5 *BIG* MISTAKES To Avoid When Buying a Guitar!

Looking for a new guitar? Here are 5 common mistakes to avoid!
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[DarrellBraunGuitar]

Are there things you guys do differently now vs when you first started playing when buying a new guitar?
Let me know!

[thomask]

Turns out I don’t sound like John Petrucci, but at least I’m in debt now 😂

[thejonathandoan]

My biggest mistake, as a new guitarist, was buying my first guitar based on looks & desire. It didn’t really fit me too well & had really bad neck dive. It became uncomfortable to play while sitting long. When learning, it’s of the utmost importance to find a guitar that fits you & is super comfortable, so you can focus on learning music & dexterity, rather than fighting with it!

[RobertVeasquez]

I have a brothe in law who thought buying a super expensive custom made instrument would be THE inspiration that would “make” him learn how to play. That instrument has graced the inside of a closet for 15 years now. Looks gorgeous in there.

[mark.guitar]

Great post. One of my students had her first guitar bought for her by her parents who knew nothing. I was dreading seeing it as they bought the cheapest plywood Epiphone acoustic in a sale for 30 UKP. It did need a set up, which I always do to students guitars. It is the best "boxy Martin" sound that I have heard on anything except a real Martin. So good that I have borrowed it several times to do some recording and have first call if she ever wants to sell it. One in a million!

[grene]

Excellent video! I've been playing for 50 years, and I agree with all of these points! Matter of fact, don't stop taking lessons... there's always someone who knows stuff you don't...

[Sevetamryn]

Setup is the biggest thing to consider, especially for cheap guitars. My 1st guitar was a cheat S Type with much to high action at the nut. For me it was not an issue to find information about setup and to do a reasonably good setup myself. It totally changed my playing experience!

[gjb]

Learning to play electric guitar was on a 40 year long bucket list, family, career amongst being interested in everything postponing things. looked on Youtube and narrowed the choice down to a new PRS P22, did not even know what a Fret was. I rang a music store who was a PRS agent and asked them to contact the local importer to arrange to see what was available. I narrowed the choice down and was able to see 3 examples. I asked the guy in the music store to play the guitar for me and his jaw dropped as he played the guitar. The Guitar was not set up and you could have driven a truck between the Strings and the Frets although the intonation was perfect. I did a cash deal, knocked off a $1000 and as it turned out unbeknown to all concerned the guitar is a 1 in 100 limited Edition 2022 NAMM P22 hard tail at almost wholesale price. I taught myself how to set the Guittar up and a friend of mine who plays in a band and whose mother is a guitar teacher said all the lessons and books are on Youtube. My experience with Guitar teachers has been any that are worthwhile are too far away to see and the local ones are in the category of "Dah, my Paw teached me to play Geeetar, I've been playing for 5 years". Learning Guitar is an exponential learning experience where you never can reach the end and as a consequence you never listen to music the same ever again, deconstructing every song you love. Lots of frustration and fun.

[monsarad]

Totally agree with you Darrell! Does anyone remember Teisco? Long time ago but the only one electric I could afford back in the early 70's. Recognized quite quickly I won't go far with that plywood thing. So I "stepped back" to an acoustic, bought me a Framus dreadnought and really started to learn playing such as reading notes, learned chords & progressions, pentatonics and all that jazz until I felt ready to get me an electric again. Went to our local music store, not interested in famous names or brands that much but tried basically all guitars they offered and ended up on a 79 Matsumoku built Boogie G-1 which I still play unmodified but well maintained to this very day.

[toddman]

I have an '86 Samick LC 650 Artist Series (Les Paul style). I paid $150.00 CAD for it, used. It is phenomenal, gold hardware, elaborate mother of pearl headstock inlay, and a set neck, amongst other features. I liked it so much, I got rid of my 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio because I liked the Samick a lot more.
I like guitars based on more than the brand name. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying one is better than the other. I have 10 guitars ranging from an American PRS to Epiphone to Samick, etc. I have toured professionally, in Canada, back in early 2000's and still get royalty payments through SOCAN; I used a 1984 Japanese neck-through-body Targa brand guitar for all touring for the most part. My point is, find the guitar that inspires you and helps you become motivated to play more.
Great video, Darrell! I especially agree about taking lessons... I am self-taught and had to learn theory long after I started playing (many years) and wish I had learned theory a lot sooner.

