Hello

[Aliveagain]

I would like to say hello to everyone. I have spent roughly the last hour reading old and new post and i decided to get an account with GT. Every one seems pretty helpful when needed as well as human when just talking.

A little bit about me... 25 years old, Currently stationed in Honduras, Central America. I am Active Army and also an Air Traffic Controller. I am an aspiring song writer and I think my stuff is really good. I have a few buddies that are in a band or just randomly play the guitar for some reason and when i try to get them to put music to my lyrics it turns out sucking somthing awful.

When i was a bit younger i started learning to play just on my own with various magazines that had little tips and tricks to get you started. That failed miserably i played maybe 20 hours total out of a year and never really go anywhere. Now I am a bit older, alot wiser, and I am pushing to really learn this time.

My first of many guitar related questions: As far as buying a guitar, to me, common sense tells me you can learn the basics on any guitar. Now I am sure that some people out there would disagree, but thats my opinion. I had a Wasburn Shadow Series Electric (pardon me if this is an incomplete name. I dont remember if it had a model number or anything.) back in the day and i liked it.. alot actually, it looked cool.. but this time i am thinking acoustic. I'm not normally a cheap guy but i am in a situation where i could order this guitar and it show up completely busted.. or just simply not show up. The honduran mail service is not the greatest in the world. So I have been looking at all the guitars online and i found a Ibanez SGT120 Sage Series Acoustic. It looks cool enough in solid black and i believe its somthing i wont get bored at. Plus should it get damaged i'll only be out about 200 dollars which wouldn't make me cry as much as if i got one that i LOVE like a Washburn N4 Nuno Bettencourt Electric for 1600 dollars. Any advice on whether i should suck it up and pay more hoping the mail doesn't screw me.. Or could a 200 dollar stick serve the same purpose well enough?


More to come. Also, in advance i would like to apologize for my lack of lingo capabilities concerning guitar related things.. I'll learn, fast.

AA

[Aliveagain]

Just so you know, being a writer i can't help but like a song for its words. it could be the worst arrangment of music in the world but i go more for what the artist is trying to say rather than the flow of the lyrics with the song.

Don't get me wrong i enjoy a well put together song like i am sure all of you do too. And to me you can't top listening to a song for the first time that just makes you stop in your tracks and say "damn, that was good"


current bands/artists i like: The Calling, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamins and most any thing in this genre.

The Oldies but goodies: Dylan, Morrison, The Doors, Petty and a few others i know i am forgeting.

[looneytunes]

When I was in Viet Nam 40years ago, I carried around an ugly acoustic guitar that I bought in country. It had no name on it at all. It was hard to keep in tune and I couldn't get strings for it in country, but it served its purpose. I got a lot of pleasure from that old $7 piece of junk and the guys really enjoyed me playing it. I gave that guitar to one of the newbees when I came home.

My point is, what do you intend to do with the guitar. If you are carrying it around in the boonies, I wouldn't pay much. If you have a secure place to store it and can keep it dry and away from the humidity then you may want to pay 2 or 3 hundred dollars. Until you get home, I wouldn't buy a 2 or 3 thousand dollar guitar. If you are playing with others and maybe doing some recording a $200 guitar should work out fine. With an acoustic guitar you have to remember to store it properly when not in use. Dampness and humidity will destroy the finish and tone. I never purchased a guitar based solely on its looks. I go by how it sounds first then how it looks. All acoustic guitars sound different. A Martin has a more deep and mellow sound were a Taylor has a sharper sound. Plus, one Martin may sound difference from another. There are a lot of good $200 guitars out there, but I would try out as many as possible and find the tone you are looking for. I wouldn't buy a guitar online or out of a catalog, but in your situation, you may not have a choice.

Good luck and I hope I didn't discourage or confuse you too much.

[Aliveagain]

I understand your points and no you did not confuse or discourage me. I actually appreciate the advice. I actually do have a place i can store a guitar. And generally here in honduras we don't have very much humidity. like i did say i am planning on spending about 200 on a guitar. The case, extra strings, tuner and strap i plan to spen the extra on.

Thanks again for the advice.