Thinking about a guitar

[Wing Nut]

I'm thinking about getting my 15 yo a beginners guitar for Christmas.  Anyone have any suggestions as to what to look for and what to avoid?

[Paz]

[Wing Nut]

Thanks Paz, I live right down the street from one and was planning on going in there to check it out.  He suggested Acoustic, the poor kid likes country music for some reason.    But hey, at least he wants to learn to play right?  What should guitar lessons cost?

[Paz]

[Jared]

I'm no expert, but my I've got an Alvarez 6 string, as well as an Alvarez 12 string.  String action is very good, sound quality is pretty good also.  the 6 string will usualyl cost between 175-250USD, while the 12 string version will cost around 400USD... I would recomend Alvarez...:-)

Good luck finding the best!
'

[Paz]

 I have never owned an Alvarez myself, but I know they make a good quality instrument and they have a good name in the industry, a lot of top performers use Alvarez products, the price seems reasonable too.
 I became addicted to Ovations somewhere down the line and I still own 3 of them, a 6 string acoustic, a 12 string elec/acoustic, and my pride, the purple 6 string elec/acoustic.
 Ovations are awesome if you like the sound of a roundback guitar. As with anything else, prices vary on which model you go with.

[Jared]

Yay! Paz has 800 Posts! Congrats! and wow! 3 ovations! that's pretty good! I wish that I could afford a really nice ovation someday... :-)

[Wing Nut]

Ok, I went to the Guitar Center tonight and narrowed it down to three choices, all of which were $199.00

a Fender 095-1101

a Takamine G230

and a used Ovation CC/67

Anyone know these?  Apparently the Ovation is made by a company called Celebrity?  They are all accoustic and the Fender and the Ovation both have electrical pickups just in case.

I'm going to put one on layaway tomorrow or the next day...

With the stand, case, and tuner, it'll al come to around $250.00

[Paz]

 Good choices Pip, Celebrity is actually a cheaper version of the Ovation, they are both (along with the applause model) made by the Kaman company, I personally like Ovation products, my brother has a Fender acoustic/electric and he is quite happy with it.

 If you think your son will ever like to plug into an amp and run through some effects, I would choose one of the acoustic/electrics, you can get some real smooth sounds out of an acoustic if you add a little chorus or reverb to it, it's good to keep that option open for the future.

 Other than that, I would say it is a matter of choosing which body style you think would fit your son best, I think the sound of a roundback guitar (Ovation) can't be beat, but opinions vary.

 Perhaps you could have one of the salesmen (or yourself) strum a few chords on each model and you can judge which sound you think is best, all three models you mentioned are good quality from well know manufacturers, but each will have a different sound when played unamplified.

 Let us know which you choose.

[Wing Nut]

There was actually this enormously fat Hisapnic guy there (I could have sworn he was that guy from Blues Traveler) and he helped me out in that department.  I'm no judge of guitar players, but this guy seemed very good to me.  He didn't even work there.  And since my first rule in life is 'Never trust anyone who is trying to sell you something' after the salesman gave me the lowdown on several guitars and what to look for, I went back and talked to this guy.  I think I'm going to go for the Ovation as it's in great shape and is a way to get him a better guitar for less money...

[Jared]

Sounds like a pretty good deal! It's pretty hard to find a used ovation in bad shape here in Ohio for less than $600...good find!

[Wing Nut]

Well, I did it.  I put the Ovation on layaway.  After we took the guitar to the counter I noticed several of what looked liked cracks in the enamel of the finish.  I ask the salesman about them and he said the previous owner had probably exposed the guitar to sudden  temperature changes (as in leaving it in the car in the winter) or too much humidity.  He assured me it wouldn't affect the quality of play, and I decided not to worry about it.

[BMan1113VR]

first tip: go fender (or squire(cheap subcompany))

acoustic ideas:
Squire SA-100 ($120 package)
Yamaha F310PKG ($130ish package)
Boston BN-200 ($90 guitar only)
Epiphone AJ10 natural ($115 guitar only)
Freshman anything. . .good quality. . .very good price
Westfield  "            "                       "              "


if he decides to go electric, deffinatly i would go with a squire affinity series start pack (i.e. comes with amp, cable, strap, etc.)

[Paz]

 Good choice going with the Ovation, I think Ovations are one of the best sounding Acoustic guitars out there, all the guitars you were looking at were from good companies that make excellent quality instruments, but you just can't go wrong with an Ovation.

 Here's my collection:



 My purple Ovation in it's blue plush case:

[Poseidon]

Talking about accoustic I would definitely suggest Fender. I own one for 10 years now and I never had problems. As for the sound it is very clear and reliable. More than this Fender guitars have a great range of quality and cost although even the cheaper ones are good.

However I would say to go against the common thought "let's buy something cheap now and we'll see in the furture" as a guitar is an object whose price is not reduced (unlike hitech) and a poor sound would prevent the guitar student from keep trying.

Between self-teaching and a teacher I vote for the teacher. I play guitar for 15 years now and I am self-tought. It took me much longer than if I had a teacher and I have gaps in theory and technique which I am trying to cover with a teacher now up to the point I have reached.

One final comment is that a 15 yo boy can very well start playing tablatures of his favourite music as this will be quick and will maintain (actually increase) his enthousasm. However he should quickly start lessons to learn music the right way. If he becomes good in playing but has not learned to read music it will be difficult to slow down in order to learn music notation via easy (and boring) music pieces.

I hope I helped.