Beginners Guitar

[Bird]

So Cammo has been accepted in to some "arts" type scholarship next yr.. One part is moozik...
He needs a guitar. I know ziltch about them.

What is a good beginners gig? Used is fine by me...
Brands?
Types?

Things to look out for etc.

Thanks

[Mallory Black]

Not sure if you want him to start with nylon strings or steel
For Nylon, If you can get one an Ibanez 325, they have a nice tone, also Yamaha G55 Both brands are good
steel stringers I dunno

[MR MAC GU]

Nylon string would be better until he builds up callesses on his finger tips.

Get him a cheap one, you can pick them up for about $150 at the shops and sell it and get a better one in a year or two if he keeps playing.

Looked after they will last forever. Mine is 23 years old and nearly as good as new.


Sent from Behind you...BOO

[Smoko]

I tried to play the guitar at school............I think my mum wished it was the air guitar





Smoko

[fuji]

I think Allan/billy Hyde are having a sale

[Bird]

I think Allan/billy Hyde are having a sale

yea 99% on retail when I looked week or so back.. their site has jack Shit now

Theres 2 just up the road from work.

[brickiematt]

Looking for the same sort of thing for our daughter at the moment. KC's Rockshop & Keyboard Corner in Boronia just lobbed a sale catalogue in the mailbox.

The one we are looking at is http://www.keyboardcorner.com.au/ashton-classical-beginners-pack-full-size/

They have another one in the catalogue for $99 with bag, strap and online lessons.

Dunno about quality tho, I wouldn't know a good guitar if it was smashed on stage right in front of me

[Kit_e_kat9]

I picked up a "students guitar" from Aldi the other week for $34.99 ... until I get my 41yo+ one fixed up propa.  Both are classical - light weight - nylon strings.

Get him onto UTube "Creative Guitar" as he teaches you to tune and play & he's really, really good!  Not that I'm much better than I was before I started learning    Give it a few months I might be able to whip off a decent tune.

Kit_e

[Dragonfly]

How old is Cammo mate? If he/she is under15, I would go for a nylon string and I would stick to a reputable brand. If over 15, I would go straight to a steel string.

Brands I would consider are Cort (1st choice for value for money), Yamaha and Ibanez. There are some other good brands around and a nylon string guitar set up should cost you well under $100 with a bag and a set of spare strings.

I'd consider buying a better brand second-hand. When you're buying, the things you want to check for are warping of anything, and look around all of the components (fret board, where the neck joins the body, bridge, etc. If you see glue - run away screaming.

It's hard to buy a really crap guitar these days, but I would consider having it set up correctly. I spent $65 recently having my guitars set up and it has made my playing MUCH easier (and hence I'm making better progress than I was. Even my wife would might agree  ). The music shop would lower the string to bring them close to the fret board (called lowering the action) and that has a significant impact.

I have a Martin D1, which is like the Ferrari of guitars, but I can't play it. So I bought a Cort for about $300 and I can bang out a few notes without tearing holes in my fingers

For lessons - Check out Marty Schwartz on YouTube.

[xcvator]

"Slim" had a song about " hillbilly pickin on scratched and battered gibson

[grafy82]

I bought a Takamine d series. Only about $350. A great quality guitar that can hold its own against guitars twice its price without breaking the bank, IMO.

[Bird]

Cammo is 12 going on 50... cheeky smartarse little Shit.

Still looking around.. I'd like used to save $, and who knows, being like normal he may do it for a week then shelve it.

Some stores inc a few lessons in the price, which I like the idea of to get him started. Hes not bad on tunes, he plays keyboard at dads a little bit, but can pick what mistakes he makes easily.

Fwak it can get stupid expensive without trying..  Even the price of lessons could give you enough income to not have to work..

already been going the youtube route, and downloadin music sheets to tunes he likes
Id like to stick with name brands, Yamaha, Gibson, Ibanez, Fender (I picked most of them from a ebay search), but I dont know whats good and whats not.. I know Fender are ****in expensive!

[Dragonfly]

Cammo is 12 going on 50... cheeky smartarse little ****.

