Ask the Experts | May 29, 2024
Q: What is your number one tip for someone looking to buy their first acoustic guitar?
John Bohlinger
Stay within your budget. There are great, affordable guitars being built every day. Go to a store and try to play as many in your price range as you can and see which one resonates with you. Sometimes, the guitar picks you. You just have to listen.
Elle Cordova
Don't just settle for the first guitar you see in the shop. And if you happen to have a decent chunk of change set aside for this purchase, don't automatically beeline for the most expensive price tags and foreclose on the mid-rangers. Play as many guitars as you can get your hands on and go to a few different shops. And when you find the one that really speaks to you, put it back on the rack and come back two days later. If you still feel that way, buy the hell out of it. And may it give you many years of joy.
Sean Daniel
Take a minute to learn about the different models. Especially body shape. I’m all about Martin Dreadnoughts, but someone else might be really into how a 00 or 000 feels and fits when they’re first starting out.
Steve Howe
The size of the guitar.
Jimmy Leslie
Get one that looks cool, plays well, sounds good to your ear and feels right for your body. Think of it like buying a shirt or a dress. It should fit well and make you feel cool and confident. That’s a guitar you’ll feel great about reaching for again and again.
Brooke Ligertwood
Pick it up and play it before you buy it! Take note of how it feels in your hands, how the action and sound feel in response to your playing, and what is evoked in you as you do so. I remember vividly the moment in a boutique guitar store in Sydney almost 20 years ago that I knew that my PS2 Paul Simon was the guitar I needed to invest in, because of the way the neck fit in my hand when I picked it up.
Zach Meyers
Find what suits you and your hands and what sounds good to you – something that can hold up to you and weather, and whatever other elements it will have to face.
Steve Miller
Buy a Martin guitar and make sure it’s set up by a professional before you start playing it.
Paul Riario
Find an acoustic that speaks to you visually and sonically but also feels great in your hands. In other words, find an acoustic that when you look at it, you'll want to pick it up and spend time with it and get lost in it.
SamuraiGuitarist
The wealth of information available online about guitars and the countless opinions and specifications can be overwhelming. It's good to take this stuff into account, but even more important is the way you feel and your instincts about the guitar.
Mary Spender
Make sure you love it. Take your time finding something you just adore the look and feel of. When it comes down to it, it’s a very personal decision – it should be about what you like, not what other people like. What will inspire you to pick it up every day? If you pick correctly, it’s going to be your best friend, you’re going to wake up and look at it and think, “I can’t believe I own this.” I feel that with my OM-28 now, I just can’t stop thinking how beautiful it is, how much I love it and what it’s done for me and my career. I use it to record all the time and just used it for my debut studio album, Super. Sexy. Heartbreak.