What to look out for when buying an acoustic guitar?
- Thread starter whizzle
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EugeneSmasher
New member
Agree with gjtaylor. Try several within your budget and decide which one is the most playable and the best-sounding to your ears.
Personally I only consider guitars in the $300 and above range because these are of higher-quality and certainly good enough for live performances. But I guess you could start with a cheap one and if you decide to become serious, save up and spend a bit more and get a good one.
But if you save up maybe $20 more you can get a Samick LW-015 if they still have. My first acoustic was an LW-015 and not only did it sound great, it played great too. So yeah for the $100-200 range I recommend the Samicks.
Peninsula area is actually Singapore's unofficial guitar hub, a lot of guitar shops are moving there. They can be trusted.
Personally I only consider guitars in the $300 and above range because these are of higher-quality and certainly good enough for live performances. But I guess you could start with a cheap one and if you decide to become serious, save up and spend a bit more and get a good one.
But if you save up maybe $20 more you can get a Samick LW-015 if they still have. My first acoustic was an LW-015 and not only did it sound great, it played great too. So yeah for the $100-200 range I recommend the Samicks.
Peninsula area is actually Singapore's unofficial guitar hub, a lot of guitar shops are moving there. They can be trusted.
yes, you should save and get a better guitar, having a better guitar would motivate you to practice harder. Its always good to have a guitar you enjoy playing, that way you'll view your practice time as FUN. I'd never have gotten to where I am right now IF I never got my Ibanez Iceman. Of course the Iceman's rather neglected now given that I love my Jackson WRMG much much more but hey, you gotta remember the WRMG had better perform better because it costs a fair bit more than the Iceman.
K2desoog
New member
When buying and acoustic it is also imptnt to consider this.
Will you be playing for an audience or for you ownself?
Once I've 'arrowed' the guitar i want, I'll test it out for playability, feel, sound etc.
And then I'll take a few steps back and get the salesman and to play it for me so I can 'hear' what everybody else is hearing.
Trust me it'll sound different when you're playing it and when someone else is playing it!
If it sounds like crap, I'll look for another one.
Will you be playing for an audience or for you ownself?
Once I've 'arrowed' the guitar i want, I'll test it out for playability, feel, sound etc.
And then I'll take a few steps back and get the salesman and to play it for me so I can 'hear' what everybody else is hearing.
Trust me it'll sound different when you're playing it and when someone else is playing it!
If it sounds like crap, I'll look for another one.
pianomankris
New member
It is important to know what makes a beginner's guitar a 'bad' guitar in order to know what makes a 'good' guitar. I'll list some things below that may help you.
1) One of the most important things for the early stages player is the 'action' of the guitar. This means how far away from the neck the strings are (look at the guitar side-on to see how close the strings are to the neck).
Generally, the closer the strings are, the easier it will be to play. If you are a beginner, trying to barre on a guitar with high action (strings far away from neck) can be very dificult.
2) Play every string at every fret. All of them! And let them ring out. Make sure there are no buzzes at all at any fret. Buzzes can mean badly fitted frets.
PS don't worry about sitting in the shop and playing every single note on the guitar one at a time. When most people go into a shop, they try to play the wildest stuff they know - this is akin to when test-driving a car, wheel-spinning it about the forecourt!
If there are no buzzes, yet the action is high, the shop owner may suggest to you that the action can be lowered. Watch out for this. Many guitar are set with high action to cover problems such as badly fitted frets/warps in the neck etc. You may go home, adjust the action, only to discover that the guitar is now buzzing at lots of frets.
Try to get a guitar in the shop 'as it is'.
These are the two main things to look for when buying a guitar.
One other thing is the quality of the fret fittings. Feel along the edges of the frets - there should be no rough edges.
1) One of the most important things for the early stages player is the 'action' of the guitar. This means how far away from the neck the strings are (look at the guitar side-on to see how close the strings are to the neck).
Generally, the closer the strings are, the easier it will be to play. If you are a beginner, trying to barre on a guitar with high action (strings far away from neck) can be very dificult.
2) Play every string at every fret. All of them! And let them ring out. Make sure there are no buzzes at all at any fret. Buzzes can mean badly fitted frets.
