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I guess this is why we have this venue: I just read the #1 rated piece for this post and couldn't have disagreed more with some of the ideas.

So here is my advice, aimed at a person who is buying their first guitar (my assumption, since it is the new guitar buyer needing a reference to help make a great purchase that will keep them excited and happy about playing and learning their new instrument).

New guitar buyer: Never buy a guitar from Guitar Center or musiciansfriend.com. That simple. Never. These places have their value, they have their purpose, but they are not for the new player to purchase their first guitar. Buy picks there. Learn if you like a heavy or light pick. Buy cables. Buy a strap. Get in and talk to people that work there, tell them what you are learning and listen to how they respond to your new knowledge, but do not buy a guitar from them. Why? Give me a second, because right now I have to advise you against another piece of poor advice.

New guitar buyer: Do not just blindly buy a Fender or a Gibson. A case can be made that the two are the crme de la crme guitar makers. That is a debate for another time. As they were among the first and they make some of the best, their popularity is deserved. But in the year 2007, the introductory guitar market is better served by off-brand names, names that the beginning guitarist may not be as familiar with. The guitar market has opened to very well made, reasonably priced guitars. As you look, learn about names you haven't heard: the Heritage*, Burns, Danelectro, Kay, Hagstrom, Jay Turser, Cort, Wasburn and Fernandes. Limiting your choices to Fender and Gibson makes little sense.

Where to buy? What to buy?

What is easy: Buy the coolest, cheapest guitar you can afford. There's nothing better than a shape and style you thinks rocks to make you want to pick it up and pluck around when you walk by it sitting in your house.

Where to buy is just as easy: Buy your first guitar used. Pop into as many small, independent music shops you can in your area. Talk to those folks. They love guitars and will be proud to show you something they have that no one else has pulled the trigger on. You're sure to hear, "I don't know why it hasn't gone. People just want Gibson and Fender. That guitar would be a couple hundred more if it said Fender." A used guitar just feels like rock' n' roll in your hand. If you live far from a city look at guitar brands people are selling on craigslist, read and learn the ones you don't know anything about, build a consensus in your head as to which is the best off brand,' and be ready to buy when you come across one live. I mean live,' try not to buy your first guitar sight unseen. Have it in your hand, feel that don't-want-to-let-it-go feeling and you'll know your new guitar.

Rock On.

*the Heritage is actually a pricy, hand made maker that is not in the beginner's market. I threw their name in to illustrate that you should learn about lots of different makers.

Learn more about this author, Jeffrey Kloss.
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