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Last week, our friend asked us help her choose the best guitar to learn on while we have a drink at the coffee shop. She s a beginner so she knew nothing. Even she couldn’t determine how many types of guitar there are, and how many guitar brands for beginners there are.
Therefore: You don’t need to worry that you are only beginner without professional knowledge.
Now: She has got the best guitar for the first electric guitar lessons and the easy guitar riffs from our guitar tutorial.
After having a great choice, she suggested us to write this post because there will be several new players need our help.
What you need to know is which kind of music you want to play with a new guitar, and we will let you know the right choice.
First of all: Keep in mind this fact that guitar has 3 kinds: classic, acoustic and electric guitars. However, in this article, I just mention to 2 main types: acoustic and electric guitars:
The Guitar Overview
Whether you want to be a professional player or just play for fun, it’s essential and important to learn the basic characteristics of both acoustic and electric guitar.
Now, let’s discover: In general, guitar has 6 strings, a neck (the long skinny part), a body (the bulky part), and a headstock (far the neck from the body.)
Each acoustic and electric guitar requires you to turn to play rightly and sound on a pitch. You can perform this thing through the tuning pegs (the tuning machines) on the headstock.
How about the fingerboard (fretboard)?
They are on the top side of the neck. There are the small metal ridges (frets) pressed into the fingerboard. This adjusts the delineate individual notes along the fretboard to help you play on pitch easily.
The comparison table of the best acoustic and electric guitars
We know that many of you don’t have much time for reading all the detailed information of all 6 products. We, thus, make this table to help you have an overview look to choose the most suitable one then learn deeper:
| Guitar Kinds | Product Name | Feature | Our Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acoustic Guitar | Yamaha FG830 | The naturally finished solid spruce top | 4.7/ 5 |
| Fender CD-60S | The easy-to-play mahogany neck | 4.6/ 5 | |
| Rogue RA-090 | The dreadnought body shape | 4.1/ 5 | |
| Electric Guitar | Fender Squier Affinity Jazzmaster | The ultra-accessible solid alder body shape | 4.8/ 5 |
| Ibanez RG50DX | A rosewood fretboard | 4.5/ 5 | |
| Yamaha Pacifica Series PAC112V | A five-way pickup selector switch | 4.4/ 5 |
What is the best guitar to learn on
After learning the guitar overview, it’s time to go deeper in this instrument.
In general, it comes in 2 kinds.
Acoustic Guitars
Here is its definition, the instruction, and how sound and ton it can play.
Let’s discover:
About it
Basically: On the market, an acoustic guitar is more common than the electric guitar. It is designed to help you play perfectly without needing an amplifier. A basic model has a whole hollow body and a circular sound-hole beneath the strings.
What will happen if the strings vibrate?
It will cause the soundboard that means the flat top with the sound holes in it. There is resonance in the body of the guitar, producing a fuller, woody tone. And most sounds will exit through its sound-hole.
Does a very simple acoustic guitar require additional equipment?
Yes, but it is very little.
When it comes to price: Acoustic guitar is in the low price range compared to an electric guitar.
When comparing to electric guitar, the design of the acoustic model comes with a thicker neck, a higher gauge, thicker strings, and higher playing actions. So, it can be a challenge for beginners to play this kind of guitar. Moreover, your fingertips must toughen up in the right places causing a bit discomfort.
Advantages
- The acoustic guitars for beginners are usually cheaper than an electric guitar.
- Simple and easy to get a start.
- Depending on each specific model, an acoustic guitar is perfect for folk or country, pop, funk rock music in most cases.
Disadvantages
- It may be hard for beginners to use their fingers on neck, strings, and playing action (causing pains when making the first musical steps.
Suits for
- Haven’t you been sure about playing guitar seriously? Not yet, take the acoustic guitar.
- Having a small amount of money? Yes, take the acoustic guitar.
- Aiming to play acoustic music only? Yes, of course, take it immediately.
The Full Review of 3 Acoustic Guitars
The acoustic guitar has a wide range of models on the market. However, in this article, I mention 3 best ones:
Yamaha FG830
Do you want to look for a reliable brand?
Yamaha is one of the best choice.
It has been famous for 50 years. And Yamaha FG830 is one of the best-selling acoustic guitars on its market.
Are you a beginner?
We especially recommend this product because it is a comfortable, attractive, guitar especially, its price is very reasonable. Moreover, it also has a wide range of color options. No matter which kind of your music style is, there is a Yamaha FG830 product to match.
When it comes to durability: FG830 features the naturally finished solid spruce top, a nato neck, smooth rosewood fretboard, rosewood back and sides, and 20 frets.
You think that a cheap musical instrument can’t produce great sounds, right?
It’s wrong with FG830.
In fact, its sounds are amazingly high-end, with great projection, the rich tone, and nice dynamic range. Furthermore, the advanced scalloped bracing increases the quality of sound and adds extra reinforcement to its soundboard.
Pros
- Has an adjustable truss rod
- Top notch wood
- Great bound neck
- Wonderful machine heads
Cons
- Plastic saddle, nut, and bridge pins
Fender CD-60S
Looking for an acoustic guitar for your little cool girl or boy?
Fender CD-60S has a good looking which most teenagers are falling in love.
Moreover, it is a comfortable dreadnought guitar caus pain on the fingers. Specifically, the comfort is strengthened through the easy-to-play mahogany neck suited a 20-fret rosewood fretboard.
Is it high-quality for a cheap price?
