Buying A Beginner Guitar

When someone is starting out to learn electric guitar, this is a very common question: “Where can I get a cheap electric guitar? I’m about to take this guitar course I’ve been recommended, and now I need a beginners guitar … nothing expensive”.

If you had asked me that question some years ago, I would probably have told you to save up some cash until you could afford something else. Today however, things are way different. It is in fact quite easy to fine great playing – and really nice looking – cheaper electric guitars.

Thanks to modern day production methods, you can pick up a really good beginner electric guitar  from China and other places – perfect for your beginner guitar lessons – for as low as a $200. I kid you not, when we started out (many moons ago), we would have gone to great lengths to get hold of guitars of such decent quality! Man … the beat-up things we would play…

Here are just a few of the newer guitars we can recommend

First of all – do take a look at the almost ridiculous value for money found in the Agile brand! These instruments easily compare to stuff which costs many times as much. I often times prefer to play an Agile over my way more expensive Gibsons guitars. Really, really good stuff!

The Fender Squire Affinity or Standard series. They have both Tele and Strat model guitars – oh and even a Hello Kitty version (in pink, of course).

The Epiphone range of beginner guitars. You have for example a cool Les Paul Special II, which I have seen online for as low as $200. A bargain!

Yamaha has a number of fantastic instruments, played by top notch guitar players. Some of these are more expensive. However, they do have some good, cheaper ones as well, such as the Pacifica series.

Ibanez is another company that caters both to high-end instruments (Joe Satriani is one artist who uses Ibanez guitars) as well as the less expensive models, such as the GRX and GRG models.

A third company that caters for the higher end artist models as well as the cost effective beginner guitars is Dean. Models in the Vendetta series is well worth checking out if you’re on a budget.

Why are some guitars so much more expensive?

Well, there are a number of factors that are determining the cost of a guitar – like where it is build for starters. It goes without saying that it is much more expensive to build an instrument in the US or Europe, as compared to say China.

That said, there are in general better hardware components on the higher end guitars: pickups, tuners, bridge, electronics etc. Also the woods are generally better, and sometimes the finish is much more sophisticated. Furthermore, you will notice that the workmanship – such as the fretwork, finish, bindings, inlay, neck fit etc. is way better on the more expensive guitars.

But here’s the thing…

As a beginner, you really don’t need these somewhat “fancy pants” things – you just need a beginner guitar that stays in tune, sounds OK, looks decent and is not hard to play (the set up is OK). And that is commonly what you get with these beginner guitars!

I will encourage you to make sure that the guitars are properly adjusted (set up) though. A guitar that is hard to play can be a painful experience and may kill your ambitions dead in the tracks.

Personally, I have found some killer deals on eBay. Amongst other things, I recently bought a Les Paul copy that was just amazing to play.

What I tend to look closely at is the seller’s feedback score. I also want to be assured that the guitars are being properly set up before shipping. Some sellers do this really pro – again look at the feedback!

How about used guitars?

Naturally, you may also opt for finding a used guitar as your first (or indeed second) instrument. As long as you know what to look for … or get help from someone who can sort out the fluff, then you’ll be good to go.

Again, you may also have a look for used and second hand guitars at eBay. As with new guitars, I personally only buy from reputable sources with good feedback score across the board. If in any doubt at all, just don’t buy!

If you buy used directly from a person (or from sites such as eBay), do make sure that everything is guaranteed to be working properly – including the neck truss rod! Needing to change the neck or the truss rod is expensive…

Also do make sure that the frets are even and properly installed (no lose frets). Again, if you need to re-fret, or fix the fret work, you’re looking at quite a hefty sum of money.

Hope you’ll find the guitar that is just perfect for you!

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