Tag: Beginner guitar

Which Guitar Should I Buy for My Student?

As a guitar teacher, I get this question a lot. In fact I got this question while writing this article. My conscience will not allow me to give a quick answer. It is kind of like asking a chef-who likes just about everything- what meal should I eat? Well it depends on what you are in the mood for. Do you like onions? Do you like spicy food? Those kind of questions will help a chef narrow down your selection. That analogy works great because everyone eats. However, beginner guitar players don’t really know what they like yet. They may not even know what there is to like. On top of that, we’re not even sure that they are going to want to keep playing. I can recommend a great guitar, but are parents willing to pay that much money without knowing if the child will stick with it? I am attempting to answer this question because it will not go away.

Perhaps a better question is will this guitar help them learn?

If I had to write an equation for learning to play the guitar it would maybe look like this:

Ti+TG=P.

  • T=Time spent practicing
  • G=Guitar
  • i=Instruction
  • P=Proficiency

I would think that G and i would be numbers between 0 and 1. For T let 1 equal one hour. If the quality of your instruction and your guitar is good, then you will learn faster than if they are poor. But time spent practicing is the most important variable in this equation. I want to make this point crystal clear.

In short, the quality of the guitar will help a student learn. It would be very hard to express the quality of a great guitar over a poor guitar in a number. In reality, most guitars would fall between .5-.8, or perhaps an even smaller margin.

I welcome any math instructors to critique this equation or point me to an existing, more accurate equation. I am open to instruction.

This article is to address the guitar variable question. Spending more money on a guitar will increase the guitar’s quality to a point, then the gains are marginal. To make things easier, I would like to place guitars into three categories: Beginner, Player, and Professional.

Beginner Guitars

Beginner guitars are typically priced anywhere from $100-300. These guitars are mass produced with affordable materials. Quality control in manufacturing is considerably higher than it was 40 years ago, so most guitars in this category are going to be well built for the price. Playability issues manifest themselves in these guitars through lack of set-up. A poorly cut nut, no intonation adjustments, sharp fret edges and high action; all of these issues can be addressed with basic guitar maintenance which a complete beginner guitar player will lack.

I have pulled a brand new guitar out of the box in this category and had to spend an hour adjusting things before I was able to get the guitar to play in tune. This is my biggest complaint with beginner guitars. A student may not yet realize that a guitar is out of tune. An out of tune instrument will limit a student in three primary ways: by impeding ear training, more time will be spent tuning than practicing, and frustration from fighting an instrument.

In short, most cheap guitars will need work just to stay in tune. Teaching guitar maintenance is important, but it may not be inspiring. A guitar that will not stay in tune will be harder to play. If I must be pressed to recommend a beginner guitar I would go with a Squier Affinity Series Telecaster of Stratocaster. My first guitar was a Squier Affinity Strat that came with a little amplifier. I still have the guitar. And because I have done a bit of regular maintenance-and installed a set of Schaller tuners that are worth more than the guitar-this little guitar stays in tune nicely and I play it often at home.

Player Guitars

A player guitar is going to be $400-900. I would define a player guitar as a guitar that a guitar player would use to play a live performance in front of people. This would be an instrument that would be reliable, comfortable, and would also sound great. These guitars are going to stay in tune much better than beginner guitars.

If I had to recommend a guitar for a student in this price range it would be any guitar from the Paul Reed Smith SE line. I think that they are an excellent value. I have really been impressed with how consistent the quality of these guitars are. I have played the higher end PRS guitars, and while they are outstanding, the SE line feels and sounds just as good to me. I play one of these and it competes with the next category.

Professional Guitars

Professional guitars are just that, the kind of guitars that professional musicians play. A few years ago these started around $1,500, but inflation has pushed that number closer to the $2,000 entry threshold. The first professional guitar that I ever got to play live was a James Tyler Classic. It made such an impression on me that I saved money for years and sold a bunch of gear before I could afford a Suhr Classic Pro-I still can’t afford a James Tyler. It was like I had been driving used Honda Accords with transmission issues for years and I finally got to drive a Ferrari. Professional guitars are that much different than player grade. I once played my Suhr all night at a youth conference in Tulsa, OK, put it in the gig bag, flew to DFW then to DCA, drove an hour home, pulled it out of the case the next day and it was still in tune. To put that in perspective, I have a Gibson guitar that I have to tune after every song.

I do not recommend professional guitars to beginner students simply because they are so expensive. I also think it is important for players to develop their preference for sound, feel, and aesthetics through years of playing. By the time a student is good enough to warrant spending this kind of money, they better know what they are looking for in an instrument. That is part of the fun of learning guitar.

