Whether you are buying a guitar for the first thing or going for a replacement, there are things you just cannot neglect when starting your search.
1. How much are you willing to spend?
When making plans to buy the best guitar under 1000, whether acoustic or electric, the first thing you must be certain of is your budget.
You must conclude on what you plan on spending before you even think of launching a search. Your budget should be less than 1000 dollars if the scheme is to get the best acoustic guitar under 1000.
The same thing should be said for the electric guitar, which of course is possible to buy with less than 1000 dollar bills.
Tips
Don’t start your guitar search without concluding on budget and of course, what you want to get out of the instrument.
Even though it is clear that the more you pay, the higher the hardware would be, you can still find great guitars on a budget.
2. What is the fitting body style for me?
If you are going for an electric guitar, know it has three body forms; solid, hollow and semi-hollow body. The solid body is less prone to feedback than the hollow or semi-hollowed.
The hollow and semi-hollow produce more resonance than the solid body because of their design.
But the resonance of the solid wood electric guitar is still fantastic. The solid-body also comes with single and multiple pickup options.
Your style of music also factors into which body style you choose. Solid bodied guitars (electric) are perfect for hard rock, punk, metal and other classic rock genres for some reason.
They have great resonance because they lack a resonating chamber; solid body guitars depend entirely on amplification which is suitable for the style of music listed.
If you are going for an acoustic guitar, the different body types you will encounter are; Dreadnought, Jumbo, Parlor, Auditorium, Dreadnought Variants, Grand Auditorium and Classical.
Dreadnought delivers the very tight sound that accentuates the bass frequencies and offers a stable midrange with cutting highs because of its broad square shoulders and large internal cavity.
If you want a cutting, sharp and bold-balanced sound, go for Dreadnoughts. They are also ideal for Country or Bluegrass.
Parlor body works well for solo artists. It is lightweight and has a well balanced tonal spectrum.
The Jumbo guitars have a more rounded bottom and shoulder than any other body shape. They have more volume than any other and excellent for strumming too.
The auditorium guitar has a tighter waist with myriads of tonal characteristics. They balance well on the leg when you seat while playing. You may also prefer the Auditorium guitar shape if you play with a lighter touch.
The Grand Auditorium body shape is known for the premium quality of the plugged-in tone it offers.
3. Choosing Pickups and electronics
If you are buying an electric guitar, you will come across the single-coil pickup, humbucker pickup, and the piezo pickup.
The single-coil pickups are great, but humbucker has more superior tonal characteristics. The humbucker has two single-coil pickups combined and offers a hum-free sound than the single-coil pickups.
Also, the humbucker is built to deliver a louder, thicker and superior tone. However, the piezo pickups are not so common in electric guitars than the others.
4. Scale Length
The scale length is another factor beginners should consider when buying a new guitar. We have long scale length and the short scale length.
The scale length refers to the length or distance from the nut to the bridge. That is the part of the strings that vibrate.
Guitars with Long scale length usually have higher tension than short scale length. The string has a tighter feel because of the length.
Guitars with short scale lengths are less stressful for players with small hands to play and form chords.
They can navigate easily on the fretboard because of the shortness of the scale length. They also deliver a warmer tone.
5. New Vs Used Guitar
There is obviously no use risking money on a used guitar you know little or nothing concerning its state.
The used guitar is going to cost you around 400-500 bucks, so why trade if you can get yourself a brand new guitar to grow with for a little higher than that amount?
Besides, you are not sure of the problem the used guitar has and why the seller is trading it.
Some guitars may even have hidden problems that you may only notice after many days of playing them.
6. Neck Construction
If you are aiming for an electric guitar, another thing you need to consider is the neck. For this aspect, you will find the bolt-on neck, set-neck, and the neck through.
The bolt-on neck is very cheap to construct and replace when damaged. But the thing here is it offers less sustain and resonance. It is also not that stable
Set-neck, on the other hand, is the most preferred regarding stability. And it also has more sustain and resonance, though difficult to repair when damaged.
The neck-through construction also has high stability and sustain. But it is challenging to construct and expensive to repair when damaged.
However, the acoustic guitar still comes with the bolt-on neck and set-neck. But you will most likely see the bolt-on neck with the electric guitars.
7. Tonewood
Whether you are buying an electric or acoustic guitar, the tonewood you may commonly find is mahogany, maple, rosewood, and ebony.
Mahogany is solid and dense but not as tougher or dense as maple. Luthiers use it for constructing other parts of the guitar except for the fretboard area and bridge.
Maple has great tonal qualities and often used in making guitar fretboards. And if you seek guitar with a brighter tone, projection and sustain, maple is the way to go.
Rosewood is another excellent tonewood which you may commonly find used on the guitar fretboard. Rosewood has oily pores, which can absorb unwanted overtones, and produce a clear, bright tone.
Ebony delivers the bright sound and found commonly on the fretboard of higher-priced models.
8. Sound
If you want to create a loud noise, then go for an electric guitar. It will also allow you to create as many beautiful sounds as possible. The acoustic guitar is exceptional for
practice unamplified. You can practice at the night without disturbing the people around.
Favorite Guitar brands & Genre of music
9. Hardware (tuners, bridges & tailpiece)
The key areas of the guitar hardware are the tailpiece, tuners, and bridges.
Tuners :
Whether you are buying an electric or acoustic guitar, the quality of tuners on the guitar must be considered. They must hold the tune well and be simple to use.
Poor tuners will get you frustrated due to regular tuning to keep the tune of the instrument intact.
Bridge and tailpiece :
The height of the bridge will determine the action of the guitar. If the bridge is high, an adjustment is needed to bring it to a reasonable level.
As a beginner, go for guitars with low action. But action shouldn’t be too low to cause buzzing.
10. Who will play the guitar?
Beginners may appear motivated to learn and play the guitar, but with little frustration, many tend to give up.
So if you are a beginner buying your first guitar, or maybe buying the instrument to give to a beginner, go for quality brands that will sustain their interest in learning the instrument.
If the beginner you are buying the guitar for has a mentor, then purchase a guitar with a similar sound and style as the one used by the hero in question.
The beginner will see his or herself playing like the supposed hero whenever the guitar is picked up.