Gonna have plenty of time to myself in the evening over the next few months so have decided over the last few weeks that im going to learn how to do something from scratch and im going to learn how to play guitar!

Done a bit of research already but wondered if anyone had any recommendations on a first acoustic to buy and where from. Whos the CRC of the guitar world anyway!?

Looking at stuff like Yamaha F310, Epiphone DR-100 Fender CD-60 around that sort of budget.

Can't go wrong with a Yam.

if possible i would always recommend going into the store to try before you buy. the feel of the guitar is a very individual thing and some will suit you better than others.there are some better for say people with larger hands for example.as far as the best of the bunch you ve mentioned you re not gonna go far wrong with any of them. me personally would probably pick the yamaha.

Try before you buy, ah but you are starting from scratch so that might be difficult. Check out local ebay auctions & gumtree or freeads too- lots of people sell nearly new guitars- be it through giving up or upgrading.

In general Yamaha make solid guitars at lower prices than the competition. I had the older version of that Fender, it wasn't very nice at all, it did however burn very nicely after the neck broke for the second time. I spent slightly more the second time round and got a nice Crafter, which suits me very well despite "only" costing about £150.

We bought a Suzuki guitar from Suzuki Europe on ebay. Beautifully made, great reviews and very reasonably priced.

Take a look, we've had their Les Paul copy for a couple of years married up to an Orange amp but am now looking to get one of their acoustics.

I've a Yam F310. It's a solidly built nice sounding guitar at a reasonable price. Very happy with mine. It's a dreadnought design, so quite deep. maybe an issue if you smaller