Best buy guitar for less than $200

[Curtis]

I play NO guitar. Possibly interested in getting one to try out so obviously don't want to spend too much.

The retail sites have a LOT of options at the $100 price point. Which ones would the people in the know recommend?

[earthsave]

The key for any acoustic instrument is playability. You can find inexpensive guitars that are setup to play very nice. They may not sound great, but if they are playable, you can learn on them and see if it is something you might want to continue. Then buy yourself a good sounding guitar as a reward for improved playing.

An option is to rent from a music store and take lessons there as well to see if you enjoy playing. This way you get instruction and do not get stuck with an instrument if you decide it just isnt something you enjoy.

Dont buy sight unseen from the web. Hit a local music store, ask for some help, pick a few off the wall and noodle around with them.

[GRW3]

Before you blow a whole hundred dollars on a guitar why not check around with your music playing friends to see if somebody has a beater/beach guitar you can borrow for while?

$100 is flea market, craigslist used. Anything new at that price is J-U-N-K. $200 at GC gets you a plywood guitar with a picture of a real guitar shrink wrapped on it.

[MandoHog]

If you do decide to buy a new guitar rather than an older used one, I can recommend that you consider one you probably have never heard of. OSP is an import that I think competes with instruments that cost four or five times the price. I do have a dog in the fight as my wife has a web store that sells these (that’s how I know about them), but you can buy from any number of dealers on eBay. Our experience has been that the only thing we had to do to set one up was to tune it. I can not believe the value for the price. Good luck with your quest! David Finch

http://www.roundmountainsounds.com/proddet....2%2DCEQ

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/DC-22-CEQ-ACOUSTIC-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-Great-Sound-Value_W0QQitemZ250247433859QQihZ015QQcatego
ryZ47064QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m1 53.l1262" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/DC-22-C....3.l1262</a>

[jaco]

I'm pretty sure you can buy a strap, some picks, and strings for under two hundred dollars.

[Joe Parker]

Excuse me,but isn't this the MANDOLIN Cafe? Lot's of guitar info on other sites.Thanks for letting me interupt.

JPP

[pager]

Hi Curtis:
IF you can get along with the Ovation style back, one of the best - $200.00 dollar guitars I have played is the Applause 128. It is an acoustic electric. Some people HATE the Ovation back - I happen to love them. Being a super shallow bowl, the acoustic sound is certainly not on par with the average dreadnought, but plugged in, they do ok. WHAT I love about this guitar is the setup. Ovation / Applause is smart enough to use a shim system. When you first try the guitar, undo the strings, take out one or two shims under the bridge, tighten up the truss rod 1/4 turn - and those guitars will play like an electric! I can get the action down to 2/32 on the 12th fret with no buzz. You can also use 11's or 10's if you want. NO - they are not the best sounding guitars acoustically, YES they are probably the best playing in that price category and they are very easy to set up. I also love the string through bridge so you don't have to monkey with bridge pins. It really depends on what type of music you want to play. For pop, jazz, or blues, that little Applause will serve you well. Forget it for bluegrass ... you won't be able to hear yourself and the banjo player will probably tar and feather you. And no, I am not at all fussy that you asked a guitar question. The world did not end.

[Tim2723]

It's just the way of the world that you can find a decent starter guitar for $200 a LOT easier that you can find a mandolin at all. Get to a music store, try the wall full of entry-level guitars. Ask questions. If you don't like them, wait a week or two and there'll be a new batch. The lonely mandolin will still be hanging there, but you'll see new guitars. Shoot for playability and a guitar-like tone. Take a lesson or two. Have fun and don't worry. It's only a guitar.

[MikeEdgerton]

Excuse me,but isn't this the MANDOLIN Cafe? Lot's of guitar info on other sites.Thanks for letting me interupt.

We generally allow the members to ask questions like this about guitars, basses, drums, PA systems, etc. As long as it doesn't become the focal point of the board (and it won't) we allow it and honestly, if the subject does not appeal to someone they can simply by-pass the thread.

[Jim Garber]

I came across a nice parlor-size guitar at my local chain store. It was a good player, sounded very nice and was only $89. I believe it was made in China. I have a feeling that they are a discontinued brand. The brand name was Brownsville.

I always like to try the bottom of the heap of new instruments in stores like that to see what is a bargain. Some of those cheapos are worth looking at and some not. I remember playing a super Epiphone (korean made) dreadnaught years ago that was a fine guitar for the money.

[Curtis]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I have connections at a small music store I used to teach at. I'll let the owner know to keep a lookout for a decent used acoustic. He got me a really good deal on my Radius so he's "good peeps" as they say.

Advice question #2--I am particularly interested in fingerpicking. Would it be against my best interests to start that way off the bat? Should I spend some time getting familiar with the fret board by flat picking before jumping into fingerpicking?

And just for the record--I did make it perfectly clear in the title that this was a guitar question. Anyone not wishing to waste their time on guitar matters could very easily not have clicked that link.

[MikeEdgerton]

Learn what to do with your left hand before you start messing with what you do with your right hand.

