Originally Posted by: vagnetsec

Hi people,

I just subscribed to the forum, and really have no idea about guitars, so please be patient :)

I am interest for an acoustic steel strung guitar, but I don't know which one should I take as I am an absolute beginner on my 30ies. Also, what else should I buy with it to tune it, use it etc.?

I am looking to not spend more than 150 to start with.

Many thanks all for your suggestions :)

Regards,

Ev

Billy had some good advice and I would disagree with any of it.

On the point of how much to spend, without knowing your financial situation, if you can go up in your budget, you'll find a leap in the quality of guitar you can buy. If you can get as high as $300, that would get you a great guitar that is very playable. It's not that you can't find a guitar that you can play in the $150 range, it will just be much harder to find.

The key to the budget and quality is, of course, playability. When you start out even with the most expensive, top dollar guitar, guitar is not always easy. Like anything you learn, it takes time, patience and perservierence to get better. That's not even considering the quality of your instrument.

What you don't want is a guitar that makes sticking with it even harder. If you are committed to playing through any challenges, a very playable guitar will make the process easier and more fun. Particularly if you're going to start with acoustic. As Billy noted, it is harder. Not in skill so much. The strings are generally heavier and the physicality it takes to play acoustic is a little step up from electric. Thus my thought regarding; if you're going to start with acoustic, a little bigger budget could help.

Here's a review in the Fender T-Bucket I did some time back. You can get it for less than $300 if you look (and probably cheaper used. The only change to the review I'd make is; the body is a little thicker (deeper) than some other acoustics. It's not a bad thing at all. Just something to note. I played this guitar until a few weeks ago (I've been playing guitar since '81(ish) and got the acoustic to noodle on. Did great for 5 years (still does) but I wantede to move up since I was playing mostly acousatic these days and got a Taylor.

Some in that less than $300 range that are good are; Washburn, Yamaha, Fender or Ibanez.

Good luck!