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If
you’re a parent with a youngster that wants to play guitar, there is a theory
that says one must buy a cheap guitar. That way if the youngster doesn’t stick
with it, you didn’t end up wasting too much money. Why that is
wrong is what I want
to talk about today. But first, let me explain how this relates to my childhood
growing up playing guitar.
I first started playing guitar at age 9. My
first guitar was my Dad’s old acoustic that he seldom played. I would play
until my fingers bled, superglue my fingertips and keep playing. Even though I
only knew one chord, I still played every day. The minute I first saw that
guitar I knew I would spend the rest of my life playing it.
However my parents were not convinced I was
going to keep it up and it took another four years before my parents broke down
and bought me my own guitar. When I finally got my own guitar, it was a cheap
Fender Squier Strat II that never stayed in tune, with an amp that sounded like
I was playing thru a tin can.
It was embarrassing to take to school, and it
was so difficult to play it made measuring my progress next to impossible. I
asked my parents for better quality gear so I could start playing in bands but my
parents still cited the fact that I would not stick with it. So in my late
teens when most of my other friends were playing in bands, I was still playing
on a 13 year olds guitar and desperately trying to save my money.
That
was not how I envisioned spending my teenage years playing
guitar.
Looks
Kind of Do Matter with that First Guitar!
Not
wanting to spend money on something someone might not stick with is valid, but
it is also flawed.
You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars,
but just spending that extra couple hundred can make all the difference.
You want your beginner to have a guitar he can
be excited about so they WILL stick with it. It’s kind of hard to be excited about
a piece of crap that you’re too embarrassed to play in front of your friends
because your folks were too cheap to buy at least the next model better.
Watching their friends and fellow guitar players
get excited over their how cool their guitar looks and sounds is a powerful
motivator to not only make you keep
playing to but to also strive to improve.
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The
Frustrations of Playing a Shitty Guitar
It sucks playing a poorly constructed guitar.
It’s hard to be excited when you can’t tell where your deficiencies start and
the guitar’s begin.
It’s hard to measure your progress when your
guitar won’t even stay in tune and your amp sounds like someone taking a dump
in though a megaphone.
It’s impossible to get good when you’re not
playing and learning from other musicians because you’re guitar is such a piece
of shit that you hide it at home for fear of getting laughed at.
Learning how to drive, for example, is
difficult and frustrating enough without having to worry about having brakes
that work, power steering, working lights and mirrors and a smooth running
engine.
You
wouldn’t do that to a beginning driver, so don’t do that to a beginning
guitarist.
Learning how to play is already hard, tedious,
time consuming and at times extremely frustrating and disappointing as it is
without being handicapped by a shitty guitar.
The
Very Basics of Buying a Guitar
You could easily write a book about this. I’m
not getting into the mechanical, and technical aspects of what to look for in a
guitar. If you wanna find out what wood is the best, you’re on the wrong blog.
But
if you want a couple pointers that are so easy to remember you don’t even have
to write them down then here you go:
Buy
a guitar at an actual music store
Not
at a Best Buy or Walmart. Don’t ever do that you moron.
Ask
for Help!
That’s
what they’re there for. There’s nothing manly, or cool about being in a guitar
store trying to buy a guitar you know nothing about and not asking for help.
Have
the Salesperson Tune the Guitar
Make
sure it stays in tune when it’s played and make sure all the guitars you look
at are in tune. They’re easier to compare to each other that way.
Check
for Buzzing on the Frets
This
is not a good sign. If it can’t fixed by adjusting it – don’t buy it
And
Lastly,
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Beware
of Surprising People
I’ve been surprised with poor quality guitars
and other gear as gifts. It is very stressful to hide that disappointed
expression as quickly as possible, smile and say something like, “Wow! This is
great!” when secretly wishing you had been there to supervise and consult on
the purchase.
Even though your beginner may not even know
how to play guitar yet, they may very well already know more about guitars than
you think.
In the four years before I got my first
guitar, I had gone thru every guitar magazine there was to read. I knew exactly
what I wanted, knew what to look for, where to find it and how much to pay. My
parents, assumed incorrectly that just because I was a beginner, I didn’t know
anything about guitars
Take your beginner along to make that first
purchase. If he can’t get what he wants at least he’s there to make sure he can
still find something he’s still happy with.
CHEAP
ISN’T ALWAYS BAD
Even though cheap usually means bad, doesn’t
mean it always means bad. Once you know what you’re looking for, you can find
some great deals on places like Craigslist, EBay or just your local pawn shop.
As an adult my favorite electric guitar I’ve
ever had, is this Alvarez electric guitar I bought for $90 at a used music
store in Queen Creek, Arizona. It’s beat up, it’s old, it’s cheap but it stays
in tune, and has personality and tone. I love that damn thing.
My last acoustic guitar was a beautiful
sounding Fender acoustic/electric I found in a pawn shop with a great guitar
case for $200.
If you want to try to get a good deal for your
youngster online or at a pawn shop and you don’t know anything about guitars
make sure you consult with a friend or someone that does know what they’re
doing.
30 years after my parents told me they were
convinced that I would never stick to playing guitar…well I’m still playing.
Of course I hardly ever follow my own advice.
When I bought my daughter who’s five, a guitar, what did I do? I went out and
got a $20 Walmart Barbie guitar. But who care’s she’s only five. If she’s still
playing when she outgrows it then I’ll get her another one. Ha-ha.
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