Quote:
Originally Posted by HellCell
So I went to a guitar center today and as I was browsing through I saw a bunch of guitars which seem fundamentally the same except the prices and brands. $80-$500.
I was a bit afraid to ask anyone there in fear of sounding stupid, but I have no idea what's with the price range?
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A lot of what makes a guitar great isn't immediately apparent when standing in front of it. It has a lot to do with build quality / materials, neck / body finish, hardware / parts quality, and inner electronics / pickups. The hard part about shopping for a beginner is that you may not know exactly what to look for when playing it.
Pay attention to how easily your hand moves along the neck, neck finish is very important for ease of use, you don't want a lot of friction or the feeling that your hand is resisting movement. Pay attention to how high or low the strings are above the fret board (this is called
action), this also plays a big role in ease of use (although it can be adjusted after buying), most players prefer low action, having the strings as close to the fret board as you can without them buzzing when picked. Pay attention to the weight and how it fits on your body, you don't want to feel uncomfortable after playing for extended periods of time. It's hard to gauge tuner quality without spending a good amount of time playing the instrument but that's something you can ask the staff, ask which models seem to stay in tune the best.
As for electronics, it's hard for a beginner to decipher which guitars produce the best tone, but regardless, take any guitar you're considering buying and ask the staff to help you run it through a classic amplifier like a Fender Twin Reverb or something else reasonably high end, they'll tweak the amp settings for you if you don't want to. Use the pickup selector switch to hear the different tones the guitar can make, moving the switch towards the neck usually produces a warmer / jazzier sound, towards the bridge produces a brighter, clearer, and twangier sound. The tone knob controls the gradient between these extremes, allowing for a finer adjustment of tone.
If you don't want to play in public yet ask one of the guitar salesman if they'd be able to demo the instrument for you, most guitar salesman play guitar and would probably jump at the opportunity to jam at work.