3 Buying a Guitar
There are two things that held true, whether you are buying a guitar or an amplifier:
1.A guitar that doesn't get played is worthless at any price.
2.There are no such thing as bad tone; There are only tones that you may not like.
A guitar is an excellent instrument for almost anyone. A difficult guitar is not a good choice for a beginner. It takes dedication to learn and if the guitar is not difficult for the player then it is easier to learn.
Whether you are buying a beginner guitar for yourself or a parent buying a guitar for your beginner child it is not worth spending any money on a guitar that the player won't enjoy.
• Guitars meant for regular playing (non-resonator guitars, not meant for slide playing) that have extremely high action (meaning, the strings are uncomfortable to press down). This may be a sign that the neck is warped, and, while this can be fixed, it can be costly and most players would want to avoid buying a new guitar with too high a fretboard action.
• A guitar's intonation. Intonation is a guitar's relative harmonics depending on the straightness of the neck, nut, bridge, and scale of the frets. A player should usually try playing natural harmonics (played by barely resting the finger over the string, not fretting it) on the guitar (12th fret high e string) along with the lowest E string to check, the 5th fret lowest E along with the open high e string, and finally, with natural harmonics, 5th of low e to the 7th of a, 5th of a to 7th of d, 5th of d to 7th of g. The guitar should be played from its first to last fret as well, to check for fret buzzing, which is undesirable. (the guitar may have to be tuned first, a guitar that is out of tune does not necessarily mean it has bad intonation, perhaps it has just been sitting for a while and the strings have went slack, also be aware of tone temperament)
• Stamp of Inspection. Even a guitar made in Indonesia can be a good quality if it's inspected well.
• Read reviews on places like www.amazon.com, to foreshadow problems down the road. Stick to the more well-known brands.
• The player may not be comfortable with getting their hand around the neck of the guitar. Almost against reason, a player with smaller hands will likely prefer wider necks, because the wider space between the strings allows more lenience when arching your fingers.
• A guitar that is difficult for the player to play is often a poor choice for that person, and is almost always a poor choice for a beginner.
• High action on fret: makes for a steeper learning curve, but if you don't mind that, they also allow you to play harder without buzzing out.
• Low action on fret: makes the string buzz a lot.
• Cracks/splits, bad joints: Need I say more?
Here are some "don't's". These may seem to provide a guitar at a very low price which may seem like a good deal, but they will possibly provide you with a difficult, damaged, or poor sounding guitar which is a bad deal at any price.
• Don't buy from a pawn shop (possible undetectable damage)
• Don't buy from any department store (difficult to play, damage easily, don't last, poor sound)
• Don't buy from eBay (too many ways to get scammed out of a lot of money)
• Preferably, don't buy from online shops, unless you can return it in 45 days. Even some very good makes may have some deviations, and even good quality guitars from well established manufacturers may not suit the player no matter how good they sound on paper—some people prefer wider necks, while some prefer narrows necks. The only way to know whether it is actually good is to play test them in the shop.
There are basically two kinds of acoustic: classical guitar and steel-string guitar.
Classical guitar typically employ nylon strings, and have a wider fretboard. The peg box is also slightly different from a steel string guitar, which resembles quite a bit of the peg box of a violin; the body is also smaller. The tone is more mellower than the steel string guitar, and thus is much better for classical music. Disadvantage is that classical guitar is slightly more difficult in string maintenance, with the string needing to be settled in for a while.
Steel string-guitar, also known as folk guitar and dreadnought guitar, typically have a much larger sound box, and thus make it louder. Disadvantage is that the steel string also makes it hard to press, even in comparison to the classical guitar; picking is also harder on these, as it was better suited to use a guitar pick to play. This is the typical guitar employed in blues, jazz, country, and early rock.
Tremolo bar (aka Whammy bar, Vibrato bar)
The purpose of a whammy bar is for dive bombs and other various guitar tricks.
