Getting my first guitar. I need help.

[Br1ck]

Buy a Yamaha. Don't buy something with a shorter than normal scale. Alverez has some nice $500 guitars too. But you don't need to spend more than that $200 Yamaha, and you'll have a dandy beach guitar when you upgrade.

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by Jwills57

Being a guitar teacher myself and having faced this dilemma with several of my students, my only input would be to not worry nearly so much about sounds and looks but a lot more about playability. This is going to be a first but hopefully not a last guitar. It will sound ok, which is good enough for now. Later when you've developed your ear and are a bit more discerning, you can start to obsess over tone (which is what a lot of us do here) and plunk some serious change down to get a "better" guitar for your needs. More than a few of my students over the years have gone out and bought what they imagined was a decent guitar, only to find after some inspection that the guitar they bought is too difficult to play and can hardly be adjusted, let alone played in tune. So I would advise to take someone with you who you trust who knows guitars a bit and go from there. Get a guitar that feels good to you, that plays easily, and that can be adjusted somewhat. That's my advice, for what it's worth.

Exactly what happened to me. After buying a second hand Yamaha Ls6 at auction for a snip I learned to play to a standard where I was getting happy with the way it was going. Without doing any homework I picked up a second hand 12 fret Brook guitar and sold the Yamaha.
It’s such an awful feeling to have a beautiful handmade guitar that you feel you should love and yet can’t play for toffee😟
Had I done some homework on here I would of known about them being known for having slim necks and I just about know enough to know that the guitar loves DADGAD and other folk type tunings but in Standard it feels to tight and buzzy.
Certainly some good advice in your comment and I would second that Yamaha make exceptional guitars in terms of quality control, playability and their sound.

[Andy B]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Buy a Yamaha. Don't buy something with a shorter than normal scale. Alverez has some nice $500 guitars too. But you don't need to spend more than that $200 Yamaha, and you'll have a dandy beach guitar when you upgrade.

If you can see my above post I’d love to know why the shorter scale and in my case a 12 fret proved to be so difficult for me?
I’ll probably end up going back to Yamaha and look to find a LS16.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by gregpod9

I have a passion to learn to play guitar. A few days ago I went to GC to look at acoustics guitars. I decided on the Taylor Big Baby Acoustic Electric. GC ordered one for me due to that they had none in stock. I think that they ordered me the Big Baby with the older ES-B unit instead the one with the new ES-B unit with the 3 band eq. I'm not sure if it makes a difference in sound with the new ES-B unit?

I'm not sure if I made the right choice on the Big Baby due to me looking at other guitars within my budget. Can anyone please recommend me a guitar within my price range that's $550 to $650 or if I should stick with the Taylor Big Baby. I prefer to buy new.

I've been playing seriously for 55 years and owned a GS Mini that I bought to play while recuperating from a pulverized collarbone injury. Absolutely nothing wrong with the GS Mini and you'll find a huge number of seasoned players who like them.

If you don't particularly need a "short scale" instrument I'd suggest you look at the Taylor Academy 12.
The model with the built-in electronics is slightly higher.

[TBman]

+1 on a Yamaha. You can't go wrong with a Yamaha.

[Flgatorgirl]

“I got my first real six-string
Bought it at the five and dime
Played it 'til my fingers bled
Was the summer of '69”… ok it’s ‘22, but the song remains the same… play as many as you can and the one that feels good and sounds good to you will be the one one that you play “ ‘til your fingers bled”. That’s the one.

[phavriluk]

My opinion: All the advice to play and choose, but OP is starting with no experience. All that shopping and evaluating isn't going to be happening. Buy that Yamaha, see where the journey goes.

[Acousticado]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I've been playing seriously for 55 years and owned a GS Mini that I bought to play while recuperating from a pulverized collarbone injury. Absolutely nothing wrong with the GS Mini and you'll find a huge number of seasoned players who like them.

If you don't particularly need a "short scale" instrument I'd suggest you look at the Taylor Academy 12.
The model with the built-in electronics is slightly higher.

Welcome Greg. Personally, I think you made a very good choice with the Big Baby. To me, it sounds a good bit better than the GS Mini. I quoted the above because I agree with it, my first recommendation would’ve been the Taylor Academy 10 or 12. One buddy has a Big Baby and another has an Academy 10 and both sound and play really well. I’d opt for an Academy though. At this point in your guitar playing journey, I suggest not getting too hung-up on electronics, or even opting for it at all...unless you have a particular need to plug-in.

[emtsteve]

Those $200 Yamahas (FG or FS800) can't be beat. You can spend more but at this point not needed. If you stick with it you'll very likely buy at least one more guitar down the road when you know what you want. At that point I'd advise moving up the food chain so to speak. You'll then have the old beloved Yammie as a spare or a travel guitar. If you don't want the Yamaha at this point, then I'd lean toward one of the Taylor Academy models, electronics not necessary.

At any rate, enjoy! And let us know what you get please.

[rollypolly]

OP, I wouldn’t regret getting the big baby. It’s a great beginners guitar and will be good even when you get better. It’s a full scale guitar and it has a good tone.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

See if any of the big box stores have a sale on the Yamahas next weekend.

[Lillis]

My first thought was a Taylor Academy 10 or 12 also. At least worth checking out before you pull the trigger

[theghostwriter]

+1 for the FG800. While I don't own one, I've played them and they're the best you can find at that price point. I do have an FG830, which is tonally similar, and it's also one I'd recommend if you wanted to spend a bit more.

The most important thing is pick something you actually enjoy listening to and playing. My first couple guitars were terrible: one broke after a few months and the other was not enjoyable to play at all (how could a $109 all blue guitar not be great, I thought?), so I ended up having a gap of several years where I didn't play or own a guitar.

Having something you enjoy makes a difference.

[phavriluk]

Let's not lose sight of OP's situation: can't play, doesn't own a guitar. I think that OP ought to buy the Yamaha and proceed to the learning part. He needs, says me, some time with an experienced instructor to get his new instrument blessed as fit to learn on, and some basic ergonomoc instruction. As to lessons in playing, there's an infinite array of comments on that. OP can best sort out that question during his conversation with an instructor. All we'll do here is confuse OP with the spectrum of comments.

[The Bard Rocks]

Originally Posted by Jwills57

Being a guitar teacher myself and having faced this dilemma with several of my students, my only input would be to not worry nearly so much about sounds and looks but a lot more about playability. This is going to be a first but hopefully not a last guitar. It will sound ok, which is good enough for now. Later when you've developed your ear and are a bit more discerning, you can start to obsess over tone (which is what a lot of us do here) and plunk some serious change down to get a "better" guitar for your needs. More than a few of my students over the years have gone out and bought what they imagined was a decent guitar, only to find after some inspection that the guitar they bought is too difficult to play and can hardly be adjusted, let alone played in tune. So I would advise to take someone with you who you trust who knows guitars a bit and go from there. Get a guitar that feels good to you, that plays easily, and that can be adjusted somewhat. That's my advice, for what it's worth.

This is excellent advice. The first guitar teaches you to play and along the way you will form opinions about other things you like and do not. Most of these are impossible for you to know without some experience. And they may change as you journey. But the important thing is to start playing, start learning.

I would not be concerned at all about electronics (other than getting a tuner). Dp you need to play loud at the start? Are you going to be on stage with a loud band? As a beginner, I'd say 'no". I've gone over 60 years and still have not found a need for electronics. You may not be that way, but you won't need them until a certain level of proficiency is reached. That may be on your second or third guitar but is not likely to be on your first.