I want to learn to play the Guitar, what type of guitar should I buy?

Question:Oh boy, the amateurs on here LOL
I have played the guitar for 30 years and I have been in bands and played in front of large crowds.
The best guitar to get as a beginner, is a steel strung acoustic. Pay about ￡50 for it, and then try and get yourself some lessons. If you can't afford lessons, there are DVDs now that will teach you, so have a look at them.
Once you get the feel for playing, you may want to start copying what saxophonists play. The average saxophonist plays a lot better than the average guitarist. So if you can keep up with a saxophonist, you are playing well.
Practise, practise and more practise, is the key. Play until your fingers bleed and you will have it cracked.
Enjoy your journey.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Oh boy, the amateurs on here LOL
I have played the guitar for 30 years and I have been in bands and played in front of large crowds.
The best guitar to get as a beginner, is a steel strung acoustic. Pay about ￡50 for it, and then try and get yourself some lessons. If you can't afford lessons, there are DVDs now that will teach you, so have a look at them.
Once you get the feel for playing, you may want to start copying what saxophonists play. The average saxophonist plays a lot better than the average guitarist. So if you can keep up with a saxophonist, you are playing well.
Practise, practise and more practise, is the key. Play until your fingers bleed and you will have it cracked.
Enjoy your journey.

A Telecaster like Bruce Springsteen

a cheap accoustic one to learn the basics on.

Guitar Hero... hahaha it rocks!

I'LL SELL YOU MINE. NO STRINGS ATTACHED.

I teach.
You want an acoustic with nylon strings for no more than ￡50.00.
DO NOT get conned into buying anything else.
Nylon strings don't hurt, so when your fingers get rougher in say 6 months, you can look at getting a different guitar with metal strings. Start with chords Email me for any help, I Love it.

a cheap accoustic six string is the most basic, but a semi-accounstic with a lighter action won't hurt your fingers as much!

One that ya can PLUCK dude, why don't ya try the HARP?......

If you wanna learn big, then go big; buy an ESP. You wont be disappointed.

if u've never played the easiest to start out with is an acoustic. itz the base to like all guitars

A cheap acoustic maybe, but if you want to spend that little extra you can get yourself the Squier starter pack which includes Fender Squier Strat, Fender Frontman 15watt amp and other things such as strings and gigbag.

I started with a cheapo ￡30 strat copy, then after 6 months or so when I knew I was serious about playing guitar I bought my American Telecaster. Definitely the best purchase I've ever made.

Most beginners start with a steel-string acoustic, but if your aim is to play only rock and roll or death metal or screamo or whatever, an electric might be a choice. Nylon-string acoustics are only for classical or flamenco, generally.

There are a lot of fine brands out there, and each decent one has its adherents and its haters. I prefer Ovation but most guitarists would rather throw them under a train...

What you should do is shop at a full-service store--a national chain like Sam Ash or Guitar Center is good, as would be the biggest music store in your area. Take along a friend or relative who's knowledgeable about guitars, if you have one.

They'll let you try out several guitars. Even tho' you don't know how to play yet, go ahead and fool with them. You're assessing the feel: does the neck nestle nicely in your left hand, fingers reaching all strings comfortably? Does your right arm drape happily over the body, right fingers naturally hitting the strings near the sound-hole (or pickups)?

Now, if you're buying an acoustic, be aware that there are differences in sound even between two of the exact identical make and model--wood grain and glue and other factors are a bit uncontrollable. So once you have several acoustics that you think feel good, get your friend or a store clerk to play each of them (same tunes for each) while your back is turned. The one that sounds best to you while you're not looking is the exact one you want; buy that guitar (do not accept a "new and still in box" from the stock room) and a nice case for it if needed.

If it's an electric, the tone will depend on amp-speaker, effects, and pickups, and there's little variation between identical make-model, so once you find an electric that feels good, shop for price. Wait 'til that guitar is on sale, shop online at http://www.musiciansfriend.com or http://www.musicyo.com or even ebay--make sure it's got a warranty--don't be afraid of scratch and dent or even used if its warranteed.

