I need help buying a guitar... I'm a newbie.

[Turkish]

Ok ladies and gentlemen, I need help buying a guitar for learning. I took about maybe 5 lessons when I was in secondary school, so I kinda know the basic but obviously I'm still an ultimate newbie. What kind of guitar should I get? I am thinking electro but maybe I should learn how to play on an accoustic guitar first?
Can anyone help? Any good online stores? Thanks 🙂

 

[kmrivers]

In my experience. Playing acoustic helps to build your hands up. I played electric for two years then bought an acoustic and my hands went through the same transformation it did when I started.(Pain).

I would start rather cheap to learn and to make sure you want to stick with it. You should go to a nice retail store that actually knows something about the instruments. Get a feel for what size guitar you want.

http://www.musiciansfriends.com Is a good online retailer. Good luck and remember to have fun!

 

[Noema]

It depends on what style of music you want to play.

I think that 'learn on an accustic first' cliché is false. As someone who has been playing classical guitar (Bach, Sor, etc.) on nylon stringed guitars and heavy metal thrash (Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer) for almost ten years now, I believe these two styles are so different that they require different types of guitars. Learning rock on a classical guitar would be as pointless as learning Bach's lute suites on a Les Paul.

EDIT: Sure, a steel stringed accoustic will make your fretting hard stronger. But if you are going to play electric, you have to learn to control the distortion, and all the nuances that come with amplifying playing. I learned on a cheap, Ovation copy. It was hard as hell; it tore my hands to shreds. After a while, when I switched to electric, I pretty much had to start from scratch because I hadn't factored distortion in.

My point is: choose the style you want to learn (Metal, Blues, classic rock, classical guitar, bluegrass, jazz, blues, pop, emo, punk) and buy your guitar accordingly.

So then; what style(s) do you want to learn to play? I will then try to recommend an appropiate guitar for a beginner accordingly 🙂

 

[thelanx]

As someone who went from acoustic to electric, I can tell you that learning on the acoustic definitely makes going to electric much easier. However, starting on the acoustic will be a bit tough, because you need to press harder, but it helps you get your hand strength up and develop calluses. Just make sure you get a guitar that isn't horribly out of tune (I don't recommend the $30 guitars on ebay, this is from experience lol). Might want to start off with lighter strings too, then get thicker strings as your hands get used to playing.

I think the biggest thing is what kind of music do you want to play. If you like music that is primarily electric, you should probably get the electric, otherwise I'd recommend acoustic. It's because if what you play doesn't sound like what you like to listen to, you don't have as much motivation to work on your guitar playing.

I'm still a guitar noob though, so maybe the more experienced people here can give you more advice.

 

[Turkish]

Thanks guys.

I want to to play maybe rock, soft rock, etc... nothing heavy like Megadeth or something... example bands would be: Muse, Alkaline Trio, etc.

How much does a decent acoustic guitar cost anyways?

 

[thelanx]

I'd recommend getting a $99 dreadnought acoustic from musicansfriend, play with it for a while and if you want to get serious then get a better guitar. If you are sure you are going to stick with it and be serious about it, then maybe you should get a more expensive and nicer guitar.

Cheap guitars:

Rogue
Takamine

There are a couple more under $99. Add a tuner and some picks to put you over $99 and get free shipping.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Turkish
Thanks guys.

I want to to play maybe rock, soft rock, etc... nothing heavy like Megadeth or something... example bands would be: Muse, Alkaline Trio, etc.

How much does a decent acoustic guitar cost anyways?

I normally don't recommend buying grade 'A' guitars to beginners because there's always the chance that they end up not liking playing guitar. So a medium range guitar is better.

This one is pretty decent. It's also got a pickup so you can plug it an play amplified if you want. But it should sound well on its own (unamplified).

It's also a versatile guitar, and you should be able to play soft rock, blues, and folsky stuff on it. Chicks love it, by the way 😉

And the neck is narrow enough so that, if you ever want to switch to full blown electric, you won't feel so weird.

EDIT: The ones thelanx linked are also good if you don't want to spend as much. Not as high quality as the Ovation but worth a look if you are not yet sure about playing guitar seriously.

I posted the Ovation because my huge Ovation bias 😛

 

[MetalMat]

Get a mexican strat if you wanna start playing electric guitar. Great guitar for cheap.

 

[Turkish]

Thanks again fellas 🙂

Ok, well, I am confused... I don't know whether I should start of with something cheap like thelanx suggests or something pretty decent like what Noema suggests.

How are the resale values on guitars? I am guessing that if I got a $99 guitar, it will not be worth much once I use it for a while, but that decent guitar will still be worth some $$$, even after a few years of use?

I am 6'3" by the way, and pretty big guy so you think that guitar will be comfortable on me?

Me: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/turkish/after4.jpg

Sorry, the pic was for another forum/thread, just displaying how big I am 😛

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: thelanx
I'd recommend getting a $99 dreadnought acoustic from musicansfriend, play with it for a while and if you want to get serious then get a better guitar. If you are sure you are going to stick with it and be serious about it, then maybe you should get a more expensive and nicer guitar.

