Help! Hey all you guitar players out there. I need some advise. I am finally taking guitar lessons. I know I can do it but I have one delima. Being a beginner I need to get an acustic guitar and yep you guessed it I have no idea what to start with. I wen\'t over to the Guitar store today on a rare lunch break just to look around. I talked with one of the guys there and he showed me several different starter packs, you know, Guitar, case, strings, picks, tuner, which was great, but I don\'t think he thought I was serious. Ibanez has a good one and so does Yamaha but just not sure. I wan\'t something that will be good quality and of course sounds good and will last awhile but I don\'t need top of the line. I know alot of you play so I couldn\'t think of anyone better to ask. Any input is greatly appriciated.
Thanks! :)
sngwthme,
i would defiantly go for a yamaha, they sound really nice, and they are as tough as anything and most importantly they wont break the bank for a nice sounding acoustic. I\'ve had my yammaha acoustic for around 4 years. i own a Yamaha Fg-110, it was acually the first guitar i started out on.
(http://www.eva.hi-ho.ne.jp/a-ohkita/100-0019_IMG_2.JPG)
go for a yamaha, but the best advice i could give you would be try some out..but personally i\'d say get a yammaha :P
CM
Thanks Chris Moss. I really appriciate that input.
I was looking at that Yamaha, it is a really good package for the price. I thought anyway. It has everything including an insturctional DVD. It also comes with a digital tuner. Not sure if that is better then a regular tuner?? Any thoughts?
I didn\'t ask him to take it out of the box. I hope that when I go back someone there can play it for me just so I can hear it ya know. Like you said to try it. I just can\'t play yet, so me trying it wont help. They have two options. Solid Spruce top or Laminated. Does that matter in regards to the sound?
QuoteIt also comes with a digital tuner. Not sure if that is better then a regular tuner?? Any thoughts?
digital tuners are very easy to tune with, so yes that is mushc bteer then a regular tuner. the only other tuning machanism is pitch pipes, which are a totoal nitghtmare, but it does make you tone conciouss..so it\'s good for that.
QuoteSolid Spruce top or Laminated. Does that matter in regards to the sound?
sngwthme, im not too sure about this, i dont play acoustic that much, so im not too sure. i think it\'s just the finishes...shiney or not shiney? but dont quote me on that.. maybe travis or some acoustic players might know more about that?
o most definitely solid spruce top !!!!!! Do Not go laminate even if its cheaper. acoustic guitars make lots of their sound from the resonance of the sound box. solid top resonates and sounds infinitely better. shiny finish stiffens the top a bit but it resists dings so thats ok. if its one of the box sets still take the guitar out of the box and play it. they are usually strung. but mostly be sure to sight down the length of the neck and see that the neck isnt warped. you never know and that would be really really bad- good luck and have funsies!
ah yeah go with Yamaha, I don\'t have one, but go with it mines a jasmine made by Takamine cutaway style real bright loud an cheerful sound. I would have gotten a Tak but was in the Po house.
Chris
yep - get the spruce top! the laminate just seems so dull in tone, less of the richness.
Thank you sooo much everyone. This is very helpful and I truly appriciate it. Now I am armed and ready to go back to the store, that guy will know I am serious now!
I will keep you posted! Thanks again!
Well.... they were all sold out of the Yamaha starter packs :( So after looking at several others I ended up walking out with a Fender. I think at first I might have driven the guy that was helping me crazy having him pull all of them out of the boxes, about 8 different ones, but after he tuned them and played all of them for me I don\'t think he really minded. We picked out the best one and we made sure the neck was straight and the strings laid right on the neck and he showed me how to work with it. For a starter I think I did pretty good, THANKS TO ALL OF YOU GUYS! It\'s a beautiful guitar and it sounds really really nice.
I can\'t wait to get playing. I will keep you posted on my progress!
Good luck with the new guitar sngwthme, I played as a kid and you make me think of taking it up again. I love your enthusiasm. Does anyone have suggestions on how to make it less painful to start up again? With all of the previous posts I feel confident I can purchase a new guitar, my old one is way old even though I still have it. Not even sure if it has a brand name on it! I think I used a tuning fork to tune it..............does that date me too much? Thanks for any suggestions.
Happy New Year, and prayers for all of those in need.
Deblee
not knowing what made it painful it would be hard to know how to make it less so... but i do know that you can always drop it again if you don\'t enjoy it. sometimes you just need to do something alone for a while, get comfortable with it, and then start looking for some training - once you feel comfortable with the instrument itself. others want instruction right off the bat - it\'s a personal thing. yep, only one piece of advise - pick it up and see what you feel. ;)
hey SGWTHME - be sure you keep us posted on your new adventure!! :-*
I played my first chords over Christmas, Helped by my brother. Christmas eve we were on the phone (he\'s in another state) and he got his guitar and walked me through a couple of things, it was great! I felt like a little kid getting a new bike or something.
Woohooo I am playing guitar!
Congrats to you sngwthme! :o ::)
I remember cords, or the word at least. Just not how to do them anymore.
