Buying A Guitar - Choosing the Right One

I remember during my high school days, my teacher once told me that if you were to spend money on something, it is advisable to look around for the items that you're planning to buy first before making a final decision. This is very, very true. I totally agree with what she said. And that goes for other purchases too apart from guitar/ guitar equipments.

When buying a guitar, shop around a little bit first before making the final decision. I strictly emphasize this because some other guitar shops might offer a better deal compared to the other. You know, some guitar shops might offer you a guitar that comes with a bag, cables etc for free while others might not throw you such freebies at the same price. In some cases, you might also be able to get a better guitar at the same price than the one that you're aiming for. So I suggest you might wanna do a little shopping first before making a final decision.

Here are some tips that you can use when you go shopping for an electric guitar (This goes for online shopping as well):

1. Look for what type of guitar you want. You can do this by looking at guitar catalogs, magazines, promotions etc. Once you do that, find out how much is the cost for it. If it's over your budget, don't worry. There are other more affordable ones for most of the common styles. You just have to look around a little bit more before you can stumble on the one that you like.

2. Try to find a refurbished guitar. Refurbished ones have a slight defect on it so its pretty much the reason why it can't be sold in the market. All of them are the same as those brand new ones. Occasionally, you can never tell the difference between the refurbished and the non-refurbished ones.

3. Never go alone when shopping around for an electric guitar. Grab an experienced guitarist friend of yours along with you when you go shopping for a guitar. Since he/she is more experienced, he/she will provide you with more guidance and advises in choosing an electric guitar.

4. Some people advises you to start with acoustic guitars and then when you get better, you can upgrade to an electric guitar. Reason for this is that they have a mindset that if you beginners did not get on to it after some time, then you are not wasting so much on your hard earn cash. I'd say scrap that ideology and just get yourself an electric guitar if that's what you wish for in the first place. While I understand where some of these people are getting at, most of them tend to recommend you an acoustic guitar with super high actions ( The gap between the fretboard and the strings - see my other post for clearer picture) that also comes with thicker strings (acoustic strings generally have a thicker strings that makes your fingers painful when pressing it) that it is so hard to play and eventually, you might have a high chance of losing interest in playing guitar because you think you suck and you can't play well when in reality, these people are the ones that are to be blamed because of giving such a false advise. Another thing to note about such advise is that nowadays, electric guitar is more affordable now as opposed to previous years. It does not cost a bomb anymore even when getting a starter's package. So even if you don't get on to it after a while, not much money is wasted. I'd recommend you to beware of such advises if you happen to hear one.

5. When buying a guitar, it is extremely important to know that you will get a great quality guitar for a skyrocketing price and vice versa. In other words, you get what you paid for. When choosing a guitar, there has to be a compromise between quality and price. If I were you, I would stay within my budget. Never go for a very bottom end guitars. Even though they are cheap, their quality might be so bad that on some occasions, the guitar has to be sent for repairs a few months after purchase. I had a friend of mine who bought a cheap electric and after a few months, he had to send it for repairs because of some wiring/ pickup problems. To play safe, go for a well known brand by checking out some guitar catalogs and analyze which brand appear frequently. At least most of these cheap, well known brands have certain quality standards. You'll probably won't have so much trouble with your guitar that way.

6. If you're buying from a shop, have the sales assistant to properly set up the guitar for you before you go to the counter. Sometimes, some guitar shops just shipped in new stock of guitars and they were unable to check whether all of them are set up correctly or not due to time constraint on their part.