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Originally Posted by guthmund
TFirst, I'd have to disagree on the old crappy guitar advice. Not that you should spend a thousand dollars right out of the gate, but a decent pawnshop or music store purchase should do you good.
I had a crappy ass acoustic I got from a friend who wanted me to play and I absolutely hated the thing. Didn't want to play, wasn't interested in learning, it was a fucking disaster. However, in a pawnshop with the same friend, I picked up another acoustic and played a couple of runs and it was night and day. I played all the time, I picked up books, played with others, it was (and still is) pretty fantastic.
Which kind of brings me to my second and third points. Two, be sure and physically get your hands on the piece and play a bit before you buy. It's a make or break thing for me. I have to get a feel for it and ordering cold off the internet (or whatever). I'm going to bastardize a quote from Bernie Mac in Transformers and say the player don't choose the guitar, the guitar choose the player.
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There's a world of difference between a crappy guitar and a cheap guitar. Again, I'd use my Silvertone as an example. It's an SG knock-off and while it may not be up to the same quality as a genuine Gibson, it's a blast to jam on. It's got a good, fast neck and tight action and it only cost me about $150 said and done. Similarly, I have a Jay Turser acoustic (Canadian only make) that would make a great starter guitar and that one only cost me about $120. The guitar I jammed on before I got those two was a Nova that cost $200 and was absolutely terrible to play. I still have it (it
was my first guitar, after all) but I never play it anymore, because I have nicer instruments available to me.
I agree that it's important to try out a guitar before you buy it, but I'd argue that with a novice who's looking to teach him/herself, they won't really know what to look for. Unless you know how to play already it doesn't really matter what type of guitar you're holding, even if one will be easier to learn on than another.
EDIT for an afterthought - I meant to say this in my post, but I would recommend going to an actual music store rather than a pawn shop, for the reasons above. The folks who own and/or work in these places almost universally play guitar and they should be able to direct you to a good starter guitar. I think that until you learn what you like in a guitar and can pick a good instrument for yourself, that expert knowledge is important to have. Some dude in a pawnshop may not know the fretboard from his own ass.