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Best Beginner Acoustic Guitar- What to Look For

So you want the best beginner acoustic guitar you can get, but being a beginner, you probably don’t know what makes for a good guitar. I hope this can help guide you to decide as which guitar to get.

Price

As a beginner, you don’t want to spend the sort of money required for a professional grade guitar, but it’s important to work out how much you are prepared to spend. If money is tight, then something like Rogue’s RA-100 D drednought offers excellent value, but sometimes spending even a little extra brings huge benefits. Guitars like Washburn’s D10S offer features like solid tops that will keep them as your favourites for years to come.

Height of the actual body

Guitars come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and that’s doubly true of acoustics. The guitar’s body size not only affects how comfortable it is to play, but the tone that’s produced. If you want a big, powerful tone, you might want something like Fender’s C-60 Drednought. Children, or those interested in a smaller, more comfortable guitar might prefer something like Rogue’s Starter Acoustic Guitar, which at ¾ size is a much more manageable option.

Tone Woods

You want to go after a guitar with good wood. Different woods have vastly different tonal properties, from the brightness of maple to the darker tones of spruce or mahogany. While you probably aren’t going to want to pay for the very best tonewoods, it’s worth at least aiming for a solid top rather than a laminate of different woods. Solid tops are generally said to resonate better, and more importantly to improve over time, so that the Washburn D10S is probably only going to sound better the longer you have it.

Portability

As much as we’d like to think that we’ll only be playing in the most comfortable conditions, acoustic guitars get carted around a lot. Whether it’s to parties, or friends houses, or simply to your first gigs, it can sometimes help to have a guitar that’s easy to move from place to place. That’s where travel guitars like Washburn’s Rover can sometimes be great for beginners. Designed to be lightweight, durable and playable, they can take anything the journey to the jam session throws at them.

Playability

The main question here is whether you want a cutaway or not. More traditional guitars such as Yamaha’s F335 can provide wonderful tone on the lower frets, but sometimes you want to wander up the neck, even on an acoustic. Theres a jasmine Takmine s34c nex that is very superb for beginners. It lets you get into the second octave with acoustic solos that are amazing.
Buying for first guitar can be very daunting. Hopefully though, armed with a little knowledge about what you want, you’ll soon find the guitar that’s perfect for you.

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