acoustic guitar players, please answer this question!!!?

Question

i want to start plating an acoustic guitar and i was wondering...
whats the best brand?
where can i get a cheep starter kit?
does putting stickers on a guitar mess with the sound?

also is playing an acoustic first really make better practice for when i try to learn a bass or eletric

Answer 1

For you're first guitar don't spend a lot of money, trust me as time goes by, you'll learn what you like and don't like. first try to buy one with REAL wood.....not laminated. Or at least one that has a solid top (the front). find one that feels comfortable in you're lap and to you're hands. Can you reach the end of the neck comfortably? Is the neck to wide for you're hand? Are the strings to high from the fret board? (hard to push down?) Don't put stickers on it...it could pull the finish off and slowly get bigger. My advice is get a seasoned guitar player to go with you, a salesman will sell any piece of crap. You may even want to look into a used guitar...don't worry about a couple of scratches or a ding. You may end up with a better guitar for the same money. Epiphone makes a decent beginner guitar.....Still I suggest to bring a experienced guitar player with you. If you live near me Id take you,some of the people I play with are guitar store owners. Good luck, If its hard at first..don't give up, keep playing it gets easier as time goes by.

Answer 2

Try the Seagull line of acoustic guitars. They are really well made, have a really good sound, but are relatively inexpensive. If you decide to stick with guitar playing, the guitar is good enough that you won't have to go out and replace it with a more expensive one.

http://www.seagullguitars.com/

I always recommend to people that they learn on an acoustic first if they plan to be an electric guitarist. People who go straight to electric usually develop poor rhythm guitar skills and a number of bad habits. Also, it makes you have to struggle with the sound at the same time as you are learning to play.

I don't always suggest that someone interested in playing the bass start with a guitar however - the bass is an instument played quite differently. As a guitar player who has been struggling with the bass for years, you learn a lot of habits with the right hand that you have to unlearn on the bass, since the right hand fingering on a bass is totally different.

Answer 3

I'm glad you're starting on an acoustic! for a cheap starter kit, you can look at this website, it is the place everyone goes for musical stuff, anyway here it is http://musiciansfriend.com then from there hit the guitar tab at the top, then on the side hit acoustic, I would really like for you not to go with a starter pack as they tend to be horrible, instead I suggest that you don't purchace anything under $250, but look through and read reviews to find the best one. I would recommend the washburn d10q (product # 515297, just type this in the search area on the side), or if you're looking a little higher than that, an alvarez ad60s (518737). while you can put stickers on your guitar, I would suggest that you not

Answer 4

If you are just giving guitar a try to see if you like it this guitar might be OK but if your serious about it you will not be happy with it for long. Inexpensive guitars have intonation issues that you do not have with viola. This is because of a guitar being a fretted and the intonation can only be adjusted by the bridge. Also inexpensive guitars tend to have a higher action (the distance between the stings and the finger board) which can affect the intonation and the ease of playing. Guitars, as with most things follow the "You get what you pay for" statement. If it is a budget issue get an experienced guitar player (we all know at least one) to help you pick out a good used guitar.

Answer 5

there is no best brand. there are many great guitars in any price range but you have to try them out. don't get a starter kit get the guitar separate from everything else, but if they have useful accessory kits then go for that. go with someone who's been playing for a while and have them help you pick one. try to play the guitar you will buy before you buy it. the guitar in the box may sound very different from the floor demo because every guitar will sound different. and putting stickers on it won't do anything to the sound. the sound is affected by what is inside.