What I meant about painful in getting started was the uncomfortable period in toughening up the finger tips and the painful feeling of being all thumbs in the beginning, and of course the times when the sound is hard on the ears. But putting all that aside as part of the learning, and re-learning process I think it should be fun.
Is it fun yet sngwthme????? Sounded like you felt so. ;D
Deblee
Absolutely fun! Sore fingers and all! ;D
I haven\'t really put the awkwardness of beginning into thought. I know that any new adventure I embark on, even if there happens to be a couple of hicups
(sore fingers) in the end it turns out great.
I can only see ahead and to be able to play my own guitar to sing along with is enough motivation for me to keep traveling there. We are all capable of learning, or in your case Deblee re-learning, anything we set ourselves up against. All we have to do is try.
Maybe I am just stubborn because not following through is not an option for me. When I start something look out! But mostly I like to keep busy either with something I have done before or especially learning something new.
So I say Deblee come along with me, pick up that old tuneing fork, wiggle out those fingers and start pickin! ;D
You got it!!!!
Sore fingers for me and fun, fun, fun, along the way!
DL
Some good advice here I can see. One of the things I found with my first guitar (a $20 Sears special my mom bought for my dad; long story) was that the action was so high it just about tore my hands apart. It helped a bit to put 3 nylon strings on the top until my fingertips hardened, but even then I found steel strings awfully hard to tolerate, even playing daily. I finally filed down the bridge to where it was more comfy, but let\'s face it, you\'re never going anywhere with a $20 guitar! Mind you, I took it everywhere because I didn\'t really care if it got bashed. Something to be said for that!
Must have had a screw loose or been listening to too much Leadbelly or John Allan Cameron or Leo Kottke, because my next guitar was a 12-string! Yamaha, come to think of it - they are nice and not too expensive (about $125 in 1970), just like Chris Moss says (although I don\'t recall having played a 6-string version).
Finally wound up with a Guild 12-string http://www.guildguitars.com/gear/gear.php?partno=3802900 in about 1977 I think it was, which gives a nice deep warm clear but occasionally somewhat buzzy sound, and accompanies my fairly high voice the way I like. All steel strings, but even if I haven\'t played for a bit it\'s not as bad as 6-string because the doubled strings distribute the pressure a little better, for less pain.
Not advocating anyone play 12-string for this reason though - they can be a bear to tune - just a comment. Not as bad to tune as an autoharp, of course, but that\'s a whole other story. ::) LOL, why AM I on this site? Because Travis has such an eclectic list, & there\'s great conversations going on, that\'s why!
Now when you get to the top end of the 6-string market, and I\'d love to go back there some day, I\'ve coveted a Martin dreadnought for a long long time. 8) http://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/choosing/guitars.php?p=z&g=h&m=HD-28 to be precise. One of these days...the prices of good guitars these days boggle my mind! :o
im thinking about retiring from guitar playing, and just crack on with programming, once i get all myTB-303\'s and TR-606\'s .. i\'m soo unmotivated right now to do anything and i have a lung and throat infection. but we\'ll see.
do stuff like this
http://www.opaquechannel.com/pabs/Ceephax%20Acid%20Crew%20-%20Live%20on%20Radio%20One/Ceephax%20Acid%20Crew%20-%20Play%20Your%20Cards%20Acid%20(live).mp3
if you retire, which i don\'t want you to, let me say that out front, but if you do, can I buy that neat looking guitar i\'ve seen you use in the disembodied clips on FLP off of you? ::)
Seriously though, stick with the guitar. it\'s not like that will hurt or anything.
you mean this one?
(http://tinypic.com/18estu)
(http://tinypic.com/18esuo)
(http://tinypic.com/18eszk)
Chris Moss, I am going to ignore that statement and request that when you get over your infections you re-read what you have just posted. I will just sit back and wait for the post from you that says...
"What the hell was I thinking!"
We will all have a good laugh and tell you it was just the antibiotics talking.
Take care my dear, get lots of sleep and let your body rest, drink lots of water of course, but if you can get a really good tea in ya like a white tea, a green tea or even a very strong Yerba. Let the anti-oxidents help fight off the yuckies. Throw in a listen to Thanatopsis and you will be set to right in no time.
I Will send a healing your way babe! :-*
when you get out here this summer, you better have gotten over this retirement madness! there are tons of great bands for you to jam with and i refuse to listen to you try to explain to people that you retired in a fit of lung collapsed malaise.
seriously, you know Max & i will cheer you on no matter what you do - but it would be a great shame. of course, once the CDs get here, if you\'ve retired, their value will sky rocket. since money is meaningless to me that will change nothing.
:-*
Yes, that one. \'Tis neato.
What brand is it, andh ow much did it cost you? also, where did you get that cool little McDonalds sticker?
While on that subject, is it true that Asterix replaced Ronald McDonald as the mascot in France?
DO NOT QUIT ... FINGERS WILL REBEL...I QUIT ONCE BUT NEVER AGIEN ??? :o ??? YOU ARE GOING THROUGH A DRY SPELL ... IT HAPPENS.
Chris