Tips on buying your first guitar
Buying a guitar can be a very intimidating experience – especially if you’ve never bought one before. When you walk into a music store, you will see a wall or even several walls filled with them. The price tags on these things will vary from a few hundred dollars to THOUSANDS of dollars. You will see electric guitars, and acoustic guitars. So… which one do you get for your child? Good question.
Rule number 1: If your child is a beginner do NOT spend mega-bucks on a guitar. First of all, you don’t even know yet if he or she is going to even LIKE playing the guitar. Sometimes you find out after a few weeks or months that this is not for you. If this happens, you will have wasted a whole lot of money. Secondly, if you settle on buying an electric guitar, you also need to get an amplifier, and a guitar cable. Guitar cables don’t cost that much money (unless you get the really good ones), but amplifiers, like guitars, cost anywhere from around a hundred bucks to thousands of someone’s hard earned dollars. The nice thing about an acoustic guitar is that you don’t need to buy an amplifier and cable (though, you COULD).
Rule number 2: Buy your guitar at a reputable music store that has a large selection. The large selection means that that store can get volume discounts from their suppliers – and these cost savings are passed down (more or less) to you, the buyer. There are always exceptions to this rule, but in general, you should find this to be true.
Rule number 3: Don’t buy a guitar that your child can’t hold in his or her hands before you buy it.. Buying any instrument on-line does not give you any real idea of what it is that you’re buying because you can’t see it, or touch it, or “feel” it. Make sure that your child gets a chance to at least “pretend” play it. More on this later…
Rule number 4: Don’t over-spend. Most stores offer from time to time what are called “package deals” for beginners. They typically include the guitar, case, amplifier, cable, some picks, and even a guitar strap (for an electric guitar). For an acoustic guitar, take out the amplifier and cable. These deals will probably run you only a few hundred dollars. You don’t want to spend much more than 2 – 3
hundred dollars on these “packages”. If the store does not have a current package deal going, they are usually willing to “create” one for you because they realize that you could end up being a repeat customer. You also need to remember that what you are buying is something for the beginning player – which means that you will not be getting top-notch pro quality – you have to shell out more bucks for really good quality. If after a few months, you feel that your child really likes playing the guitar, you can consider buying a better quality instrument. Most people step-up gradually – moving on to what’s called “intermediate” before spending lots of coin on “pro level” guitars and amps.
Rule number 5: Price shop. All national music store chains have websites where you can see what kind of equipment they currently have for beginners and at what prices. Don’t be afraid to shop around on-line before making the trip to the store – just don’t buy it on-line until you and your child have seen it and touched it.
Rule number 6: This ties in with rule number 3. Typically, beginning players do not actually KNOW what they want until they’ve actually seen it. Pictures on a website don’t always stack up to what you see “live”. Not only that, typical beginning players (especially kids) have absolutely no idea about what it is that they are looking at – even touching (rule #3). Kids will typically go for “what looks cool”. There IS a lot of cool looking stuff out there for beginners, but if a guitar is really hard to play, it’s not going to be of much good, no matter how “cool” looking it may be. Your child will simply not want to practice because it’s too hard to play. So… Ask the salesperson to help you and your child with the testing for ease of play.
To sum up, get the best possible equipment for the cheapest possible price, keeping in mind that you do not need to spend more than a few hundred dollars. Now, a few hundred dollars may actually seem like a lot to you, but keep in mind that you are investing in a musical instrument, not a toy - and in the possible future of the beginning player. |
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