Buying a guitar can be a real investment for some people. In many ways it’s not unlike buying a car or a computer. Buying a first or new guitar is an expensive purchase, and you want to make sure it lasts for a long time. Part of making sure that you buy a guitar that will last, is making sure that buy the guitar that is right for you and your needs. Once you have found out what that is, the only other step, is buying a good quality guitar.
A few things to observe when trying to determine the quality of a guitar, would be what it’s made out of, what brand the guitar is, and if the model has been around for a long time. Guitars that are made out of solid wood are typically the best sounding guitars and the most durable. Buying a guitar from a reliable brand name is always a smart move, but even Fender and Gibson have made their mistakes. That is why I say it is important to not only buy a brand name guitar, but to buy a trusted model as well.
Weather you’re buying your first guitar or you’re just looking to buy a new guitar, you should think about why you’re buying one, in the first place. Is it because you want to be the next Jimmy Hendrix? Is because you aren’t happy with the guitar you already own? Are you just looking for a new hobby? Before you run out to the music store and drop a few hundred dollars on a new axe, you should spend some time thinking about what kind of guitar you really need and why you need it.
After you have thought about what your reason for buying a guitar is, come up with a budget. Spend some time thinking about how much you can realistically afford to spend on a guitar. Keeping yourself within a budget will make the decision making process a lot easier because you will know what your options are. Nine times out of ten, the more expensive a guitar is, the nicer it is. However, you might not need a very nice/expensive guitar if you’re only a beginner or a hobbyist.
If you’re someone who has never played guitar and you’re just looking for hobby, I would suggest taking the cheap route. Odds are, you won’t play your guitar very often, and you probably won’t be looking to impress anyone. You just want something that you sit down with and strum on occasional. You might find out that you don’t even like playing the guitar, and you would feel quite foolish if you’re stuck with a $1000 piece of wood. On the other hand, if you find out that you really enjoy playing the guitar and want to pursue it as more than hobby, you can always buy another one, and it won’t be a big deal because you didn’t spend a lot on your first guitar. There are a lot of decent guitars that can be purchased for $150 – $200.
If you’re a beginner with the intentions of becoming a serious player, I would suggest buying a guitar that is not too expensive, but still of good quality. I would also suggest buying an acoustic over an electric. I know, acoustic guitars are not as cool as electric guitars, but there are benefits to learning how to play on an acoustic. First of all, you probably won’t be very good at first, and an acoustic guitar won’t be loud enough to bother anyone you’re living with. Second of all, acoustic guitars are a little bit harder to play on than electric guitars. If you spend three-months practicing on an acoustic, by the time you pick up an electric guitar it will feel like a piece of cake.
If you’re beginner who has been playing for few months and is looking to step up to a more professional guitar, you should consider buying a really nice guitar that will last for years. This is when it’s time to start understanding what makes one guitar better than another. Unfortunately, that topic is an entire article in itself, but there are a lot of websites, books, and magazines that provide this kind of information. As I mentioned before, only by a brand name guitar that is made out of solid wooden and metal parts. Avoid anything that is unheard of, or made out of cheap woods and plastics.
