Buying Your First Acoustic Guitar

While looking for your first acoustic guitar, there are many things to consider.

No one wants to spend a whole lot of money on their first guitar in the event that they may not keep with it. However, you may be taking a greater risk buying a cheap guitar.

If you buy a cheap guitar, it will be much easier to get discouraged. A poor quality guitar won't stay in tune very long if it will even hold a good tune at all. This and other poor qualities make it difficult to get a good sound.

All aspiring musicians want and need to sound good in order to be encouraged to grow and develop musically. A cheap guitar with poor sound may cause them to be discouraged and stop playing music all together.

So when buying a guitar for a beginner, I would strongly recommend buying a used guitar for several reasons.

As with all wooden instruments, the wood sounds better as it ages. Therefor buying a used instrument will usually get you a better sound. It may have a few dings or scratches, but the sound is the important part.

Used guitars also cost less than new ones, so you may even pay less for a guitar that sounds better than a more expensive newer one ever could.

Don't make the mistake of buying from a pawn shop on your first time out. They will try to sell the guitar at the highest price they can get away with, and knowing you are a beginner they will more than likely take advantage of you.

Last but most important is to realize that all acoustic instruments vary in sound, even if they are mass produced. So just because a guitar has a well known name, do not take it to mean it sounds better than another or for that matter good at all. If at all possible take a guitar player with you to test it out for pros and cons.

Your first guitar may change your learning experience for the better or the worse, so make sure to pick the right one.