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Buying Guide: How to Buy Your First Guitar
Aug
Shopping for your first instrument should be the initial step in a lifelong journey of learning and inspiration. It can also be confusing because all musical instruments come in so many different makes and models.
If you’re buying your first guitar, you’ll face choices like what size guitar to buy, deciding between an acoustic or electric, or whether to invest in a new or used instrument. While there are many variables that might affect your decision, the most important thing is to find a guitar that sounds good, looks good, and feels good to play – to you.
There are countless styles of guitars available, and everyone has their own personalities and tastes. Above all, the instrument should inspire you, and make you want to practice more frequently. From deciding between types and styles, to deciding between which guitar sizes to buy, this guitar buying guide will help simplify the process of finding the best beginner guitar for you.
Click below to jump to a section in the guitar buying guide.
- Electric guitar vs. acoustic guitar for beginners
- What to look for when buying a guitar
- New vs used guitars
- Picking the right size guitar for a beginner
- Best guitar brands for beginners
- Where to buy a guitar
- Guitar accessories for beginners
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Buying an electric guitar for a beginner
Out of all the types of guitars, electric guitars are by far the most popular style used in modern music. Electrics produce only the faintest of sound on their own, but once connected to an amplifier they open up a world of potential for a variety of sounds. These guitars are primarily used in rock, metal, pop, blues, jazz, country, and R&B.
What to look for when buying a guitar
There’s no way to poke and prod anything you buy online before it’s at your door, so if you’re shopping in person, here are a couple of things to watch out for. Important note about new instruments: One of the ways that guitar manufacturers save cost is by putting minimal labor into the final setup of the instrument.
Often the parts are quality and the assembly is fine, but the fine-tuning that makes an instrument play well and sound its best is left to the consumer.
1. Does the guitar stay in tune?
Have someone at the store get the guitar to standard tuning and play a few chords. There are two reasons to do this.
First, if the playing sounds terrible, odds are it’s not the sales person (who is likely a decent guitar player), it’s a difficult instrument to play. The second reason to have the instrument tuned up is to check the action.
2. Is the guitar neck straight?
Check the neck of the guitar for any curves or bends. Ideally, your guitar should have a straight neck, and prevent the strings from hitting the frets as you play.
If the guitar has a bow or back bow, it can make playing the guitar more difficult, especially for beginners. If you’re unsure of how to check your guitar’s neck relief, ask a professional. They should be able to check and identify any potential problems with your guitar neck, and make corrections as needed.
3. How far are the strings from the fretboard?
The action of a guitar or bass is how the strings relate to the fretboard. Check The action is something that can be adjusted pretty easily, but if the strings are super far from the neck at the point where the neck and body of the guitar meet or the neck is noticeably curved, it might be an instrument to pass up.
That doesn’t necessarily mean that brand or model are flawed, just that the individual instrument may already have some problems.
4. Can you comfortably reach the entire fretboard?
If the guitar sounds all right and the action doesn’t look way out of whack, see if you can comfortably reach the entire fretboard. Run your finger along each side of the neck to see whether you can feel any of the ends of the metal frets sticking out.
If you feel some that aren’t level with the wood, it doesn’t mean the instrument is garbage or that brand or model are no good, but you can probably find another guitar or bass that doesn’t already have that problem. Frets that aren’t level with the wood can be fixed, but there’s no reason to deal with that if you’re buying a new instrument.
5. Are the guitar electronics in good condition?
If you’re looking at an electric guitar, get it plugged into an amp and toggle all the switches and turn all the knobs a few times. If you hear any crackling sounds, it means some of the internal electronics may be a little dirty.
Again, that’s a fixable problem, but not something you want to hear a few minutes after your kid plugs it in for the first time. Another of the same brand and model will probably be fine, if you’re looking at what you think is a good style and price point.