[Curtis]

Roger. I already have picks from playing mando. So if I go flatpicking first before jumping into fingerpicking.that will save me the money of buying the. . . oh wait. . .

[weleetkaoutlaws]

As a guitarist primarily, and a mandolin player secondly.......buy the most guitar you can afford. It will offer years of enjoyment, it will be easier to play/set up, and it will inspire you to play/learn more/faster.

I'd save up some coin and look at the Seagulls, the Washburn D-10S, Simon & Patrick Folk, and the like. They'll all be good instruments to be sure....and can be set up to your liking.

You generally get what you pay for...and at $100.00....you shouldn't expect much.....nor will you get it (unless you find a pre-war Martin at a garage sale that they don't know what they've got).

Good luck with whatever you get!!

As always...YMMV.

[Stephen Lind]

Learn what to do with your left hand before you start messing with what you do with your right hand.

not in my experience playing guitar for 50 years and teaching for over half of that
if a brand new guitar player wants to learn to finger pick
i start them on it from the get-go

[Steve L]

The shortest distance is a straight line. If you want to play fingerstyle, that's what you should do.

I'm afraid most $200 guitars sound like the box they came in. Your best bet at that price might be used. You might turn up a Seagull or an old Yamaha. If you buy from Craigslist or a store, try to bring a guitarist to check it out and play it so you can hear it being played. Buying a used acoustic, look behind the bridge to see if its got a "belly" lifting and pitching the bridge forward. This drastically impacts the action and intonation. Make sure the bridge isn't lifting too and play chromatic scales the whole length of the neck looking for bad frets.

[Barry Platnick]

The following are pretty good inexpensive guitars and you may be able to find a used one for around $200:
Seagull
Simon and Patrick
Art and Lutherie
Blueridge

good luck!

[MikeEdgerton]

not in my experience playing guitar for 50 years and teaching for over half of that if a brand new guitar player wants to learn to finger pick i start them on it from the get-go

That's where we'll differ. When I've tried to teach someone to finger pick from the beginning I usually lose most of them (they generally just quit playing altogether)and I'm primarily a finger style guitarist. I'll consider that a major failure in my 40 plus years of doing this.

[jim_n_virginia]

JMHO.....

Stay away from Esteban or New York Pro.... seems to have the most problems.

stick with longer established import names like
Seagull
Alvarez
Yamaha
Washburn

They have been around for a while and have actually gotten pretty good at making instruments, but the QC can be bad.

My personal favorite is Blueridge but I think they are a little more than $200 and a LOT of guitar for the price.

When buying PacRim instruments make sure you try them out and buy one already decently set up, don't buy one thinking your gonna set it up later. You can find a player off the rack if you go through enough of them.

Craigslist.com is good too, find one locally, with a used instrument you'll have one thats broken in and has had a chance to open up a little.

good luck

[Stephen Lind]

not in my experience playing guitar for 50 years and teaching for over half of that if a brand new guitar player wants to learn to finger pick i start them on it from the get-go

That's where we'll differ. When I've tried to teach someone to finger pick from the beginning I usually lose most of them (they generally just quit playing altogether)and I'm primarily a finger style guitarist. I'll consider that a major failure in my 40 plus years of doing this.

Mike,

i sent you an email about this
hope it helps

Steve

[UnityGain]

play chromatic scales the whole length of the neck looking for bad frets.

YES DO THIS.

You would not belive the amount of bad frets on cheap guitars, I can practlically garentee that certian guitars will have some bad frets.

Also if your in a big store, they may be some extra stock in the lower end models they have in reserve, variations are very common in lower end guitars so it may be worth your while to see if they will let you play every guitar they have of a specific model and find the one that sounds/feels the best.

[Rick Schmidlin]

Seagull and Blue Ridge, and a Pawn Shop special

[Bob Wiegers]

I'm always on a budget, and Epiphone and Yamaha has yet to let me down when it comes to this price range.

[J.Albert]

I think you will need to go a little over $200 to get a decent quality instrument. If you'd set $400 as your spending goal, you can probably do very well with an Asian-made guitar.

I'd suggest you consider the Blueridge line. Do a google search on them or check out ebay (as I just did now). Here's a sample (no financial interest):
<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/BLUERIDGE-BR-160-HISTORIC-SERIES-GUITAR-NO-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ140257982110QQcmdZViewItem?has
h=item140257982110&_trkparms=72%3A552%7C39%3A1%7C6 6%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14" target="_blank">http://cgi.ebay.com/BLUERID.....c0.m14</a>

Even comes with what looks to be a Travelite-style case.

The Blueridge guitars are (for the most part) amazingly good clones of the Martin designs - almost scary when you consider what they sell for (well, if I was Chris Martin, I might be scared!).

If you're serious about learning guitar, one of these will probably be worth the money, and serve not only as a "beginner instrument" but be worthy to be kept around as an intermediate-range guitar, spare, festival beater, etc.

- John

[Dave Cowles]

Check out www.blueridgeguitar.net for reviews on many of the current crop of imports.

Dave