Cheap guitars:

Rogue
Takamine

There are a couple more under $99. Add a tuner and some picks to put you over $99 and get free shipping.

Whatever you do, buy a tuner at the same time. After you get your "ears" you'll do better at tuning by ear, but until then GET A TUNER!!!! Also, get a couple of sets of strings so that WHEN one breaks, you're not sent into a tizzy.

The Ovation is a good guitar, as are Takamine. Neither will be very expensive.

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Turkish
Thanks again fellas 🙂

Ok, well, I am confused... I don't know whether I should start of with something cheap like thelanx suggests or something pretty decent like what Noema suggests.

How are the resale values on guitars? I am guessing that if I got a $99 guitar, it will not be worth much once I use it for a while, but that decent guitar will still be worth some $$$, even after a few years of use?


Me: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/turkish/after4.jpg

Sorry, the pic was for another forum/thread, just displaying how big I am 😛

If you are not sure, get the Rogue guitar thelanx suggested. It's only $100 bucks, so if you end up not liking it is not such of a big deal 🙂

Here's another tip: After you get the guitar, download Guitar Pro. The full version costs $50, but the demo is almost fully functional and can be used indefinitely. It's an AWESOME program for learning and practicing. You can find the tab with score for pretty much every song ever written here.. You can even set Guitar-pro in learning mode so you can practice certain bars slowly and then speed it up gradually until you can play it at regular speed. It's awesome.

EDIT: Aliencraft is right. Don't forget theTuner!!!!

I am 6'3" by the way, and pretty big guy so you think that guitar will be comfortable on me?

I'm 6'2" and I've never had any problems with any Guitar. In fact my size is an advantage because I have very long fingers and I can do chords other people can only dream of 😀

 

[Turkish]

Ok, thanks 🙂 I think I may go with the cheaper one then. What about if I wanted to connect an amfi? Which one would you recommend? What about all the rest of the accesories? 🙂 I assume these guitars dont come with cases, so any recommendations on that?

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Turkish
Ok, thanks 🙂 I think I may go with the cheaper one then. What about if I wanted to connect an amfi? Which one would you recommend? What about all the rest of the accesories? 🙂 I assume these guitars dont come with cases, so any recommendations on that?

If you are going for a cheap one might as well get this one. Case, tuner, strap and even picks included. And Ibanez makes decent enty and mid-level guitars. This one is not electro-accoustic though (though you can get a pickup for it later).

As for an amp, any accoustic guitar should be loud enough on its own for you not to need an amp unless you were playing at a venue or at a very crowded place. It will also be tough to find a cheap accustic amp because you want the tone to be as pure as possible and that's almost non-existent in cheap amps. This one is probably the most decent on its price range though, and might be worth a look.

I suggest going accoustic for a while and then get an amp later if you want more powah.

 

[Turkish]

Cool... thanks Noema... that Ibanez starter pack is not too bad, is it? I mean, I would like to spend less money but I also don't want anything that will sound bad 🙂 Its $99... I think I spend more money on food in 3 days 🙂

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Turkish
Cool... thanks Noema... that Ibanez starter pack is not too bad, is it? I mean, I would like to spend less money but I also don't want anything that will sound bad 🙂 Its $99... I think I spend more money on food in 3 days 🙂

Well, the Ovation I linked will sound better, no question about it. It simply resonates better. Better wood, better frets, better worksmanship went in to it. That's why it costs more.

But the thing is: what if you don't like playing guitar? Then you'd have a $300 guitar gathering dust in the closet.

So that's why it's perhaps better to go for something a bit cheaper. $300 is not that bad though, considering a pro-level guitar can set you back $5000+.

However: keep in mind that any guitar will sound like crap while you are learning. Simple as that. Learning guitar is not something that happens in a couple of days. That's why it's not really that important to worry about the quality of the guitar when learning. The Ibanez should be decent enough for that, and to play some tunes around a cozy fire. No one will ever tell the difference. However, should you get serious about guitar playing, you WILL notice the difference. So that's the factor you should think about right now.

Perhaps getting the Ovation will be a little more motivating too, when it comes to practicing 🙂

 

[thelanx]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: Turkish
Ok, thanks 🙂 I think I may go with the cheaper one then. What about if I wanted to connect an amfi? Which one would you recommend? What about all the rest of the accesories? 🙂 I assume these guitars dont come with cases, so any recommendations on that?

If you are going for a cheap one might as well get this one. Case, tuner, strap and even picks included. And Ibanez makes decent enty and mid-level guitars. This one is not electro-accoustic though (though you can get a pickup for it later).

As for an amp, any accoustic guitar should be loud enough on its own for you not to need an amp unless you were playing at a venue or at a very crowded place. It will also be tough to find a cheap accustic amp because you want the tone to be as pure as possible and that's almost non-existent in cheap amps. This one is probably the most decent on its price range though, and might be worth a look.

I suggest going accoustic for a while and then get an amp later if you want more powah.

That looks like a nice package, just add a few sets of strings and/or picks and you get free shipping.

