LauraKings
I'm a beginner with learning how to play guitar.. is it worth the money?
Answer
Yes it is.
For an acoustic nothing new from the under one dollar to one hundred dollar range is going to be of any worth, that's new. Anything in that price range is going to be little more than junk, a wall hanging, expensive kindling wood, or child's toy. A good tech, or trained guitar luthier isn't going to want to work on anything below the sixty dollar range, as it will take anywhere from half that to as much, or more to make semi reliable, and playable.
A semi decent new guitar will start at around one hundred dollars, and range to one hundred fifty dollars. A relatively decent new one will be from about one hundred fifty to two hundred dollars, or the top end of your range. From two hundred and up you're starting to get into the better quality instruments.
When buying you should if at all possible avoid buying from an online retailer. Another huge do not, is buying from retailers such as Walmart, Target, K-Mart, or any other discount retailer, as I stated for the reason given above. They are generally junk, and will only frustrate you trying to learn and play. The big reason is the parts used to make it with are of the lowest possible grade possible, and assembly line manufactured.
The best way is to go to a shop and try the different models that they have in stock based on the style of body that you're interested in. No two guitars will sound exactly the same, even within same model line. This is due to differences in the density of wood, and the grain of the wood itself, even if it comes from the same tree, and same section of the tree. As to a good guitar, you will want to look at for a new one somewhere above the two hundred twenty five dollar range, anything from one hundred to two hundred fifty dollars is in the decent quality range.
When you try different guitars, one of the most important aspects is the feel and more specifically the neck, and how it feels when you hold it. You can and will find different neck widths, which affect the comfort, of how the feel is. The body will also play a role in comfort, when you sit and hold it, as well as when you're standing, all of that should be taken into consideration, while trying out the different makers, and model lines. Even the body styles vary, and this will also affect the way the guitar feels. This is why each person should handle, and try out different models and styles. Then the sound comes in as a very close second.
Here are some brands to check out, Dean, Eastman, Fender, Gibson (and their Epiphone line), Gretsch, Heritage, Ibanez, Martin, Mitchell, Ovation, Rickenbacher, Seagull, Takamie (and their Jasmine line), Taylor, Washburn, and Yamaha. The makers that I listed, are some of the better quality makers of guitars. Each will have different lines and models to select from, and try out. Selecting a guitar is also very much a personal thing, as each person will look for the aspects, and qualities that they want in the guitar. Anyone can recommend a brand, or model type, but the final choice should be that of the person buying it, based on what they found by testing out different ones.
Also if you buy an acoustic,to start with, which is the best way,as you're not going t need an amplifier to practice with, understand that swapping from one string type to another, nylon to steel or vice-a-versa, is not recommended, as the guitar was built and setup for that specific type of string. This is especially true for the acoustic nylon strung guitars, as using steel strings will destroy it. Those intended for nylon strings aren't made to handle the tension that's required, of the steel strings.
Yes it is.
For an acoustic nothing new from the under one dollar to one hundred dollar range is going to be of any worth, that's new. Anything in that price range is going to be little more than junk, a wall hanging, expensive kindling wood, or child's toy. A good tech, or trained guitar luthier isn't going to want to work on anything below the sixty dollar range, as it will take anywhere from half that to as much, or more to make semi reliable, and playable.
A semi decent new guitar will start at around one hundred dollars, and range to one hundred fifty dollars. A relatively decent new one will be from about one hundred fifty to two hundred dollars, or the top end of your range. From two hundred and up you're starting to get into the better quality instruments.
When buying you should if at all possible avoid buying from an online retailer. Another huge do not, is buying from retailers such as Walmart, Target, K-Mart, or any other discount retailer, as I stated for the reason given above. They are generally junk, and will only frustrate you trying to learn and play. The big reason is the parts used to make it with are of the lowest possible grade possible, and assembly line manufactured.
The best way is to go to a shop and try the different models that they have in stock based on the style of body that you're interested in. No two guitars will sound exactly the same, even within same model line. This is due to differences in the density of wood, and the grain of the wood itself, even if it comes from the same tree, and same section of the tree. As to a good guitar, you will want to look at for a new one somewhere above the two hundred twenty five dollar range, anything from one hundred to two hundred fifty dollars is in the decent quality range.
When you try different guitars, one of the most important aspects is the feel and more specifically the neck, and how it feels when you hold it. You can and will find different neck widths, which affect the comfort, of how the feel is. The body will also play a role in comfort, when you sit and hold it, as well as when you're standing, all of that should be taken into consideration, while trying out the different makers, and model lines. Even the body styles vary, and this will also affect the way the guitar feels. This is why each person should handle, and try out different models and styles. Then the sound comes in as a very close second.
Here are some brands to check out, Dean, Eastman, Fender, Gibson (and their Epiphone line), Gretsch, Heritage, Ibanez, Martin, Mitchell, Ovation, Rickenbacher, Seagull, Takamie (and their Jasmine line), Taylor, Washburn, and Yamaha. The makers that I listed, are some of the better quality makers of guitars. Each will have different lines and models to select from, and try out. Selecting a guitar is also very much a personal thing, as each person will look for the aspects, and qualities that they want in the guitar. Anyone can recommend a brand, or model type, but the final choice should be that of the person buying it, based on what they found by testing out different ones.
Also if you buy an acoustic,to start with, which is the best way,as you're not going t need an amplifier to practice with, understand that swapping from one string type to another, nylon to steel or vice-a-versa, is not recommended, as the guitar was built and setup for that specific type of string. This is especially true for the acoustic nylon strung guitars, as using steel strings will destroy it. Those intended for nylon strings aren't made to handle the tension that's required, of the steel strings.
