The first thing to ask yourself is, "Am I serious about this?". Another question is, "How much time am I going to give to this hobby?". Does the amount of time you will dedicate to this hobby reflect on the amount of investment you are willing to make? For example, there's no point spending $500 on a Gibson Semi-acoustic if you are only going to play for a couple of hours a week. Obviously, on the other side of the coin you don't want to buy some cheap little plank of wood with the strings nailed on either!
If you are learning the acoustic guitar with the intention of joining a band later on, then I would consider speaking to a guy in the music shop. The guitar you buy will reflect heavily on the style you wish to get involved with. If you want to learn and play country, then I would consider going for a 6-string steel guitar, or maybe even a resonator. If you want to play jazz, then there are guitars out there made specifically for jazz. But remember, if you buy a certain type of guitar, made for a certain genre of music, then you are limiting your options. Jazz just doesn't really cut it on a Spanish Flamenco guitar!
So, now that you've decided on your genre, it's time to actually go and buy a guitar. I can only speak from personal experience here, but the first thing I test is the weight of the guitar. Is it too heavy? Am I going to be walking around on stage with it? Will it get tiring after standing up playing for two hours? If the guitar is heavy then the chances are that its a guitar made for playing sitting down.
The next thing to look at is how much room you have between the strings. If you play one note, is your finger even slightly touching another string? There are ways around this, but to begin with, it's best to make sure you have lots of room available. There's nothing worse than accidentally muting another string that should actually be played as part of a sequence or chord. Generally speaking, people with big fingers will always have issues playing the guitar, but good discipline and plenty of warm up exercises will help with this problem in the long run. It can also be an advantage when you want to play Barre chords.
Next, check the tone. Get the guy in the shop to play something for you. Most guitar shop attendants love the chance to show off their stuff to you! Ask him to play something in the genre you want to study, then decide if that's the sound you want. Does it sound nice to you? Does it have enough chorus? Also listen closely for even a slight buzzing noise (fret-buzz). If you hear that while the guy is playing for you, then stay away from that particular guitar, because it probably hasn't been set up properly at the factory.
So to summarize, the key points I consider when buying a guitar are the weight, the price, the investment of money balanced against the investment of time, the genre I want to play, the amount of room on the fretboard, and fret-buzz (if it's there, seriously run away!). Some people think the look of the guitar is important. This is ok, but whats the point of having a beautiful Cherry Red semi-acoustic if it sounds like a broken harp?
So, I hope this helped you, and good luck buying your new guitar!
Joe R Foster: Playing guitar for 20 years and still learning and loving it!
http://acoustic-guitar-for-beginners.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_R_Foster
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