What is a good beginning acounstic guitar???

What should we look for when buying our first Acoustic Guitar? Obviously price/budget makes a huge difference, but is there a couple brands/types that are standard for beginners? Some of the ones that I've heard from friends are:

Fender CD 280S
Yamaha LL6
Taylor 110

I understand that I should ultimately choose one that feels comfortable, I'm just trying to narrow the search --- there are so many options!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Budget: $300 - $600

You're right, you should really try-before-you-buy so that you assured that the guitar feels right for you. There are few things you can think about.

-the body style & shape: the shape will affect how the guitar feels in your lap, the size of the body will determine the guitar's over-all volume. For instance, dreadnaught acoustics that you see a lot of country guys use have a lot of volume... great if you're going to jam with other people, but maybe not so good a choice for those practicing in a thin-walled apartment.

-construction materials: in your price range, you're probably going to seeing a number of options that use "laminate" and other artificial materials (not real wood) to build the guitar & neck. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I find that guitars made from laminate or essentially plastic "fake wood" tend to sound quite bright, lacking the deeper tones and sonic breadth that real wood guitars have, but still sound really good, and the build quality can be quite high. Give these guitars a good hard test-drive, and if you like one, go for it. Real wood is nice, but be wary of "real wood" guitars that are super cheap. They might be real wood, but the construction may be pretty poor and components like the nuts that keep the strings in tune may be crappy. My buddy has a cheap acoustic and its impossible to tune properly. The intonation is awful (how in tune the guitar is with itself).

Going used will get you more bang for your buck, and especially with acoustics, there are always great deals on Craigslist to be had. Just look at an add, then do a Google search to get an idea of reviews and prices for that guitar.

Finally, since this is your first guitar, as hard as this is, let go of caring about how the guitar looks. If the guitar is a hideous color, has scratches or maybe a chip out of the headstock or something, you can save yourself a HUGE amount of money. If you get really deep into guitar, you'll be wanting to spend 4x as much as what you're budgeting now, so you'll likely be letting this guitar go in the future anyways.

Don't forget to go into a place like Guitar Center and try a whole bunch of acoustics. Ask to borrow a tuner when you go in, and be sure to bring a pick. Don't be afraid to try out some $2000 ish guitars just to see what they are like (don't drop it!). You might be surprised at how well some of the more affordable models stand up.

Happy shopping!

Good post Slipin. I'd just go with a 'what he said' for advice. It's a good guide.

I did want to mention the 'don't worry how it looks deal'...truly don't. Keep in mind, simply because it's a guitar, it looks cool.

My first guitar was a definitely used '69 Les Paul (yes, lucky....) but the reason what I could afford to do a Les Paul that played great was that it had certainly been roadworn in appearance. Play great. Sounded awesome.

Though I think Gibson now charges more for such a finish ;)

Hi Josh,

I agree, all great advice, above.

I'll also throw in my own personal opinion: I've rarely met a Taylor or a Yamaha that I didn't think was a really good guitar for the price.

Just my two cents.

Let us know what you decide - and have fun!
Best - Lisa

Thank you everyone for the advice. It seems everyone I talk with has a different recommendation on the brand. What I've learned is that I need to play them and decide what works for me. The challenge is my local guitar shops have a limited selection in my price range. I think I'm going to have to take a leap of faith, based on customer reviews and friends recommendations and just order one online.

My biggest question is the difference between the all solid wood and laminate guitars. It seems that in the $600 price range you have options for both.

Slipin Lizard, you said, "Real wood is nice, but be wary of "real wood" guitars that are super cheap. They might be real wood, but the construction may be pretty poor and components like the nuts that keep the strings in tune may be crappy."

How do I determine if they are using poor components?

For example, what about the:

Guild GAD Series D-140

(solid spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides. Other premium features include a slim and smooth-playing satin-finish mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, ivoroid binding and mother-of pearl rosette and inlays)

Epiphone Masterbilt DR-500MCE

(It features a solid Sitka spruce top, hand-scalloped Sitka spruce braces, mahogany kerfing, a 25-1/2"-scale rosewood fingerboard, and a rosewood bridge. Handcrafted dovetail neck joint and hide-glue construction. The Epiphone DR-500MCE guitar has a solid mahogany back and sides, as well as a 20-fret, hand-shaped mahogany neck that joins the body at the 14th fret, which is adorned with carefully cut, split-diamond pearl fretboard inlays. As with all Masterbilts, the Epiphone electric guitar features a vintage-style offset headstock with a stickpin inlay.)

