Tips on Buying a Guitar
Random buyer advice.
Suppose you were buying an acoustic or electric guitar. What are some of the common attributes that you look for? What might you find that would automatically rule out buying that guitar? Here's what some community had to say on this topic:
Christopher Sung said:
For me, the following are essential (and keep in mind that this is a matter of taste):
Tunability — this is the most important aspect for me. I check the intonation and see if it chords played on the first 5 frets sound the same as chords on the 12th-17th frets
Action — the guitar has to be capable of having nice low action with no fretbuzz. I'm not a blues or slide player (for which I think high action is better) so I've always looked for low action guitars
Playability — how easy is it to get around the fingerboard? Is it cumbersome or does it flow? I suppose this is a combination of the dimensions of the neck and the type of fingerboard
Sound — For an acoustic, yes, but for an electric, this isn't necessarily that important to me. You can always dump some other pickups in it. I guess, for me, it's a lot like sniffing a wine cork. As long as it doesn't reek, the bottle's probably pretty good...
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Jason Reich said:
I think I'll use my soon-to-arrive ESP as the example of what I look for in a guitar:
Price — Right here is where it all happens. Usually the budget defines the guitar.
Sound — Sound is spilt up between what gizmos give the guitar its sound (pickups, body, neck) and how it actually sounds.
Gizmos — I like EMG pickups (HZ's on the ESP), and the neck joint is important (Neck).
Actual sound — This isn't so important for electrics, because what you hear unplugged isn't what you hear when it's plugged in.
Playability — I like guitars with fast necks and very low action. Extra jumbo frets are also a plus.
Looks — Whoever said, "Don't judge a book by its cover", must have made some very ugly books. The shape of the body, as well as the finish, are very important to a guitar. A cool-looking guitar gives you confidence, prestige, social status, and financial success (kinda like beer). But seriously, it is very important.
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Craig Smoot said:
Here's what I usually look for:
Feel — If the fingers don't flow and feel comfortable on it, then usually it's a turn-off for me. However, a lot of this is determined by how the music store likes to set up their planks on display, so I take it with a grain of salt knowing that I'll have to set it up to my personal tastes anyway.
"Singability" — You know. When you pick up a guitar, strum it (unplugged) and the guitar resonates from the top of the headstock to the butt of the body. That's really when I know that I've got a possible keeper.
Intonation — This is a big deal to me, so it's always something I look for right away. You can have the world's most beautiful guitar, but if the intonation inherently sucks then you may as well display it inside a glass case in your house, because that's where it'll be most useful.
Tone — In general, I usually look at planks that can offer me something I can't get out of the planks I currently own. For example, since I don't need another guitar I can safely say that my next guitar will either be a 7-string or perhaps a good Tele. Why have multiple versions of basically the same thing unless that's all you yearn for?
Here are the factors I don't consider when shopping for an axe:
Looks — When I was a kid, all I wanted was "..the coolest-looking guitar on the block." I almost made the mistake one summer of pouring all my hard-earned lawnmowing money into a radical-looking guitar, but luckily good taste prevailed. As I got older and my tastes matured, I began to realize more and more that it's not the guitar that makes the player.
Bells & Whistles — Sure, I'm an admitted hot-rodder when it comes to modding my axes so that I can get the maximum flexibility out of them, but when I'm shopping around for a plank, I could care less whether or not this guitar has more buttons and switches that the next one. Besides, I'll probably end up modding it myself anyway, so to me, I could take them or leave them.
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