Beginners acoustic guitar

quad_red

Hi folks,

Would appreciate some advice. Basically, want to get the Mrs an acoustic guitar. She played a bit a long long time ago. But we have a two kids now and the young lad (two) loves music. So she wants to take the guitar back up again, partly for herself and partly to inspire the wee man.

Now - we just bought a house so don't have allot of money. Can you advise how much/what sort would a nice sounding acoustic cost?

Thanks,
Quad

Oink

You have a couple of things to consider:

"Spanish or "folk/acoustic" guitar
You can get "Spanish" guitars with nylon strings, or what you might call "folk", with metal strings. They sound different enough. It depends on her tastes etc., but statistically speaking I guess she would probably prefer a folk one.

Guitar only or starter pack
You can either spend all the money on a better guitar, or choose a pack which includes a soft case, a tuner and a couple of tidbits.
A better musician might prefer a better guitar and be less bothered with the accessories.
If she's more on the beginner side, a pack could be handy.


Budget:
It looks like you might find something for €100. Not sure how good that would be, but €200 looks feasible.

Now what?
The best thing is really for her to pick it herself and try it first. Seriously. Failing that, a few options:

http://waltons.ie/Product/Search.aspx?search=&mid=&searchMid=&cid=283&searchCid=&min=&max=&sort=price&dir=asc

http://musicmaker.ie/125-acoustic-starter-beginner-packs

I haven't tried this model, but I have a thing for Takamine guitars so on top of my head I would be tempted by this one:
http://musicmaker.ie/25075-jasmine-jd37-acoustic-guitar-bundle-9999912346878.html

Let us know how you get on.

PS: A lot of beginners don't bother changing strings until they fall off themselves in disgust. For maximum enjoyment I strongly recommend changing them when the sound becomes dull. It will be much more fun to play.

martinedwards

if you don't play and are getting it as a surprise, get the guy in the shop to play it.

Most music shop assistants are musicians so if HE can't squeeze a decent tune out of it, then it'll be unplayable.

as a rough guide the strings should be LESS than 4mm off the frets (the metal bars across the neck) at the 12th fret.

any more?

walk away.