how to buy my first guitar

[nitin1]

I want to buy my first guitar and I don't want to spend much money in the very beginning as I don't know how to handle it and all those things. I want to buy an acoustic one. So, can you suggest me any good and cheap guitar on which I can start learning? I am a noob for a guitar, but I had played other instruments in the past. Thanks.

[ddanbe]

First, you got to have some sort of "masochistic" attitude, because in the beginning your fingertops are going to hurt like hell. :D
The second most important thing: look down from the nut over the neck in the direction of the bridge. The strings should be as close as possible to the neck. While strumming, strings may not give false notes with the frets. SUCCESS!

[nitin1]

I am a beginner. I don't understand these terms like neck , bridge. Can you elaborate more?

[Reverend Jim]

Parts of the guitar

As for the fingertips, I believe the general rule is practise until they bleed then 20 minutes less. Once the calouses form it gets easier.

[ddanbe]

OK, your first guitar lesson!
Naming the parts of an accoustic guitar. Click Here Enjoy!

[jwenting]

Go to a decent store selling musical instruments, ideally one specialising in stringed instruments, and talk to the staff.
Try multiple guitars, have the staff play some for you, get a feel for the size, weight, and sound of them.
Then decide which would best fit your needs, wants, and budget (and oh, set yourself a realistic budget before going in, it's easy to get carried away and end up buying very expensive gear you don't need right away, but be realistic and don't think $150 is going to get you a decent instrument).

Don't rely on online stores with a few pictures and maybe a short soundtrack, those don't tell you anything and the "reviews" are carefully tailored to make the items the store wants to push seem the best (which is usually the items with the highest profit margin, or those that have been gathering dust in the warehouse).

[Ketsuekiame]

jwenting, I've heard from a few people I know that play guitar that the amp makes more of a difference to the sound than the guitar itself.

Obviously if you're talking about the difference between a $150 guitar and a $2000 guitar, there's going to be some difference in quality, but in terms of sound say between $150 and $500, is it better to spend the 350 difference on a better amp, rather than a better instrument?

[Stuugie]

@Ketsuekiame, I think you are sort of right but that line of thinking is not rigid by any means. If you buy a guitar that sounds tinny, you'd have to spend thousands on an amp to (hopefully) remove the tinny sound. My old guitarist used to buy Ibanez guitars with really gear to go with it. He once told me that a half decent guitar with good pickups and a good amp-rig will do the job for any guitarist. In saying that, he invested thousands of dollars into his whole guitaring package but music was/is his life.

@Nitin1, I think jwenting has the best advice for anyone starting out in music. You should learn about all the parts along the way but getting your hands on a guitar, feeling, and having someone else play it for you may be in your best interest.

Carefully

[Assembly Guy]

Go to a decent store selling musical instruments

I second this. I had a cousin who picked up a $60 electric guitar + amp package from what was basically a supermarket bargain bin simply because it was cheap. He thrashed the whammy bar while playing some band like Burzum and snapped it right off.

[nitin1]

I don't know what all you have started discussing! :p anyways, you may continue.