PS don't worry about sitting in the shop and playing every single note on the guitar one at a time. When most people go into a shop, they try to play the wildest stuff they know - this is akin to when test-driving a car, wheel-spinning it about the forecourt!
If there are no buzzes, yet the action is high, the shop owner may suggest to you that the action can be lowered. Watch out for this. Many guitar are set with high action to cover problems such as badly fitted frets/warps in the neck etc. You may go home, adjust the action, only to discover that the guitar is now buzzing at lots of frets.
Try to get a guitar in the shop 'as it is'.
These are the two main things to look for when buying a guitar.
One other thing is the quality of the fret fittings. Feel along the edges of the frets - there should be no rough edges.
thanks guys, for all the replies.
i've bought a TGM acoustic for $140. i didn't really test the guitar because I don't even know how to go about doing it, so all I did was just strum a few strings to see if it sounds good or not, and sure it did when compared to the cheaper guitars. but I did not worry about getting the wrong guitar or something because it was my friend who worked at the shop recommended it to me.
after about 2 days of practising with the different chords I'm pretty glad I found it suitable for me. however, there are 2 problems I am facing now.
1. when pressing down on the strings, I seem to touch the other strings very easily, so I was just wondering if my fingers were too large for this guitar.
2. I find it painfully difficult to press the treble strings(mainly the 1st and 2nd) on the first 2 frets, because I have to use so much force in order to make the note sound right. so I'm questioning the quality of the guitar since I always hear cheap guitars are more difficult to play.
i've bought a TGM acoustic for $140. i didn't really test the guitar because I don't even know how to go about doing it, so all I did was just strum a few strings to see if it sounds good or not, and sure it did when compared to the cheaper guitars. but I did not worry about getting the wrong guitar or something because it was my friend who worked at the shop recommended it to me.
after about 2 days of practising with the different chords I'm pretty glad I found it suitable for me. however, there are 2 problems I am facing now.
1. when pressing down on the strings, I seem to touch the other strings very easily, so I was just wondering if my fingers were too large for this guitar.
2. I find it painfully difficult to press the treble strings(mainly the 1st and 2nd) on the first 2 frets, because I have to use so much force in order to make the note sound right. so I'm questioning the quality of the guitar since I always hear cheap guitars are more difficult to play.
sum chords naturally have to mute certain strings or if ur prob is like being unable to sound the 5th string in the G chord, then u have to practice moving ur palm away from the neck can try to position ur body to lean towards the guitar so can play.
as for the strings prob. new guitars string still haven't stretch yet. so u keep playing them, tuning them daily. or if u want to invest, go get a new string(most guitar is gauge 9). i happen to buy full string set from swee lee tat costs $6, i string myself(it sucks) and then the strings are much easier to press even if it is new. otherwise, just keep playing with those hard strings, it's training for finger strenght, always use ur pinky, and try not to slide so fast while pressing hard or u might cut ur finger.
for me i bought a kapok guitar, it is a classical guitar with metal strings costs $39 only. plays great, slim guitar with rather loud sound qualities(i fingerpick so should be softer than picks). but only tat it doesnt sound complete. when u play the bass.
as for the strings prob. new guitars string still haven't stretch yet. so u keep playing them, tuning them daily. or if u want to invest, go get a new string(most guitar is gauge 9). i happen to buy full string set from swee lee tat costs $6, i string myself(it sucks) and then the strings are much easier to press even if it is new. otherwise, just keep playing with those hard strings, it's training for finger strenght, always use ur pinky, and try not to slide so fast while pressing hard or u might cut ur finger.
for me i bought a kapok guitar, it is a classical guitar with metal strings costs $39 only. plays great, slim guitar with rather loud sound qualities(i fingerpick so should be softer than picks). but only tat it doesnt sound complete. when u play the bass.
serialninja
New member
1. comes with practice. lots of people start off with this problem.
2. comes with practice. usually your fingertips aren't calloused yet so pressing the strings can be a bit painful. with practice your fingertips will toughen up and it won't hurt. but also along the way you will learn to develop a lighter touch so that you can play faster. don't worry, it's normal. when i started i practiced 6-8 hours a day for the first month and my fingertips were bleeding but it gets better.
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