Mrs MTG’s daughter is having guitar lessons at school and wants one of her own to use at home.
As usual with kids, we don’t want to spend too much in case the novelty wears off after a few months.

A couple we’ve looked at so far are this one on ebay or this one from Argos

None of us knows anything about guitars though, so are these OK, or are £60 guitars the equivalent to £60 mountain bikes ?

Nail on the head.

Go to a proper guitar shop. They will have a seletion and your daughter can try a few out. It’s all very personal as to what one person likes. They’ll have a wide price range too.

The bike equivilant is buying a cheap bike to see if you like cycling. Self fulfilling prophecy.

HTH.

I have a fender in the loft following a failed attempt to learn a few years ago. It has also been ‘modded’ by an expert (the guy who was teaching me) to lower the bridge and move the strings closer to the fret to make it easier to play.

I am never going to use it but its not worth selling. I think I paid about £180 for it and used it for maybe 4 months.

I’d happily take £80 for it on two conditions. First you collect it (I think you’re local to me as I met you on one of the previous STW Surrey hills pootles). Second you don’t pay me the money, but instead make it as a charitable donation to a worthy cause, either help for heroes or something for kids.

I’m in Horsham.

Check out daisy rock guitars
Emphasise on girls and not bad quality for the money

No idea what your budget really is… I have one of these, and it is lovely:

http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=1310

Not cheap cheap, but cheap for what you get- comes with a gig bag, is well made, good sound. But also, is small- very portable, and easier to play than the traditional gigantic dreadnought learners guitars (they tried to teach me to play at school, I could barely reach the fretboard, ridiculous).

Normally I say, always try before you buy. But as a relative beginner you don’t really know what you want to be frank, I tried before I bought and bought something decent that 6 months later, I didn’t like the feel of.

See if you can get some recommendations of local guitar shops- they’re like LBSs, a good one is invaluable, a bad one is terrible. Buying used makes a lot of sense too, and a lot of shops will have some quality used stock.

Talk to the school, they sometimes have deals where you can buy an instruments at discount prices. Sometimes local music shops will do this as well. Otherwise, yeah talk to your local shop, they’ll have something that will suit. I wouldn’t spend more than £100.

Having said all that, a mates got one of those £60 argos ones, and it’s not ‘that’ bad TBH.

As emsz says speak to school. Some not all will be prepared to buy it for you and that way you save the VAT. You could probably do a lot worse than that one that you are being offered for £80 above. If you don’t go for that, you wont go wrong with a fender squire as a starter electric. Acoustic wise crafter and farrida do some reasonable ones. Classical guitars and the standard Jose Ferrer model is widely accepted as the best to start with.

£100 seems to be about the break-point for a decent guitar, either electric or acoustic.

£100 seems to be about the break-point for a decent guitar, either electric or acoustic.

Er no

take geetee up on his offer.

if not, then i will make favourable comments about the cheap argos ones, this..

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5406575.htm

.. i started playing guitar with the full size one, bought second had for 12quid, i still have it as well, and i still rate it as a brilliant ‘try it, if you like it you can buy better and its not cost you anything’ guitar. the sound is ok, the playability ok. actually far better than some more expensive cheapies, for instance my daughter insisted on a pink guitar so i spent over 5quid on a stagg and its a piece of rubbish compared. she used it about 3 times. thats a lot of cash to waste i think.

however i started my son on that 3/4 argos model above, just as good as my old full size one. he flourished with it, is now 10, plays a very nice raimundo classical and is ready for a decent acoustic which i don’t mind paying for because he can justify it.

bt for a kid starting out, pay as little as you can but upgrade soon if they take to it.

Fender do an acoustic for 100 quid that is fantastic, a squire is a good enough guitar for anybody don’t believe the Bs. I have a 1500quid USA strat and a squire. Yes the USA is better feeling but the most important thing later on is to get a decent amp. I can plug my squire in and get a sound equal to any guitar.

Guitars a bit like bikes. There’s some decent budget options out there, but you can pick up a real dog if you’re not careful, and if it’s difficult to play it’ll put her off. If you know someone with a bit of experience, then they can be a big help because they’ll sniff out the dogs in an instant.

The known brands you generally can’t go wrong with.

That seems a pretty good offer from Geetee too.

13yo – the main starting point, I would say, is to find something comfortable to play. There is a good chance that if she has small hands and a small frame that a 3/4 size guitar may be a better place to start.

