A Guide for New Guitarist.

[lpdeluxe]

I'm sorry, but the whole premise of this is silly. So you're the Yaqui brujo who's convincing the beginners of your power?

As I pointed out, the experience of becoming a guitarist, or any sort of musician, and pursuing it over a lifetime, can't be reduced to a beginner's guide. That you think you can do so is merely an intellectual trick you have played on yourself.

What is the ultimate value of such a guide?

Trivial. Music enriches my life, and a big part of that enrichment is the interplay between myself and other musicians: it does not reside in how clever I am at getting a tech to set up a guitar for a low price or finding a diamond in the rough on EBay for very little money. Those are things that can give an individual a lot of personal satisfaction, but they don't compare to the experience of music in all its complexity...and, I suspect, they are unteachable. Maybe that's the problem: you try to hard to reduce, to simplify, to make it all a Freshman 101 subject.

Good luck. I won't be asking you to join my band any time soon.

 

[Mish]

As far as a beginner goes...they should play some expensive pieces like les pauls and american strats. They should see what turns them on in terms of feel and tone. Then once they know what they want they should familiarize themselves with the price range on that instrument.

Funnily enough, when I was first buying a guitar that's the approach I had in mind. I played couple of LPs, SGs and Fenders in the local shop (all american made) and was like "well meh, I can't play guitar anyway, my fault they don't make me sound like Zakk Wylde".

Then I picked up the $200 Peavey Raptop - and fell in love with it. Having million times worse pickups and poorly leveled frets I sounded better with it than all those top-name guitars I had just tried.

Maybe it's just that I'm fucked in the head or something but I wouldn't trade my Peavey for a signature Les Paul however much it would cost.


I however agree with that approach anyway. I must have been just very lucky to pick that one chinese-made sixstring that was everything I wanted.

 

[WhiteStrat]

LOL!

You must be really assuming that I am some young kid..
sorry buddy, I’m not..
I’ve played and recorded music for a long time.. I’ve met a
lot of people in my time.. from major recording artists to indie’s and
I’ve always listened to people opinions that are different then mine,
because that is just the respectful thing to do, between fellow musicians.

Here’s the real skinny and the shake down:
The “only reason” why some of you have a problem
with what I wrote.. is because it is 100% true… maybe the
“so called experts” saying, in my guide above.. was too familiar with
some of you? Maybe it was the overpriced store and labor that got
some of you, being store owners?

If the shoe fits.. wear it.

I’ve lurked around here for some time now.. and there is lot
of members here that feel the same way.. it’s because of
the “group” of you, that gangs up and says: “FLAME ON”
when others really share their opinions that differ then your
own…whether about gear or other topics.
And that’s a shame, because there are so many talented people
around to share info with.

Ok.. now all of the “so called experts” can have more fun..
and retort.. and prove that my comments directly above
are correct… again.. and again.. and again…

Nope, I never did assume you were some young kid. The fact is, I can read. So I read that you have been playing and writing music for about 20 years. 20 years vs. 20 minutes--doesn't change my opinion of your opinion. And you're still wrong.

And I listened to your opinion. I thought about it. Chewed on it. Looked for what I agreed with, even looked for something I disagreed with that was challenging or worth considering. I didn't find anything.

Look, you came on the forum and posted what you had to know would be an unpopular post. Now you're crying foul because is has in fact, proven unpopular. What's worse is that you're attempting to suggest that it's unpopularity is evidence of its correctness--as though everyone but you is part of an evil, expensive, guitar expert conspiracy.

Sorry, not the case. We just disagree with you and you're having trouble with that. Nonetheless, the consensus is fairly clear. And generally speaking, a consensus forms for a good reason.

In other words...did you ever hear the one about the cow and the psychiatrist. The cow says to the doc "I swear, everyone else in the herd thinks we're cows..."

(Maybe they're right.)

