little help please..

xxchloexx

Sorry if i've posted this in the wrong forum , just looking for some advice , I dont no anything about guitars but i want to buy one for my boyfriend as a surprise because he has mentioned he would love to learn to play. I want an acoustic one and i have 300-400 euro to spend on it , so any suggestions where to buy it and what one ?? thanks so much.:D

Gaspode

THere's a number of shops around Dublin for you to look in, mostly centred around the south city area.

As for which one, you cant go far wrong with brands like Yamaha, Takamine, Fender, Ovation, Cort.
I personally wouldnt go for the McBride or the SX brand ones, but that's just me.
Dont buy anything under €250!

If at all possible get someone to go with you who can play guitar and get their advice/opinion. Sales people in the shop more than likely wont be trying to rip you off, but it's good to have someone there who can confirm what they're telling you.

ciaranmac

As someone who learned to play a few months ago my experience is still fresh in my head. Definitely bring someone shopping with you who knows their way around a guitar already. You can get a reasonable instrument under €200 but if you don't know what to look for then it's risky.

Along with a guitar you should buy a decent quality strap (i.e. one that the guitar won't fall out of - you can get these for less than a tenner), a few plectrums/picks and a spare set of strings.

Think about lessons as well - many people teach themselves successfully but my experience was 20 years of trying and quitting, followed by 10 weeks of lessons which I should have done years ago. There is a lot of really good free material on the web but the key thing is to practice at least half an hour every day. It's a great motivator to be trying to get value for money already spent on lessons by practising properly, and it will get him into a habit that he'll keep up when the lessons are over.

goblin59

as a musician of many years i wouldnt recommend spending your full budget on an acoustic, mainly because acoustic guitar mightn't be for him. there was a point at the beginning of my playing where i gave up and put the guitar down for months before getting seriously into it.

in dublin if you wern't able to get into the city to try with someone who plays i'd recommend this - http://www.xmusic.ie/YAMAHA-FULL-SIZE-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-NAT-p-32696.html

but both my dad and I, (my dad playing for 30+ years) own one of these http://www.thomann.de/gb/ibanez_v72ebk.htm

Mr. CooL ICE

I am not a guitarist, but I read before that one of the main reason people fail to learn guitar is due to using a bad guitar at the beginning. There are a lot of cheap ones out there which for a beginner would be painful on the fretting hand, be it from rough design or poor action/frets, and in turn, make learning the instrument any further to be less desirable.

So to echo what has been said above, bring along someone you know who knows guitars to be sure

wild turkey

I sold this to a teacher a few weeks ago for one of his students who changed his mind
but if you wanted a really nice acoustic this would be it imho
Its brand new
hes selling it for around 320 if you pm lotr2

http://www.adverts.ie/261865/guitar-and-bass/crafter-moonlight-rose-and-case/
this was my add to give you an idea

slavetothegrind

personally i would approach a guitar teacher from the sticky above, do a deal for 10 lessons and arrange for the first lesson to include a trip to the guitar shop with your oh to purchase a guitar.

This should ensure a reasonable guitar which your oh also had a hand in picking and choosing electric or acoustic based on what the oh prefers to start on.

either way class present and full marks to you!;)

RedDragonJack

Buy him a ukelele.:D