How to Choose Your First Acoustic Guitar.
Congratulations! You are going to buy your First Guitar. This is exciting. The guitar is a whole new world of fun, excitement and creativity. I am very happy for you. There are many great memories ahead of you. Have Fun!
With as many models of guitar that exist, choosing your first guitar can seem to be an overwhelming task. Do I choose a Gibson, Martin, Taylor? How about Fender, Yamaha, Takamine, Guild, Ovation? Should I but a Vintage guitar a used guitar a cheap guitar?
Don’t Fret (Yikes! bad joke).
While the proven brands (like those I mentioned above) are the best known, there are also literally hundreds of “house brands” in guitar stores as well.
Where do you start?
In my humble opinion there are Four Important points in selecting your first Acoustic Guitar, keep it simple, read the steps below then go pick out your first guitar you are in for lots and lots of fun. Good Luck!
- You have to really like the way the guitar sounds. Play a few guitars or have the salesperson play a few for you. Listen to the way they sound. Some are loud, some have a mellow wooden quality, and some are as clear and crisp as mountain air. They are all good and in time you may even opt to own one of each. But for now let’s stick with your first guitar. When you hear a guitar or two that you really like proceed with the following steps.
- The guitar must be comfortable. Have a seat in a chair with no arms take hold of the guitar and place the bottom curve of the guitar(if you are right-handed) on your right thigh (if you are left-handed) place the bottom curve of the guitar on your left thigh. Now ask yourself these questions: Does it feel comfortable ? Does your strumming hand drape comfortably over the front of the guitar? Does it feel too big? Does it feel too small? Are you having to compensate by bending over too much or having to sit much too stiffly? If the guitar is not comfortable do not go to step 3 regardless of what you are being told. Try other guitars until you find one that meets your comfort level only then go on to step 3.
- The neck of the guitar must be easy for you to wrap your hand around comfortably. There are many shapes of guitar necks and many widths. The Senior most Important thing in buying your first guitar is that it must be easy for you to wrap your hand around comfortably. When you find a guitar that is comfortable ,check the height of the strings from the fret board. Too high and they are very difficult to press down and play. Too low they make ugly buzzing and clunking sounds. Sometimes the guitar shop you are buying from will have a capable maintenance and repair department that can set up your guitar perfectly for you but as these setups can sometimes be costly it will depend on the quality of the guitar you buy. This leads us into the final step.
- The guitar must be within your budget ! Contrary to popular belief you do not have to spend lots and lots of your hard earned $ to get a decent starting guitar. My daughter surprised me with a guitar she purchased for $100. I was ready to take her back and set the clerk straight for selling my daughter a $100 guitar. “ He ripped her off!” That is what I was thinking. Well she brought it in to me and I must say it is better than many guitars I’ve seen for $200 to $300.
So there you go grab your cash in hand and go get yourself your first acoustic guitar. You have years of fun and satisfaction ahead of you!
Visit my website www.guitar-magician.com, for many helpful hints, advice and technical data on playing the guitar. See you there!
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