 

[Richard Monroe]

Where do I begin? First, I respectfully disagree with most of the original post. Secondly, there is a huge difference between buying an entry level solid body and an entry level acoustic, but that's for another discussion. My advice is more like this-

1. Go to a huge guitar store, so you can play a lot of guitars, including some you can't afford. The big stores buy in quantity, can sell at a lower price, and will have a larger inventory. There are really 3 types of guitar stores- the huge chains, like Guitar Center, mom and pop stores, which usually sell off-brands and band instruments, and specialty stores, which tend to sell high-end, hand made, and vintage instruments. Mom and pop can't compete in selection and price, and the specialty stores are mostly out of a beginner's price range.

2. Take a good friend with you who really knows guitars, and has similar musical interests. He will help you to ignore the big store's (usually asshole) salesman. He can't tell you why you should buy any given guitar, but he may be able to see things wrong with it that you can't.

3. Buy the guitar *you* like. not the one your buddy likes. You are the one who has to play it, not him. But, try to buy a guitar that your buddy admits is priced fairly, and doesn't have obvious flaws.

4. Here is a point where I *really* disagree with the original post. *Never* buy a guitar you haven't played, Not on line, not one *in the box* where you only played the floor model. Guitars are like snowflakes or fingerprints. They are made out of wood (usually), which is not a uniform substance. The cheaper a guitar is, by and large, the more variable the quality control is. If you play a bunch of supposedly identical guitars, you will find huge differences between them, even in expensive models.

5. The concept of "set up" has been mentioned above. What "set up" is, or isn't, varies a lot between different types of guitars, and may or may not have been done well already. The more setup a guitar requires, the more you have to like it for it to be worth the price.
If a new guitar is badly set up, it often indicates that it was made more by a machine than a human, or a human who didn't care much. Generally, I prefer the work of humans, but not always. Usually, electric guitars with adjustable bridges and truss rods are more adjustable than acoustics, and classical guitars have damned little adjustability built into them. If I think an acoustic is set up badly to begin with, chances are I won't buy it.

6. Before you play an electric plugged in, play it unplugged. You can always modify pickups later, but if the guitar sucks unplugged, amplification will not help. On the other hand, electrics that sound good unplugged usually sound good plugged in.

7. Guitars are like cars. Never pay the sticker price without attempting negotiation. Always offer less than the asking price, and try to get them to throw in accessories, especially a hard case. This is an area where it may be a good idea to shut up and let your guitar buddy do the talking. Make sure thay give you the warranty paperwork and a truss rod wrench that fits, if the guitar has a truss rod.

8. If they are going to do a setup on the guitar, and you have a preference in strings, make sure the type of strings you like are included with the guitar, even if you have to pay for them. String gauge is critical in set up. If you like lights, don't let them set it up with mediums. If the guitar really needs set up, and they charge extra for that, that is where I am likely to take it to a specialty store later and pay the nice real luthier to do it right. No, he probably won't do it for $20, because he actually has a clue and may do something that involves actual work.

9. Inspect every inch of the guitar closely. A new guitar should not have visible damage, and even non-critical wear such as pick guard scratches on a floor model may be a negotiating point on the price. If you do find damage or fit and finish issues, let your guitar buddy tell you if it is functional damage, or just cosmetic.

10. I know it's hard, but try to concentrate on how the guitar feels and sounds, not how it looks. Buying a guitar based on its looks is like buying a car based on the paint job, or marrying a woman because she has good legs. You may live to regret it later.

11. When it all comes together, you will know it. If you are torn whether to buy a guitar or not, don't buy it. Asshole salesmen depend on your emotions being out of control to pressure you into buying a guitar that isn't quite right. When you play the right one, you'll have no doubts. If you find it really hard to put it back on the wall, that's a clue. And don't be afraid to walk out of that store without buying a guitar. The store will most likely still be there tomorrow.

