Buying Your First Acoustic Guitar - What to Look For!

You're buying your first acoustic guitar, but where do you even begin?? Watch as Paul & Quinton point out some key things to look for before you buy including guitar body size, tone woods (solid vs laminate), and the importance of humidity and setup of an instrument.

Body Shape: 1:30
Woods: 5:05
Set-Up: 8:20
Strings: 12:20

Note; if serious about purchasing a new guitar, please give us a call or visit our website. Like Paul said, we believe in every guitar we sell (or we wouldn't sell it) and every guitar is setup and often restrung before hitting the sales floor or website!

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Some important stuff left out:
-ALMOST NEVER BUY OFF THE WALL
most guitar stores, even in their nice acoustic room, do not maintain humidity. Some may have a humidifier and just run it to humidify the acoustic room, but that's not the same as maintaining 45-55% humidity all day every day, all year around. In the summer, Sam ash and Guitar Center's acoustic room is at like 70% humidity because they are not appropriately dehumidifying. The result, their $4000 acoustics have wetness damage. Bellied tops, ruined neck angles, the works. Many of them try to pull one over on the customers too by shaving the saddle down to nothing and sell it off to an unsuspecting boomer with deep pockets.

With cheaper guitars, the winters tear them to shreds. When a guitar dries out, the neck shrinks and the frets sprout out the sides. They cut like razor blades.

The point is, a majority of guitar retailers(sam ash, guitar center, music and arts) do not maintain humidity and their guitars on the wall are destroyed a few weeks in to hanging them. It does NOT take long for humidity damage to set in.

If Music Villa actively maintains 45-55% ambient humidity all year round, day and night, it's safe to buy off the wall but you should definitely verify that they do that.

Cheap or expensive, what you want to see in a healthy new guitar is a straight neck, lowish action, and a tall saddle. If the saddle is worn down to a nub, a guitar tech is trying to sell you a guitar with a bellied top.

-MAINTAIN HUMIDITY YOURSELF
whether you have a 300 dollar guitar or a 3000 dollar guitar, the only way to ensure that it retains optimal playability and tone is to maintain 45-55% humidity all year round. In the video they recommend the snake. I think the D'addario humidipacks are better because the snaked both drip into the body andget messy, and also you don't know whether or not you're overhumidifying. The humidipacks are designed to sustain 45% humidity in the case. it's a 2-way humidification system. It absorbs excess moisture and releases moisture when needed. The snake is 1-way.
Get a good hygrometer and put it on the wall. Anything below 30% humidity and your guitar will sustain humidity damage in a matter of days or weeks. Anything over 60%, same thing.

-IF THE RETAILER CANNOT GUARANTEE SUSTAINED HUMIDIFICATION YEAR ROUND, BUY ONLINE
manufacturing is so good these days, even for cheaper reputable brands, that it's better to order new direct from the factory or direct online. Talk to the sales rep and ensure that the instrument you're getting hasn't been with them long. The sooner you can get a new instrument from the factory, the sooner you can control its fate when it comes to humidification. The longer it's been in a warehouse or out on a sales floor, the more time it has a chance to accumulate humidity damage.
"you have to play the specific guitar you buy" thing is largely a myth. Especially with something like an affordable yamaha, they're all the same. They're mass produced and there isn't much variance from one model to the next. Order new from the factory, and if there is a problem, just keep exchanging until you get what you want.

-THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN A STORE
if you INSIST on buying off the wall, follow the following checklist
1. know the serial number scheme of the brand you're buying and confirm that the model hasn't been sitting on the wall for months or years.
2. Ask the salesperson to get you a fresh unit from inventory and confirm that it has been in their possession for no longer than a season.
3. Run your fingers up the sides of the neck. If the frets are poking out, DO NOT buy. Order new from the factory or have the dealer order you a new one. Frets sticking out means the guitar has already dried out a lot. They'll try to say they can just file them down. This is unacceptable for a new instrument. When they're sent out of the factory, the frets are not sprouting. That happens in a DRY STORE.
3. check the saddle. Fresh saddles should be relatively tall. If the saddle has been filed down to a nub, the store's tech has tried some shenanigans trying to sell you a humidity damaged instrument.
4. Check the top for bellying. A healthy acoustic top should be almost perfectly flat. A TINY bit of a lift on the bass side of the bridge is okay, but close one eye, and site down the side of the guitar and inspect the height of the top. If the top is bellied such that it's a visible large hump, this is causing high action. This is a result of a WET guitar. Usually the only way to fix it is to file down the saddle. This is a deformed instrument and it will never play quite right.
5. ask for a new set of strings. They're usually disgusting and ancient. The tech will restring it for you.
6. Make sure the neck is straight. If there is a bow in the neck, ask the tech to straighten it for you.
7. Remember, a healthy acoustic has NO FRET SPROUT, a FLAT TOP, a TALL SADDLE, a STRAIGHT NECK, and relatively low action. MOST GUITAR RETAILERS abuse and neglect their instruments, continuing a cycle of misinformation that affordable guitars don't play well or feel good in your hands. If you set up a squier and properly humidify it, it's a lot of guitar for the money. Same with a Yamaha acoustic.

