Play the guitar? Few questions

[MiniThug]

Lately Ive been considering learning how to play the guitar. For those of you who play, wheres a good place to begin? Also, can you recommend some brands of guitars to consider purchasing? I want to start just with a simple six string but have no clue of where to look to purchase one. What did you begin playing with? Thanks

 

[ThePresence]

I started with my brothers beat up Yamaha. Im no big fan of Yamaha guitars personally. For a cheap beginner guitar, Rouge kinda works. They're Fender knockoffs (really cheap ones), manufactured by Fender. I personally got an Ovation and my '77 Gibson SG.

 

[MiniThug]

Have any links i could check out for guitar reviews, prices, etc?

 

[Spendthrift]

well, im assuming you want an accoustic guitar.

used guitars are a great way to go especially if you buy from a reputable music store. go in and play with it a bit first. see if you like how it feels in your hands and how it sounds.

things to look for
- solid wood top
- low action (the strings shouldnt be too far away from the fretboard)
- each string should be intune at the 12th fret if its in tune when played open
im probably forgetting some but these are what i can think of off the top of my head.

id look at ibanez, alvarez, ovation, epiphone, takamine, and dean in the $400-600 range. if you want to spend more than that, look at larivee and taylor.

you can pick up good beginner books or find tons of free lessons on the internet. start by learning all the chords including bar chords. and progress from there.

 

[Spendthrift]

musiciansfriend.com has great deals and theyre a solid company. ive used them many times. but you dont get to try out the guitars before hand which is a drawback.

 

[Harvey]

If you have a friend who knows guitars, have him/her help you pick out a good used one. The most important things are good tone (of course) and that it plays well up and down the neck. That means it should have a good action and intonation (playing in tune on all strings on all frets). Once you put in the work to learn how to play, the instrument has to be able to give you the reward of the music, or you'll lose interest, or at least be very pissed.

A good used instrument will hold its value forever. A cheap bad guitar will always be a piece of junk that is overpriced when new, no matter how cheap it is.

Music is a gas. Hope you find the right one.

 

[silverpig]

I started with an old beat up Epi acoustic I got for $90 cdn. I hated that thing. The strings were way too far from the fretboard, and I had to push really really hard in order to make the note sound. As a result, my fingers started bleeding like crazy from the tips (had to use bandaids in order to play for a while), but I suffered through it. Now I have an Epiphone Les Paul with a few mods (gibson pickups etc), that cost me a total of about $1150, and I love it.

I wouldn't recommend a guitar like that for you, but you should definitely go and play a few in a music store. The one near my house won't care if I go in and just tool around by myself for a few hours on all the different acoustics (including the $5000 Gibsons hehe), so go play a few and see what fits. If you can spend $200, you can get something decent that you should be happy with for at least a year or two. After that, if you're good and want to get something better, you'll know what to get yourself.

 

[MiniThug]

Okay, well let me add some more information for you guys. Ive never actually played before so Im not looking for anything too expensive. Used would be nice, I guess Ill go down to Guitar Center and check some out. I live just north of Houston, TX so if there are any other places near by that you could recommend please let me know. Do you think it would be possible to get a good/decent guitar in the 100-200 dollar range? Thanks guys

 

[silverpig]

You can get a decent used one for that much for sure. I know most Simon and Patrick guitars are fairly cheap, and they're good guitars. You should be able to find a used one, it should be in that range somewhere.

 

[ThePresence]

Be careful of Ovation and Applause used guitars. If they were beat up at all, the plastic back might be separating from the wood top w/o being too noticeable. Im not knocking Ovation (I got one myself), just something to watch for.

 

[hardass]

Get an electric guitar, a Marshall amp, drop D, and play it heavy.

 

[MiniThug]

Can anyone recommend places on the internet where I can go to read up on different guitars, tutorials, etc.

 

[silverpig]

He said he wanted to learn guitar, not thrash blindly

 

[alee25]

you can always check guitarworld.com and guitarplayer.com, and epinions, but mainly guitarplayer and world cater to electric stuff. I just ebayed an ovation cc057 which i was selling for around 290-300 shipped (depenind on where you live). I just put it up today, so if you interested, PM me soon and mabye i can take the auction down if there are no bids yet, i will guarantee that the guitar is in excellent condition and plays excellent, plus i will set up you up with newbie guitar stuff, and you can always contact me for advice on guitar playing. If you are interested, here was my post for selling it on anandtech.com. Check it out, a ovation is a great newbie/intermediate guitar. Plus its electric, and acoustic so u get the best of two worlds

 

[yellowperil]

I agree with Spendthrift's suggestions. Also you might look at Seagull guitars, they start around $250, have solid tops, and are handmade in Canada. Rare to find a handmade guitar in that price range, I think it's because of the exchange rate or something. Ibanez makes a great value acoustic called the Artwood (AW100 or AW200) that starts around $300 with a solid top. Also Takamine has pretty good guitars and they popularized the acoustic-electric with the built-in preamp (a lot of their entry level guitars have them). Yamaha is also pretty consistent. Carvin makes a series called Cobalt that is getting rave reviews and starts at $400 + case (here). Some manufacturers that aren't as consistent IMHO are Ovation, Epiphone, and Washburn.

Harmony Central has the biggest database of user reviews and has some tutorials.

 

[silverpig]

Mmm, that carvin cobalt mahogany looks nice...

<-- loves mahogany guitars.

 

[silverpig]

Just listened to the soundclips for the C350 (mahogany) too. Damn, she's a beaut.

 

[alee25]

ewww i hate mahogony tops,

 

[ProviaFan]

I've just been playing a crappy old acoustic that my dad has had for a long time, and I'm still not very good on it. However, I'm hoping to get a good used Fender Strat or Gibson SG of some kind this summer.

 

[silverpig]

Granted, mahogany isn't the showiest wood to use for a top, but I love the tone it gives off. Like the Les Pauls, I love the brightness the maple top adds, but the LPMahogany sure sounds sweet nonetheless.

 

[yellowperil]

The soundclips are pretty impressive but it sounds like they worked a little 'studio magic' into the recording, like maybe some compression, and a short delay to fatten up the sound. I haven't been able to listen or play a Carvin Cobalt since they're only sold mail-order and in CA.

 

[alee25]

for sure, i think they used a compressor to condense the acoustic sound

if it really did sound like that for 400, everyone would be all over these guitars

 

[silverpig]

Here're some clips of Mahogany vs. Maple/Mahogany:

CSLPMahogany with 57 classics
#2
#3 (good clean sound here)

vs.

LPCustom with maple top and modern classics
#2
#3

 

[ConantheBarbarian]

Since we are on the subject of guitars, I have a question. I received this guitar as a gift from a friend who is in another country now. I wish to sell it on ebay, to make some money to buy computer equipment, but the thing is there is no brand name on the guitar so I dont know the price range. Any help would be appreciated. I posted pictures for you visual reference. Thanks.

By the way there is a paper that came with the carry case that says Western Acoustic Guitar. Tried doing a search on that name but found either Yamaha or other brand names that doesn't relate to this guitar.

Pic 1

Pic 2

Pic 3

Pic 4

 

[silverpig]

Got a decent pic of the top of the headstock without the d'addario tag in front of it?