I own a fair number of guitars, some of them higher end, some of them mid priced, and a couple that really were dirt cheap, because you have to have expendable guitars for camping and other risky situations. The cheap ones are some of the ones I'm most proud of. Anyone can buy a good $5000 guitar. It only takes $5000. When you buy a good $80 guitar, you have actually accomplished something. I mostly use a Taylor 710CE for recording, and I assure you, I went through a hell of a lot of acoustics before I found it. On the other hand, you'll often find me on top of a mountain playing my Mitchell MD100S. I bought it brand new at Guitar Center for $80. Marked down from $139 for Memorial Day, I had a 20% off on any one item coupon which went toward that bad boy. Sealed tuners, compensated bridge, ivoroid bound neck and body, purfling and abalone rosette. Solid spruce top, mahogany sides and back, absolutely *perfect* intonation, excellent action. Does it sound like a cheap guitar? You bet. When you buy a more expensive guitar, you get better wood, and that's all....BULL! That's like saying that when you buy a Rolls Royce instead of a Toyota Echo, all you get is better metal. But I'm proud that I found a playable acoustic with perfect intonation for $80. Best of luck to all who seek a cheap guitar, whether it be your first, or as a back up for your Huss and Dalton.-Richie

 

[muttley600]

LOL!

You must be really assuming that I am some young kid..
sorry buddy, I’m not..
I’ve played and recorded music for a long time.. I’ve met a
lot of people in my time.. from major recording artists to indie’s and
I’ve always listened to people opinions that are different then mine,
because that is just the respectful thing to do, between fellow musicians.

Here’s the real skinny and the shake down:
The “only reason” why some of you have a problem
with what I wrote.. is because it is 100% true… maybe the
“so called experts” saying, in my guide above.. was too familiar with
some of you? Maybe it was the overpriced store and labor that got
some of you, being store owners?

If the shoe fits.. wear it.

I’ve lurked around here for some time now.. and there is lot
of members here that feel the same way.. it’s because of
the “group” of you, that gangs up and says: “FLAME ON”
when others really share their opinions that differ then your
own…whether about gear or other topics.
And that’s a shame, because there are so many talented people
around to share info with.

Ok.. now all of the “so called experts” can have more fun..
and retort.. and prove that my comments directly above
are correct… again.. and again.. and again…

All this proves is that you have been a musical dick for more than 20 years. That is nothing to be proud of.

I can pull my own teeth, I have the tools, I know how teeth work, but if it's all the same with you I'll pay an experienced dentist to do it. Even if he charges more than $20.

 

[mrhotapples]

I wont bother reading all of these posts because Im lazy and I cant make apostrophes so Im ticked off, but the best advice I could give a new guitarist has nothing to do with the instrument...

Focus on quality, not speed...Learn how to fret and pick without too much noise, then learn how to accent and play some some groove, then bends, vibrato, THEN try to go faster. If you play electric guitar, try your darndest to make sure when you use distortion that you dont just add high frequency hissing and sizzling...It should sound more like ripping thick cardboard than ripping paper. Do the world a favor and use distortion as a TONE, not a tool to make up for inconsistent playing. Dont use it as a crutch.

If you can get YOURSELF in order and have clean technique and a good concept of what a pleasing tone is, you can make a 15 dollar guitar into a 30 dollar amp sing better than a lot of folks can with 1959 LPs into 57 twins.

 

[Steve Henningsgard]

For a beginner, you're right: it is dumb to spend more than $300-400 on a guitar, 'cause you never know if it's gonna be worth your time, or if you're even going to keep playing it for more than a week or two. I cut my teeth on a $350 Schecter, and I still play it to this day.


However, if you are claiming that it is never worth it to purchase an expensive guitar, there are some facts that you are completely ignoring:

1 - The type of wood the guitar is made of has a large effect on its sound. Expensive guitars tend to use nicer-sounding woods. If you can't hear this, then the problem is your ears, not the guitars.


2 - The pickups and electronics the guitar has in it have an extremely large effect on its sound (assuming we're talking electrics). Cheaper guitars use cheaper pickups, which usually sound pretty awful compared to nicer pickups. They also skimp out on electronics, leading to bad buzzing/humming, scratchy pots, broken wires, loose pots/cable plug-ins, and all sorts of really fun stuff that stems from the incredible lack of detail that most cheap guitars suffer from.


