3 Things to Avoid When Buying Acoustic Guitar

Getting your first instrument invokes the kind of feeling you will get every next time you walk into a music shop for a new piece. It's hard to explain, but there is a lot of excitement. If you are new to the world of guitars, and you want to start off with an acoustic, like many do, you want to be extra careful.

When you don't have all the information, it's very easy to make a mistake you will regret later. For brief guidelines that should help you avoid these mistakes, check out our article “Acoustic Guitars – Making The Right Choice” that talks about that in detail.

What we want to talk about today are some things you should avoid, and hence make your life a lot easier. The awful truth about new guitar players shopping for their first instrument is that a lot of people will try to take an advantage of your lack of knowledge. In order to prepare you for this experience in the best way possible, here are some things you should avoid when shopping for acoustic guitars.

Watch Where You Shop

There are only so many places you can get an acoustic guitar. You have your local small shops, big brand shops, and online shops. When you walk into a big brand retailer that has a huge shop and not enough staff, you are going to come upon two things.

First is going to be the incredible range of various models on their offer, and the seconds is a small crew of staff who are all incredibly busy. When it comes to the number of models they offer, big brand stores will usually hold a whole bunch of low-quality cheap instruments that look tempting. The staff is going to be too busy to answer all of your questions and help you decide what's the best for you. What you want to do in that situation is turn around and walk out the door.

Small music stores are a lot better. They are usually not that large, and the staff is both adequate in numbers to cover the whole shop, as well as eager to help you find what you need. Smaller stores will also have a good stock of instruments in most cases. Lastly, online stores are becoming the preferred way of doing business these days. Everyone usually reads a lot of reviews anyway, so the process of purchasing a guitar is a lot simpler when all you have to do is click a few links online.

Always Get The Best Guitar You Can

You will hear a lot of suggestions online where people will tell new players to get an entry level model even when they can afford a better one. That is not really the way you want to go about finding your first acoustic guitar. Always look for the best possible instrument you can get for your money. Even if you are not sure whether or not you will be interested in playing later on. Getting a cheap acoustic guitar is a lot riskier than getting a cheap electric one.

Acoustic guitars generally require a certain level of craftsmanship in order to provide a performance that could be deemed acceptable. Cheap guitars mean a lot of corners being cut, and that's not something you want to pay money for. In case the only thing you can get is an entry level guitar, you should probably save your money until you can get something decent.

Always Inspect The Guitar Carefully

No matter where you purchase a guitar, whether it's a walk-in store or an online store, you definitely need to inspect the guitar as soon as you can. In the case of brick and mortar stores, do it before the money swaps hands. If they've shown you the exhibit model, and are handing you over one from the storage, ask to see it and look for damage. Acoustic guitars are delicate and even the slightest instance of improper handling can cause a decent amount of damage.

So look for deformations of the body, inspect the neck for curvature, and check the action. If you find anything you even suspect is not right, ask for another guitar. When it comes to online shopping, you will have to wait for the guitar to arrive before you can inspect it. Even so, the same process applies. Inspect the instrument and if anything is off, just return it.

Final Thoughts

Choosing your first acoustic guitar is anything but easy. You need to look after a number of different things, and on top of that decide whether or not you like the sound and appearance of the instrument.

If you want some proven options that have a great track record, check out our list of acoustic guitars. What we definitely recommend is that you do a lot of research. More the better. Arm yourself with as much info as you possibly can, so you have the risks minimized.

The things we have listed in this article are some of the most common issues folks shopping for their first acoustic guitar face all the time. Many unfortunate souls fall victim to predatory salesmen, or simply a lack of experience. Don't let that happen to you. If you find an acoustic guitar you like, read as much as you can about it. That is the best way to find your own perfect acoustic guitar.