After many years of admiring guitarists and their talent, i have decided its about time i purchased a guitar. I am a total novice and need some advice as to what would be the best guitar for a beginner who would like to learn acoustic ?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Yamaha apx 500

Electric guitars are generally easier to play (thinner strings set lower) and don’t annoy other people. I’ve got both and only play the acoustic ( which is set up and strung like an electric) when alone or to an audience.

Electric guitars are generally easier to play (thinner strings set lower) and don’t annoy other people

😕

Only if you don’t plug them in, which kind of defeats the point of an electric guitar…

Depends on what kind of music you are into really. If you like Bob Dylan then get an acoustic, electric if you like heavier stuff. Also bear in mind that with an electric you’ll need to budget for an amp, leads etc. As for which guitar it depends. Different people like different guitars and things like neck size isn’t standard so I would recommend trying before buying.

I would recommend trying before buying.

to be fair, a total beginner will have no idea what to look for.

OP, go to a guitar shop and talk to them.

Headphones most of the time, nearly all amps have a headphone socket. You can get a tiny portable amp for practicing that only has a headphone socket.

A classic vibes Telecaster cost the same as the Yamaha suggested by Pigface but you can do a lot more with it. Bends, pull offs, hammer ons etc. are much easier on an electric.

Start with a Ukulele. Same skill set and won’t leave you £200 out of pocket when you shove it in a cupboard never to be touched again a fortnight later.

Get to a guitar shop and talk to them. And I would really advise against getting an electric first – when learning, you want to just pick it up and go. You don’t want to be worrying about leads or amps or anything like that. As for acoustics annoying people, that’s one of the daftest things I’ve ever heard!

I found fender necks too round for my hands, but the gibson type really nice.
im no good on guitars but I enjoy just playing the few chords and odd riffs I can play withough looking at the fretts.

acoustic is the way to go for beginner and get a good tune box..try music shop and get a second hand one as you may find its actually really difficult…I wish id started as a kid and not a 20 something.

have fun, a lesson or 2 will help loads…but some are good at learning by ear and feel.

An alternative to a steel strung acoustic might be a classical guitar.

The action is slightly higher and the neck slighlty wider, but the nylon strings wont hurt uncalloused fingers as much.

Plus they can be played really quietly and still sound nice.

Honesly … just pick a guitar you like the look and that will make you want to pick it up.

For learning resources… Justinguitar … on youtube is hard to beat

The Rocksmith computer game isn’t bad.

But dont rule out good old fashion books… I found I actually practicde more with a book in front of me rather than the internet (I end up just trawling the web sometimes)

Tuition … one on one… didn’t work for me but does for others… but group lesson I really enjoyed… you get to play with other people and it’s much cheaper.

And lastly …. In the first few months… If you sit down at home, only do so with the guitar in your hand.

Have fun

Fender do lots of neck profiles. The “modern C” is almost identical to some recent Gibsons. The old Fender “U” I don’t like but the even older “V” I like.

Cougar – Moderator
Start with a Ukulele.

What’s he gonna do, imagine the. Missing 2 strings?

I’m sorely tempted to pull the trigger on this. Identical to my first ever electric guitar which I sold many years ago when I was skint and regretted it ever since 🙁

I’m in a similar boat. I wanted to learn something new and fancied the guitar so I have bought a flamenco guitar. A bit like a classical guitar but with lower action and slightly thinner body. Mine can be played very softly and doesn’t appear to annoy my family or neighbors, so far. Its not too bad on my fingers either.

Aghhhhaa I hate guitar threads, always resulting in me ‘nearly’ buying one 😀

What’s that Yamaha APX500 like for someone with unusually small hands?

unusually small hands

Try a Jaguar. Shorter scale is easier on small hands.

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/squier-vintage-modified-jaguar-olympic-white/68624?gclid=CJXo6_nQrMICFVIV7Aodh2YAMg

justinbieber – Member

And I would really advise against getting an electric first – when learning, you want to just pick it up and go. You don’t want to be worrying about leads or amps or anything like that

When you’re learning, plugging the thing in is about the easiest thing you do. The big plus of electric as a learner is that you can make a cool noise instantly, even playing 3 blind mice sounds good with enough distortion. The downside is it might take you ten years to get past that to the point where you learn advanced techniques, like a 4th chord.

Personally I reckon people should start on the sort of guitar they’re more interested in- keeping up interest and having fun is the most important bit.

Personally I reckon people should start on the sort of guitar they’re more interested in- keeping up interest and having fun is the most important bit.

+1

No point doing the “correct” thing if it puts you off and you never play it.

Try a Jaguar. Shorter scale is easier on small hands.

http://www.gak.co.uk/en/squier-vintage-modified-jaguar-olympic-white/68624?gclid=CJXo6_nQrMICFVIV7Aodh2YAMg

Sorry, should have said, was thinking an acoustic or electro-acoustic really.