3 - The hardware makes an enormous difference in playability and durability. Cheap guitars skimp as much as they can on things like tuners & bridges. Sometimes cheap tuners can make it very hard to keep the guitar in-tune. Cheap bridges can lead to multiple problems, including poor tuning stability, string breakages due to cheap saddles, poor adjustability, and in the case of floyd rose licensed tremolos, very low durability. Many expensive guitars use much nicer parts that avoid most-to-all of these problems.


4 - The fit and finish, and attention to detail, that you can find in many higher-end guitars puts 99% of the cheap knock-off guitars to shame. Poorly shaped frets, incorrectly cut nuts, poor neck-body attachments, crappy neck radii, etc. Play an incredibly nice custom-shop guitar in the $1500-3000 range, then play almost any guitar under $500: if you don't feel the difference, the problem is you, not the guitars.



That said, there are some "diamonds in the rough" that kick the shit out of most other guitars, and the price of said diamonds can be all over the board. You could play 20 of the same make/model/year Fender Stratocaster and there will usually be one or two that stand out above the rest, even though they were made in the same fashion, at the same facility, with the same tools. A better revision of your statement is that Price doesn't necessarily correlate with quality. You can find incredible $100 guitars, and incredibly mediocre $4000 guitars. However, claiming that there is NO general relationship between price and quality is very much incorrect.


Also, just an FYI for you, ripping on experts in any field makes you look like a jackass, and sound like an infomercial. "Don't listen to the experts, they're all in it for themselves!" Dude, we're talking about guitars here. People don't become experts in this field (or most others) to rip people off, they do it because they love the field.

In reference to your "never support local shops" statement, you are just succumbing to what's wrong with the majority of Americans: the mindset that "everything should be easy and cheap, and anything that saves me time or money is a good thing". It's complete fucking bullshit, and it pisses me off. If you follow this mindset to conclusion, the absolute best life you can have is to sit in a hundred-billion-dollar mansion by yourself, literally never ever move a single muscle, eat out of a tube directly pumped to your stomach, and just be entertained by TV all day. This may seem un-related to your suggestion that "helping out the local businesses is wrong and stupid", but take five minutes and ask yourself why you hate helping other people, and you'll see what I'm talking about.



All of this said, I'm sure you're a complete fucking moron, and will do your best to fit me and my suggestions into your warped view of the world, and there's nothing anyone can say to change your mind, and that's fine. If I helped one single person get set on the right path, and see your ridiculous post/rant for what it was, I'm happy.

 

[muttley600]

For a beginner, you're right: it is dumb to spend more than $300-400 on a guitar, 'cause you never know if it's gonna be worth your time, or if you're even going to keep playing it for more than a week or two. I cut my teeth on a $350 Schecter, and I still play it to this day.


However, if you are claiming that it is never worth it to purchase an expensive guitar, there are some facts that you are completely ignoring:

1 - The type of wood the guitar is made of has a large effect on its sound. Expensive guitars tend to use nicer-sounding woods. If you can't hear this, then the problem is your ears, not the guitars.


2 - The pickups and electronics the guitar has in it have an extremely large effect on its sound (assuming we're talking electrics). Cheaper guitars use cheaper pickups, which usually sound pretty awful compared to nicer pickups. They also skimp out on electronics, leading to bad buzzing/humming, scratchy pots, broken wires, loose pots/cable plug-ins, and all sorts of really fun stuff that stems from the incredible lack of detail that most cheap guitars suffer from.


3 - The hardware makes an enormous difference in playability and durability. Cheap guitars skimp as much as they can on things like tuners & bridges. Sometimes cheap tuners can make it very hard to keep the guitar in-tune. Cheap bridges can lead to multiple problems, including poor tuning stability, string breakages due to cheap saddles, poor adjustability, and in the case of floyd rose licensed tremolos, very low durability. Many expensive guitars use much nicer parts that avoid most-to-all of these problems.


