Guitar Buying Guide

After discussing the guitar world with a friend of mine this past weekend, we hit on the topic of making good choices when it comes to purchasing a first guitar (specifically electric). There are always a few internal battles that new players seem to go through, and as always, there are a million different answers.

Anyway, I thought I would have a look at what people are advising new guitar buyers to look for and the provide some my input on the process.

This is a good general information guide for a new buyer:
General Information Guide - Sweetwater

There are some basic fundamentals and concepts in that guide that make a lot of sense. But ultimately, I want to provide my views and hopefully they will someone make the right choices.

There are many important pieces to consider in buying a first guitar. Most people are looking to spend as little as possible and get a decent instrument. Unfortunately, the days of walking into Sam Ash and getting a nice Made in Mexico Fender Telecaster are long gone, but that's fine because there are many options out there if you want to do the legwork. For cheaters who don't want to read the entire post, some inexpensive brands that I really like are Epiphone, Crafter (acoustic), and G&L.

Epiphone makes some great stuff that really doesn't cost that much. Their Les Pauls have been notorious for bad wiring but that can be fixed easy enough. You can make your Epiphone Les Paul just as good as a Gibson by getting a good setup and throwing in some aftermarket pickups. In lower-end guitars, the electronics are typically a weak spot. For some guitars, the wood is good enough (Epiphone) that an upgrade in components makes it worth it. In other brands like Squier, it isn't even worth the effort.

Crafter makes really nice budget acoustics. I wanted to primarily write about electrics but I just have always found Crafter stuff to be SO nice and their prices can't be beat; great bang for your buck. If interested, see if you can track down one with a Cedar top. I wish I got one back in the day. Though it was a budget guitar, it sounded that good.

Ok, so G&L isn't that inexpensive but if you compare them to their Fender counterparts, they are really good deals. Their craftsmanship is impeccable and they sound amazing. True, they don't have the signature Fender headstock and are not as well known, but they are definitely worth every cent. If I wasn't such a humbucker/Gibson guy, I would probably almost play G&L exclusively...but currently I don't own any and I own two Fenders. Yep, that makes sense...

For people that are willing to spend some money and are not questioning whether or not they want to play guitar, I will provide some other options. I already provided G&L which could fall into this category. But the Gibson Les Paul Studio is a good "high end" option for a lower price. Gibson also had a line of Faded and/or Special guitars that are pretty good value.

It is said that Gibson took their Gothic series that didn't sell well and stripped the paint off of these guitars and resold them as the Gibson Special. The Gothic series was always rumored to be the line Gibson used to sell off their junk wood under the disguise of heavy black paint. The Special line was sold in Faded Red and brown, and then a couple of painted finishes. It is said Gibson used the good pieces of wood in the Faded finishes and the bad wood they kid with the paint jobs. So now you can find yourself an inxpensive Gibson SG Faded special. I have them go for as low as $475 and as high as about $800. Guess it just depends on the demand...

One brand that I can't "endorse" for the life of me is Squier by Fender. I have never heard one that sounds good, I have never played one that feels good, and I have never seen one that looks good. I can't tell you how many times I have seen a Squier at a store with a twisted neck where the repair would cost more than the guitar.

Generally, a good mindset to standby is that quality is the most important part of a guitar purchase. I wholeheartedly believe that you are better off spending $100-$200 extra dollars on a guitar made of better quality no matter what. If you're just learning to play, a bad guitar will be more difficult to play and won't sound good so you will become frustrated and not want to continue to learn the instrument. If you are already a somewhat experienced player, you need to consider the investment. Maybe the guitar feels fine to you now, but as you continue to grow as a player, will it still meet your needs? You will always be better off at saving up a little more money to get better quality than buy something because "it was cheap." The more expensive guitars get, this becomes a grey area, but that will come down to personal taste. While you're trying to develop that "taste" you should make sure to make good choices in purchasing an instrument. Of course, just because the price tag is bigger, that doesn't mean it's necessarily better. The only way you will know what guitar is best is spending time with it. If you are going to buy a guitar, make sure you feel it worth every cent.

Another thing to address is resale value. When you are buying an intro level guitar you might as well ignore the resale value factor. Entry level guitars are not investments...simple as that. Even intro level Gibsons from 50-70 years ago are valued much lower than anything in the vintage market. True, Guitar Center or Sam Ash will always give you a few bucks on it as a trade-in but it will always be at a significant loss. That said, don't buy a guitar because you think it will fair better when you're ready to move on. Buy a guitar that you know you will be satisfied with. You like how it plays and you like how it sounds.

Quick tips:
1. Make sure the guitar feels balanced
2. Make the neck isn't twisted. Twists are virtually impossible to repair WELL no matter what anyone tells you.
3. Make sure there isn't any hidden damage to the guitar.
4. Plug it in and make sure all the electronics work.
5. If you are torn between two guitars because of price and the more expensive one feels better, get the one that feels better.

If you're looking for more advice on buying a guitar or have any questions, feel free to email us at billsguitarblog@gmail.com. Hopefully we can get you pointed in the right direction and narrow down some choices for you.