Need advice on picking up a new guitar

I remember I did quite some extensive research 3 years ago when I decided I wanted to pick up a guitar and learn how to play it so I guess I can help you. I'd say picking a guitar comes down to three criteria: Utility, sound and looks.

Utility should be easy to answer: What do you plan to do with the guitar? Is it just for practice? What kind of songs do you plan on practicing? Do you plan to perform live with it? You'll have to decide whether you want to play accoustic or electric for instance. Comfortability is also really important. Some guitars are heavier than others and some shapes can be uncomfortable. You'll have to try a few models before you'll know. It's worth noting that glued necks will be more fragile than through-necks or bolt-on necks and some guitars may be harder to maintain than others. For accoustic guitars it's also worth considering to have a cut-out model or to go with an electro-accoustic guitar. Keep in mind that for electric guitars you will need an additional amplifier, wires and optional effect pedals.

When deciding on sound, it helps to know guitarists with a signature sound that you love. Look into that and try to define it. Keep that in mind when you look into the components of your new guitar. A great deal of a guitar's sound relies on wood types and the shape of the body, which can be solid or hollow. Different strings have different sounds and guitar bridges will affect how long a note sustains whenever a string is plucked. For electric guitars your choice of pickups will be very important. Single Coils will give you a bright clear sound while Humbuckers are more rich and in your face. These are the most common pickups and their positions on the guitar will also affect your sound. The availability of tone knobs on your guitar will help you adjust the sound to your liking. It's worth noting that given the right effect pedals, Single Coils can sound like Humbuckers but it doesn't work vice versa. Because of their clarity, Single Coils are also much more honest and better to practice on.

And if you're still unable to decide you can always pick a guitar based on looks. This may sound ridiculous, but it's pretty sound logic: If you love how a guitar looks, you're probably going to have a lot of fun playing it. That beings said, you strike me as a Single Coil kind of person so you may want to look into Stratocaster or Telecaster models. These were officially made by Fender but you may want to look into an affordable off-brand model. A good starter that comes with Humbuckers would be the Les Paul model, originally made by Gibson. Again, it's better to find an off-brand version.

Hope that helps and good luck finding your guitar!

Brother if that's the style of music you wanna play stick with good acoustics. I eventually wanna get a gibson chet atkins sst just for acoustic stuff. I play metal so I stick with metal guitars. I hope I can give you some helpful advice bro.

Mike \m/

We just started learning (about 4 months ago, currently taking lessons) and playing the acoustic guitar.

we own a Yamaha FG830 dreadnought guitar and I am currently looking to purchase another guitar in a different guitar body shape. (eventually I want to upgrade my Yamaha FG830 to a nicer guitar Like a Martin D-18)

Since I am just starting I am not sure what style of playing I want to pursue, I would like to experiment with all three (flat-picking, strumming, finger-style). They all sound good and have their different purposes. So I was hoping to find a guitar that is a good multi purpose one. But since I have a dreadnought guitar (Yamaha FG830) already, which could be used for flat picking. The new one could lean towards strumming and finger-style playing but, maybe with an emphasis on finger-style. I have been looking at a lot of different guitars in the OM, Grand Auditorium, Grand Symphony...etc body styles. But I seem to be having a hard time deciding which brand and model because, to me they all sound so good. I know playing a guitar before purchase is an important factor in choosing one you like, but some of the ones I have been looking at are not stocked at the guitar stores around me. Below you will find a list of the ones I have been looking at and I also listed some important specifications that I am looking for In a guitar.

is there a reason the first 2 parapgraphs are pluralized with what i assume is a 'royal we' while the 3rd paragraph opens with a singular "I" ???? are you sharing the new guitar?