Crafter do a lovely mini-acoustic/travel guitar, the trv23… Wee bit muted sounding compared to a full size as you’d expect but it make for a great small acoustic. I’ve had mine years, I like it mostly because it feels more like my tele but I think it’d be good for you too. Definitely worth checking out anyway

As for acoustics annoying people, that’s one of the daftest things I’ve ever heard!

You don’t have son who practices fours hours a day minimum or a wife who doesn’t want to hear you mess up the solo at the point twenty-fifty times before you get it right.

First thing to do is decide on your budget, Yamaha are a good choice IMO.

As Ro5ey say’s Justinguitar.com is the place to start.

The website is broken down nicely for “Complete Beginners”, “Intermediate”, and “Blues Guitar”.

Get the Beginners Course Book and Beginner Song Book, and use it in conjunction with the website/youtube lessons and you’ll find yourself coming along nicely.

Main thing, like everything, is to practice consistently, 15 minutes a day at first and have fun.

I’ve been playing a few years. My advice, get yourself some lessons from a local guy, it’ll help you with basic technique. Then get yourself on YouTube, there’s loads of people with simple to follow tutorials, my favourite is martyzsongs, a cheesey American bloke but really easy to follow and has songs at all levels.

In terms of guitar, don’t buy cheap, it’ll sound turd regardless how well you play. Spend at least £200 and with your tutor get it set up the way you like – string height, neck true, string gauge etc. in terms of brand you can’t beat Ibanez acoustics for value, people think of ibanez as metal guitars but their acoustic and semi hollows are awesome – george benson doesn’t shred it on his ibanez! Loads of people I know have bought Fender and Gibson but they are twice or three times the price for comparable quality. I’ve had three ibanez so far and all have been flawless.

The downside is it might take you ten years to get past that to the point where you learn advanced techniques, like a 4th chord.

The mighty Quo never bothered with the fourth chord. Didn’t hurt them commercially.

Yamaha F310

it’s a nice basic dreadnought, has a lovely sound and a decent action you can get them for about £130, and is a perfect beginner guitar. Don’t spend more than that on your first guitar, there’s absolutely no need to. Don’t worry about strings or neck shapes, those things are massively unimportant if your just beginning. Really they are, trust me. Go to a shop to buy it, and they’ll set it up for you, (and probably chuck in some plecs as well. and probs point you in the direction of a decent local teacher, or justinguitar as recommended up there is a brilliant resource.

don’t buy an electric as your first guitar please.

Oh if you don’t fancy a dreadnought (I don’t use them as there too big for me, don’t worry, I’m stunted 😆 ) buy a Yammmy JR2 its a compact, but still a pretty nice guitar to play.

My first guitar was an Ibanez RG that I bought from a friend. It was really nice to play and sounded lovely but was quite wheighty and the Floyd Rose term didn’t like me mucking around with drop tuning.

As I got more I to it I ended up with a couple of guitars and alwYs bought the most metal ones possible…which were usually horrible to play usually because of neck diving.

I always wanted an ESP LTD EX guitar because Hetfield played one but could never afford one. I was also pretty rubbish which made it hard to justify the outlay.

I was pretty much self taught reading tabs rather than music. I did have a couple of lessons but got bored because I just wanted to make a lot of noise and butcher Metallica, Slayer, Machine Head and Iron Maiden.

I’d echo the comments about buying something that you like to keep your interest up…I bought loads of my stuff from eBay including my massive H&K amp which I built a skave speaker for so had a mini stack in my room. Our neighbours must have loved that.

Cougar – Moderator
Start with a Ukulele. Same skill set and won’t leave you £200 out of pocket when you shove it in a cupboard never to be touched again a fortnight later.

Funny you should mention ukes, Cougar, I was in Bath the other evening for a meal, and there’s a small music shop on the way back to the car park. Doing a bit of window browsing, as one does, I spotted a lovely little Yamaha uke hanging up, and it was a 6-string, which I’ve never seen before. £65, which has got me very tempted.
Even cheaper here: http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/guitars/related-instruments/16654-yamaha-gl-1-guitalele-ukulele-natural
Spruce top, mahogany sides. Looks like a lot of fun, standard guitar chords and tuning, just smaller and easily carried around.
What’s not to like? 😀

Possibly a silly question…

Other than tuning a new guitar is there any sort of ‘setup’ required out of the box? i.e. if buying a new guitar should I expect the shop to get it out of the box and make any adjustments?

The truss rod and/or bridge height might need adjusting to get the action right. A decent guitar shop should do this before they sell a guitar but some don’t. Especially on budget guitars.