[kaushalsuvarna]

Playing with dead strings, Quinton is a man after my heart

[johncrane]

Quinton: "This may be overkill."
Sooo correct! Most new players have no idea. Most new players can't "hear" the differences. Most new players can't even "feel" the differences until they've been playing for at least six months. Most new players want what their heroes are playing, or what their friends tell them they "need."
So, (1) solid top; mid-sized (unless it's a child); good set-up (reasonably low action); light strings; and know your finger tips are going to be sore for awhile.
You guys are great. I wish I lived closer than Florida.

[texhaines]

Really liked visiting Music Villa. It's the musical instruments that sell you, the staff assists. Those Yamaha's a FSX 800 ~ 830s are great for beginners as are the Taylor Mini GSs & Taylor Academy line. Great educational video. Thanks Paul & Quinton.

[craigjohnson]

Music Villa seem like a top notch and, more importantly, honest store who actually cares about their customers' satisfaction. To bad you guys don't have one or two here in California... we desperately need morals in the music biz here!

[howardmakely]

Playability is the issue with one's first guitar. You're learning, you might not want to continue. The Martin comes later!

[RogerThat]

This is a great video. 1 thing I'd stress is it's important for the person playing to like the look of the guitar first, even over sound, when starting. I've seen salesmen push a "better" guitar, where the look doesn't excite the beginner.

IMO, specific sound, within reason, doesn't matter so much at this stage because the ears usually aren't tuned to the subtleties. I'm not saying buy a piece of junk, but I'd probably ask what look excites them first and rule out guitars I think would be problematic. In the beginning it's so hard because you picked up guitar likely because you want to sound like X, but when you're a beginner you're not going to sound like X yet hah. If, however, someone has a guitar that they think looks great, I've found that they often create an excitement to keep playing. If that person makes it 6 months, then they can go for the practical guitar, that is the better value or even splurge on one.

I think you guys did a great job not focusing on the wood. I would just add to a beginner looks might be the most important thing. If someone wants to play because of Eric Clapton's unplugged, they would probably be better off buying, to start, a Sigma 000 vs. a Black Gibson J-45. One of which we'd all say is an objectively "better" guitar. Just my 2 cents.

[Aan]

Accord number 2, HEY, that is Pink Floyd... It is a good idea, I remember all the hours of research befor buying a Martin 000-16SGT 👍 for your good work

[mikebauer]

Consider where/how you will store it and if you need to travel (say to lessons). At the least this will affect the case you get.

[dondejong]

I love your videos, guys. Quinton is the guitar player many of us only dream we could be. I have a minor point of clarification, "laminate" generally refers to material like Formica. "High pressure laminate" is the generic term applied to this type of material. Martin has made very nice guitars using "high pressure laminate, " maybe they still do, I'm not sure. But it isn't wood, it's a "laminate." "High pressure laminate" consists of layers of some sort of paper fused together under high pressure and temperature with melamine or phenolic resin.
Plywood, often called "layered wood" in the guitar world, is more properly referred to as "laminated" wood, wood that has been "laminated, " meaning that several layers have been sandwiched together. That's what you're calling "laminate" here, but you might confuse people, especially if they are comparing a laminated wood guitar with something like the Martin made of "laminate."

[Rigoroushonesty]

I'm not experienced enough to appreciate the tone of a guitar with solid quality wood on both the top and back

[dewoner]

Great advice for beginners! This is why brick & mortar stores are so critical to the success of begining guitarists. This type of quality advice and knowledge just isn't reliably available at big box or huge discount web store. Thanks for sharing.

[ryanbailey]

What about just going for a Martin 000-15M ... and having it for life? For example maybe another really high end type where you can see and hear the difference. Thanks for the videos.

[GuitarHouseLima]

I liked the Sounds! Thank you for the advices!

[R.L.Humpert]

I know that you guys don’t like the v class as well as the x brace but I do. I bought a Taylor 324ce and the v class sounds absolutely awesome. Have you tried this model with the mohagany and Blackwood back and sides solid. It sounds superb especially on my fishman mini amp. But you all have far more experience so so you disagree? Did I get ripped off. I mean I love Taylor and it was 2200 bucks. I feel like it’s awesome. Let me know. Thanks

[stephenharrison]

I bought an Ibanez As my first guitar and it bowed upward. Fret 1 was interfering with my learning and enjoying guitar. It cost me $50 to have it adjusted, strings replaced and tune properly. It was a 3/4 size as I thought I needed a smaller guitar, as a beginner, would be a better choice. But I needed more space between the strings not a narrow, shorter neck for my fat finger tips.

[Melo_EL]

Thank you so much for this video! Great info for newbies! Can you please help me decide between a Fender CC60S, Ibanez AC340 and a Breedlove Discovery Concert. Love you channel! Wish a could just walk into your store!

[amirh]

Hey there, I live in Butte, Montana! I'll come over to your store next weekend to buy an acoustic guitar!

[billyray]

Hi guys, great video, so first of all thank you for that advice.
I'd like to know your opinions on the Washburn Rover travel guitar ?
I think it needs adjusting so may take it to my local music shop because the strings are quite high

[goranbosnjak]

Any comment for Ibanez TCY10E as begginers?