5 tips to picking, buying a new guitar

5 tips to picking, buying a new guitar

If you love music, chances are you will, at
some point of time, have toyed with the idea of learning how to play a musical instrument. Most often, that tends to be a guitar! While it all starts with talent that can be honed over time, getting the right ‘axe’ to suit your taste and budget you is also important. You don’t have to go top-of-the-line all at once. Take heart in the fact that some of the greatest guitarists ever started out with dirtcheap guitars. Here are five tips to getting a good guitar:
1 The first and most obvious point is to decide on type of guitar you want —acoustic or electric. If it’s your first guitar, pick up an acoustic guitar. Guitars — be they acoustic of electric — are not generic. If you want to play metal, certain brands lend themselves better to those styles because they have a pickup system that suits louder playing. Electric guitars that have a single coil pickup are actually awesome for rock, funk or jazz. A simple tip would be to think about how you want the guitar to sound and then buy accordingly.
2 Never impulse purchase. Try out as many different kinds of guitars as is convenient to you. Research on the internet, read reviews, if your friends play guitar, ask them for advice and opinions. But having said that, at the end of the day its about ‘feel’. So take advice into consideration but follow your gut instinct. The more you know, the better it is for you!
3 This calls for some field work. Visit a lot of guitar shops after you have got a mental image of the guitar for you. Never spend your money before you find what you’re looking for. After all, this will be an instrument that you will spend a lot of time playing and practising on. If it don’t ‘feel’ right, you won’t feel like playing it. When trying out a guitar, listen to it carefully. Look out for any buzzing or unclean sounds. 4 Look for playing comfort, for example the neck of the guitar may be too thick for your hand or too thin, it might be hard to play fast on it. The weight of the guitar also plays a part. Try to decide how heavy the guitar is — if it’s too light, then the wood is not good, and this is a very important factor, especially for acoustics. If it’s too heavy, then it’s not a good idea buying that one too. It has to be the right weight for you to feel comfortable playing.
5 If you buy an electric, you should buy a good amp too, because a bad amp can make a good guitar sound awful. Also don’t forget that a new guitar will mean new picks, a case, a tuner and a set of extra strings.