need a couple of guitars... where to buy?

[kyzen]

My 15 year old brother has expressed interest in getting a guitar for Christmas. He's a realistic kid, and just wants a cheap one, in case he doesn't pick up on it. His birthday is a few months after Christmas, and we figure if he's really getting into it, he'll beg our parents for a nice one for his birthday.

My 13 year old brother heard about this as well and immediately decided that HE wanted a guitar also.

That got me thinking that maybe I ought to pick up an accoustic for myself; I've been learning on an electric guitar for a month now and am really liking it, but find it frustrating that it's such a pain in the ass to take anywhere with me.

So, here's what I need:
2 guitars about the normal size for an adult
1 guitar sized for a kid.

When I look at Amazon.com I see that guitars come in a TON of different sizes - 25", 30", 32", 38", 40", 41", etc. I have no idea what's normal when it comes to guitars.

So any suggestions on sizes?

And places/models to buy? The cheaper the better obviously; I can't afford a trio of $100 guitars. I don't want them so cheap though that they snap in half when you tune them.

Any help would be sweet

 

[jmcoreymv]

:music:Mmmmbop!:music:

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: kyzen
My 15 year old brother has expressed interest in getting a guitar for Christmas. He's a realistic kid, and just wants a cheap one, in case he doesn't pick up on it. His birthday is a few months after Christmas, and we figure if he's really getting into it, he'll beg our parents for a nice one for his birthday.

My 13 year old brother heard about this as well and immediately decided that HE wanted a guitar also.

That got me thinking that maybe I ought to pick up an accoustic for myself; I've been learning on an electric guitar for a month now and am really liking it, but find it frustrating that it's such a pain in the ass to take anywhere with me.

So, here's what I need:
2 guitars about the normal size for an adult
1 guitar sized for a kid.

When I look at Amazon.com I see that guitars come in a TON of different sizes - 25", 30", 32", 38", 40", 41", etc. I have no idea what's normal when it comes to guitars.

So any suggestions on sizes?

And places/models to buy? The cheaper the better obviously; I can't afford a trio of $100 guitars. I don't want them so cheap though that they snap in half when you tune them.

Any help would be sweet

Even at $100 apiece, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. The "First Act" guitars Wal-mart sells aren't complete crap, but I wouldn't have wanted to learn on one.

 

[kyzen]

Amanzon has a bunch of 38" ones starting at $40ish.

I dunno if I specified it or not, but I'm looking for accoustic for all of them - not electric.

 

[mrrman]

music123.com just bought an electric guitar

 

[RaDragon]

If you don't mind the footwork, why not visit your local pawn shops and see what they have there? You might find better quality guitars in pawn shops rather than getting the cheapo ones that might end up discouraging your bro 15-year old bro.

If you're the online shopper type, I've shopped at MusiciansFriend.com and SamAsh.com. They have some "guitar packs" that you can get for yourself. I've also seen some cheapo guitars being sold on eBay and was going to pick up one myself, but my friend discouraged me from doing so. My sis ended up getting me a vintage Takamine F-340 (It's a Martin D-18 Replica) for Christmas two years ago... She bought it off my friend (the same dude who discouraged me from buying a guitar on eBay! LOL!)

What's your budget for the guitars? What's your max per guitar?

 

[kyzen]

I could probably do $75 per guitar, plus shipping. I have no problem getting the younger guy an absolute cheapo guitar though, since I imagine his interest will almost entirely disappear within a month.

Still prefer cheap though

I was looking at the ones on Ebay and it looks like the ones there are the same ones as on Amazon; just costing a bit less.

EDIT: Pawn shops are a good idea, though I think the closest one is a 40 minute drive.

 

[Alowishus]

one of my personal favorite sites for dirt cheap instruments that are actually pretty good is www.rondomusic.net. They are pretty much legendary amongst talkbassers that want cheap instruments to play around with. I own an sx 5 string jazz copy and I absolutely love it. The tone is great and it was easy to modify with a volume-blend-tone setup with a series parallel switch. Im not completely sure about their guitars, but I hear that some of them are at least as good as made in mexico strats.

 

[Super56K]

Just give them a call(pawnshop). They'll probably have a few. Ask the person your talking to to give prices and models if they know it. Also, I'm sorry but spending $75 max on a new guitar is going to only get you some truly crappy instruments that would most likely discourage your brother from keeping with it. Maybe your 13 year-old brother could use a book or a shirt instead? A very good source of information on guitars and amps is at www.harmony-central.com Look up some cheap guitars on musiciansfriend or other e-tailers and check out the user reviews on harmony-central. I wish I could help you more, but I've always played electric guitar.

 

[Xyclone]

Guitar Center

 

[RaDragon]

Originally posted by: kyzen
I could probably do $75 per guitar, plus shipping. I have no problem getting the younger guy an absolute cheapo guitar though, since I imagine his interest will almost entirely disappear within a month.

Still prefer cheap though

I was looking at the ones on Ebay and it looks like the ones there are the same ones as on Amazon; just costing a bit less.

EDIT: Pawn shops are a good idea, though I think the closest one is a 40 minute drive.

Well, I haven't really purchased a guitar online, so I haven't a clue how well shops pack the guitars and such. Garage sales are another avenue, although you probably have to press your luck on that. If $75 per guitar is your max, I would really recommend going to the pawn shop (call first as suggested by Super56K) and see what you can get there. Seriously, there are a LOT of starving musicians who have pawned their fiddle for some quick moolah Have you tried Craig's list for any FS items in your area?