How to buy a guitar
Guidelines for a great experience

The question of how to buy a guitar looks pretty simple at first.

It seems like these musical instruments should all do the same thing - make guitar sounds. That's where quite a few people get it wrong. The sound produced by two similar looking guitars can be worlds apart in quality.

The appearance of a guitar can be deceptive.

Staying with the major manufacturers can be somewhat safe. It's pretty hard to go too wrong with a Gibson or an American Fender guitar.

Even these should be checked out by a good guitar technician to make sure everything is right with them.

How to buy a guitar

Decide on your budget. How dedicated are you to learning to Play?

If you just want to goof around and learn a few chords to entertain the cat choose something that sounds good and is easy to play that is not expensive.

Make sure the cat is fed and that you are not spending the cat food money on a guitar. Cats can make your life miserable when they are hungry and believe me, they are not going to be impressed with you learning a few chords. 

If you are serious but money is somewhat tight, you can find a pretty good guitar, electric or acoustic for around $500.

A guitar that is worthy of a professional is going to be anywhere from $1000 to $10,000 or more.

That is a wide range but if you aim for right around $1500 you can buy an amazing Stratocaster or Telecaster.

What style of music do you want to play?

Guitars are musicians tools. Each model or type has a certain type of music that they sound best for. It might be a range, but each type is best for certain styles.

Acoustics are best for folk songs, country, blues and some pretty tame rock.

Hollow body electrics are best for Jazz, rockabilly and music like that.

Solid body electrics are designed for high volume rock and roll and some are good for jazz.

An electric guitar will need a amplifier which pretty much doubles the price along with a cable and about a million different choices in guitar effects pedals.

Stick with well known brands and its harder to go wrong. 

The respect that you will get and the sound quality of a well known brand such as Fender or Gibson is a good reason to consider these. 

They are easy to get parts for and repair centers know these guitars well.

Yes, guitars take maintenance, but if you choose a quality instrument it will spend more of its life being played and less time in the shop.

Check the frets, action and the controls for proper function.

You don't want to be a sucker and get stuck with a guitar that does not play well.

A new guitar will usually need a setup, but if the dealer is a good one, they will not let you leave with a guitar that is not setup properly. If they want your business make it your business to make sure the guitar is playable

Buyer Beware!

A guitar that really looks pretty good can be the biggest hunk of crud that you could buy.

Manufacturers know how to make a guitar look really good when it really is not all that great.

I have done quite a bit of research on how to buy a guitar that sounds great and have put together a whole section of this website to cover what I have found.

Considering the fact that a quality guitar can be quite expensive any reasonable person would want to get the best for their money.

So what the next few pages are all about is how to figure out what a good guitar for you might be for you and the music you wish to play so that you are happy with your purchase.

I've put together some guidelines for the following types of guitars that you might be considering.

1. Acoustic guitar reviews - what to look for in a high-quality acoustic guitar

2. Acoustic Travel Guitars - How to choose a travel guitar to make vacation memories.

3. Cheap Acoustic Guitars

4. Buying Electric Guitars

This is just the starting place in learning how to buy a guitar. Explore, have fun. I hope you enjoy what I've put together.

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