Professional Guitars usually have impeccable fretwork.

Amps

So far, I have focused solely on electric guitar. This is because most of my current students are far more interested in electric guitar than acoustic guitar. We cannot talk about electric guitar and not mention amplifiers. Amplifiers are more important to the sound than the guitar is. You could place amplifier in the same beginner, player, and professional categories. I will simplify and just talk about player amplifiers.

I recommend a Fender Blues Junior for a student who is wanting to take the guitar seriously. At $450 this amp will be useful for years to come and will retain value on the secondary market. This amp is going to be far more responsive to a players touch than the amplifiers that come in beginner packs.

You can get great guitar amplifiers on the used market. I check Facebook Marketplace and pawn shops pretty regular for deals like this. Look for a Vox AC-15, a Peavey Classic, an Orange Rocker, or a Fender Blues Junior. The Boss Katana is also a great value.

Amp Simulators

In today’s digital world, we now have available to us computers that simulate amplifiers. Companies like Line6 pioneered amp simulation 25 years ago and it has gotten progressively better with time. The nice thing about amp simulators is you can practice with just headphones. I prefer a real amp over an amp simulator, but I do use simulation to teach my online lessons. Marvin Gaye said it best, Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing Baby. The important thing is that you understand that the amp-or amp simulation- is a necessary part of the electric guitar equation.

I have been impressed with the Line6 Helix, Kemper Profiler, and Universal Audio Ruby if you need a recommendation from me. Boss just released an amp simulator pedal that is probably the best value I have seen in a while: The Boss IR-2.

Conclusion

The first question that we need to answer is What is your budget?

If you are bound to the $200-300 range then the Squier Affinity Strat Pack is your best option. Everything you need to get started-guitar maintenance not included. As your budget increases your options also increase, especially if you shop on the used market. I have found some great deals on Reverb.com. Sweetwater and Guitar Center also have used sites.

If your student is committed to playing and willing to fight the tuning issues, a cheap guitar and a nice amp is my preference over a cheap amp and nice guitar.

To my regular readers,

We will return to our regularly scheduled rambling next week.

My First Guitar

When I received my first guitar, I finally found something that I could excel with.

I suppose that for the first decade of my conscious life, I merely observed other people do things that they truly enjoyed. My poor vision and depth perception made catching a football or baseball a terrifying ordeal, much to the annoyance of my older brother. My lack of enthusiasm for hunting and fishing puzzled my father. My inclination toward music, but lack of motivation to practice piano perplexed my mother, and frustrated my piano instructors-Yvonne Clinkscales and Pam Roberts. When I received my first guitar, I finally found something that I could excel with.

After two years of playing the broom, I signed up for guitar class at school which finally convinced my parents to buy me a guitar. My Dad told Mom to drive me to Mars Music in Homewood, AL, which was about the same as driving to Mars itself as far as I knew. 

“What kind of guitar are you looking for?” Mom asked as we sat in the stand still traffic on 280.

“Electric.” I said. This would be like asking a child what flavor ice cream they wanted and getting the response, “Red.”

I was completely unfamiliar with the details of guitars, but that didn’t matter. By some miracle, I had convinced my parents to purchase me a guitar and we were on our way to do just that. The people at Mars would know all about guitars.

We got to Mars Music despite the traffic. I had never been in a music store before, and I was mesmerized. As we walked through the door it was like walking into a concert through backstage. The lights were dim in the building save for spotlights on a floor to ceiling wall full of guitars. There was a new exciting smell of fog machines and rented sound equipment. I walked over to the guitar wall and just stared. Now I knew how my brother felt when we went to the sporting goods store and he would just stare at the hunting rifles. This was where I belonged, and I didn’t want to let this feeling go away.

I was still standing there when mom walked up behind me with a sales associate.

“So y’all are looking for a guitar?” He asked. 

“Electric.” I said, still looking at the wall of shiny guitars.

“Let me show you what I recommend for beginners.” He walked us over to the starter packs and point out the Squier Strat. We looked at it. 

“This is everything you need. Rock’n Roll in a box.” He said cheerfully. 

We dug the guitar out of the box and I gave it a couple awkward strums. It felt right in my hands. 

I still had to learn to play it, but having that guitar was a turning point in my life. It did wonders for my self esteem. Until my parents bought me a guitar, I had never really fit anything else I had tried. It took them going out of their way to help me find my way. After all these years, I still have that same guitar. I leave it out in the living room so my son can pick it up and play whenever he feels like it. It would be nice to see him learn how to play, but I’m ok if he doesn’t. I hope that I can find where he fits, even if it means taking him to someone who can steer him in the right direction.