Advice on acoustic guitars
 

My fiance wants to start playing the guitar and I am buying him his first acoustic for his birthday next week. I found a guitar within my price range but wanted to make sure it wasnt a crap instrument. Its made by Ibanez. Im not musically inclined so I dont know much about guitar manufacturers other than well known Les Paul and Fender, both of which are wayy to expensive for a beginner guitar.

Ibby acoustics are pretty good abd you'll make no mistakes in buying one, but really the guitar you should be looking at for a cheap acoustic is the Yamaha F310E

Its the cheapest most versatile and most beginner friendly acoustic guitar you'll find anywhere.

Really depends what you're looking for.

Ibanez is a respectable brand, but some of their guitars are good and some are not so good.

If you're looking for a guitar to last a long time and keep, I'd suggest Maton, Martin, Takamine etc.

If he's gonna give up at some stage those might be a waste, in which case the cheaper brands are good.

What model is the Ibanez?

Washburn make some good guitars also.
I bought an acoustic model from them several years ago, for about $250 in U.S. dollars and I've been quite satisfied with it.

Fender makes basically that same guitar for the same prices. Definitly worth a try. Overall though GB is right, I have always found Yamaha to make the best entry lvl gear.

Get any guitar in your price range if he's a begginer.

I got an acoustic guitar 4 years ago now. *woah, 2010..*

But yeah, I barely touched it. Only cost my mumzy 100 or so pounds.

I got more into it a few years later, bought an electric one. Not looked back since, just upgraded recentely. And I've given my old acoustic some TLC and got it working again, sentimental value.

If he likes it enough, he'll eventually upgrade but he'll love his first ever guitar.

Unless he's like me and doesn't attach sentimental value to things unduly. I sold my first guitar and never looked back. Its been through 3 owners since and I actually prefer it where it is because it means if I go to a friends house I have something to play!

I'm suprised, I own 3 guitars and I wouldn't let any of them go. They all have their own little place in my heart. How don't you get attached?

I know what you mean about friends' houses, I usually just put mine in my bag.

+ if it was a present from my missus, I'd treasure it forever.

wouldn't you keep it if it was a present from someone close to you?

*shrug*

A guitar to me is a tool. I'm also extremely demanding when it comes to instruments. Look at my post in the 'Dream guitar' thread and you'll see why.

If it isn't what I want out of a guitar, no amount of other things can make me love it. sure, if it had a very deep emotional connection, like say a dead relative, I might repurpose it as a guinea pig guitar for mods and stuff, rather than selling it or something, but by and large I just don't get attached to material things.

Edit: That, and when you have a large collection of guitars, it becomes a little annoying to find places to store the ones you don't play! And between a 7 string, 3 6 strings, 2 acoustics, a 12 string, and a classical, that can be hard to balance.

I've never met a guitarist that's just seen it as a 'tool'. Every guitarist I know has some kind of connection to a guitar, even if it's 1 particular one out of 7. Others are like me, they love every guitar they have.

A dream guitar, I'm not that bothered about finding one of them. I tend not to dream because when you wake, you'll be very disappointed. I just want to play a few different ones and pick the best sounding one. And keep the sentimental ones.

The storage thing I can agree with but I'd find room. Somehow.

Sorry dude, but thats one of the most pretentious pieces of advice I've seen on these forums in some time. Especially since its not even related to my post in that thread, just the title of the thread itself, which I didn't make.

I've seen more pretentious stuff on here, it's quite a pretentious site. I like a bit of pretentious now and then though! It wasn't related to your post? Dream guitar.. dreams. It's all relative.

I have to agree with the "tool" remark. Unless you really love the guitar's quality and the sound it makes there's no other reason to cherish it.

Your first guitar, even though it's shit, you can keep it until you're an old man and say this was my first guitar. That would be a nice thing I think.

Yeah, except that your first guitar is usually a really ****ty one. Unless there was some cool scratches filled with memories on it, I don't think I'll ever keep it.

Like I got my first guitar 8 years ago, and I really don't know where it is right now. I just bought my second one this year.

When ever I see someone who doesnt know what there doing pick up a real nice guitar and say that anyone could sound great on this thing I cringe.

I really want an american made sg but I dont feel worthy to own one yet. Or maybe I just need a job.

Hey man, Kurt Cobain had some nice vintage guitars... but was he a great guitar player? No.

Guy at work phoned me up today and complained his bluetooth headphones were picking up radio signals when he played guitar through them.

I told him it wouldn't be the headphones bluetooth doesn't work that way, its more likely his guitar since those pick up radio all the time, I have a stompbox or two that does, its very common with guitars, particularly if they have single coils.

He proceeded to get shirty with me, assuming I know nothing about guitars and tell me "Right well I don't have singlecoils its a Gibson SG"

My response?

"Ah ok then, well you'll probably have Gibson 498R Burstbuckers if its a recent one, in which case they won't be picking up the radio signals but unfortunately gibson have switched to using conductive paint rather than copper shielding on their guitars so its quite possible you could be picking it up in the controls or the signal path, it happens all the time with gutiars I'm afraid."

His response was to tell me he'd never heard such rubbish and to hang up. Shame, since I was about to start talking about hearing radio stations in jimi hendrix tracks and pointing out to him that the spinal tap scene at the airforce base was based on a real event :P

I loved my Takamine! If he doesn't know much about guitar, you should start him on nylon strings too. Eventually he needs calloused hands, so his fingers will bleed at one point or another from pressing on the strings. But that's with steel strings, and I find it best to get accustomed to playing before experiencing cut fingertips.

Why didnt you let me listen in? Could you have described why theres was also a muffled laughing going on in the phone line?

Oh there was no muffled laughing, I'm far too professional for that.

Skylark all the way