4 - The fit and finish, and attention to detail, that you can find in many higher-end guitars puts 99% of the cheap knock-off guitars to shame. Poorly shaped frets, incorrectly cut nuts, poor neck-body attachments, crappy neck radii, etc. Play an incredibly nice custom-shop guitar in the $1500-3000 range, then play almost any guitar under $500: if you don't feel the difference, the problem is you, not the guitars.



That said, there are some "diamonds in the rough" that kick the shit out of most other guitars, and the price of said diamonds can be all over the board. You could play 20 of the same make/model/year Fender Stratocaster and there will usually be one or two that stand out above the rest, even though they were made in the same fashion, at the same facility, with the same tools. A better revision of your statement is that Price doesn't necessarily correlate with quality. You can find incredible $100 guitars, and incredibly mediocre $4000 guitars. However, claiming that there is NO general relationship between price and quality is very much incorrect.


Also, just an FYI for you, ripping on experts in any field makes you look like a jackass, and sound like an infomercial. "Don't listen to the experts, they're all in it for themselves!" Dude, we're talking about guitars here. People don't become experts in this field (or most others) to rip people off, they do it because they love the field.

In reference to your "never support local shops" statement, you are just succumbing to what's wrong with the majority of Americans: the mindset that "everything should be easy and cheap, and anything that saves me time or money is a good thing". It's complete fucking bullshit, and it pisses me off. If you follow this mindset to conclusion, the absolute best life you can have is to sit in a hundred-billion-dollar mansion by yourself, literally never ever move a single muscle, eat out of a tube directly pumped to your stomach, and just be entertained by TV all day. This may seem un-related to your suggestion that "helping out the local businesses is wrong and stupid", but take five minutes and ask yourself why you hate helping other people, and you'll see what I'm talking about.



All of this said, I'm sure you're a complete fucking moron, and will do your best to fit me and my suggestions into your warped view of the world, and there's nothing anyone can say to change your mind, and that's fine. If I helped one single person get set on the right path, and see your ridiculous post/rant for what it was, I'm happy.

Whilst I agree almost entirely, just a little point on tuners. Poor quality rarely lead to tuning problems. True they can make tuning harder but thats often down to a combination of things, most of which you touched on. What I'm getting at is a tuner is pretty much a tuner, poor gears and parts on them wear quicker but they don't slip as a rule. The benefit of good tuners over cheaper ones are two fold in my experience. They last longer and are smoother to operate. My current favorites are Gotoh 510's.

Other than that I'd say you have it pretty much down with the rest of your comments. To me it's a bit like cars. When you pass your test you'll drive round in anything and love it. Get a few years or miles under your belt and you start to appreciate a car that is well built comfortable and doesn't need constant holding together with gaffer tape and string.

 

[Lt. Bob]

2 comments:
1. 20+ years is nothing. That's still just getting out of 'beginner status to me and others who have spent 40+years at it.

2. Want a cheap guitar? Get a Guitar Fetish ax. I bought an Xavier 600 for $164 just to have something that I wouldn't care what happened to it for some of my beach gigs.
Surprise!!! It's my absolute favorite guitar out of all my gits and I have a bunch of them.

Most of the suggestions to buy cheap were pretty bad. I can make this judgement as to the Xavier because I have the background and knowledge base to draw on. A beginner doesn't and there are plenty of cheap crappo gits out there that would delay or even stop any progress for the beginning guitarist.

 

[Roguetitan]

HappyGuy
I can apreciate you wanting to help a beginning guitarst out by trying to save them a little cash but 99.9% of your original post is just plain and simply bad misinformation.
if you can sit there and try to convince people that a 100 dollar guitar will sound and play as good or better than a mid range guitar in the 400 to 500 dollar price range you are aparently tone deaf.

and a 20 dollar setup... does that price include new strings as well

now I have some rather inexpensive guitars and bass guitars and they do sound very nice but not after doing electronics modifications which no longer makes them cheap anymore.

