How to choose your first guitar

If you are just mastering the guitar, the instrument selection can put you in a dead end. Find out what you should pay attention in the first place, not to miscalculate with the purchase.

Dmitry Semaev

Professional musician and entrepreneur. leads YouTube-Channel an acoustic guitar and ukulele.

Can I choose a guitar in appearance

Choosing a guitar in appearance as possible, some just do so. But one needs to understand that all guitars are approximately the same. For example, a guitar with a body type that is called Dreadnought, was invented a hundred years ago and since then has not changed.

It is also important to take into account: the guitar is more expensive than it is more professional, so it is more restrained and concisely made.

Yes, there are also some nuances, such as the so-called check-out on the chassis. Professional musicians look at a guitar and immediately understand what it is used - to play at high odds. For a beginner it is only the appearance of the feature, and it is, in fact, this guitar is not necessary.

If you do not know all of these chips, they will not carry any meaning for you. So, choosing a guitar in appearance, you can simply rely on its color.

Can I choose the sound of the guitar

In my opinion, to choose the sound of the guitar, you need to have the experience that you have played in ten, a hundred, a thousand different instruments. Then you will form some kind of their own sound. You will be able to say: «Ο, sounds to me like this!" - or vice versa.

Taste all completely different. Some like the traditional jazz guitar sound Joe Pass and George Benson, and that it seems to him perfect. Others are people like the sound of a guitar Tommy Emmanuel: there is a very pronounced mids, and it's very cool sounds at your fingers game. And someone - a 12-string guitar, because it is closer to such instruments.

The shape of the body, the color of the guitar and its sound is nothing "hard". This is not a clear criterion. What is really important is the convenience. Grab your guitar in your hands and say, "I like this guitar handy! I get to play it! "- here it is, the criterion.

5 practical tips

1. Inspect guitar

Make sure that the instrument has no obvious defects: chips varnish, cracks in the deck. Cheap guitars made from the dried material is not enough, so the stands are beginning to peel off from the deck, so you should see if there are gaps.

2. Check the quality of gluing

Gluing should not have any cracks and gaps.

3. Pay attention to the bar

If you take the tool and see along the neck, it should be relatively straightforward and not curved outward.

4. Measure the height of the strings

Pay attention to the height of the strings over the stamp: should be 2 mm above the sixth string and 1.5 mm above the first. Plus the distance between the 12th fret and the string itself. How can I check it? In field conditions using a coin. A ten-- about 2.2 mm, rublyov - about 1.5 mm. If they go through with the stock, then the string height is more than necessary.

5. Check the ends of the frets

They do not need to cling to the hands, if you hold your fingers on them. If there is discomfort, this can later lead to cuts.

Tools that come from the factory, often need to be improved in order to be comfortable for them to play. When you buy should pay attention to the points listed, so you do not have to carry the guitar in the studio.