Often many parents or beginning guitarists find themselves in a bit of a pickle when they are searching for their first guitar. Electric or Acoustic? How much do I spend? What is good? What is not? What if I don't like it? Believe it or not we run into this scenario every single day. In this guide we will try to shed some light on some of the more common questions to help ease the stress of purchasing a new guitar and get you up and playing fast.

Electric or Acoustic? - This mainly depends on the type of music you want to play. There are no differences between acoustic and electrics other than sound and playability. All chords, notes, scales and hand positions are exactly the same on either one. Due the nature of the Acoustic Guitar (meaning that it requires no amplification to be heard), they are quite a bit larger bodied than electric guitars, and typically use a heavier string gauge. What does this mean to you? In short, they are bulkier and string tension is greater, thus making it harder to press down the strings in order to play a clean note or chord. On the up side they have a sound and tone that cannot be duplicated with an electric guitar and are completely portable. You can take your acoustic guitar practically anywhere at anytime. Electric gutiars are generally easier to learn and play on as fretting the guitar (pressing the strings to the neck) requires less hand strength. The drawbacks of electric guitars are that they require additional equipment to be heard, i.e. amplifiers and cords, which for the most part can make them a little more expensive to get into.

How much do I spend? - This is often the hardest part in buying a new guitar. Now more than ever you can find guitars or guitar packages in the big box stores for under $100, but just because it says guitar on the box does not mean it is a quality instrument. Many of the box stores are trying to tap another part of the retail market without any knowledge or eye for quality. In fact most of them are trying to do it at very little expense. What does this mean for you? 90% of the cheap guitar packages or guitars you will find in these stores are not by any means what you would call a 'playable instrument'. They are meant to be toys, or for the kids that will pick them up once and never play them again, or just for something to beat on. Generally they are made very poorly, are hard to play, and even harder to learn on. Now I can hear you saying 'What if I end up not liking playing guitar? Then I just threw my money out the window.' I can pretty much guarantee if you try to learn to play on one of these guitars that is exactly what you'll be saying in a very short period of time. Why? Because they just aren't built to be comfortable and to play well, they're made for profit with no thought of after purchase service. We recommend spending a little bit more to get an instrument that is not only comfortable but something that you can actually learn on, so what is a little more? Typically you can start to find good starter guitars between $125 and $200. Good starter packs, whether acoustic or electric will start right around $150 and can go as high as $300. Spending a little more and getting a better quality instrument will not only get you up and going faster, they will make it much easier to learn on.

(more to come on this guide)