Buying Your First Guitar

Buying Your First Guitar What You Should Consider Before Making Your Investment Choosing your first guitar is an important rite of passage on your journey to becoming the kind of guitar player you want to be. It is also a very personal decision. This article will offer plenty of insights to guide you through the decision making process. I will walk you through the main things you need to consider in order to equip you with the knowledge you need in order to reach an informed opinion so that you can have confidence in the choices you make. The short answer to “What kind of guitar should I get?” is really simple. Get a guitar that will make you happy. This article will help you do just that. There are 3 main things to consider when purchasing your first guitar: sound, quality, and function. Let’s start with the last one I mentioned: function. This is where the most mistakes are made. Acoustic or Electric? Keeping It Simple And Debunking The Myths One of the first choices faced by first-time guitar buyers is between an electric or acoustic guitar. The first thing you need to ask yourself in this part of the decision making process is what kind of music do you enjoy listening to? If, for example, you like Metallica and Guns ‘n’ Roses, you should start with an electric guitar. Before I go any further, let me preface this by saying that I am NOT “antiacoustic” or “anti-non-electric” guitar. What I AM very concerned about however that people don’t buy a type of guitar for the wrong reasons. If you’re into, for instance, Dan Fogelberg, John Denver and Joni Mitchell, and have no interest in playing like Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Slash, or Jimmy Page, then yes, you’re likely a very strong candidate for starting with an acoustic guitar. That said, I can’t TELL you how many times I’ve gotten inquiries for guitar lessons where the prospect has indicated “acoustic” as their preferred guitar on my website submission form, only to later on admit (upon further investigation) that they REALLY prefer electric guitars and THAT’S the type of guitar they’ve always wanted to be able to play.

© G&R Guitar Academy – All Rights Reserved

1

There are a LOT of folks out there perpetuating many myths about this topic and why they believe that an acoustic guitar is always the way to go when choosing a first or “starter” guitar. Many times a new student, whether adult, teen or child, will be in the market for an acoustic guitar for one of the worst reasons ever: A relative or friend of the family recommended it to them. If you were to ask these would be experts why they make this recommendation you would discover that they really don’t have many good reasons. If they do happen to have any ideas to defend their argument other than the ones I stated above I guarantee you that they’re not very compelling. Here’s one I’ve been hearing for decades: “Well, the action is usually higher on an acoustic, so it will make your fingers stronger.” “Action” refers to how high the strings are in relation to the fingerboard. The higher the action, the more pressure is required by your fingers to be able to play. The philosophy behind this idea is that because the strings are harder to play in this case, an acoustic guitar is better for a beginner because once they “graduate to” an electric later on the electric guitar will be “so much easier to play.” No rational or objective standard is specified or offered for when this “upgrade” is sensible or appropriate. Does that line of reasoning make sense to you? It shouldn’t. I actually know of one music store owner who told a parent that he should have his child start out on an acoustic guitar because, “They’re harder to play and it will build character.” Let that sink in. That guy’s JOB is to sell guitars, but what he’s REALLY selling is how to set up a budding guitar student for ABSOLUTE FAILURE. It’s hard enough to get people to give themselves a chance learning how to play guitar on the best, easiest to play guitars on the planet. Why would you take the advice from someone advocating that one should start on a guitar that you now know is HARDER TO PLAY than it needs to be??? Another dumb reason sometimes thrown about is that, “You don’t need an amp if you start with an acoustic guitar.” First of all, guitar amplifiers are not that hard to come by in terms of cost these days. I address this issue later, but suffice to say for now this is inaccurate and misleading for the following reasons: First, many acoustic guitars are now equipped with a pick up and an output jack for a guitar cable. If you ever want to perform on stage or in a band with an acoustic guitar, you’re either going to need it to be equipped to be plugged into an amp or a PA system. If it’s not an “amp friendly” guitar you’re going to need a microphone, a mic cable and a mic stand in order to use that PA system. Not only that, but acoustic guitars require a specific type of amp called an “acoustic guitar amp”. Anyone who’s plugged an acoustic guitar into a regular electric guitar amp knows how terrible it sounds.