I can make an exception to the Rogue LX Pro series bass guitar that I swear by because they are indeed good bass instruments and the Peavey Millineum is made in the same shop but even then the quality is hit or miss.

for a production guitar Korean and Chineese builders do good work and the wood selections are fairly decent but the electronics are still sub par compaired to a mid range and high end instruments.

and for you to say that there are no tonal differences in other types of woods is total ignorance on your part.

now if you would have suggested a good inexpensive instrument to start out with so the beginner can ascess whether he or she will stick with learning the instrument I would have went along with that but you did not say that and what you did say could have not been any farther from the truth even if you tried.
ya sure some of the guys made some smart ass remarks that could even be construed as personal attack but comments like that in your OP you left your self wide open regardless of how experienced you are.

 

[wbcsound]

HappyGuy,

Your on the right track, with one exception. There are no absolutes. Everyone should play whatever makes them comfortable. I mostly agree with your price point for mass produced guitars (I would raise it to $100 to around $700). However, a nice completely custom built guitar made to an individuals specs is often worth the money. And regarding the price of labor, well everyone's got a right to earn a living. I personally set up my own guitars, but have paid for the service before without issue.

For beginners, I strongly support buying an affordable instrument that can grow with them for a little while then upgrade later. No point in spending big bucks on something they might lose interest on within a year and they need time to learm what they like. I learned on a barely playable Series 10 strat copy. If someone has the bug, nothing will stop them.

 

[starbuck26]

Is this $20 setup available outside of West Virginia?

 

[muttley600]

Is this $20 setup available outside of West Virginia?

Here in the UK I'll change the string for you for that and you'd still be robbing me.

 

[tdukex]

2 comments:
1. 20+ years is nothing. That's still just getting out of 'beginner status...

I resemble that remark!

 

[Track Rat]

I hate to get in line for this gang bang but as most everyone has said, this is general bad advice. Of course there are GREAT guitars out there for next to nothing but only experience can weed through the turds. I'd NEVER buy ANY brand of guitar, electric or (especially) acoustic without having my hands on it first. Their character can very wildly. As far as having work done to an instrument, an experienced luthier is worth every penny. It's not the materials or the amount of time he spends on an instrument that you're paying for, it's their EXPERIENCE. Like muttley said, just because you have some channel locks and you can reach your teeth doesn't mean home dentistry is always a good idea. Not that you can't do your own tweaking on your instruments (it never stopped me ), there are some things that are better left to someone that knows what they're doing. I feel this is true about all things, not just guitars. I'm not busting your balls, just giving MY opinion.

 

[DrewPeterson7]

Here’s the real skinny and the shake down:
The “only reason” why some of you have a problem
with what I wrote.. is because it is 100% true… maybe the
“so called experts” saying, in my guide above.. was too familiar with
some of you? Maybe it was the overpriced store and labor that got
some of you, being store owners?

Prime, grade A troll. do you actually mean anything in your first post, and then in this one now that yu've started to get defensive, or are you just out to trigger a reaction?

There's two ways of looking at it. One, we're "having a problem" with what you wrote because it's true, we feel threatened by your superior insight, and we're afraid that you'll make us look silly. alternately, we "have a problem" with what you've written because in our experience it's simply wrong, and we're kind of bewildered as to how anyone could have come to the conclusions you have after 20 years of playing guitar.

Re-read steve.h's excellent post. You might learn something.

(and, FWIW, I don't own a shop. )

Here in the UK I'll change the string for you for that and you'd still be robbing me.

Hey, it's not my fault the dollar's gone to hell in the last four years!