If it's your first guitar (or prefer ease of maintenance), avoid locking tremolos (Floyd Rose); while it has superb bending capability and is capable of staying in tune, it is very difficult to change strings (you need an allen key just to unlock the top lock). The way to tell if it's a locking tremolo is to see if it has a set of locks at the nut section. If you prefer to stay in tune, however, then you can try Yamaha's "finger clamp" locking tremolo, which require no tools when setting up.
Even if it's a normal tremolo, it would be proper to ask whether it is suitable for the player. Tremelo system, especially the strat-style and the floating bridge design, can easily make the strings out of tune. Bigsby do not go out of tune as much, but the only way to rarely go out of tune is to either use the Floyd Rose tremolo or a hardtail (no tremolo)
Then there's also the choice of pickups and pick up arrangement. Typically they are
• Passive Single Coil (best for clean sounds, or slight overdrive, e.g. Stevie Ray Vaughan)
• Passive Humbuckers (For rich, thick, naturally decaying distortion, e.g. Dimebag Darrell)
• Active Humbuckers (For rich, thick distortion with long sustain e.g. James Hetfield)
Single-coils are typically found on Strats and Strat copies, and provide a bright, clean sound. Humbuckers, however, eliminate the hum induced from the AC current, providing it a warmer and fatter sound; and unexpected consequence of this is that it allows more overdriven gain, and thus is favored among metal players. In a slight interesting irony, many archtop guitars (used mainly by blues and jazz players) also use dual humbuckers. Active pick up are those that either use battery or phantom power to provide enhanced sensitivity, and thus have longer sustain.
Ultimately, however, both kinds of pickups are suitable for any kind of musics:
some people use humbuckers for blues and jazz, while others may use the single coil for the sound they prefer. (Besides, amplifier and effect pedals also change the tone of the guitar)
To make it even harder to decide, there are different arrangements for pickups:
• S-S - telecaster style
• S-S-S - Strat and and Strat copy
• S-S-H - "Fat strat", basically the pickup at the bridge is replaced by a humbucker. A common choice for people who may like both the clean tone and hum-free fat (and dirty) tone.
• H-H - Gibson Les Paul, and common humbucker arrangement.
• H-S-H - "super strat". Typically used for metal, such as Ibanez's Steve Vai signature model.
• H-H-H - Gibson Firebird VII and Squier Deluxe Hot Rails Strat
Typically, there will be a pickup selector that allow you to choose which pick up to use: 3 pick up guitar—commonly called strat-type— the pick up selection is five ways
• neck
• neck-middle
• middle
• middle-bridge
• bridge pickup.
2 pickup system usually have a 3 way switch:
• neck
• Both
• Bridge
For humbuckers there could be either 3 ways (as mentioned above) or five ways:
• neck
• neck at parallel (which produce a tone similar to single coil)
• both humbuckers
• both humbuckers, each in single coil mode
• bridge humbuckers
In here, when I mean special guitars, I indicate, for example, bass guitar,hollow body guitars, 12-string guitars, and numerous other special guitars such as electric sitar (still play like a guitar)
As we mentioned, if the player is interested, than that's fine. However, there are a few things have to keep in mind:
• Archtop (hollowbody and semi hollowbody) is heavier and larger, with sometimes heavy guage string, giving the feel of an acoustic more than electric solid body in terms of playing. Its tone, however, is still electric. Due to the fact that it's electric, it is also suitable for rock music -- Seven Nation Army by White Stripes is played on a hollowbody, and The Young Brothers of AC/DC have played on Archtops on many of their songs. Do note that it is prone to feedback.
• Bass guitar is much larger, with a 34 inch fret. If the player have a small hand, it could be impossible for them to play. Also, bass is the "straight man" of the band, requiring him to be able to keep rhytmn, and do not do as much solo.
• 12 string guitar require additional dexterity due to the extra string (player need to press two at the same time). Try playing Stairways on a normal guitar first before trying on this
• On that note, Doubleneck Guitar is very heavy (you are wearing two guitars). Also very expensive.
Many other special makes may have their pitfalls, such as difficulty in maintaining, or very expensive. Luckily, most are of good quality productions.
