Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

guitar?

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,968
139
I have been wanting to buy a guitar and learn to play for awhile. I just want an acoustic to play on. Anything yall can tell me about this? anything to avoid? any reason not to buy?
 

aholdren

Senior Member
Supporting Member
5,178
151
South East Ohio
There is all kinds for sale one Ebay and Craigslist. I would go to a shop and talk to an expert while you play different ones they have. I like the strings closer to the fret board and the El Cheapo's are usually way off the fret board. I started with a Yahama starter kit, and I still like that guitar, I think I had @ $185.
Hedge and Cottis both play wayyyyy better than I do and Im sure they have some great advice on this.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Great advice above from Greg and Aaron. Spend a little extra and get a smooth playing one.
My acoustic is an Ibanez electric/acoustic. Off the top of my head I can't remember the exact model, I'll have to look. It wasn't too expensive and I bought it used off of eBay. It sounds good played as is or plugged in, whichever you prefer.

When buying, read the reviews on guitars and look for "ease of play". Like Aaron said, those cheap ones will have too much space between the strings and fret boards and will kill your fingers.
Speaking of killing your fingers, when you first start you will hate it until you build up callouses.

Once you learn the basic chords (A, C, D, E, G) you can play damn near any song with the right rhythm. There is a cool app called Tabs that shows you chords of any song you can think of. Some will be easier than others obviously.
A good website for similar material is called Guitar Tabs.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,968
139
thanks for the tips.

I live by myself, and I played when I was younger but quit cause I was dumb. I am thinking about taking lessons once a week, and using apps like Cotty said.

There is a guitar center down the road form my place, is this s good place to go? Or are they over priced?
 

Dannmann801

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,646
191
Springboro
. Spend a little extra and get a smooth playing one.

When buying, read the reviews on guitars and look for "ease of play". Like Aaron said, those cheap ones will have too much space between the strings and fret boards and will kill your fingers.
Speaking of killing your fingers, when you first start you will hate it until you build up callouses.

If you go cheap, you'll hate it and quit. Buy a good one to start out with. Cotty is spot-on.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
thanks for the tips.

I live by myself, and I played when I was younger but quit cause I was dumb. I am thinking about taking lessons once a week, and using apps like Cotty said.

There is a guitar center down the road form my place, is this s good place to go? Or are they over priced?

Go there because you can test them out. Write down the ones you like and then compare online on other sites. Then go from there.
 
Guitar centers pricing can be pretty good...If I was going to recommend one on a budget,it would be Alvarez artist series 60s series in particular...They are around 300$ which can sound like a lot,but your getting a real solid select spruce top(no laminates) and mahogany back and sides...Do I have one?No but I will sooner or later...I have a Ibanez GD10(and a few Electrics),the GD10 which kinda sucks(price reflects this IMO)..Tone aint bad but the action(height of strings off fretboard) sucks for comfort...Since the action is so high I have assigned it glass an steel slide duties..Which it works well for
 
Last edited:

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,187
178
Mohicanish
I love to play my guitars, its relaxing and fun all at the same time. However, learning can be challenging b/c until you get used to making the chord shapes with your fingers and until your fingers get some callouses on them its uncomfortable.

First off it depends on how seriously you want to get into this and how much you want to spend. Craigslist is generally a good place to find deals if you have some idea of what to look for and what a reasonable price is for the guitar. In that arena google is your friend. I would first go to a place like a guitar center where they can help you pick out something. Once you get an idea of what you liked and didn't like about things at guitar center then you can search on craigslist for a deal on something similar (or identical).

You want to make sure the action is easy to play. The action is the amount of space between the strings and the frets (the metal pieces on the neck). You don't want a super high action because that makes making the chords and notes harder to do and you don't need that as you are first learning. Too low of an action and the strings buzz on the frets causing bad sounds you don't want either.

In the lower to mid price range (<$5-600) I recommend Alvarez. They give a very good value for their sound and my primary guitar is a $400ish Alvarez that I would prefer to play over some Martin's priced as high as $1500+. However that is also how they sound to "my" ear and yours may be different. With Martin and Taylor you are definitely paying a premium for the name. If you are wanting to spend more than $600 then definitely look for solid bodies and then it comes down to what sound you are looking for as to what wood to choose. The other nice thing about Alvarez guitars is they are often found on Craigslist for cheap, I've gotten 2 for less than $150 each. Yamaha makes some good guitars in that same general price range.

I hope that helps. If you are in the Columbus area let me know and I can try to help you out at some point.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
4,968
139
I wont be in Columbus anytime soon. I live in Dallas Texas currently haha.

I live alone, and work/travel a lot. I love music, and want a guitar so I can learn, play. It will give me something to doo a lot of the time. Thank you very much for the information.