which guitar for beginner.

jhe

i am looking to buy a guitar for adult beginner but i am totally clueless.
i have rang round music stores and they all have offered tanglewood around £120-£130. they advise steel strings.
argos sell yamaha for around £120.
can anyone advise which is the best guitar please?
i know the music shops will set the guitar up,but i will be buying a tuner so which am i best buying.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Depends on your height, your arm length, the style of music you want to play, the 'feel' of the instrument as a whole, whether you want electro acoustic (so you can plug into an amp if you so wish, but don't have to), etc.

I would advise very strongly AGAINST getting anything from Argos. That will have been sitting in a damp warehouse for months and then chucked around by bored Saturday staff. The same model from a music shop is far more likely to be playable.


Tanglewood are good. A nice sound, too. Yamaha - well, I know people like the brand, but they're well, a bit - vanilla - if you see what I mean.

A set up doesn't mean tuning it, it means making sure everything is adjusted and lined up and altered so that they are the best they can be. You probably don't know that the neck can be adjusted, the height of the strings, too, if you're a beginner.

But a digital chromatic tuner (like the Snark) that you clip on the headstock would be a very good idea, nonetheless.

jhe

thanks jo jo.its a present for a 6ft adult so i imagine i need a full size guitar and it was the digital tuner i meant.
not wanting electric, the tanglewood is from the music shop the yamaha are more expensive from the music shops.
dont think there will be much music coming from it in the early days more a case of mastering the chords.( think i might need to invest in a good shed as well lol).
so i will go for the tanglewood, thanks for the advice

Wookey

Some good advice here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZrtdqZjBFw

Having a decent guitar to learn on is half the battle, something that ain't as good is a struggle to play. Do try out a few guitars and ask advice, any decent music shop should have someone employed there who knows there stuff.

jhe

thanks wooky,the guitar isnt for me, the music shops i phoned have been very helpful, will have a look at the video now.
i really havnt a clue but i had heard of yamaha but not tanglewood, i did wonder as well if i would be paying more going to an independent music shop.
i feel reassured now i know that tanglewood is a decent make of guitar.

Llyllyll

Similar thread here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=48268087&highlight=#post48268087, see my post #5.

jhe

thanks Llyllyll.think thats the same yamaha argos are selling. but the shops in your link are nowhere near where i live.
think i would be safer buying locally so they can set everything up on the guitar

Llyllyll

A local music shop may well do a free very basic setup, otherwise you're looking at circa £30 - £35 for a setup. Just something to factor in to the price...

jhe

thanks, didnt realise they would charge when i bought it off them. will check before i buy.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

They will often do a set up for free if you buy from them.

If you buy from Argos, for example, you would then most likely have to pay for a setup in any case.

Wookey

If you are buying from a music shop and they do give lessons barter with them on at least one free lesson or discounted rates for the first few lessons.