Answer 6

This is what I have learned ... vampire kitti is absolutely right.. no question, but a small adendum.. make sure the guitar fits.. if you are a small person do not buy a dreadnaught style.. too big.. get it... okay..
also.. if you are left handed, hold out for a left hand guitar..They told me that if I got a right handed guitar...(well it was all b.s.) get one for the way you use your hands.
get finer grade of strings.. thin strings are easier to use for beginners
don't spend a fortune... get something inexpensive.. and best of all used first. make sure that you really can and want to play before you wind up with a real expensive closet filler.
in short.. it should fit (you and your budget)
I just bought a very expensive left handed ibanez dreadnought... why... well because I could...(it was also the only used left hander in the county)
and..... electrics are easier to play
putting stickers on it.. well, it will kill your resale value if you need to trade up for a better one

Answer 7

the best guitar to get is the one that has the sound you like best.
don't get a starter kit.
putting stickers won't affect the sound on an electric at all.
and putting a few stickers on an acoustic won't affect it in a way you'll notice.
go out to the stores and just start playing them and keep track of what you like.

Answer 8

If you can afford about $379.00.....go fot the Baby Taylor. It's the best sounding acoustic guitar I've heard.

If you play an acoustic first, it will build up your hand muscles more than playing an electric. That's how I started.

Concentrate on practicing......not on stickers. Save the stickers for something else.

Answer 9

All of this advice pertains to steel string rather than classical guitars which use nylon strings and are both expensive and vary so heavily in quality that I spend usually a year or two of looking before I find one I really like. Steel strings are much less expensive, what you want for most forms of music and are much easier to take care. NEVER use steel strings on a classical guitar. It'll kill the neck in a hurry. You can get away with nylon strings on a normal accoustic for a time but it'll eventually damage the neck as well. So I'd advise going with reguler accoustic.

The best brand depends on what you play, how you play and what kind of sound you are looking for. Me I like Taylors. Good deep rumble, good for Rock or Folk or Blues. Great action on the fretboard, so so built in pickup.

As a begginer you want to go with bit less expensive model unless you are rather wealthy. Ibenez makes a great starter kit and also makes a really solid accoustic guitar. In fact got one for my drummer on his birthday a few years back and was about to get really angry that I paid way too much for my Taylor before I found enough in the sound difference to be glad I bought my Taylor. Yamaha also has starter kits that are reasonably priced. Though for an accoustic you really don't need a starter kit. Guitar, strings, tuner, maybe a strap but most likely you can wait on that.

On musiciansfriend.com I see some good priced Washburns. Never played a Washburn I hated. Have really enjoyed playing on many.

Fender makes ok accoustics. You can get an Epiphone accoustic which is much better for same price. Pawn shop accoustics are risky if you don't know what to look for in a guitar. One of my best guitars was a pawn shop special. Seagull also makes a good guitar for dirt cheap.

On the mid end Gibson, Takamine, Ibenez, Yamaha, Ovation, Washburn, Alverez and Guild are all really good guitars for solid prices. If your spending $400-900 I'd stay with one of these brands.

High end stuff like Taylor, Martin, Ovation and Alverez are the brands I'd look at. I have yet to play any other brands I'd pay $1,000 or more for.

Key thing is the sound. Does it sound like you want it too? Strings can help but the core intonation is from the guitar itself. If it sounds bad with factory strings it's not going to sound much better no matter what strings you put on.

Check the neck. Is it strait?

Are the dead spots on the neck. (Fret all the way down. If you get rattles or muffled notes and it's not from a fretting error or you get notes that don't sound as loud/right despite the notes adjecent sounding fine then you have dead spots.) A setup can help some of this. They should do a setup for free.

Does the guitar feel comfortable in your lap?

How does the neck feel to you? Can you easily wrap your hand around it? Even if you don't know any chords try to fret single notes up and down the neck. See what necks really work with your hand.

The guitar should speak to you really. Accoustics have a good bit of varience even with the same model from the same brand and even in the same lot. So one that you don't like might play noticable different than the exact same model sitting next to it. Try all of them in your price range at least for a few strums. The settle in on the best ones for more play.

In short, bang for buck tends to be Ibenez unless you are going high end.

Answer 10

the best brand for a starter is givson...... and sticking stuff on ur guitar wont effect da sound