I am not saying that beginners should stay away from archtops, or even bass - just as I personally believe one can start on a chromatic harmonica. However, there will be pitfalls that makes it difficult to play, which is what usually deter learning.
Where to buy the guitar
In this day and age guitars are sold by many vendors. The place you choose to acquire the guitar can be as important as any other choice you make. Acquire (but don't steal) a guitar from these places:
• A trusted friend or relative - often a friend or relative who had a beginner guitar but has since upgraded still has that beginner guitar. If they recommend that guitar and will sell it for a good price then this is ideal. Simply take this guitar to a local music store and have it professionally 'set up'.
• A local guitar or music store that seems to have plenty of satisfied customers. If you can find a deal on a guitar you are comfortable with from a store like this, go for it. If they tell you that they do 'set up' on their guitars before they leave the store then this is a good buying scenario. Look up 'musical instrument retail' in the phone book to find one of these stores. Even a used instrument from a local store is a good idea.
More experience with buying guitars is required to buy in any other scenarios.
• Online guitar superstores or mail-order guitars. The major difference between these and a local store is that the player cannot hold the guitar in their hands before they buy it. Just like some tall people cannot comfortably drive a 1990 Honda Civic, some people's hands are bigger than others. Luckily the necks of guitars come in all shapes and sizes. An uncomfortable guitar is less likely to get played so contact a local music store and try to find a similar guitar to try before you buy. If you must buy without ever seeing the guitar, first verify that the business has a liberal and long (preferably 45-day) return policy then cross your fingers and order. If the return policy works well then if the guitar didn't fit you could send it back for the cost of shipping.
• Pawn shops or eBay are not a good idea for buying a beginner's first guitar. There are a myriad of problems that can arise from these situations and, while good deals can still be found, unless you really know what you are doing, it's not a good idea for a beginner guitar.
Buying a guitar for a beginner
The key to buying a guitar for a beginner is to get one that the player enjoys and is excited about. If the player does not enjoy playing their guitar then it will be more difficult to continue. They will get frustrated easier and give up easier. Getting a guitar that the player will not be frustrated with will help naturally encourage or allow the player to be the best they can be.
Let the player decide, since if they don't enjoy the guitar it will be less likely that they will play. For rock music an electric would be most appropriate.
An electric will typically be better for a beginner because it is easier to play (meaning that the strings are easier to push down and pluck), so feelings of success will come much sooner and frustration will be less likely. These things are important for a beginner. However, if you start on electric, and decide you want to move to acoustic, you have the rest of the learning curve ahead of you anyway, so if you plan on using both, it might be a better idea to start off with an acoustic.
If the player is excited about an acoustic guitar and feels they can overcome the more significant learning curve (compared to an electric) then they will find in the future that playing an electric guitar will come much easier. (The acoustic guitar's strings are more difficult to fret than those of the electric.) On the other hand, the more significant learning curve on the acoustic may be enough to frustrate the player and cause them to lose interest.
If you want to play metal or shred, stick with the electric, as an acoustic will not work well with those styles.
If the guitar that they want is too expensive, there are always a more affordable model of the same kind:
• Fender --> Squier
• Gibson --> Epiphone
• Ibanez: Anything with a "G" as a suffix is the cheaper model. For example, GRX model is the cheaper version of their RG guitar.
Another way to tell what guitar should be bought is to see what kind of music they are interested. Someone who like to listen to metal will probably dislike classical guitar.
Once you've chosen the guitar there are accessories the dealer will want to sell you. You will probably need:
• Guitar strap to enable the player to play standing up (~$10USD)
• Some picks (Get at least 5, some thin for strumming and some thick for playing individual notes.) (~$1;a local store will throw in some for free). Though picks are not necessary for fingerpicking, it's best to give the player options to see which one suit them
• A guitar stand to set the guitar on when its not being played, or a guitar hanger to hang the guitar on the wall (each $10-$30USD)
• A tuner of some kind - preferably an electronic one with a built-in microphone and guitar cable plug. (~$20USD) Especially important for people without perfect pitch.