You also need to consider what she is learning to play. I was classically trained so a steel string/electric would have been as much use as a chocolate fireguard in my formative years. If she is learning on a classical guitar, get similar, likewise steel string acoustic and electric as they all play very differently.

Different types of guitar have different makers who make good stuff for a good price, but generally it is best to go and play a few and see what fits and what sounds best to her.

£100 seems to be about the break-point for a decent guitar, either electric or acoustic.

Er no

Haha! You’ve gotta love count zero and his authoritative advice that is no good to anyone other than himself! 🙄

I still believe the way I was taught 30 years ago is the correct way, cheap acoustic, give your child a few months to build dexterity and technique before moving on to more expensive electric guitars that will only amplify mistakes from the start.

Just my view mind 😉

Trolling aside, count zero is not far off the mark.

£100+ and there’s very little dross out there. I’d still suggest going to a good music shop and playing around with a few.

Yamaha make good value starter kit.

Whilst fended makes a valid point, I have a budget guitar from the late 70s and it may as well be a fence post with some barbed wire at varying tensions. Utterly hateful thing. Beginners equipment is vastly better nowadays.

Some 100 quid plus stuff is dire…the vintage and gear 4 music offerings at that price point are horrid to play, and invariably fall apart within a few months.

Some 100 quid plus stuff is dire…the vintage and gear 4 music offerings at that price point are horrid to play, and invariably fall apart within a few months.

^^This….

I just think geetee1972 is a bit of a top bloke.

Geetee, thanks very much for that generous offer. I think you must be getting me mixed up with someone else though as I’m about 160 miles away in Worcestershire and, apart from riding Torq In Your Sleep at Minley Manor once, I’ve never ridden in that area.
I’ll see if Mrs MTG wants to make a 320 mile round trip, or could you be persuaded to post it ?

It turns out one of Mrs MTG’s neighbours is a guitar tutor. We don’t really know him, Mrs MTG is friends with his wife on Facebook and I wave to her when we pass on the road as we both drive Land Rovers and that’s about it.
There’s always a chance that he will know someone who has given up or upgraded and has got a beginners guitar for sale though, so we will get in touch with him.

Mrs MTG junior is 5’9″ at 13 years old and her hands are about the same size as mine, just thinner fingers, so she has no problem using a full size guitar. She has specifically said she doesn’t want a 3/4 size one.

It’s tempting not to spend too much to minimise your risk if she doesn’t stick to it. Chances are if you buy a shit guitar that is horrible to play you are guaranteeing it.
Whatever she gets whether it shop or second hand she should play it first and like it. Factor in the cost of a setup and get one of those snazzy snark clip on tuners from gak for a tenner.

A music teacher will normally help with buying a guitar if you ask them. They will point you to a shop, model and brand and may even demo some for you and make a personal recommendation.

MTG I have no problem posting but I’m not sure of the best way to do it. However I have a business meeting in Bromsgrove on the 27th at 2pm. How far is that from you?

Geetee, that would be fantastic. Bromsgrove is only about 15 miles away from home, even closer from work in Kidderminster.
Depending on which shift I’m on, and whether you want to meet up before or after your meeting, we can sort something out.

What model is it exactly ? Mrs MTG junior wants to know what she’s getting and what colour it is.

I love a happy ending 😀

MTG I will pop up into the loft and get it down to check. I can happily send you some pictures. I will also check to make sure how much they are new so that I’m not asking too much. I know it’s for charity and all, but still I would only want to ask for what it’s worth.

Probably best to meet up afterward my meeting. It’s actually a pitch for new business so I won’t be very relaxed beforehand! I should be done around 3.30pm so maybe think about arranging to meet any time from 4.15pm onwards. Drop me an email – my address is in my profile.

As for the charity, I’ve always previously asked for it to be Help For Heroes but given Bruder’s thread about his son, I think a charity foused on kids would be more appropriate. Has something been set up in direct response to this? If so maybe that would be the best thing.

Oh and yes, I have confused you with someone else. I think it was ‘Big Bike Bash’ I met.

OK so it’s a Fender Sonoran, not sure if it’s an ‘S’ or ‘SCE’ or just a plain Sonoran. As I said it had a few hours work done on it by a professional to move the strings closer to the fret so it’s easier to play and less tiring on your fingers. It is in pristine condition – here are some pictures:

It’s also got a soft nylon case; not enough to prevent knocks from marking it, but enough to prevent surface scratches.

Anyone willing to come over and undercoat & gloss my skirting boards is welcome to.