Best Beginner Guitar

I have been playing guitar most of my life and teaching it for many years. Having watched many students thrive and struggle on different instruments, I've got an idea of what makes it easier or harder for them to play with all other things being equal.

Let's forget about how the instrument looks or who made it for a little while. Any musical instrument, no matter how pleasing to the eye, has the production of sound as its primary purpose. Are there manufacturers whose products are typically superior to those of their competitors? Certainly. However, what makes an instrument worth purchasing has mostly to do with the sounds it makes. In this article, I list some things to look for in order to choose a quality guitar, and those of the highest possible quality will unfailingly exemplify what follows here.

1. Test each fret.

Start at the beginning of every string and squeeze one note at a time all the way up the neck. They should sound clear and only raise the pitch by one half-step. An instrument with buzzing or 'dead' frets should be avoided.

2. Test the intonation.

A guitar (or any fretted instrument for that matter) needs proper intonation to sound right. The way to test this is to lightly touch the string at the 12th fret (double dot on a steel strung, or where the neck meets the body on a classical guitar) and strike it (meaning to pick it). It will make a bell-like tone exactly one octave above the pitch of the open string. Then squeeze the string at that 12th fret and strike it again. The two pitches should be exactly the same. Take a tuner with you if you are at all uncertain of your ability to differentiate between slight differences in pitch.

3. Test the action.

The action is the distance from the strings to the frets themselves and it can have great effect on the feel, and even the sound, of the instrument. Too high an action and the strings will take greater strength to squeeze or it may change the pitch as they are played from what would be a proper note to one that is slightly out of tune. Too low an action and the strings will buzz against frets or the frets may be dead. To check this, use both hands to squeeze the sixth string at the first and fifteenth frets simultaneously and look along its length. The string should have a tiny space between itself and the frets all the way up. Repeat with the first string.

Check to see if the neck shows signs of warping.

Look closely at the fingerboard and see if it is a consistent distance away from the strings along it's length on both sides (top and bottom strings).

4. Compare the scale to your body.

Scale is the length of the strings from the bridge saddle to the nut, which means basically the entire playable length. It may seem silly, but not everyone can play all guitars with the same ease or difficulty. The student should be able to reach all the way to the end of the neck and squeeze every string without having to contort their wrist or lean their body to do it.

In conclusion:

While some of the attributes discussed here may be modified quite easily on some guitars, some or all of them cannot on others. Many electrics for example can have most of these things easily adjusted by any qualified professional, the exceptions being warped necks and the scale. Scale is whatever it is and to change it, you will require a new instrument. Warped necks must also be replaced, which is often a write-off, since not all guitars are like automobiles with readily obtainable replacement parts. A dead fret can be addressed, but it is more difficult and costly.

These problems can be more pronounced on acoustic instruments, on which often the only simple fix will be most steel-strung guitars' action, and even that should only be adjusted by an expert.

Therefore, observing each of these qualities will help ensure that you choose an instrument that is right for you or for your child.