Things may be different now, but I remember 12 years ago when I bought my acoustic, my main concern was the action. I was shopping in your price range.

To me there is nothing worse than playing an acoustic with high or badly set action. If it's hard for me to play, I'm not going to play it...I don't care if it sounds like angels singing! The action on the various models I tried varied considerably. I had tried Fender, Gibson, and Yamaha - they were all hard for me to play. There was an Ibanez and a Seagull that were comfortable for me...I went with the Seagull, but I could have done just as well with the Ibanez.

Unfortunately, you can't really determine how the action feels unless you hold the guitar in your hands.

Is the action consistent within a brand?

Especially as a beginner, I think comfort should trump any sound characteristics. There's nothing worse than learning to play on something that hurts to play, especially when it doesn't need to be that way. As a kid, I had a cheapo guitar I learned on...and it was horrible :-)!!

I wholeheartedly agree...As a beginner, I'm not sure I can distinguish the subtleties in sounds quality, but I certainly can tell a difference in playability.

I've also learned that most guitars, if not all in the $600 price range, are made overseas. I'm not sure if this has any bearing on the decision making process???

Originally Posted by: joshs_3
How do I determine if they are using poor components?

Hey Josh... if you're trying out a guitar, and it just won't stay in tune, that's a pretty good indicator that the machine heads/tuners are not doing their job. I'm talking about tuning it, hitting 4-6 big chords and then immediately noticing the guitar is out of tune, again. Also, the tuners may feel flimsy, and/or loose when you go to tune the guitar.

The two guitars you're looking at both look like good choices. Guild is a quality name brand, Epiphone is sort of a "I wish I could afford a Gibson" brand. Some people really like their stuff, others feel the quality lacks as just about every model they make is a "price point" guitar.

The big difference between the two guitars you've listed is that the Epiphone has a built-in pickup, so if you wanted to use the guitar with an amp, you could. The Guild in comparison would have to be miked up. I'd only give this a lot of consideration if you plan to start jamming with a band or something in the future. I did notice on Muscian's Friend website that one guy wasn't happy with the electronics in the Epiphone, but over-all lots of people really like the guitar. If it were me, I'd probably lean towards the Guild if I was sure I would never want to play in a band, live gigs or anything that required amplification; otherwise, the Epiphone is a good "future proofing" choice.

Another guitar you might want to take a look at is the Taylor GS Mini. Good price, and it has a really good reputation. I think Lisa actually tried one of these out a while back and really liked it. The only thing to be aware of is that it is a smaller body guitar, and because of that it won't have quite the bottom end that a full size guitar will, but it will still sound great. If you wanted to, you could just go to Sweetwater and order the GS Mini, and I'm sure you'll be happy. You'll also stay within your budget. Here's the link:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GSmini/

With all these guitars, take time to go on YouTube and see what people are saying about them. Also, take a look at the context of the video... if the sound is terrible, and its some kid in his super messy bedroom plunking a few out-of-tune chords but saying the guitar rocks, well, that's not as meaningful as someone sitting in a well-organized studio saying they are actually using the guitar for their next recording.

Maggior comment about the action/comfort is spot on. If you're trying guitars, and the strings seem really high off the fretboard then its probably not what you're looking for. However, you seem to be eyeing up some good models, so that probably isn't going to be an issue.

Let us know what you end up getting, and feel free to ask all the questions you want... taking your time is the best investment you can make when shopping for a good guitar!

Slipin Lizard,

Thanks again for the very thorough review and recommendation on the GS Mini. I've continued to do research and watch videos - I'm gonna order the Guild D-150 vs. Guild D-140 & Epiphone (I mentioned in an earlier post).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W78oBqJ_Aa0

I also like the idea of a slim profile neck --- I don't have huge hands!

I have no intention of playing in a band or live, so I'm not ordering the electric version. From my research, I would be much better off adding a higher quality pickup vs. stock pickup, later on if I wanted to.

Thanks again to you and everyone else for the help! Can't wait to get it and start the Learning Process!

Glad to help! I think you're making a good choice. You probably won't out grown that guitar. Cool that you're getting the cutaway version, I think you'll appreciate that further down the road. I really liked the song that was in the video you linked. Lisa's "finger-picking" series is great for getting into that style of playing; check her lesson's out when you get the guitar. She starts off really basic and builds up your skills bit by bit... next thing you know, she's got you sounding like a pro!

Have fun!