Buying Your First Acoustic Guitar

My Favorite Guitar + Filming Gear at Sweetwater

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. The link above is an affiliate link, that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission on.

[jeepkid]

I ended up buying a triangle, thanks Marty !

[jameswoolley]

I remember buying my first six string,
I brought it at the five and dime,
I played it until my fingers bled,
That was way back in the summer of sixty nine,
Good times, I had a band and everything, we never got far though ;)

[probono]

Been asked many times by parents on what to buy as a first guitar. My advice is not to buy a cheap “starter” guitar. First, they are difficult to play. Even at a cheap price, they don’t hold their value. If you buy your kid a really good quality guitar, then they will enjoy playing more (which is the point, right?) and odds increase that they will stick with it. Lastly, if they lose interest and don’t pursue playing, then you can always sell a very good guitar and come closer to getting your investment back. That’s my two cents.

[samuelmorehouse]

I bought my first acoustic for 20 bucks. It was missing a tuning peg and the strings were shot. Fixed it up for less than 5 bucks. It was a really good deal, in fact, it's the acoustic guitar I still use.

[sophiahambuda]

Please do a similar video for electric guitar 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

[rayross]

Experience here, don't let your big brother pawn your first guitar for booze. Nice advice Marty.

[syedhaikal]

I still think cutaway is a big deal even for beginners starting out guitar
Me myself started out with a dreadnought and after playin sometime i do realise the need of the upper note frets tho
Sometimes you just NEED those upper 15 frets
Anyway good video as always marty!

[Thurmanator]

Don’t buy a gig bag unless you take it to lessons/school/etc, it will just give you an excuse not to play, display it on a stand where ever you call home and inspire yourself!!!

[DjSidewayz]

Hey Marty, been a fan for a while and you've helped me immensely, I'm glad you're approaching 1M subs on this channel, you deserve it! I'd love a video on nylon strings, maybe finger picking?

[robinbebbington]

Good to see someone finally say straight up buy a steel string guitar. Another issue starting on classical guitar like I did was I couldn't use my thumb for fretting the low E string or muting due to the really wide neck. Only thing I liked was the smaller body compared to dreadnought. So when I ended up buying my Yamaha steel string I went for the concert body plus replaced the 12s for some 10s. Also put in a new bridge to lower the action considerably which is a must for new players just like you said Marty.

[deansanton]

I have my Epiphone Hummingbird. I really like it, especially tuned half step down.

[billtait]

When I went to buy a guitar, I tried, very expensive to super cheap . Only to find out that the just above cheapest, was a guitar, easy to play, and sounded as good as thousands more .Still happy after 10 yrs . No I'm not out the play in public. Guitar, Ibanez v70 .

[CrisPBacon-zywh]

For me, fretboard profiles; there are two; flat or curved. For beginners; you might wanna have a flat fretboard profile for much easy playability. The second is (some guitar players don't care about this); it's called "neck dive". I found it annoying. Neck dive happens when your headstock is heavy that requires you to support the weight of your headstock, reducing your play speed and slowing down your learning progress. The third is what Marty mentioned, the action. Low action, much more playability.

[goopygirl]

as someone who has only played wind instruments their entire life and just got their first string instrument(it was a ukulele) im so excited

[sanddab]

For me, body size was the most important factor. If it feels comfortable in your arms, size wise, you're going to want to play it more often. I think too many beginners feel they need to buy a dreadnought size guitar which is pretty big and can be a little intimidating, as well as being bulky to hold. I played that size for years until one day I tried a 000 size, and the difference was huge. I've never gone back.

[ruskeaavenetta]

I just bought yamaha apx600 vintage white today! my first acoustic. great sound&feels awesome to play 😀

[kamikaze]

I just bought my first guitar . It's a Fender CD 60 Blk . Never played so I'm hoping it's a good one to learn with . Love your videos thanks for helping me learn .

[tblitz]

Would you consider doing a guitar tutorial of “don’t think twice” by Bob Dylan, finger style?

[jakecaudill]

I started on an electric so moving to acoustic was a bit easier. Acoustic definitely has higher action for the most part

[Rowblob]

it definitely helps to go shopping with someone that knows how to play already. A good friend of mine came with me to buy my first guitar 3 years ago, I was in the $350-500 range. Ended up buying a Norman B20 as my first guitar for $450. Wouldn't have bought that without my friend playing it and showing me the different actions of the guitars and what makes a guitar different to play from another. I still play this guitar daily and love every time I pick it up. Great guitar to learn on. I'm now looking to buy another acoustic in the $800-$1000 range.

I'd like to thank you Marty for showing me from the beginning how to play. You've been my main source of education on how to play chords and songs these past few years. You're very good at explaining how to play and ways to improve at every aspect of the beginner phase. So thank you so much, cheers mate