[sandoncrowder]

I’ve gone through quite a few guitars and amps from made in China to made in America, $150 to $2000, and I want to say to all the newer players that all you need is a guitar that has good action which means the strings aren’t very high, and a nice practice amp. Don’t go buying a fender twin reverb because everyone says it’s the greatest amp ever, I’ve done that. Right now I’m playing through a positive grid spark and it sounds fantastic, not just great for the price but honestly great overall. My guitar right now is a Yamaha Pacifica 612, it’s not the best guitar I’ve ever played but it is the best I’ve played in its price range. It’s more about value than overall quality, I owned a $2000 PRS S2 McCarty and ended up trading it in after a couple months because even though it was great I just couldn’t be happy for how much I paid. Don’t go for the best guitar you can possibly find, just get one that sounds and feels good enough and for a decent price. I paid $750 for my Yamaha and the guitar is worth every penny. Also if you’re looking for a more beginner acoustic, I recommend either Yamaha or certain Ibanez acoustics, they are very easy to play. It’ll be difficult in the beginning no matter what guitar you’re playing on but once you get good you will be able to appreciate how easy to play they are compared to brands like Martin.

[keundonglee]

My biggest mistake was not checking the wood quality on the fretboard. After buying the guitar, I realized that the fretboard was very rough and it looked like some parts of it were about to scrap off. I used rosewoood guitar conditioner to smoothen out a little, but still it's not perfect.. And talking about looks not only the Flying V is bad for living with it, but the Firebird series as well. The rough fretboard guitar which I bought was the Firebird Studio one, and the bad thing about it is that if you are trying to save some buck, it doesn't stand still with the regular guitar stand unless you buy Hercules guitar stand which is more expensive. Additionally, because of the shape, you need to buy special gig bag for the guitar, and you always have to be wary whether it's going to fall down or not when you are travelling with it.

[robertpennington]

Dude! My first guitar was a classical Sammick I bought at the Salvation Army for 50$ back in the day. Walked down to local guitar store and they hooked me up with a bridge when I bought strings.

It was everything 14 year old me could have hoped for when I couldn’t afford a bass amp.. great tips!

[geraldelder]

I definitely agree with your last point, Darrell. Taking guitar lessons is one thing I wish I had done when I started playing guitar. I did take piano lessons, and thought that would have been enough for the guitar. I was so wrong about that. I recommend that taking guitar lessons will be a big help for new players.

[Andre_von_Kampen]

Absolutely right, a good guitar doesn’t have to be expensive. I love my Burny and Tokai guitars. They’re gorgeous.

[lightbulb]

Addendum to #4. If you are not happy with the store's setup, check with other players for a good luthier. Usually, the people who repair and/or build them are better than the ones who sell them.

[benloveday]

I 100% agree. I bought an Epiphone Les Paul Standard a while back without even looking at it in the shop, or picking it up. I went purely off looks and specs. When I got it, it just didn't fit right for me and I sold it. The next time round I tried a few guitars in the shop, in particular a Sterling Cutlass CT50 and Cort G300 Pro. I went with the Cort as it felt so much nicer to play and I'm so glad I didn't just pick off looks or reviews!

[francisharkins]

I think the strings size are important, depending of the guitar (and the tuning you use) I'm using 9.5-44 mm on my American Strat!

[GySgt_USMC_Ret.]

5:10 I've played a few Samick acoustics. Nice construction, great tone, affordable. Crafter is another brand that's comparable to Samick.

Fair winds and following seas to all.

[notomonuncamas]

About the last point, it really depends of the teacher that you're choosing to learn the instrument that you wanna play. It doesn't have to be like a PROPER TEACHER, but a friend that plays better than you. The rest is practice and a lot of learning on your own (I mean, we have Internet now, everything is so much easier now). I think that's the most important part of learning how to do anything.