Two more tips: get at least a dozen lessons from a good teacher to start yourself out right. Once the teacher has corrected those potentially fatal hand-and-finger position errors that all beginners make, it's your choice to continue with lessons or to self-teach (slower) using books, cds, dvds, and observation of other guitarists.

As a beginner, you learn faster by practicing for several short periods rather than one long one. Start with four or six 10-minute practices daily. After a week, start to extend the time of one of them a little bit--maybe a minute or two at first, then another couple of minutes a few days later. This gives you more rapid progress and also builds up stamina more safely--some new players give themselves tendinitis by playing too much, too soon. When you get the time of one session up to half an hour or so, you can cut out the other shorter ones and increase your time faster, so that you develop enough stamina to play for an hour or more without harm.

Ignore the nylon strings if you are over twelve years of age, when you start playing a steel string guitar your fingers will feel very painful, but in two weeks they will rapidly harden, once this happens never let them go soft again, buy a good acoustic guitar from day one, if you buy a cheap one the strings will always be harder to fret, and you will have more incentive to practise since it will be money wasted if you don't, try to practise every day even for just a few minutes

forty years experience

If you start on a normal classic (Acoustic) guitar, and be really good at it, you will be able to learn how to play bass, adn electric easily

Hey Simon, ive been playing for over thirteen years now and have loved every aspect of this instrument. Alot of people are stating that an acoustic/steel/nylon is the best way to go and a few are saying electric. In my experiance an electric is a perfect all rounder to begin with as the vast majority of basics are blues rock etc. After a few months of practice you will be keen to experiment with a band...trust me! I have had many guitars from basic cheapies to high end four figured ones. There is no right and wrong as to what you purchase when starting. i suggest going to a local music shop and getting some quotes on beginner guitar and amp packages..thats what i did without knowing about brands tones etc. it dosent matter for now! shouldnt be over $300 aud max some good beginner brands are; for electric - squire (made by fender) fender, epiphone (made by gibson) gibson if youre budget will allow! someone mentioned esp..great for metal etc, jackson also renowned for use in metal, ibanez are famous for metal are relatively cheap, versatile and extremely pleasurable to play, for acoustic; squire (entry level brand), fender, maton (australian brand) martin or gibson (again if budget will allow) the list goes on. I personally suggest having a chat with someone in youre music shop, express what music you listen too, get something you like the look of and then once you become good and research into different brands, the cultures surrounding them you can save and buy something that expresses who you are as an individual. Its better that way as you dont want to buy a guitar that is renowned for being goth if u wanna be an rnb or blues guitarist if you know what i mean. Stick with a very basic package and you cant go wrong! good luck man and let the journey begin!!

There are a couple things you should have included in your question. Things like your budget, the genre you would like to play etc. Some people will recommend an acoustic for any person wanting to learn guitar but I am against that because if you want to play some hard rock such as Guns n' Roses, an acoustic won't cut it. I'm also against starter packs because of the general qualities of the guitar material in that price range. I personally play an electric so I don't have much experience with acoustics but I have heard that Guild acoustics are great. For electric, I recommend a Yamaha Pacifica 112 (or higher), a Made In Mexico Fender Stratocaster or a Epiphone Les Paul - The Pac112 goes for about 200-250, the MIM Strat goes about 400, and the Epi LP goes for about 350 (somewhere around here). Again, the type and make of the guitar will vary from player to player. If you are interested in electric then remember that the amp you get will greatly impact the tone of the guitar so don't cheap out on the amp - Tube amps, solid state, modeling etc. Take your time and try them out. One other important thing to do is to try the guitar before buying it, even if you can't play - Hold it and strum it ... If you like the ergonomics of the guitar as well as the tone then congrats.
Feel free to email me if you still haven't found an answer to your question. Cheers.

- Cedric L