When you get it, it's probably a good idea to get a friend who's a good guitar player to come over and try it out. Having an experienced player can help in spotting serious defects. (Although with the piece of crap I got off of ebay, I didn't need any help realizing that the frets were way off. Lol, it was such a piece of crap, I wouldn't use it for firewood.)

 

[Reckoner]

Fender Strat

 

[Turkish]

Alright thanks again fellas, great help here as almost always 🙂

I think I am going to go with the $99 Fender value pack and probably add some good strings to the order to make it over $99. Any recommendations on those? Probably something that will fit that Fender guitar 😛 Can I put on strings myself? Is it hard to do?

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Turkish
Alright thanks again fellas, great help here as almost always 🙂

I think I am going to go with the $99 Fender value pack and probably add some good strings to the order to make it over $99. Any recommendations on those? Probably something that will fit that Fender guitar 😛 Can I put on strings myself? Is it hard to do?

You can't go wrong with D'Addario.

You can and SHOULD put the strings on yourself. It's not hard at all, specially on an accoustic. (A Floyd Rose bridge, on the other hand, is the closest you'll find to a circle of hell, on earth. But you won't have to worry about that 😛).

Depending on your bridge type, there are basically to ways to change Accoustic guitar strings.

You can have a peg based bridge, in which case you'll have to cut the little bearing at the end of the string and wrap it around the peg, and then insert the peg back in the bridge. Tutorial here.

The other type is much simpler. You just get the string through a hole on the bridge, and the end with the bearing gets locked in place, being wider than the hole. You then just wrap it in the tuning machine.

 

[Turkish]

Cool cool... thanks for the info, will bookmark this thread! 🙂

Do you mind PMing me your AIM S/N or MSN username or something 🙂 I may have a couple of other questions down the road...

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Turkish
Cool cool... thanks for the info, will bookmark this thread! 🙂

Do you mind PMing me your AIM S/N or MSN username or something 🙂 I may have a couple of other questions down the road...

YGPM 🙂

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: Turkish
Thanks again fellas 🙂

Ok, well, I am confused... I don't know whether I should start of with something cheap like thelanx suggests or something pretty decent like what Noema suggests.

How are the resale values on guitars? I am guessing that if I got a $99 guitar, it will not be worth much once I use it for a while, but that decent guitar will still be worth some $$$, even after a few years of use?


Me: http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/turkish/after4.jpg

Sorry, the pic was for another forum/thread, just displaying how big I am 😛

If you are not sure, get the Rogue guitar thelanx suggested. It's only $100 bucks, so if you end up not liking it is not such of a big deal 🙂

Here's another tip: After you get the guitar, download Guitar Pro. The full version costs $50, but the demo is almost fully functional and can be used indefinitely. It's an AWESOME program for learning and practicing. You can find the tab with score for pretty much every song ever written here.. You can even set Guitar-pro in learning mode so you can practice certain bars slowly and then speed it up gradually until you can play it at regular speed. It's awesome.

EDIT: Aliencraft is right. Don't forget theTuner!!!!

I am 6'3" by the way, and pretty big guy so you think that guitar will be comfortable on me?

I'm 6'2" and I've never had any problems with any Guitar. In fact my size is an advantage because I have very long fingers and I can do chords other people can only dream of 😀

no, it can only be used for 15 days.

 

[hdeck]

my only recommendation would be to visit a shop before you buy so you can try the guitars out to make sure they feel right to you. then go order online for cheaper.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: Turkish
Alright thanks again fellas, great help here as almost always 🙂

I think I am going to go with the $99 Fender value pack and probably add some good strings to the order to make it over $99. Any recommendations on those? Probably something that will fit that Fender guitar 😛 Can I put on strings myself? Is it hard to do?

You can't go wrong with D'Addario.

You can and SHOULD put the strings on yourself. It's not hard at all, specially on an accoustic. (A Floyd Rose bridge, on the other hand, is the closest you'll find to a circle of hell, on earth. But you won't have to worry about that 😛).

Depending on your bridge type, there are basically to ways to change Accoustic guitar strings.

You can have a peg based bridge, in which case you'll have to cut the little bearing at the end of the string and wrap it around the peg, and then insert the peg back in the bridge. Tutorial here.

The other type is much simpler. You just get the string through a hole on the bridge, and the end with the bearing gets locked in place, being wider than the hole. You then just wrap it in the tuning machine.

i've never heard of doing that.

 

[GeneValgene]

my suggestion would be this guitar, as someone might have mentioned earlier

rogue starter

you may not believe me, but i would take this guitar over that sub 300 ovation any day. it's far better than that washburn to. my friend got this guitar for 25 bux a couple years ago, and i was blown away by how it sounds. btw, i have played some guitar in my day, and have a larrivee d-3r...i have played thompsons, goodalls, breedloves, mayes, and other high end custom guitars

while by no means this rogue is a high end guitar, it is the best beginner guitar out of there in this price range. i would take this guitar over any sub 300 yamaha, washburn, ovation or takamine.