Posted on 11/09/2017 8:39:02 AM PST by gop4lyf
Calling all Freeper guitarists. I am looking into buying a beginner's guitar for myself. I am wanting to spend around $200. I am only interested in an acoustic guitar at this time. My musical tastes range from classic rock, old school country, to some blues. I have sort of narrowed down my choices to a couple of guitars, the Yamaha FG800 (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/FG800?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrOjvwfWx1wIVSY1-Ch2w3wK8EAAYASAAEgL1h_D_BwE) and the Ibanez AW50 OPN (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AW54OPN?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj-Tht_Wx1wIVw19-Ch2vHwtwEAAYASAAEgLViPD_BwE). I was wondering if any of y'all had any experience with either of those and could possibly make a recommendation, or possibly a suggestion for something else. Any and all advice is appreciated!
Appreciate your input.
Can’t beat that!
“If you are in a college town go to a pawn shop and you might find something nice for a reasonable price.”
Great advice. Military towns usually have some nice guitars in pawn shops as well.
I ended up getting a Fender CD-60S.
https://shop.fender.com/en-US/acoustic-guitars/dreadnought/cd-60s-all-mahogany/0961702021.html
Here is what I would do. Get one with Light gauge steel strings. The thicker the diameter the harder you have to press. Steel strings will hurt until some calluses form on the finger tips. But there is a way to get around that somewhat. Buy a Capo for the guitar. A Capo is basically a clasp that can be placed around the strings. Put it on the second fret and using an electronic tuner tune it to guitar standard E on 1st and 6th strings. Once tuned take it off. The chord structure will still be the same but at a lower tone. It's also easier on the instrument. I don't tune mine to E standard and I've played for years. I tune the way I described. This will make the strings easier to play.
As for cost? Here's a true story. When I was about 12 my dad bought me a Harmony 6 string acoustic at a big box store back in the 1960's. He could play it but I never could learn. I tried to learn for years. My first wife's uncles professional players could not play it either. Finally about 30 years ago I borrowed my cousins guitar he had lost interest in. I took it to a shop because IIRC he had set it up for a left hand player. I also took my old one to have it checked. The guy told me the old one my dad bought me was so bad out of alignment it could not be economically repaired nor played unless heavy gauge strings were used. He set up the other one and within a few weeks I was catching on fast. But the neck was too narrow and my fingers slipped off the bottom E.
I went to a guitar store and bought a new Gibson Epiphone acoustic for about $150 and that helped greatly. It's still my primary player. I also later bought a 12 string Takamine F-400 {lawsuit Martin as it is nicknamed}. I bought it used for $200 perfect condition except previous owner strung it wrong and it was a trade in. The store restrung it and it sounds great.
I would not focus so much on price range, names, etc as I would the things I posted about. As ability improves upgrading is always an option. A $500 plus guitar is worthless to the user playing wise as a $100 one if the owners hands don't match up to it. A good store knows this and can help out.
I buy my guitars where many professionals buy theirs especially country players. The building looks like a shack from the road but also has fine top end Martins inside. It's right outside Knoxville, Tennessee and is well known by many. It's called Ciderville Music Store.
BTW here’s some advice on chords to start out with. Keep it simple. C, C7, G, G7, A, A7, D, D7, Dm, F, E, and E7. These are easy chords all are in the first three frets. You can be playing songs in no time with them. Expand from there :>}
Bfl
What VietVet said.
Electrics are much cheaper and easier to finger than acoustics. To save more wear and tear on your fingers, get a set of flatwound strings.
I bought a Fender CD140S, but had to take it back because the neck was warped. It’s a shame, because the mahogany on that guitar was beautiful. The store did have another of the same model with a straight neck, but the mahogany was too orangey looking for my taste. I ended up getting a Fender Paramount PM-1 in mahogany. It’s a very nice guitar, but I really enjoy playing my wife’s parlor sized Ibanez guitar around the house more. I wanted to learn on an acoustic guitar, but I found a good deal on an old Peavey telecaster style guitar and I got hooked on the twang, LOL.
I’m afraid I haven’t been too consistant in my practice or staying with any particular lesson plan. Of course, there’s a lot of free stuff on YouTube but I haven’t found anything that seemed like it was exactly what I was looking for yet. Feel free to ping me sometime if you find some good guitar learning resources or videos.
Bfl
Are you trying to use a pick to strum with?
Sign up for https://www.riffstation.com or download the app.
There are hundreds of songs you can play along with and its a lot of fun to play along with your favorite artists. Also, you can slow it down or get the chords to play with a capo. The only down side is that the chords are not always exact and you can only use it when connected to the Internet.
Yes, but my pick gets stuck a lot.
Try using your thumb the outside upper left edge of it right in the corner. You can chord as well as pick with it. That’s how I learned. It also helps you learn to start working in your other fingers one at a time as you catch on. You can start using your index finger once you learn note positions with the thumb.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.