Cheap Student Acoustic Guitars?

Question

I want a student acoustic guitar. I don't want a big one, like the full one, maybe a 1/2 or 3/4. i just want to teach myself, or take lessons. And I want a cheap one. Like about 50 bucks. or less. I'm broke, lol, my parents won't pay I'm sure. So you guys know any places near North Normandie? Email me if you know a place or if you want to give me any other info. Thanks! or just answer the question! THANK YOU!

Answer 1

You have a couple of options.

Unless you're a small person, you'll probably have issues with a 1/2 sized guitar. Some of these are made for kids, more commonly they're made for travel. You can find very nice small guitars, but the sound is always going to suffer versus the full thing.

With that said, you don't have to buy the full-sized Dreadnought, either. Look for a "parlor" guitar or, as you say, a 3/4 size, which is still going feel like a full sized design, but a bit smaller overall.

As for cheap... I wouldn't recommend going overly cheap. It's not simply that you'll get lower quality sound (though you might), but that you may have technical problems with it, which will keep you from playing the guitar.. and the most important thing you can do to learn is practice, practice, practice. I play at least an hour every day.

There are three things I'd do to find a guitar bargain. One is to look at some of the "beginner" models put out by reputable guitar makers. These will be no-frills guitars, but they're of a decent enough quality to get you into learning, and there's little risk.

A bit more risk is the idea of buying a used guitar. You can look at the local classified, on-line resources like eBay or Craigslist, flea markets, yard sales, etc. There are plenty of people who buy a nice guitar, don't play for some years, and finally decide they just want to be rid of it. The risk is of course that there's something wrong with the guitar that you wouldn't notice, or that you buy an off-brand that's really no bargain.

A big help would be if you have a friend who's an experienced player to drag along if you go shopping locally, or to look over something you find on-line. I'm not saying that all off-brands are bad guitars, just that some are really cheap, and without holding it and playing it, I can't tell the difference. If it says "Martin" or "Taylor" or  "Gibson" or "Fender" or something similar on it (and assuming it's not a Chinese knock-off), I'm pretty confident there's at least a base level of quality.

A word about eBay... if you look on eBay, you'll find any number of guitars selling for $20, $30, etc. Most of these are "novelty" guitars... they're very cheaply made, not really something you'd want to play. If you spend this little, you're very likely to buy a guitar that will work against you in the learning process (I'll have to admit here I learned on a Martin D-15... about $1300 MSRP.. and I'm still playing it today). The number 1 warning is that there's no brand-name listed.

In fact, if you can, borrow one for a month, get a beginner's book (assuming you don't play at all right now), and just play as long as you can every day (it may not be a hour... you have to put in some time to develop thick calluses and kill off those pesky nerves on the fingertips of your fretting hand). At that point, you'll at least have some idea of what you like and don't like, which will help you make a better decision about the guitar... and that's particularly important if you can't afford even one bad buy. Another option is to buy from a local store that offers a liberal return policy.

Here are a couple of buying guides, which might also help:

http://guitar.about.com/od/commonbeginne...

http://www.acousticfingerstyle.com/Buyin...

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/guit...

http://www.mahalo.com/How_to_Buy_a_Guita...

Answer 2

I would suggest buying online, like Ebay. you can usually get a better deal, than if you walked into a store

And get a decent one. Cuz you don't want a crappy old thing. Otherwise the sound is crud, which makes it hard to teach your ear to be intune with your guitar/ chords/ etc... Trust me, that's very important.

And it comes naturally as you gradually get better.

Soon you'll realize that you and your guitar will become more one when playing...Training your ear will recognize messups right away, or when you're not tune exactly right... so on... That skill grows on you.

Just my recommendation

Also, if the guitar is made good wood, the better (not the cheap-if you drop it it'll shatter- wood). The difference between the two is the sound, believe it or not.

here's a ebay listing.

http://search.ebay.com/acoustic-guitar_W...

also Amazon & Craig's list is good.