Mitchell MD200S Solid-Top Dreadnought Acoustic Guitar?
T
Is this a good guitar. For an adult intermediate guitar player.
Answer
As an intermediate player, you may be fairly skilled with guitar, but perhaps you may not have played a lot of different guitars.
If you would really like to get to know guitars on an intimate level, you will need to play a lot of them and look inside them (figuratively).
Big names like Ibanez offer stable product with good quality from guitar to guitar. If you are looking to upgrade from a cheap guitar, it is probably safe to stick with something like that.
Small makers like Mitchell are more likely to create 'bad' copies. Why? Sheer numbers.
A factory based production line like Ibanez can afford to split their materials up and use their lower quality materials for lower end guitars in their line. A small maker doesn't have that ability. Not just because of volume of materials consumed, but also because they simply don't make that many guitars.
Now this does NOT mean that you WILL get a bad copy. All this means is that when buying a hand built from a small maker, more responsibility for the sound of the guitar will come from you. You will need to educate yourself, not just to the choices of wood, but far more importantly, to your own tastes and ear.
To illustrate, a friend and I recently bought a couple of cheap classical guitars right out of the box. There was a cedar top and a mahogany top. I don't generally like the sound of mahogany, but my friend plays better than I but has a crappy guitar. I recommended the cedar for him. It matches his style perfectly and is clearly a better guitar by sound. However, I wanted the guitar to explore flamenco styles which are actually better served by the crispness and brightness of the mahogany.
Because of this, I am actually quite happy that I got the inferior guitar (overall) which incidentally cost 45 bucks more...
It's about expectations.
A guy who only has one 'nice' guitar will expect that guitar to do everything fairly well. This is further complicated by both his playing style and his taste in sound (the same playing style can result in different sounds on different guitars).
If this is going to be your only $good$ guitar, you will probably be safer with the big name.
If you aren't really short of cash and have room for more than one guitar, having a custom hand-built is awesome.
It is something of a gamble, but if you already have another guitar, you will find some songs that 'fit' the hand-built better, no matter how it turns out. It will almost definitely turn out to be head and shoulders above any cheap guitar. However, it might not turn out to be clearly better than a similarly priced guitar that you could get from a big name maker.
It is a gamble.
There's a reason why a huge number of professional performers choose to use big name brand guitars for their performances.
Classical performers often play for small makers, but classical players are keenly aware of the sound of every single note in every single piece they play. This helps them be much more educated and allows them to make much better choices in cooperation with a qualified luthier. If it doesn't turn out how they like it, they talk to the luthier and the luthier can make some changes.
The average player won't go that far (also the costs are somewhat different, by a factor of 10x or so). They will merely feel disappointed by the hand-built.
A hand-built can be a better guitar, but it will almost always cost more.
If you know that and know the factors involved, you will almost definitely be satisfied.
As an intermediate player, you may be fairly skilled with guitar, but perhaps you may not have played a lot of different guitars.
If you would really like to get to know guitars on an intimate level, you will need to play a lot of them and look inside them (figuratively).
Big names like Ibanez offer stable product with good quality from guitar to guitar. If you are looking to upgrade from a cheap guitar, it is probably safe to stick with something like that.
Small makers like Mitchell are more likely to create 'bad' copies. Why? Sheer numbers.
A factory based production line like Ibanez can afford to split their materials up and use their lower quality materials for lower end guitars in their line. A small maker doesn't have that ability. Not just because of volume of materials consumed, but also because they simply don't make that many guitars.
Now this does NOT mean that you WILL get a bad copy. All this means is that when buying a hand built from a small maker, more responsibility for the sound of the guitar will come from you. You will need to educate yourself, not just to the choices of wood, but far more importantly, to your own tastes and ear.
To illustrate, a friend and I recently bought a couple of cheap classical guitars right out of the box. There was a cedar top and a mahogany top. I don't generally like the sound of mahogany, but my friend plays better than I but has a crappy guitar. I recommended the cedar for him. It matches his style perfectly and is clearly a better guitar by sound. However, I wanted the guitar to explore flamenco styles which are actually better served by the crispness and brightness of the mahogany.
Because of this, I am actually quite happy that I got the inferior guitar (overall) which incidentally cost 45 bucks more...
It's about expectations.
A guy who only has one 'nice' guitar will expect that guitar to do everything fairly well. This is further complicated by both his playing style and his taste in sound (the same playing style can result in different sounds on different guitars).
If this is going to be your only $good$ guitar, you will probably be safer with the big name.
If you aren't really short of cash and have room for more than one guitar, having a custom hand-built is awesome.
It is something of a gamble, but if you already have another guitar, you will find some songs that 'fit' the hand-built better, no matter how it turns out. It will almost definitely turn out to be head and shoulders above any cheap guitar. However, it might not turn out to be clearly better than a similarly priced guitar that you could get from a big name maker.
It is a gamble.
There's a reason why a huge number of professional performers choose to use big name brand guitars for their performances.
Classical performers often play for small makers, but classical players are keenly aware of the sound of every single note in every single piece they play. This helps them be much more educated and allows them to make much better choices in cooperation with a qualified luthier. If it doesn't turn out how they like it, they talk to the luthier and the luthier can make some changes.
The average player won't go that far (also the costs are somewhat different, by a factor of 10x or so). They will merely feel disappointed by the hand-built.
A hand-built can be a better guitar, but it will almost always cost more.
If you know that and know the factors involved, you will almost definitely be satisfied.
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