If the action is high it will make it hard to learn properly.

ive never bought a guitar either online or from a shop that wasn’t “setup”. Setup however is subjective and on some I made some adjustments. I’ve been lucky but intonation and neck relief have been fine as well.

Trouble is as a complete novice you won’t know what you like 🙂

What have you decided to get? Have you set your expectations realistically? How will you learn? What are your goals? How long will you be able to practice for every day? (15 mins a day is better than 2h in one sitting).

If you prepare a little by thinking through those points and committing, at any age, over time you will become proficient enough to really enjoy it.

A couple of lessons would get you off to a good start.

Apologies for going on a bit, it’s not quite as simple as buying one and putting it in the corner of the room.

Don’t forget a clip on tuner – get the shop to throw one in if you can 😉

This is a complete thread hijack, apologies OP.

Thanks CaptainSlow.

Yes, I intend to get lessons and also use some of the resources mentioned in this thread. The JustinGuitar videos and resources seem like they would compliment some lessons quite well as they have a clear structure and an obvious path of progression.

After speaking to some shops I’m leaning towards an electro-acoustic or just an acoustic. I explained I was looking for something I could pick up and play which effectively ruled out the full electrics with amps etc. I quite like the idea of the electro-acoustic as it may give me more options further down the line and the thinner body is also quite appealing. The built-in tuners seem like a pretty good idea as well.

Not intentions of putting anything in the corner, I want to play the thing! 😀

Any recommendations for music shops in the Manchester area who would ensure a new instrument was setup correctly? There’s nothing worse than trying to use something you’re unfamiliar with and wondering if there’s something a miss.

don’t buy an electric as your first guitar please.

Don’t listen to this ‘advice’ please.

If you’re interested in playing electric/like listening to electric guitarists then get an electric guitar. If you like listening to acoustic stuff, then get an acoustic.

As edukator say’s electrics are inherently easier to learn techniques such as string bending and hammer ons/pull offs on.

Fender Squires (in their many guises) are very good guitars for the money. Cheaper stuff by the likes of Gear 4 music can be very hit and miss. I’d steer clear of Rockburn….about 6 of my students have turned up at lessons with them over the past year or so, and they have all been absolutely awful guitars.

You’re welcome matt.

It’s of course your choice but buying an electr acoustic means you may be paying for electronics you may never use. If it were me, I’d buy an acoustic as that’s what you want. You’d only need to amplify an acoustic if gigging so in your case I wouldn’t consider one yet.

That’s just my opinion though. Play a few and play the one that feels good to you. A guitar that feels nice and excites you is one you’ll want to play.

Regarding the electric v acoustic argument. Buy what you like and will cover most of the music you want to play. Believe me, n+1 applies here. If you stick at it, and love it, this will only be you’re first guitar.

Try and buy second hand from the shop to get a better guitar for your money. I can’t help with shops up north as I’m a southerner. Do guitarguitar have a branch up there?

Get a second hand mid-range acoustic (just straight acoustic, no point paying for electrics which you aren’t going to use!).

Then get THIS

I say used mid-range as they are the same kinda money as a new entry level guitar, but way better made, easier to play and better sounding.

The Gibson Learn and Master course is about as good as it gets without actually sitting down in a room having a 1 to 1 lesson.

Oh – and I would be looking for something more folky than Dreadnoughty. Softer sound and better to try a variety of techniques on – the Dreadnought is a strummer (IMO)

I picked up a Seagull Maritime OM a few years back used… absolutely stonking guitar!

mattrgee – Member

Other than tuning a new guitar is there any sort of ‘setup’ required out of the box? i.e. if buying a new guitar should I expect the shop to get it out of the box and make any adjustments?

It ought to come ready to go and well set up. Might not. I worked a couple of Christmas run-ups with a guitar chain and, well, quality delivered was pretty variable depending on who did the job. I considered most things not fit to go on sale when they arrived- just from transit I think, cold or damp conditions maybe, but whatever. But others basically treated it as “If it’s at all playable and it works at all, it’s good to go”. So stuff went out with bad electrics, orrible buzzes or really high action… Mine weren’t perfect either tbh, we weren’t allowed enough time for perfect but they were all decent.

(it made me think twice about box-shifters though because especially with the lower end brands, we were correcting basic build quality issues)

the Dreadnought is a strummer (IMO)

What an weird thing to say. Should I stop picking on mine?

I haven’t had much luck trying to buy second hand. People often want good money for bad guitars. Worn frets, distorted neck, broken truss rod, faulty pre-amp, dodgy electrics, damage, poor repairs… . It costs about the same for a refret as a new Squier, Ibanez, Yamaha or Epiphone (though you’ll probably have to take a fret file to a new Epiphone IME). Worn middle-range guitars are scrap, firewood.