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If you’re looking to start playing the guitar, then you are probably thinking about buying one too. I’m going to assume that you aren’t looking to spend much more than $300 on your first guitar, and I’ll do my best to help you narrow down your search for your first axe.

Acoustic Guitars

If you’re looking to have a guitar that you can bang out some chords on, play some cover tunes on, and be able to just grab whenever you feel the urge, an acoustic guitar is a great first instrument. I love my acoustic guitar, and it gets played more than any other instrument I own, just because it’s always sitting on my couch in the living room, waiting to be strummed. It’s great when friends are over, and it is very much a social instrument.

Electric Guitars

Don’t get me wrong, electric guitars are great too, and offer some unique advantages to a beginner, like the ability to play really quietly in headphones, and if you’re using one of the many amp simulators available like the Line6 POD, then you can live out your rock and roll dreams without waking up the neighbors. So even if a Marshall full stack isn’t in your future, don’t rule out an electric guitar.

Buying a Guitar

It’s important that you like the way the guitar feels and sounds. I recently went with a friend to purchase a new guitar. He had a $600 budget, so we went to the local music store, and played every Mexican made Fender Stratocaster in the store, and despite all of them being the same model, they all sounded different, and one of them sounded distinctly better. I don’t recommend buying a guitar without playing it first.

You’re probably thinking, “But I can’t play, how am I going to know?”. Have a sales person play it for you. Don’t be intimidated by their playing, ask them to tune it up and strum an E minor chord. Listen to the tone of the instrument, does it sound good? Give it a try, don’t worry about chords, fret every note on every strings, is it easy to play? Does it buzz, or is it hard to press the strings down? Run your hand up the side of the neck and make sure that the frets are smooth, be careful though, I’ve almost been cut by poorly manufactured guitars.

Acoustic Guitar bridges do not generally offer much flexibility for setup, and paying to have an entry level acoustic properly setup is probably not worth the money. So make sure that the strings are easy to press down and make a sound, but also aren’t so low that they buzz a lot.

Entry level electric guitars can play great if the store has taken the time to set them up (often the manufacturer’s don’t). Ask the store about having a free setup done if you are concerned about the guitar’s playability, and intonation.

Don’t Rule Out a Used guitar

When I say used, I don’t mean vintage. I don’t recommend making a large investment on a first guitar. You’d be amazed at some of the quality guitars that are “out of fashion” right now. When bands like Nirvana and Sonic Youth started playing Fender Jaguars and Mustangs, it was because they were cheap at the pawn shop, you could either afford 5 of them and keep them in different tunings, or you could smash them on stage, and not feel too bad about it. (Note: I don’t advocate smashing guitars unless you are a gracious patron of your local guitar tech.)

Now a days I see a glut of 80′s glam rock guitars, like Jackson’s, Charvels, ESPs, and Hamers for sale at pawn shops. They generally play well, stay in tune, and sometimes have a paint job that is a good laugh. Chances are you will pay less than half of the new $700-1500 price tag. Regardless of the style, guitar technology hasn’t changed all that much in the last 40 years, so don’t be fooled by manufacturer gimics, there isn’t really any latest and greatest improvements on a guitar that are going to make or break your learning process.

Last Words

The bottom line is that it’s your first guitar, while there is a lot more to know about buying a guitar than can be covered in just one article, the most important thing is that it feels and sounds good to you, and that it makes you want to play. Check back for more in depth articles dedicated to checking out a new or used instrument.

Fender Stratocaster Mexican