Which Guitar Should I Buy?

This is probably the most commonly asked question when someone is just starting out with the guitar.  There is a bewildering number of choices in all price ranges, so the prospective player needs to answer a couple questions to narrow their focus.

First, what style of music do you want to learn to play?  If you want to shred like the metal monsters, you obviously don’t want a nylon string acoustic guitar!  The simplest thing to do is to check out the guitars played by the players you most admire and look at similar models.

Second, how much do you want to spend on a guitar?  The guitars played by the pros, generally speaking, will be way out of the budget range of most people.  The axes you see on stage typically cost thousands of dollars each.   The good news is that there are usually very similar models available for a few hundred dollars.  The differences are many, but basically, the major reasons why the pro models cost so much more are: better pickups and electronics, more expensive materials for the body and neck and much more attention to detail in the fit and finish of the instrument.

You want to buy as good an instrument as you can afford, for two reasons.  One, better quality guitars are easier to play meaning you won’t have to work as hard to get the sounds you want out of them.  Two, if you decide after a while that you want to trade up to a better guitar, or you give up guitar playing for whatever reason, you can sell a better quality used guitar more readily than a cheap one.

Keep in mind that having the exact same model as Joe Rockstar plays will not automatically make you as good a player as he is!  Buy one that looks like his if you want, but don’t break the bank until you know you’re going to stick with it for the long haul.

You’ve got a lot to learn before you’ll begin to push the limits of what a good inexpensive guitar can do.  Save some of your hard-earned cash for how-to-play courses and concert tickets!

I’m A Guitar Player