Guitar shopping | Imamother

amother

Vermilion

Sat, Jun 10 2017, 10:45 pm

Please help me with shopping for a guitar. I want to get one for my dh as a gift. I know he wants one. Would like to buy on amazon. I have no clue what is a good one. (Good price) Any recommendations would be a huge help. Thanks ladies

imasinger

Sat, Jun 10 2017, 10:51 pm

I have seen a lot of problems with buying guitars from Amazon. I think you would do much better to give him a note to unwrap, then take him to a bricks and mortar store, where he can play the instruments, and choose one he likes.

imasinger

Sat, Jun 10 2017, 11:18 pm

I have seen several of my guitar students order guitars and get something that is not right. Either a poorly designed instrument, or a crack in the wood, or other problems. Caveat emptor. (Buyer beware).

He would do much better to borrow one from someone for his event, then get for himself when he has time. A decent guitar costs a sum of money, and isn't worth getting something of poor value.

You can't even trust a brand name, as they will often farm out their cheapest makes elsewhere, then slap their name on it.

proudema

Sat, Jun 10 2017, 11:29 pm

amother wrote:

My daughter plays guitar. We recently bought her her own guitar and while we did the amazon thing first, we ended up going to a guitar store and buying one there. She got to feel the guitar in her hands and ask the salesman questions about what suited her needs best. I know it's annoying but amazon isn't the best place to purchase a guitar. Make the time to get to a store. It's worth it.

amother

Fuchsia

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 12:11 am

My DH recently bought me a guitar. We got it at Guitar Center. Got a Fender brand guitar.
In think it was around $120. (Was on sale when we got it.)

Try to get to the store. They were very helpful in picking the right guitar.

imasinger

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 7:41 am

That depends. The least expensive real guitars (as opposed to toys) run between $100 and $200.

Important questions for your DH to consider:

-Electric, or acoustic?
-How frequently will it be used?
-Under what circumstances? (Solo, band?)
-How will it be stored? Do you need to buy a case, and how will that factor into the available funding to buy a guitar? Soft shell, or hard shell? What about other accessories (inexpensive) like strap, picks, stand, spare set of strings? If electric, what about an amp?

amother

Vermilion

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 10:17 am

Thanks imasinger. You're so helpful. He wants an acoustic and electric. Meaning that he can connect it to speakers. Is there such a thing? He would use it probably once a month. 100-200 sounds right price. A case and stand is bonus. But not a must. Which company should I ask for?

imasinger

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 1:42 pm

You can go to Guitar Center and tell them what you posted here. Pretty much every electric guitar can also be played without plugging it in, but there are plenty that are designed to be played either way, and are not just flat behind the strings, but have a hole that the strings go across, which offers greater acoustic resonance.

They should be able to show you several choices. Yamaha and Fender both make decent, popular models, but look at what else is there, and ask questions. Even though you don't play, try strumming across the strings, and seeing if you like the sound.

If he plans on transporting the guitar anywhere, get at least a soft shell case. Also, get a few picks, an extra set of strings, and a strap.

Have fun!

MagentaYenta

Sun, Jun 11 2017, 1:45 pm

amother wrote:

Then the question remains, what kind of pickups? Electromagnetic,microphone or piezo? (Markley's are cheap for piezo and available.) If he is looking at a guitar with pickups he will need an amp. Who are you going to have install the pickups?

I can't understand how you can buy a guitar for someone unless they have told you exactly what they want. The action is different on each guitar, different players like different actions. Sure I would love a Martin DXMAE, but the neck just doesn't work for me.

Epiphone makes good standard guitars for first time owners (model DR100) about $125. The Fender CD140S is another budget guitar that will hold up, but the action is difficult for some, Washburns are another standard economy guitar that sometimes come packaged with pickups, soft cases and tuners. Be sure to buy a decent tuner as well.

Ora in town

Sun, May 31 2020, 5:54 am

If he is serious about playing the guitar, he should get help from a guitar teacher, also in shopping for the instrument...
What you get in general on the market is not good value for money...

Ora in town

Sun, May 31 2020, 6:06 am

amother [ Vermilion ] wrote:

All this will not get you a decent guitar...
You are concentrating on the wrong things...

In my mind, a decent acoustic guitar for beginners starts around 350$, a decent acoustic guitar for good players comes around 3000$

And a guitar that can be plucked in is not a decent acoustic guitar, by definition...