Guitar Questions?

gingin_2

Hi Alias, I know so little about guitars but my daughter has just got one from my parents for her birthday, who like to do everything properly, to the letter, so spent a good time in the music shop going through it to get the right thing.

They got her a Jose Ferrrer one, it cost them £70 but I went on Ebay and saw you could get good quality used ones for under £10. This was the one the guy in the music shop recommended ( I wasn't there) and my guitar teaching uncle recommended. It's 3/4 sized which apparently suits them until they get to 14 (or 16, can't remember).

Edit:- looking at the other posts it might be that my parents were recommended a proper beginners one as I know she is younger than your daughter, it might be that your daughter needs a more pro one like others have advised ( and if so, ignore me)

aliasojo

Ich wrote: »

Do you not think one place to get advice and find a suitable guitar could be a shop, your daughter can actually touch them & try them out before buying.

Entirely possibly. However I see no wrong in seeking advice here too. I know there are some very knowledgeable people here who can advise on this subject.

I know nothing about instruments. If I was to go to the 'wrong' shop, it's possible I could be sold anything and I'd be none the wiser whether it was good or whether it was stock they were just trying to get rid off. Let's face it, a Mum and daughter who are not musicians would be an easy sell to an unscrupulous seller.

(I appreciate there will be many helpful stores out there but given my ignorance in this field, I wouldn't know where to go.)

The people here do not benefit from my purchase so any advice they give is not for any motive.

At least I have some starting points so that if I do visit a store I might now have a bit better idea of things.

The guitar was only looked at this afternoon so it's not as if we've had time to go visiting stores anyway.

scooby088

OP in my opinion I when choosing a guitar I would goto a shop and try before I buy, then you can get the feel for and the get to hear what it sounds like. Cheap guitars are ok for what they are, but as your daughter gets better the cheap guitars can make you sound rubbish.

I have tried this site they also have stores nationally.

http://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/

aliasojo

Just been browsing again.....another question if I may. The guitars that have cutaways, is that *just* a design quirk? Is the cutaway for any practical purpose?

There's another reason I like asking advice here, I can freely ask basic/daft questions. :)

room512

My OH says that with a cutaway you can play higher up the neck more comfortably (very high notes) x

Tropez

aliasojo wrote: »

Just been browsing again.....another question if I may. The guitars that have cutaways, is that *just* a design quirk? Is the cutaway for any practical purpose?

There's another reason I like asking advice here, I can freely ask basic/daft questions. :)

It does have a practical purpose. It is to provide simpler access to the upper frets of the guitar.

That said, mainly on electric guitars, cutaways are often used for stylistic purposes as well as or instead of practical purposes.

aliasojo

So perhaps a cutaway version might be better for someone who is young/growing?

aliasojo

Just spotted a Yamaha electro acoustic version.

Are these any good? Or is a version that does two things not as good as two standalone models?

Not that she needs electric, it's just that she spotted a model she liked and it turned out to be electric acoustic.

Tropez

aliasojo wrote: »

So perhaps a cutaway version might be better for someone who is young/growing?

Possibly, though a lot of guitar players dislike cutaways because often the tone is off, sounds flat and such. Many guitars with a cutaway will include a jack to plug it into an amplifier to rectify this issue. Some guitars have mics built in as well to fix sound issues. However, the degree to which the sound is flat/thin/weak etc. varies from guitar to guitar.

Ideally, you would discuss this with her tutor and let her try out various guitars at a proper store so she can find the balance between comfort and sound quality.

room512

My OH has always had electro accoustics. He says they're good for perfomances, such as school concerts (obviously not in a group if the others didn't have them!) However, if you bought a plain accoustic and she decided at a later date she wanted to go electro (amplified), then you could purchase a pickup to be fitted at a lower cost than buying a new guitar. My OH currently has a nice green electro guitar!