• A case or a gig bag - These are protection for the guitar. The case ($50-100USD) is a hardshell case suitable for airline transportation and is an excellent protection(if you get a case a gig bag is not required). A Gig Bag ($20-$50USD) is typically a thick padded(1-2" of padding) zipper bag in the shape of the guitar which provides good protection and is necessary to avoid large scrapes and dings, but a gig bag is not suitable for airline transportation. If you are fine with the scrapes and dings, and/or you do not plan on transporting the guitar often, a case might not be necessary.
• A string winder — very useful for changing strings. It's cheap (about $1 - 3 USD), so may as well as get them now.
• While you do not need guitar polish immediately, it can always be useful; even the medicore Squier strat is an investment, and the best way to make it work is to keep in maintain well.
You won't need an extra sets of strings (~$5USD for acoustic, ~$10USD for electric) at the time of purchase, but will be necessary soon after, since the strings should probably be changed about every 2 months or 30 to 40 hours of playing time (probably more often but that doesn't really matter as long as the player is comfortable). Old strings will start to lose their tone and become brittle. They will also show corrosion and discoloration. If you do not live that far away from the guitar shop, it's best to buy them only when needed. However, changing old strings is not an absolute necessity unless they break, so if your budget is that tight, don't buy too many packs. Also, the difference between the cheaper and more expensive strings is subtle at best, so as long as it is the right gauge, you are good to go. I personally prefer the sound of old strings, as new ones sound "tinny". Most people do not agree with me, however.
You won't need a humidifier unless your guitar is acoustic and quite valuable (and a valuable guitar is probably not best for a beginner anyway)
Virtually all guitar dealers (like mattress or car dealers), mark up the price of their products but their prices are negotiable (consider saying "I've been thinking about this item what's your best price?"). Most of these accessories (including a gig bag) can be thrown in for free. The hardshell case is usually an exception. Don't forget to calculate the sales tax on top of all that. For example, the Guitar Center near where I live will rarely if ever bring down the price for the cheaper goods, but are more than willing to throw in extra accessories, and sometimes will offer to set it up for you.
For electric guitar, the player have many options when practice; with a special plug, player can even plug into a stereo, making amplifier slightly needless. However, it does not sound as good; if you want to sound like your favorite electric guitarist, however, an amplifier will obviously be neccessary. Buying an electric guitar with no amplifier can be a way to get a player a good guitar of the type they want without spending too much at first.
Another good substitute for an amplifier can be playing the guitar through a mixer or computer's sound card (especially a good sound card, like those made by m-audio), and there is some decent guitar effect software available that allow amplifier modelling. Also, you can use a direct injection box to make amplifier modeling even mroe accurate. using these modellers/direct injection box have an additional benefit in that they can also be used with a standard amplifier as an effect unit.
All guitars require some maintenance over time since wood changes with pressures and humidity.
This probably adds up to a large sum. However, there's a saving grace. Whenever you buy a guitar from a guitar shop, you can usually get some of your accessories for free with minimal or no haggling. Just tell a salesperson that you want to buy a guitar, and he will probably start suggesting things he can throw in for free, and if not, you can suggest some accessories yourself.
Also, check out the beginner-packs. These include most things a beginner would need to start off with, and you end up saving if you plan on buying those things separately.
Ultimately, as mentioned before, the "totally bad" guitar are usually those that a made bad and just play poorly. After that, intonation, features, etc. depend on the personal taste of the player.
Unless you know very well what they want, buy the guitar with the person. Players who played long enough know what they like and what they don't like. If you really cannot figure their taste, the best option is to give them a gift certificate.
Examine your local options by looking up "musical instruments" in the phone book and finding out which ones have guitars(electric or acoustic or both). It is recommended to get the player to feel and play many guitars before buying. There are so many varieties (57 varieties) that it's hard to know what's desired even after playing many different guitars. Also remember (and this will be obvious after visiting several shops) every single guitar is different so even if the guitar is exactly the same make and model and color, it may play completely different than the next. The way the shop or the manufacturer sets up the guitar is related to this but is not the whole picture, and in some cases one guitar will be great and another seemingly identical guitar will be a dud.