2

Secondly, you can still hear an electric guitar well plenty enough even if it’s not plugged into an amp. This of course is not ideal, and won’t help you if you want to play in a band, but it’s not like you HAVE TO have an amp immediately once you purchase your first electric guitar. I went for almost 6 months without an amp after I bought my first electric guitar in 1979 because I couldn’t afford both at the time. I can assure you I didn’t play my guitar less simply because I didn’t yet own an amp! So if you ARE interested in the guitar you hear in music like that of Metallica, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen, Muse, and even Brad Paisley, Taylor Swift and Eagles, the likelihood is very high that your first choice should be an electric guitar. But what REALLY is important in the argument about electric versus acoustic guitars is the fact that acoustic guitars CANNOT DO many of the things that an electric guitar can do. Simply put, (technically speaking) whatever you can do on an electric guitar you can also do on an acoustic guitar, but not the other way around. When beginner students (or their parents) are starting out they don’t know how much of the sounds they’re hearing in the music that inspires them are exclusive to an electric guitar. Without getting too technical, what follows are some of the crucial examples of things that are typically done on an electric guitar and that CANNOT be done on a non-electric. Tone: Many of the sounds generally associated with electric guitars (and which make electric guitar playing so popular) actually come from how the guitar interacts with the amplifier. Trying to duplicate these sounds on an acoustic guitar (even with an acoustic guitar amp or PA system) just isn’t practical and will sound really bad, and create all sorts of other problems, like “feedback” which, suffice to say for now is a really loud, harsh, annoying and uncontrollable (and very unwelcome) NOISE. Sustain: The ability to make notes ring out for a very long time (and mimic the sound of a singer’s voice holding out long notes) is unique to electric guitars and how they’re amplified. This also CANNOT be done on an acoustic guitar. Vibrato: Another extremely valuable and expressive technique, and that also mimics the sound of a singer’s voice (or even a violin or cello for that matter) and that is associated with playing the electric guitar is vibrato. True, you CAN apply vibrato to the strings on an acoustic guitar, but most of the really popular use of vibrato on the guitar is found in the electric blues and rock based genres, and is a very different sound altogether. String Bending: While it is true that the strings on any type of guitar can be bent to produce a specific sound, acoustic guitars are typically strung with heavier


3

(and thus harder to bend) strings than an electric guitar. String bending is invariably used in electric guitar playing in conjunction with the above mentioned techniques of sustain and vibrato. Once you learn how to identify the types of music played on an electric guitar using these combined techniques you can appreciate how there’s more to the difference between electric and acoustic. For one of the best examples ever of what I’m talking about, check out “Still Got The Blues” by Gary Moore. Virtually ALL of the lead guitar playing in that song and all the various techniques being used either can’t be done without an amplified electric guitar, or will simply sound lame if not played through an electric guitar amplified with the proper level of overdrive (also known as “fuzz” or distortion). Tremolo or “Whammy” Bars: Tremolo bars are mainly used to create vibrato, sustain and string bending without the need for the fingers to create the effect, or to merely enhance or complement what the fingers are already doing. I mentioned earlier how beginner guitar students often don’t know WHAT they’re hearing in terms of how some of the sounds they hear are being created. This is nowhere more applicable than when it comes to the sounds effects created by a tremolo bar. All those “neck dive” sounds and “airplane” and “motorcycle” sounds (to give some examples) can only be done on an electric guitar with some sort of tremolo system. So now you have a much better idea of how a lack of information can cause you to buy a guitar that you’re eventually going to find can’t achieve what you want it to achieve no matter how good your teacher is and no matter how much you practice. Of course, if none of that applies to or doesn’t interest you, and you simply prefer the sound of an acoustic guitar to that of an electric, then you should definitely start on an acoustic guitar for sure. In my experience you really get what you pay for with guitars. So let’s talk about quality now. Don’t Think Too Small—You May Be Setting Yourself Up For Giving Up I’m not going to tell you that you have to spend a ton of money to get a good first guitar. But ideally, you should be getting a guitar you intend to have with you for as long as possible, and this typically involves spending some extra cash. There are two big reasons for this. First, if you start off with something too cheap, you will sooner or later look back and wish you’d invested more into this venture because you’ll have your eyes fixated on better instruments if the one you started with turns out to not be of a high enough quality to continue to satisfy you. But the other reason is much more


