of an electric guitar into that equation, you end up with a massive amount of control over sound. Another strong reason that an electric guitar should be considered is for the simple fact that you can either play with distortion or play with clean. If you are a fan of hard rock, heavy metal, or any form of on the edge music, then you will enjoy having that option. If you don't like those particular styles of music, then you can still play country, bluegrass, standards or jazz, by way of a clean setting. The downfall is the fact that an amp is necessary, which will inflate your budget a bit, but if you are just starting you can buy a simple practice amp. These can range anywhere from 60-200 dollars. You should keep in mind that if you are leaning towards finger picking, then the idea of an electric should be put on the back burner for now. The strings on an electric run closer together, limiting the movements of the picking hand. Picking is used a lot on electric guitars as well, but if you have the notion to study music that requires a lot of finger picking, then I would suggest that you start with an acoustic first.
Classical
The classical guitar is my top pick for an acoustic, and if a beginning guitarist asked me whether they should start on an acoustic or a classical, I would suggest that they start with the classical guitar. The main reason for this, is because classical guitars are strung with nylon strings, which can be a lot gentler on the fingers, during the development of finger calluses. They also tend to resonate with a warmer and fuller sound. Keep in mind that if you plan to play guitar using your fingers, you will probably want to grow your fingers out a bit, especially to get the best sound out of a classical guitar.
Ergonomics
A very important thing to take into account when making the decision to buy a specific guitar is the ergonomic aspect. Are you buying a guitar for a child? then you will want to go with something that is of a manageable size. You must take into account that if a guitar is too large for an individual, the body of the guitar will put a lot of strain on the right arm, which generally controls the picking hand, unless of course you are left-handed. If the guitar is too big, it will tuck up in to armpit too much and cut off circulation in the arm. I always remind everyone that the key to developing efficiently on the instrument, is to make sure that the posture, arms, wrists and hands are completely relaxed. The size issue is also a very important principle to take into consideration for women. I see young girls and grown women who are playing on guitars that are way too big for them. I'm not being chauvinistic, because sometimes I will pick up a guitar that is just too big for myself.
Price range
Guitars cover a massive area of price ranges. That's all there is to it. Some can run you fifty bucks on eBay, while others can be exquisite masterpieces that will have you schilling out a good three to ten thousand dollars. The best way to narrow down the amount that you feel comfortable spending on a guitar, is to set your budget to a thousand dollars, even if you don't plan to go above eight hundred. From here you can classify the price ranges. One hundred to three hundred and fifty dollars could be labeled as bronze class. Four hundred to six hundred and fifty dollars could be labeled as silver class, and seven hundred to a thousand dollars could be labeled as gold class. The great news is that there are plenty of models of guitars that are outstanding and fit into the bronze class. This brings us to...
Brand
Its no joke that there is a plethora of amazing guitar brands to choose from, and going with a sure thing is, well, a sure thing. Some top brands are Gibson, Ibanez, Dean, Fender, Epiphone, Jackson, Paul Reed Smith, Yamaha and ESP. If I were a new guitarist I would stick to one of those brands. There are a lot of other great guitar manufacturers out their, but don't try to be too different. In other words, avoid unheard of, generic brands. That's always a good rule of thumb when purchasing anything though. The brands that I mentioned above have excellent guitars for anyone's budget. I currently play on an Epiphone Les Paul, and I really like Epiphone guitars, because they are essentially the cheaper version of Gibson guitars. Gibson's are amazing and Epiphone comes very close to living up to the original make of some of these guitars.
Look
Something that is very important to any guitarist is how attractive their guitar is to them. You should keep in mind that the look of your guitar should be the second thing on your mind. Playability and comfort should always come first. The biggest mistake that new players make when buying their first guitar is going after a guitar that looks amazing. It is possible to find a guitar that fits your unique hand and body structure, but also looks really nice.
Experiment
Here is the most important bit of advice that I can give anyone regarding this topic. Go to a guitar shop, or search on line and find guitars that look appealing to you. Make a list of these instruments and then go to an actual guitar store and try them all out. Start narrowing it down and make sure that you give it a day or two. Make a couple of trips back and forth to a local Samash or Guitar Center, trying out and narrowing down your choices before actually making a purchase.
Miscellaneous advice
A lot of times a guitarist will be bestowed upon, a very nifty hand-me-down. This is OK and its certainly alright if you have to pay a little bit for it. However, if this is the case, at least make the attempt to apply some of these guidelines before accepting a second-hand guitar. Pawnshops are great for those of you who enjoy collected and finding bizarre specimens, but I would suggest ruling out a pawnshop as a choice when buying your very first guitar.
In conclusion
When in doubt, always go with a sure thing. Never put any of your eggs in one basket, and I'm always quick to remind readers of my site www.guitarticles.net to approach all aspects of learning the guitar with that one key phrase in mind. Simply put, never limit yourself. Good luck finding that holy grail amongst guitars, keep practicing and don't "fret".
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