Acoustic Guitar Tuner

Choosing An Acoustic Guitar For Beginners

So you know you want to start playing guitar and you are pretty sure its going to be a wooden acoustic guitar but the choice and quantity is daunting and confusing.

Well there is no substitute for doing the leg work and going to your local Guitar Store to test some out and get advice. Before you do, work out the answers to the following questions:

1. Whats your budget – use this as a negotiating point with the Guitar Shop salesman
2. What style of acoustic atr you interested or aware of – electro-acoustic, cutaway, dreadnought, parlour, small bodied, travel, bowl-back, classical, steel-strung etc – research these terms and more before you go so that you are not overwhelmed by the racks of acoustic guitars
3. Do you need a hardcase – factor this into your budget as they cost from about £60

Which type of acoustic guitar is obviously down to you but broadly speaking there are 2 types:

• Steel-strung acoustic – harder to learn on as the guitar strings wear into beginners finger tips more easily but more popular for pop / folk / rock / country music styles
• Nylon-strung acoutic (classical style) – easier to learn on but only really good for classical / flamenco / spanish style music. Can be used for jazz too.

So you now know roughly what type of acoustic guitar based on the type of music you want to play. You now want to get the best guitar for your budget. Here it pays to research, research, research! The more makes, models and prices you know the less likely you are to be taken for a ride. Armed with this info you can more or less be sure to get internet prices at your local guitar shop.

Now its time to pick up some acoustic guitars and get closer to your purchase. When you pick a guitar up look at the following features:

• Machineheads / tuners: Check they turn smoothly and stay in tune. Cheap tuners are a pain and will spoil your playing experience
• Tap the body of the guitar and listen for a nice resonant sound. Wood quality is of vital importance to acoustic guitars (more so than electric guitars) and great timber will lead to a great sound. If the wood sounds dead, by all means strum the guitar to check but the chances are it wont make a nice acoustic sound.
• Look for quality a bridge insert (the plastic strip that sits under the strings at the opposite end to the tuners). If its poorly finished and rough that will need sorting out. The same applies to the nut which is a thicker plastic strip that sits below the tuners. It should have grooves or the strings.
• Learn an audition chord (E major is great) and play it as best you can on all guitars. You want a ringing, loud sound that sustains for as long as possible.
• String height – a bit more tricky as you probably wont have frame of reference but look at the hight of the strings from the fret board. A high action will make the guitar harder to play as you get further up the neck. It can be fixed but better to buy an acoistic guitar with a nice action (height).

Dont be put off by guitar salesman doing their show piece playing as you wait to test the guitar. They do that stuff all day.

So follow these tips and hopefully you wont go too far wrong and your new acoustic guitar will travel everywhere with you making good music at every oppurtunity!

About the Author

Guitar Player of 20+ years experience