Right – so you’ve decided to learn to play guitar! A good decision, one small problem – no guitar!

There is now a world of choice for people starting out so which guitar do I buy?

How much will it cost? Well let’s help out with some tips.

First off – set yourself a budget. How much? Well a good “starter guitar” will cost around £120 to £200 (approximately $200 to $300). Yes you can probably find something cheaper but generally with guitars you get what you pay for – it’s an old saying but “buy cheap, buy twice”.

So where to buy? The Internet has some good prices but my own personal preference is to go to your local friendly Music Shop. My logic is that choosing a guitar is very personal decision. The feel, the weight, the sound, the colour are all best evaluated via a hands-on test drive. Also, you local Music Shop will have a range of guitars for you to try and also give you advice on what best suits you, plus if it goes wrong, and they sometimes do, they will be able to quickly fix it for you.

Another good tip – if you don’t know your Strat from your Les Paul, take a friend along who already plays so that they can help you make the right choice. Also, your Music Teacher can help out too.

Decisions, decisions – what do I buy? Where do I start? The most popular guitar since its launch in the 1950’s is the Fender Stratocaster. The Strat, or one of its many clones (which should fall into my suggested budget guidelines), is a very comfortable and versatile guitar. It’s body is chamfered so there are no hard edges and it also has good upper fret access. The versatility of sounds comes from three single coil pick-ups, which impart a bright and punchy tone. Strats have been used in nearly every musical genre – rock, blues, country, jazz even folk. They also have a wonderfully fun device called the Tremolo Arm (or whammy bar). This can give hours of pleasure from simple little whammy dips to out and out drive bombing effects acheter viagra en tunisie.

What if the Strat is not for you? Then my next other “check out” guitar for folks getting started is the Gibson SG or, one its many copies (again lower in price than an original) . They are generally lighter in weight and have possibly the best upper fret access of any guitar. The pickups are usually humbuckers which are visually bigger than single coil type and have a warmer darker tone.

So what does it feel like to you? Any guitar should feel comfortable to hold, after all you are going to spend a lot of time together. Check that the neck is not too wide or thick – not everyone has big hands or long fingers so make sure it feels right for you. To be fair most manufacturers do a great job of making guitars these days and offer really good high quality products.

In the next instalment I will talk you through other things to check out when you buy your first guitar. Keep reading the reviews – getting opinions of current users has got to help in narrowing down your options and will go a long way to helping make the right choice.