What is the Best Type of Guitar for a Beginner(Acoustic,Electric,or Acoustic-Electric)?

What is the Best Type of Guitar for a Complete Beginner
Acoustic or Electric or Acoustic-Electric
What is each one like and sound like?
I have no experience at all
Can you recommend me any guitars?
Where is the best place to buy my guitar?
What is the best way to learn to play guitar?
Should i buy books?
What are some free lessons online?
I don’t know how to read music
How can i learn to read music?
Can you also just give me information about guitars
Basics or anything i need to know before i start

One of my most fequently asked questions from beginner players is whether to choose electric or acoustic. This is MY VIEW – others may disgaree and they are welcome to their opinion. Mine is subject to change without notice!
The basic types are Acoustic (steel strings), Electric and Classical (nylon strings). You can have semi-acoustic guitars too and also electro-acoustic guitars (acoustic guitars with a fitted pick-up system)
So lets look at the pro’s and cons or each.
Playability
Electric guitar is easier to play. The strings are usually closer to the neck, thinner and therefor easier to press down. Barre chords on acoustic guitar can be very demanding and requires a lot of finger strength. Cheaper acoustic guitars can be very hard to play up the neck.
The distance from the strings to the neck is called the “action”. when it is very low it is easy to press the strings down, when it it too low the strings will buzz. If it’s too high it’s too hard to play, though many pro players (like myself) prefer a higher action so you can dig into the strings. Getting your guitar action set up by a good lutherer can make a huge difference to your guitar’s playability.
I have a number of private students that found an AMaZING difference when they had set their guitar up correctly. If you are struggling to play barré chords on an acoustic guitar, it could certainly be a part of the problem.
Sound and Style
It is what you want to do…If you want to play rock, get an electric. If you want to play folk or fingerstyle I think acoustic is a good choice. If you want to play classical then you need a nylon string classic guitar. It all depends on what style you want to play. If you want to play all styles, then electric might be the way to go and get an acoustic later.
Costs
Very cheap acoustics are usually not such a great idea, often sound quality is poor and they are hard to play, I often see students selling them after a six month struggle – so you’ll find a lot on e-bay! But that is all you need. See my recommened products page.
Electric guitars need an amplifier to be heard although they make enough sound just for practice without one. There are also a number of units (like Line 6 Pod) that can be plugged into your hi-fi, not much use if you wanna play in a band though!
Verdict
Well I think for the general beginner an elecric guitar is probably a better starter instrument, mainly because they are a little easier to play and so you will see results faster and it will inspire you to play more! But it really doesn’t matter.
Brands – Acoustic
Maton (my favouries by far) Yamaha and Fender all make good budget acoustic guitars. At the higher end I rate Maton, Martin, Taylor and Guild. Old ones often sound great and have more character. Watch out for cracks in the wood if you buy second hand guitar, if you don’t know what you are doing, ask someone who does!!
Brands – Electric
My favorite adage applies, “Buy cheap, Buy twice”. I rate the Yamaha Pacifica guitars, very good build and slighly thinner neck (good for rock), consistently excellent build quality. I don’t think there is much of a question about the quality of these guitars and most of the other teachers I respect recommend them too! There are cheaper guitars but for the few pounds you will save you are much better off to go for a Pacifica.
There are some cheaper Ibanez guitars that sound great. The Fender Squire are not bad either, though I’ve seen some bady set up ones with really cheap fittings so they are on the way down in my book. Buying a good USA strat will always be awesome though
DON’T BUY AN ELECTRIC WITH A FLOATING TREMELO WHEN YOU START OUT.
They are a total pain in the butt, very hard to tune and a real pain to change strings. The cheaper ones go out of tune a lot too. If you spend more, and know why you want one, then fine, but locking tremelos on budget instruments are usually rubbish.
Brands – Classical
I think the Yamaha brand are excellent, and that what I started on! There are others but Yamaha are very consistent top notch product.
I hope that help you make up your mind!!
OK then – time to make sure you know the best way to practice!

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