I've been playing for about three weeks now and I've settled on a Washburn for my first guitar. £95 is the best price I could fined and seen a s though its half the retail price and the reviews look good but I'm still unsure. I'm planning on playing mostly bob dylan and 60s to 70s folk/classic rock stuff is this the right guitar? I'm also planning on spending less than £200 so any suggestions that are better are welcomed.
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When it comes to buying a guitar, there are many brands to chose from. The best way is to try as many different ones, that are within your budget range. However stay away from anything below seventy pounds. This is generally considered to be in the lowest quality are. With anything at or under fifty as being either a child's toy, a wall hanging, or a piece of junk. In short these are not suitable as instruments.
Cheap guitars also tend to make learning harder, and less enjoyable. Which is why many who start out with cheap quality soon quit. These are the type of guitars luthiers dislike working on, as the cost to make them semi reliable ends up costing in the end as much in total, as it would have to have bought one of better quality. A fourty pound priced guitar with having the needed work done, will cost at least another fifteen pounds, to bring up to being semi reliable.
When you are looking at guitars try different models from the different makers. There are things you need to look at, and consider when buying a guitar. One is the neck width, and how it feels in the hand you're going to be fretting with, or using to form the various chords you're going to be playing. Necks can, and do vary in width. They can range from being narrow, to medium, to wide. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with a wise neck, or one that's narrow. Next how does it feel when you hold it, both sitting, and while standing. Find the ones that feels the best to you. Now you can start narrowing down which one has the sound that you like the best.
Next is the style of playing, that you will be using. If you are going to use a pick, then you will need one that has a pick guard. These are generally steel, or metal strung. If you will be using finger style, then the pick guard becomes optional. However if you're going to use a pick the reason for buying one with a pick guard is to protect the surface of the guitar, from the pick scratching, and eventually gouging the surface of the guitar.
Some other things to buy are string wipes, an extra set, or two of strings, and a set of picks if you're going to be using a pick. However if you go with a pick, then try various hardness's of picks, to find the one(s) you like best. Some other options to consider are a good cleaning cloth, a surface cleaner made for cleaning the guitar, and a small bottle of lemon oil, for the fret board, to use once, but not more than twice a year, to keep the fret board, from drying out, and cracking. Optional would be a tuner for your guitar, until you learn to tune by ear. Also some pegs for the strings as it can be easy to loose them when changing out strings.
Finally and perhaps most importantly, is do not buy from any discount retailers such as, Walmart, K-Mart, Target (or their equivalent in the U.K.), or close out retailers. As for online, that should be the last possible resource to buy through. Guitars are always best bought hands on where you not only see it, but pick up, and test it first hand. Buying online you risk ending up with a guitar shaped object, unless you're buyiing directly from the maker.
Here are some brands to check out, Dean, Eastman, Fender, Gibson (and their Epiphone line), Gretsch, Heritage, Ibanez, Jasmine, Martin, Mitchell, Ovation, Rickenbacher, Seagull, Takamie, 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.