 

[Superhuman]

Just pitching in my bit, I've been playing for 15 years and I own some expensive €2K+ guitars and I've owned a lot more cheaper ones along the way. I always advise a beginner to buy the style of guitar close to the style of the musicians he wishes to emulate (at first anyway) - whether its an entry level Ibanez, Epiphone or a knock off copy it will get them interested in playing if they like the look of the instrument. They won't know what a good guitar feels like anyway seeing as they can't strum a chord etc.
Re not listening to 'guitar experts' etc, thats ridiculous advice. Why not learn from people who know more than you? There are luthiers, guitar techs, professional music teachers, store owners (I've never really seen any 'agenda' in their posts - its not as if they live around the corner and are trying to coax you into a seedy little store anyway), professional studio owners and sound engineers on this board and I always take what they have to say on board (granted I read the full thread and choose what I want to take from the detailed arguments and flameage!).
One last thing, €20 for a set up? Maybe €20 to get a set of strings put on but thats about it. In Dublin there are two highly regarded professional luthiers that take on full set ups and neither of them will charge less than €150 per guitar for a full setup (floating trem systems). And yes, getting a set up from one of these guys will transform your guitar into something completely different to what it was before.
Advice on buying your first guitar is pretty impossible to put in writing, the only way to do it is to go to a shop with a friend who can play very well and has experience with different types of guitars and get him to go through the pros and cons of what's available in budget. IF you find it cheaper on Ebay then at least you will have been informed by someone you know and trust as to what suits your short term needs and not some online manual that nobody agrees with. Chances are you will either get serious about playing and want something better or you will give up within the first year anyway.

 

[Superhuman]

To me it's a bit like cars. When you pass your test you'll drive round in anything and love it. Get a few years or miles under your belt and you start to appreciate a car that is well built comfortable and doesn't need constant holding together with gaffer tape and string.

Well said!

 

[Treeline]

*sigh*


I've played guitar since 1970. I'm not good at math and write for a living, so you guys can do the math for me.

If the premise of the initial pose was supposed to be "You don't have to blow your life savings to get a decent instrument" then I agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately that premise was lost in the rest of it, which on the whole is poorly thought out and not well presented.

So maybe, happyguy, how about sticking with the main premise and asking the people who have been down this path how to go about fulfilling the potential of that basic premise? I bet such a thread might actually be useful for a beginning guitarist. For starters, I think Richard Monroe has the right idea. I'm a little sloppier than he is with those concepts, but then I'm a little sloppier than he is in most things so it works out.

For my part, I've learned the value of working with a local guitar shop run by a crew with integrity. My guitar tech works really, really hard for a living and charges me far too little for the value I get. He's charging standard rates. I would stay with him if he doubled his rates.

Why? Because he knows what he is doing and does not waste my time or money while he's doing it. He's worth every nickel he charges and then some. And all that makes him an extremely modest living.

So my take would be: find someone local and build a mutually respectful relationship. Ask for advice and try to follow it if your wallet lets you. Respect the luthier who can make an awful instrument feel good to play so your kid sticks with the lessons you are paying for. And consider that your kid's music teacher might be charging half what the lessons are worth, because that is likely to be the case.

 

[santiu]

“and don’t forget to buy from a local shop..” well that is just that.. some of
these “so called guitar experts” are local shop owners… you’ll find that local
music shop prices are “way overpriced”. By all means.. try some guitars in
the price range again, between $50.00 to $350 dollars (you’ll probably won’t
find any in the $50 range.. but “you will” on the internet!) then after making
some notes.. say thank you to the store help and walk out and then buy your guitar on the internet.

ugh... seriously? I love the internet and internet shopping as much as the next guy.
*on soap-box*
Without going on a totally off-topic rant, ya know there are about a zillion good reasons to support local business (and I'm not talking about the likes of Guitar Center and other corporate monstrosities)!!!! You go and be happy with your $50 guitar that caused it's chinese maker to have lung cancer and lead poisoning. Just think, that $300 you saved only cost a single human life Consume consume consume, don't worry about what happens when rampant consumerism drives thing to the lowest possible standards...
*off soap-box*

sorry about that, I'm not sure what brought that on. That didn't even have really anything to do with your post... seriously sorry. I don't even belong here, i'm a drummer! I'm outta here (but since i already wrote it, might as well hit "submit reply") ...