One of the most important things you’ll ever do in your music career is buy a guitar. We are often asked to give people advice about how to find a good guitar. The fact is that there is a LOT that goes into buying a guitar, way too much to put in one Newsletter, but here are some basic tips.
1) Do Your Homework
When you’re buying a guitar you have to do your homework. As a beginning guitar player it’s easy to get confused with all the information and advice that is available. There are a lot of places you can get information and you should check them all. Guitar magazines are a good place to find prices and reviews on different models of guitars. You can also get information at your local music store. Another great tool is the internet – you can get information on the manufacturers, search for other guitarist’s reviews and opinions and find the best prices online.
Remember that a lot of the information and opinions that you will find will be biased. A salesman in a music store wants you to buy the brand of guitar that HE SELLS, so make sure you read reviews and opinions from independent sources.
2) Stick to Your Budget
Once you’ve got the background knowledge that you need, you should make a short list of guitars that you are interested in and set a budget for yourself. THEN STICK WITH YOUR BUDGET! Don’t let salespeople talk you into spending more money than you planned.
Research price differences on the internet with a trusted site like Ebay. You could buy new or used but again, it is worth finding out how much the same item generally costs.
3) Play it BEFORE Your Buy It
Trying out the guitars you have short listed can be intimidating for beginners. It is important to remember that you are not in a guitar store to show everyone how good a guitar player you are – you are there to decide whether the guitar on your list is right for you.
One of the most important things about a guitar is how it “feels” when you play it. There are also mechanical things to check. Check the frets for buzzing by playing each one. Make sure that the neck is not warped by looking down it as if you were sighting a gun. Check that all of the volume and tone controls work.
4) Borrow Someone Else’s Experience
It is also a good idea to take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are looking at guitars. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice, they will be good moral support when it’s time to pick up the guitar and play it in public.
Good luck with buying a guitar!
Learn more about Moses Robbins on his Google profile.
Hi Mark G. Why would being southpaw deter you from finding a good guitar? If you have been playing left handed for years, I certainly understand why you would not want to convert. If you are a beginner, I don’t see a problem. Being left handed means that you have more coordination in your left hand. It would actually be an advantage to learn and play a standard guitar and use your left hand on the fret board. I am left handed and learned to play from sitting around the living room from friends, and played around with their standard guitars. Many years later I purchased my own standard guitar and haven’t put it down since. The key to playing good guitar is practice, practice, practice.
In a perfect world we would all be able to try before we buy. However, for a small percentage of us, mainly the southpaws, that option is not available to us. We can’t try before we buy because few stores carry enough of a lefty variety for us to determine what is best for us. My recommendation for those of you who are lefties is to go to a website that sells southpaw guitars exclusively. We are in luck. There is one and they are the best at what they do. Find and sell great lefty guitars.
http://www.southpawguitars.com
I WANT A SEMI ACOUSTIC GUITAR IN THE PRICE RANGE OF Rs 5000 TO Rs 8000 .
CAN SOMEONE PLZ SUGGEST ME ONE !!!!!!
I SEARCHED ONE GB&A 110C , ITS NICE.
BUT I WANT MORE OPTIONS !
THANX
ADMIN PLZ HELP !
I dont know what guitar to get
and i really a new better one cos i am starting in a guitar ensemble
yeah nbyweeee
Helloooo i luv guitars…
I would reccomend a Yamaha C or G 75
they rock
hello sir,
i am a beginner and i am gonna buy a guitar in upcoming weeks, classic collecting the info. which one to buy,how much the best one?. CAN you help making out and prescribe me a few models ?
hello sir, i am a beginner and i am gonna buy a guitar in upcoming weeks, juzz collecting the info. which one to buy, budget is 5000/- Rs. CAN you help making out and prescribe me a few models ?
I have an acoustic guitar and I logged on to your learn guitar and your tutor made me out tune my guitar
Hello Maureen,
How that happened?
Anyway, get in tune now using this online tuner, or lean to tune your guitar to itself with the “How to tune your guitar” blog post.
Cheers,
Luis