Supporting a local guitar shop by buying guitar--without playing first

[Mirosh]

By making your "first (and only) acoustic guitar" a $3,000 guitar you are constricting your choices. You don't have to.

Why not spend a couple or few hundred now and let the bigger purchases come later, after you do more playing, and develop more discernment and refinement of your needs and wants? In the context of $3,000, $200-300 right now is small, but the payoff of getting and playing a decent first instrument right now is huge.

[Guilty Spark]

You want to buy your first and potentially only acoustic guitar, so why not do everything possible to make it a good experience - worthy of remembering - whenever you play or think about the guitar? Rushing the process and buying blind isn't the way.

My HD-28 came out of Martin's Custom Shop, so yeah, I bought it blind. It also needed a neck re-set right out of the Martin plant, discovered when I took it to Elderly for a setup. It's something I think about often. Not an auspicious start to my relationship with C.F. Martin. If it was my only guitar, it would bother me even more. It's certainly not a memory I'd want for my "one and only".

Now my Taylor - THAT one has a nice memory behind it. I also made an 11 hour round trip in the car so I could inspect it before I bought it.

However, as the saying goes: to each, his own.

[Br1ck]

Your one and only idea is a figment of wishful thinking. Yes, you could be extraordinarily lucky, but don't count on it. If you buy a used quality guitar from an established shop, you won't lose much if you should switch to fingerpicking down the road, or join a bluegrass band.

If you buy something like a Martin D 18, you'll have a do pretty much anything guitar you can sell if you decide you really want a parlor.

[Pickcity]

It's a fair question. Other than a couple old acoustics I won for super cheap in an auction, I have only bought one acoustic guitar from an online seller, and it was brand new. Oddly enough it was this week. I am very happy with the result, but my purchase was not $3k. I would not do it unless the store offers a good return deal in case you are not completely satisfied.

Someone else stated that you should wait a little while longer to let this virus thing settle down. Yeah I know, easier said than done when you want to play now. I see no reason not to go ahead and try the online purchase. Lots of guys do it everyday and they are happy. Again, only if you are free to return it in a fair time frame. Although I do not disagree with waiting to try before buying either.

As to which guitar, size, shape, lifetime, etc, you will get 50 different answers from 50 different people. Personally I believe there are many great guitars that can fill every role with decency.

Its ultimately your call, but in my one experience (LOL) purchasing online it turned out great. Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by SkipII

If you feel you can trust the shop, buy yourself a gift certificate for that $3K and agree to redeem it in a few months. That way the shop has the need cash and you can take your time to select which guitar is best for you.

Sounds like a good idea to me.

[ghostnote]

I would never pretend to know what you should do for your guitar purchase, but if they're a reputable shop, they'd probably take a return within a reasonable amount of time. You could certainly find that out beforehand.
Also want to say that I'm another guy who's bought several guitars without playing them, and I've only had one bad experience, and that was an electric. I've bought 4 acoustics sight unseen - well, there were photos - and I still have them all.

[Thom PC]

A lot has been said already, and many good points have been made. If it were me I would not spend that kind of money without test driving first.

Now, with that said, I also kind of get where OP is coming from, just wanting a "safe bet, all round" guitar while trying to help out a local shop + the overall economy at the same time. That is worth applauding, IMO.

To that end, I would think that, say, a Taylor 314, a Martin D-18, or a Gibson J-45 would fulfill most people's need for most anything. Or, if you insist on spending the full budget, I guess Collings and other high end offerings of similar classic types come into play.

My take is that with guitars like that you just can't really go wrong.

[esiegel]

I am certainly not one to counsel patience and rationality in the face of GAS, but I will say that the search is definitely part of the fun. So you will be missing out on the better part of the experience if you pull the trigger without the appropriate preparation. I am really trying to avoid sexual metaphors here, with mixed success. The point is that looking for the 3K guitar you want will be a big part of the experience.

Its great you want to support a local story. I totally get that. At the same time, new guitars, like new cars, lose 50% of their value when they leave the show room, so your 3 grand will go ALOT farther if you buy used.

my .02

[trw226]

First, thanks for everyone for the thoughtful responses--what a great community. Ultimately, I decided to buy a Taylor GS Mini (with a pickup) based on the sage advice of a teacher.

His logic, which sounds so insanely obvious in hindsight: wanting to "buy quality once" is admirable, but as an amateur, you are NOT going to want to throw "the one" into your car, take to the beach, sit around to a campfire, let other people (including kids) strum it, etc. Get a fun guitar for THAT first (though spend the extra $100 now on the pickup because at some point in your life you'll really want to plug it in).

And while I wouldn't characterize a $600 Taylor as a "beater guitar," I'm way more comfortable taking a risk at that price point and preserving my option to look around guilt-free--it takes the pressure off. I'm sure my local guitar shop will still appreciate the smaller business now, and in the future when I feel more entitled to keep searching their store for "the one." This syncs with most of what everyone said, and part of me knew this, but I just needed those ideas to crystallize.

Special kudos to Thom PC for suggesting a few good "all-arounders" from the big brands to investigate--I look forward to trying them out myself once the lockdown ends.

And please support your local guitar shop during this time if you can!

[ghostnote]

My opinion: you did the right thing.

[Thom PC]

Congrats on the GS Mini, good call!

And enjoy the hunt for "the one" when the time comes