4

psychological than it is financially based. If you go into taking up the guitar with the mindset of, “Let’s spend less and see how it goes,” you MIGHT be setting yourself for failure because now you’ve given yourself an “out” as a way to justify quitting once the learning process becomes more challenging. The truth is, that no matter HOW GOOD your teacher is, we’re all human and as students we ALL sometimes get discouraged when some of the things we’re trying to learn to play are just not coming together in a the way we expect them to, or in the amount of time we think they should. This is where many would-be guitar wizards simply get discouraged (usually very early in the game) and give up. Having a starter guitar that’s more of an INVESTMENT can act as a deterrent to giving up too easily when (not “if”) things become more challenging. You need to find your sweet spot. If you are already DEAD SET on going the more frugal route and NOTHING is going to change your mind, then so be it. This is fine and you can still make some great choices if you go this route. If however, you KNOW you have a burning passion to play the guitar, you’re in it for the long haul, and you’re LASER focused on being able to play guitar like your heroes, then by all means invest more money into your initial purchase. That way you won’t have to waste money on a “trade-up” any time too soon. You need not “break the bank” when buying a guitar, but DON’T go too cheap either! A poor quality guitar will be UNPLAYABLE. I have seen more than my fair share of “starter guitars” (usually acoustic) that I would not wish on my worst enemy. They’re simply too difficult to play. If someone like me who’s been playing guitar since the 70s can’t play it, for how long do you think the typical beginner is going to “hang on in there” and “tough it out” till their fingers can manage? The answer is they won’t. They’ll just think it’s too hard, give up and not even know it’s not their fault. They may even quit the idea of playing the guitar at all and never pick it up again! Would parents paying for their kid to go to college send them to a school that they know of inferior to the school they themselves attended? I certainly hope not. It’s no different with guitars. You don’t have to get something that is expensive, but you DO need to get something that is GOOD. If you go the acoustic route, the Yamaha FS series is quite reliable. As of around 2017 they still sell for around $250 or even less for new at the bigger chains like Guitar Center. Personally I would never spend less than $400 on an acoustic guitar but you can still do okay with something cheaper. It’s also fairly easy to find decent electric guitars in the $250 - $400 range. Avoid places like Best Buy however. They don’t specialize in musical instruments and often tend to get the lower end models of otherwise quality and reliable brands like Fender and Gibson.


5

I find that the less expensive Fender models (and even some of their more affordable Squire line) tend to be more reliable that the lower end Gibson models. But there are exceptions there as well. I have had students who own Epiphones that are Gibson SG copies and they are MORE than adequate and decent guitars. (Gibson owns Epiphone and many Epiphone models are a knockoff of some of Gibson’s most popular guitars.) Another good example is Ibanez. They’re a really good company and I’ve never heard of or met anyone who regretted purchasing an Ibanez guitar. Guitar amplifiers need not be that expensive either. You can get a perfectly good “starter” amp in the $70 - $80 range these days. A word of caution however: I strongly recommend you get an amp that is loud enough to compete with a drummer. You might be surprised how easy it is to find yourself in a situation where you’re playing with a drummer, even when you feel like you’re “too much a beginner” for that to apply to you. You don’t want to find out the hard way (like I did) that the “starter amp” you own isn’t loud enough to not be drowned out by the drummer! That was the mistake I made. I ended up having to save up and buy ANOTHER amp. If you’re thinking that my original “starter amp” ended up being pretty useless to me at that point, you’re correct. You don’t need to get bogged down wondering how many watts your amp needs to be and all of that. There are a lot of opinions out there on this subject, and well, not all drummers play at the same volume level. The amp in my story was a 30-watt solid-state type and it was NOT up to the task, in spite of the salesperson assuring me that it was “loud enough for a gig”. Just ask the salesperson to ensure you get an amp that’s loud enough with the understanding that if you later on find out it’s NOT loud enough, they’re going to have an unhappy customer on their hands. They will do what they have to in order to avoid that scenario. Now let’s address the next thing to consider—the sound of the guitar. Because I Like It, That’s Why – Buy The Guitar To Which You Feel Drawn You might not be able to afford to start off with your dream guitar, or brand and model used by the guitar players who play your favorite kind of music, but you can still make some pretty educated guesses with the help of a good salesperson in order to start off with the guitar that’s right for you. You should simply get a guitar you’re going to like because you know it has the potential to get a sound similar to what inspires you to play the guitar in first place.


6

For example, I first became interested in playing the guitar because of the rock band KISS. Their lead guitarist, Ace Frehely, played a Gibson Les Paul, so my first electric guitar was a Les Paul copy made my Hohner. I was VERY happy to begin learning on that guitar. My wife, who started learning to play guitar in 2017, is very interested in Brian Setzer’s guitar playing, so she set her sites on buying a Gretsch guitar. These cases are pretty specific however, and not every beginner really knows what they want yet, so it’s okay to not be so picky. The bottom line is however that you’re the one who’s going to be playing it, so it may as well be something you like the sound (and even the look) of. For more information on how to buy a good guitar, check out this article by my friend Tommaso at the link below. http://www.edmontonguitar.com/how-choose-good-beginner-guitar-buy It’s a short read and he includes a great video on how to avoid buying a guitar with a warped neck, which is perhaps the most important factor when it comes to quality in your guitar purchasing process. You need not find the “perfect” guitar to start, but you can still find one that’s perfectly ADEQUATE for you. Best to you on this journey, and let me know how it goes!


7