I want a guitar but i'm a beginner so don't have a clue?

Question

There are so many types of guitars like acoustic and electric etc. I'm not even a begginer i've never played guitar before but i really want to learn. But first i need to buy one.

Which guitar would be best? I only have around £100 so theres not much to work with. Really need your help.

Thanks.

Answer 1

IMO,
first you should start with an acoustic, it will help build caps on and strength in your fingers...you will need that.
second, don't start out with a really expensive instrument nor should you get a really cheap one. your 150 euros should get you a good mid-priced box that would be excellent to learn on.
third, find a chord book and a teacher. The book will be fairly inexpensive, the teacher maybe not so much.

If you find that you really like playing guitar, then go get a high quality instrument.

Answer 2

You should definately start out with an acoustic, it will help you to become a better player. The folks who said to start out with a decent guitar were right. As price increases in instruments the quality greatly increases. The best player in the world playing a really cheap guitar would sound horrible. Go to a music shop and find a few guitars in your price range and pick each one up as if you were going to play. See which one fits your hands best and get that one. Then buy a book for beginner guitar and teach yourself chords and how to change chords without stopping. Then go find an instructor to help you learn from there. Good luck.

Answer 3

I would say given your price limit start with an accoustic. You cannot get a good electric and decent amp for your price range but you can get a decent accoustic.

Starting with an accoustic means.
The strings are a bit harder to press, so you'll have a little more work getting your callouses and hand strength built up.

Accoustics are more forgiving than anything but an Electric with massive distortion. So you won't spend as much time worrying about minor mistakes. You'll be able to hear the melodies clearer so your ear will train faster using an accoustic.

Strings last longer on an accoustic. So you'll spend less on strings. You can take an accoustic anywhere. So it's very portable compared to an electric where you have to haul around amp, cables, effects boxes and spare strings among other gear.

The way I started was with a book that listed chords. Not the best way for most people. After I learned a bunch of chords I tracked down everybody who knew a note I didn't know and made them teach me even if I had to hound them for a week to do it :) I learned from many different people, a bit here a bit there. Then practiced 2-4 hours a day everything I learned plus experimenting. I developed my own finger exercises to strengthen my hands. I had been playing bass before so timing and basic fretting I already had down. I was working on being faster and got pretty fast.

Some key things. Keep your fingers close to the strings. While it looks impressive to have your fingers flying everywhere it really does slow you down and it's a very very hard habit to break. Practice with a metronome. You can get free ones for the computer. This will help you develop a good sense of timing. It's far harder to develop timing than to learn how to chord. Learn your basic chords. What these are depend on your style of music. Rock uses alot of open chords, 5ths, barre chords and many chords built from scratch or stolen from other genres. Folk is pretty much all open and barre chords with an occasional Blues chord tossed in. Blues uses open chords, barre chords and it's own special finger busters. Jazz seems to eschew normal chords and has it's own special set.

Once your comfortable with some chords, then work on songs. Tabs are a good way to start. You can read the tabs, listen to the music. Getting somebody to show you is a better way. Remember they were like you when they started. As good as they sound now you should have heard them the first few months they played LOL. So don't be awed by them. Don't think you can't play what they can. The only limit is how much desire you have and how fast your fingers can work. Both things you can personally improve. There are physical limits yes to how fast your fingers can work but few guitarists even get close to thier personal physical limits. Bad habits and laziness set in to slow them down.

On accoustics Ibenez makes a really good low end accoustic. Seagull and Epiphone are two other brands to look into. Best to have somebody with you that knows guitars well. The things you are looking at are playability. What is a good guitar for you is one that fits you. So even if the action is a little higher you'll do well with one that feels comfortable in your lap and in your hands. Next look at the action. The action is how high the strings are off the fretboard. The higher they are the harder it'll be to play that guitar. A setup can help some but only so much a setup can do for the action of a guitar. Next play notes all the way down the neck. Usually I just slide listening for dead spots or buzz. With low end accoustics your almost certainly going to have a few deadspots. Make sure they are way down the neck. Down around or past the 12th fret. As a beginner your not going to get much past the 7th fret for a bit. Any dead spots in the first 7 frets put the guitar back. You'll wind up hating that guitar before long.

A dead spot is where the volume suddenly decreases on a fret. If you hear one, play it again to make sure that it's really a dead spot. On modern guitars they are rare before the 10th fret. Used to be a common problem. If you are looking at used guitars pay special attention to dead spots.

Make sure the neck is not warped. Sight down the neck. It should be fairly level. If there is any twist at all put that guitar back. There is a truss bar that can compensate for some warpage on some guitars but rarely worth the effort or expense. Many guitars do not have one at all.

Don't be afraid to be picky. Go to as many music shops as neccesary to find that guitar that really speaks to you. Remember the guitar is a piece of you. Part of you is going to flow into it and what you get back out will reflect on your opinion on your musical ability. If you have a lamer guitar your going to sound awefull and it will discourage you. Get a decent starter guitar and you'll be glad you did.

Answer 4

You can't really skimp on your first guitar. If you buy a cheap model, the action (distance between the strings and fingerboard) will be wrong, and your left hand will be in constant pain, making you hate the instrument. Get yourself an Epiphone or Squier (the cheap versions of Gibson and Fender), and you'll be very glad you did. They run $200-300 (USD).

Answer 5

I wont string u along but it is nothing to fret about. You may be sticking your neck out, taking lessons and all, but bassically u will find your rhythm and tune out all your friends.