Selecting your first guitar is very important, get the wrong type and it could easily put you off learning the guitar.
My recommendation is a Classical Guitar, and there are many cheap ones one the market for between $100 and $200.
They have nylon strings, which are soft on the finger tips.
My first guitar was a steel strung Acoustic guitar, and those steel strings were very sore on my finger tips, but back then, I didn’t know any better, and I just pushed through the pain a little, taking breaks of a week or two between practice sessions at times, for my fingers to heal, and build up extra thick skin, which will happen.
I was determined, and it paid off. It was my mums guitar, so it was already there, it was just a matter of asking mum to get me going, which she did.
Dire Straits was my motivation at the time, and that’s important to have a motivation of some type, to look forward to being about to play.
No a days, with the internet and youtube hosting millions of guitar tutorials, there’s no shortage of guitar players to learn from, each having there own unique twist on how to learn, whats there methods etc, and as for songs to learn, just as many.
Back to the classical guitar, the strings are a lot softer allowing to practice for hours at a time right from the start. With my tips and tutorials, they will be hours well spent.
If you get a new one from a shop, then chances are its going to be in new condition, and well set up with strings and action ready to go.
Action, what is that your wondering? Its the distance between the strings and the neck or fret board of the guitar.
The lower or closer they are, the easier it is to play. However, if they are to close, then you can have fret buzzing and specific notes not working, so they can be too close also.
The distance is about 4 or 5 millimeters. The neck also has a slight bend or bow in it. That’s necessary and normal. You’re best to check before you purchase by testing each note (fret) on the neck on each of the six strings. In most cases the sales person will demonstrate the play-ability of the guitar prior to buying it. Just remember to ask about the action.
If you score a guitar from a friend or family member, then it could be a good score, provided it ain’t broken.
Common areas to break are where the neck joins the body, or strings missing or broken, or the mechanical winders for tuning are missing or damaged.
These may still be quite reasonable to repair with simple tools, but if the neck has been broken and taped back up, it might not be worth it if its not repaired good enough.
So you’ve now got a guitar, the next step is tuning it, next post.
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