Still looking around.. I'd like used to save $, and who knows, being like normal he may do it for a week then shelve it.

Some stores inc a few lessons in the price, which I like the idea of to get him started. Hes not bad on tunes, he plays keyboard at dads a little bit, but can pick what mistakes he makes easily.

Fwak it can get stupid expensive without trying..  Even the price of lessons could give you enough income to not have to work..

already been going the youtube route, and downloadin music sheets to tunes he likes
Id like to stick with name brands, Yamaha, Gibson, Ibanez, Fender (I picked most of them from a ebay search), but I dont know whats good and whats not.. I know Fender are ****in expensive!

I would look for a nylon string second hand mate. There will be so many parents selling guitars that their kids have shelved or outgrown. eBay, GumTree, local papers. Stick to the bigger brand-names and then have it checked out by a muso or a music shop.

[jeeps]

There are heaps of great online resources but nothing will speed up a kid's progression than having a one on one teacher to push them. The online stuff might not give them motivation. I don't have the time to sit down with a teacher so i use online resources.

For the record, i pay for and use http://www.banjobenclark.com/, and i get great results. It's leaned more towards bluegrass though. Ben is Taylor Swift's banjo/guitar live concert player if that make's a difference for the kids, and his videos are second to none. Here he is playing with his sisters

http://youtu.be/EkCL-egHgio


If there was youtube and online resources when i was a kid imagine how good i'd play now!

cheers

[terravista]

I know nothing about guitars,strings, frets etc but have seen them advertised on Graysonline at what seems a half decent price.

http://www.graysonline.com/search.aspx?q=guitar

No affilliation, in fact some of what I have bought is absolute krap, but a lot has been good value.
Cheers

[wholehog]

i would go nylon strings at first for a beginer....
Much easier on the fingers...If they get straight into steel strings it can get really painfull for a newby and he/she can get a little put off by it....
I had a fender strat strung with 13's and if i didnt play for a few weks ..man that thing would rip my finger tips apart doing 2 step (trying )bends..but the tone was awesome
As for brands to buy....if they are going to stick with it and they look after thier stuff...... Fender..guild...yamaha..takamine......dunno if any of these make a nylon string but
If they are like my kids and go"dad,this is to hard and it gathers dust in the corner....any elcheapo

[MDSimpson]

I bought my boy an Ashton guitar for his first.
Six string, but smaller than a normal one, kids size.
Better for smaller hands and learning fingers.

[speewa158]

That Chick with the Banjo can strum on my veranda till the takes  me away  . Love the Bango 

[Malcolm Tugless]

Yeah, you can buy the kid a three quarter, nylon stringed beginners style axe, and be satisfied.
I've got two young blokes that can play it like ringing a bell. Both started out with the above.
One is an electric metal/blues kinda guy, and very good. The other a singer songwriter, harmonica and metal stringed acoustic virtuoso. Uses electric strings on his acoustic for various reasons. They both still have the cheap three quarters they started out with, sitting in bedrooms amongst the other guitars.  Vary rarely played, but the warped necked old behemoths still have a place, sentimental and sound wise that can never be replaced.
Don't know how you feel or if you understand the immense value of giving your child the gift of music, but to be blessed with the opportunity to learn and the eventual ability to play a musical instrument is something extremely special.

[jeeps]

Don't know how you feel or if you understand the immense value of giving your child the gift of music, but to be blessed with the opportunity to learn and the eventual ability to play a musical instrument is something extremely special.

Totally agree with you!

cheers

[Mallory Black]

That's not a guitar, THIS is a GEETAR!!

[Mallory Black]

oh wait...

This is a YEEHAR GEETAR!!

[wholehog]

oh wait...

This is a YEEHAR GEETAR!!

Thats Sweet

[Snow]

Every Rednecks starter guitar. 

[Kydar]

My young bloke is 11yrs and he plays a Takamine steel string. Ive never heard him complain about sore fingers yet. I quite like the sound of a nice crisp steel string guitar. The young blokes sounds much better than my nylon. We manage to keep him keen by having a guitar teacher come to the house every Monday arvo. $30 for half hour. Cheap I reckon.