This isn’t going to be a list of guitars you can buy but what you ought to know before you can buy one. But a small guide to seeing the practicality behind buying one.
The best acoustic guitar is going to be the one that serves your singing the best. It needs to be the best combination of what you can afford, what it looks like, how it’s built, and whether it or not it makes you happy.
I have mentioned certain brands more than others because, unlike other brands, these brands have yet to fail me and stop working as intended. It’s been close to a decade and I still have certain instruments
The One You Can Afford
There are multiple reasons why I say this is important because if you are a hobbyist and you are not sure that you want to get into music full-time then it’s better you go for a guitar that you can afford without burning your wallet.
So the one thing that you really need to keep in your mind about how guitars are priced is this. You can see a really distinct quality difference between entry-level guitars and mid-tier guitars but not so much when it comes to mid-tier and high-end guitars. There are benefits to buying high-end guitars but they are marginal differences compared to the price. Sometimes high-end guitars end up costing twice as much as mid-tier but may not provide twice the build quality.
But then that’s where the funny part happens the quality distinguishment between high-end guitars and medium-tier guitars is shrinking considerably. And the price reflects that.
If you are a reasonable person then you need a very good reason as to why you would want to spend such a huge amount for a guitar that you cannot justify having at the moment.
What You Need to Know about Brands
There are multiple guitar brands and you need to know about a few. It’s going to be Ibanez and Schecter guitars. But Ibanez is my poison. I’ve had but one problem with my guitar but it wasn’t from the manufacturer but people who had stored it.
Very reliable brands. Very.
Spending a couple of hundred dollars on either brand is going to get you a really good acoustic guitar. I change the strings accordingly and they really shouldn’t give you any problems.
The same goes for classical guitars you can go with Ibanez or Cardoba. Cordoba has the expertise of just making classical guitars.
It Serves You
Always remember this, it’s fine to go for looks while sacrificing a little bit of something else. It needs to serve you and if it doesn’t look pretty enough and doesn’t make you feel like you need to pick it up and play then it’s really not worth buying.
Buy a guitar for yourself.
You Need a Guitar That Lasts
In all reality, there is really more of the owner’s fault than it is of the manufacturers when it comes to taking care of a guitar and especially a guitar that needs to last.
If you’re not going to store it and let it be wet, cold, and outside of course it’s not going to last. Nothing I know can.
But if you take care of it keep it clean and take care of it properly when you’re not playing and change the strings when you do then guitars can last as long as you want them to.
Learning basic maintenance also helps a lot. It’s preventive maintenance as well.
Educate Yourself
You need to educate yourself on how guitars are constructed so that you can understand what you want and what you don’t want. If you understand how pickups work you can make an educated guess on which guitar you ought to buy.
Then there is what kind of finishes a guitar can have. I personally love the natural finishes on guitars.
How do you want yours to look? What all other things do you want? Do you believe the tone is affected by wood or do you need a specially handcrafted one? If you have the money or do you need something that will just do the job in a studio?
All of this knowledge goes well when you also want to buy a…
Second Hand?
Because if you do all this research undo come to the conclusion that you really want a really expensive guitar (which we all do) and there’s nothing wrong with that. What you can do is search for those specifications (brand, make, and model) and see if it’s available and if it is, if it has been kept well by its owner.
Yes, you can buy a really good second-hand guitar for half the price of a really expensive one. If you know what you’re looking for or have a decent idea of how to check for guitars then you have a real shot of checking if the guitar plays well or not. If you don’t I suggest taking a friend along who may be better knowledgeable about guitars than you to be able to check it for you.
You can really get a really nice deal.
While buying any guitar can be really fun and cool, I don’t think it’s the thing that will distinguish you in your ability to be recognized as a singer. You only buy one to be able to help you with your own singing. That’s why I believe that…
Learning to Sing
Learning to sing is important. I am not going to keep on harking about it because I do about it here. There is a ‘learn to sing‘ page that I have made for you to get educated on all the resources you could ever need to get better at singing!
All the best and have fun!