Question for gueetar players

[laneela]

Ok, I know we have a few guitar players in this joint (Drolgin, Truant, Arb, Cane, Kriista, etc...)

I have a few questions for you:

What's a good starter guitar and would you recommend electric or accoustic to start (also, what are the benefits of one over the other?) I have a friend who wants to learn how to play the guitar and has no clue where to start. He's never played any instrument before but he's got a great ear for music. Thx and .

[Aslanna]

This thread is a good place to start

I'd say acoustic but it does depend on the person and what sort of music they like.

[Leonaerd]

I just started a few months ago. I have an Ibanez Somethingorother and it's my favorite material possession. First of all I'd highly recommend getting an -electric- acoustic. The calluses that you hear so much about really are important. Buy something that sounds good. Buy something that has a functional tuner built in (only on electric acoustics). Spending 100-200 on your first guitar is generally a mistake to avoid. I spent around 550 on mine (and another ~200 on parts) and it was worth every penny.

It's easier to play electric guitars. The hammers / pull offs are much more fluid, their isnt as much pressure required from your fingers (though having already formed calluses from acoustic makes playing electric significantly easier), and the sound is obviously much more malleable. Generally once you've exhausted the capabilities of the acoustic, then it's a good time to start experimenting with electric.

If you're looking for a place to start, learn the basic chords (C, D, G, F, A, E, minors), learn the theory (wikipedia) behind how they're crafted, and learn how to invent your own. Nothing is more important to making good music than knowing how good music is made.

After that I'd start with some scales... blues, pentatonics, really basic stuff. That's where you get your fingering down and riff all day and all night. Pick notes, use a metronome and make your own beats, find out what sounds good within and outside of the scales. Link scales together. The goal I try to achieve when playing is having the capability of hearing a note that sounds good in my brain and then being able to pick that note on the guitar.

Once you've done that sort of stuff, you'll probably have a pretty good idea of what you want to do from there, and if you don't you can always just reference back to teh VV! =)

[Truant]

What's a good starter guitar...

There are many good starter guitars, and many of the budget models are seeing better levels of quality than before. So in order to give you a direct answer, I really need to know how much your friend is looking to spend. There are good values to be had at many price points.

...would you recommend electric or accoustic to start

It really depends on what type of music your friend wants to play. Ideally, I feel it's best to start on acoustic regardless of style. It's a little bit harder to play at first (physically), but it will build muscle strength in the hand much more quickly. However, there are plenty of people out there who say otherwise and who have zero desire to ever play an acoustic guitar.

also, what are the benefits of one over the other?

They have very different sounds. One isn't really better than the other, in general. For specific things though, one would definately be more useful than the other. But to name off some random pro/con factoids. Acoustic doesn't require any other pieces of equipment (amp, cords, etc.), but it is generally more fragile than an electric. Electrics are generally more portable, and while they can be strummed and heard just fine by themselves, they really require an amp to be utilized fully.

I dunno, i'm trying to think of random pro/con's that would be important to a newbie.

Anyways, the 5cent answer is: I need more information to properly answer your questions.

[Arborealus]

Id always recommend acoustics to start...for developing finger strength and accuracy...electrics are far more forgiving of bad positioning habits and generally have very low action...so some who learn on electrics are sloppy...Its easy to play acoustic then switch to electric...goin the other way sucks...

[laneela]

So it seems that acoustic is the general consensus. As far as price range, I think he was expecting to spend 80'150ish. Nothing to extreme, since he doesn't play yet. Is that range too low for a decent starter acoustic?

Thanks for your help, guys. =)

[Aslanna]

80-150 seems fairly low. At that range you'll get a laminate top and probably not very good action. Is it workable? I guess. But spending a bit more never hurts. I haven't priced acoustic guitars in years though so not sure what's out in the low end range these days.

[Spang]

An $80 guitar sounds the same as a $5,000 guitar if the person playing it doesn't know how.

[Aslanna]

An $80 guitar sounds the same as a $5,000 guitar if the person playing it doesn't know how.

There's more to guitar playing (and selection) than just how it sounds although that is obviously a big part. If it sounds great but it sucks to play you're not going to want to play it.

As noted in the thread I linked... My advice is to not buy the cheapest one you can find. Make sure it's a quality instrument. Just because it's a "starter guitar" doesn't mean you have to go cheap. From there the two outcomes are: The person will either stick with it or they wont. If they don't they can always sell the instrument and probably make back a good chunk of what they spent. If they do then they'll soon discover the limitations of their current instrument and go out and spend more money to upgrade.

[rhyae]

I got my alvarez at a pawn shop for 150 bucks, never had any probs with it. Just have them take someone who knows instruments with him if he gets one from there. Make sure neck isnt warped etc.

[Leonaerd]

$150 might get you something you'll like. $250 would get you something you love.

[Ogbar]

This thread is a good place to start

I'd say acoustic but it does depend on the person and what sort of music they like.

I'm still very happy with the Seagull S6 mentioned in this link - for what it's worth.

[Winnow]

This thread is a good place to start

I'd say acoustic but it does depend on the person and what sort of music they like.

I'm still very happy with the Seagull S6 mentioned in this link - for what it's worth.

Still waiting on your post Oggy! You were supposed to post a recording of your progress after a year!

[Ogbar]

Best I can do is show you a picture of me from my only gig: playing chords to my talented sisters' flute and piano play at my parents' 50th celebration earlier this year (we played Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring"):



That's a Martin Backpacker guitar, BTW. I was traveling like mad before the event so we decided I would play on the instrument I could take with me on my various plane rides.

I'm a hack - on a good day. About the only song I can play is "A Man and a Woman". I suffer from a nasty case of cantfindtimetopractice. I do keep the guitars handy, though, and I do still pick them up, some weeks better than others. Long story short, if you're still waiting on a recording of me playing: don't hold your breath, cause it'll turn you blue.

[Winnow]

Nice Og!

Alright, I'll let you off the hook for the recording. : )