It can produce the very impressive sounds and well-balanced tone, providing a robust projection for wonderful strumming and fingerstyle. Even depending on where you buy, you get extra convenient accessories.
Pros
- Beautiful
- Cheap
- Great sounds
- A comfortable action and neck
- Easy to turn
- Deep, rich, and mellow tone
Cons
- A very bit tinny with the new strings
Rogue RA-090
Are you a beginner? Having a tight budget for a new guitar?
It’s no doubt to choose Rogue RA-090.
Although it’s cheap, you may be surprised how it works for you.
First of all, it comes with all features of a traditional steel-string acoustic guitar.
However, not stop there. Investing in Rogue RA-090 means you have a beautiful design of the dreadnought body shape. The choice of finishes also varies including natural, sunburst, and black colors.
Speaking to the material: Its body is made from whitewood, bringing out a lot of mid-range punch. And the nato neck adds strength in tone. Meanwhile, the painted maple bridge and fingerboard makes all notes clearer.
Pros
- Nice for beginners
- Cheap
- Produces the nice bright beautiful sounds
- Nicely put together
- Strong strings
Cons
- May hurt your fingers
- Has a strong smell of paint (but it will disappear after a few hours.)
Electric Guitars
Electric guitar also has many unique features. Here is information you may be interested in:
About it
Unlike acoustic guitars: The electric guitar is designed to play through an amplifier. While using, there is no need to plug in, you can great sounds.
Apart from the amplifier: You can play an electric guitar through magnetic pickups. It’s simple. In fact, they are magnets with coils of wire wrapped around sitting beneath the strings.
The strings vibrate causing a disturbance in the magnetic field around the pickup. Thus, the coil of wire will turn into an electric signal. After being transferred down a cable to an amplifier reversing the process, it will change the signal back to sound.
The electric guitar doesn’t require to be hollow or acoustically amplify as it just listens to the strings itself.
The instruction of the electric guitar includes a slim neck, low playing action, and low gauge strings making them easy on your fingers.
Advantages
- For playing rock or metal, only electric guitar and an amplifier can play classic tones.
- Any electric guitar and amp give you a far broader palette of sounds.
- The design of the slim neck, lower playing action, and low gauge strings are on the fingers of any learner easily.
- The electric guitar is a cool instrument to practice.
Disadvantages
- The electric guitar is more expensive than the acoustic guitar.
- This guitar requires an amplifier and cable.
- Not suitable acoustic style like folk.
- It takes your fingers a long time to toughen up.
Suits for
- Choose an electric guitar if you buy it to play metal, rock, or any typical electric style.
- Has a wide range of tone at your fingertips.
The Full Review of 3 Best Electric Guitars
Like the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar also has a lot of available models on the market. It’s not easy to find out the best one, but I helped you pick up 3 best ones here:
Fender Squier Affinity Jazzmaster
Looking for an electric guitar for beginners?
Price is the first problem of most beginners. At the early stage of learning guitar, you shouldn’t invest in an expensive model. Rather than, Fender Squier is affordable and it has the great features.
Its ultra-accessible solid alder body shape gives you the best comfort while playing. Especially, the 22-fret C-shaped maple neck allows you to play happier.
What’s more: You have the convenience from its beginner-friendly controls creating master volume, tone, and a three-way switch.
Pros
- Heavier because of the surprisingly hot humbuckers
- -Pretty good sounds
- 1-year warranty
- Ideal for an aggressive musical style
Cons
- Some people are not fine with this heavy model
- Hard to control and adjust 2 sets of controls.
Ibanez RG50DX
You can’t skip Ibanez which is a cheap, high-quality, and beginner-friendly guitar. Even it can provide more what you expect: impressive sounds, great style, and a good feel.
Its design and material create a comfortable feeling while playing. That is the combination of the classic solid basswood RG double-cutaway body, a rosewood fretboard, a speedy Wizard III maple neck, and a full 24 jumbo frets to give great soloing capacity.
When it comes to the sounds and tones: This guitar has a trio of Quantum pickups, a single-coil in the center, and 2 humbuckers. All of them help you play ax mega tone and a lot of rock aggression.
Pros
- Lightweight
- Fits big hands
- Provides a lot of versatility for different styles of music
- Nice and stable tuning
- Beautiful
Cons
- Pretty sharp tops and bottoms
Yamaha Pacifica Series PAC112V
For beginners: We always strongly recommend Yamaha brand which is famous for reasonable, versatile, and great electric guitars.
Besides, it also features some convenient things to help beginners play easier including coil-tapping on the master tone control, a five-way pickup selector switch, and a vintage-style tremolo with a whammy bar.
How about the experienced players?
These people usually require a nice look and outstanding features. PAC112V can meet all these things.
First of all: It features an edgy start look and a range of colors to choose to depend on your preference. In particular, it is designed to curve in all the right places to give you the best comfort while playing. Specifically, this guitar has a bolt-on maple neck, a solid alder body, and a rosewood fretboard with 22 frets.
The great sounds of PAC112V are created from 3 Yamaha-designed Alnico V pickups including 2 single-coils and a humbucker. All of these things add a lot of versatility for tones.
Pros
- Great sounds
- Made from nice wood
- Terrific look
- Solid body
- Comfortable while playing
Cons
- Poorly soldered output jack
- Requires a professional setup
An appropriate guitar is the easiest way to learn to play guitar for both adults and children. Thus, you have to determine your demands. Which type of music do you want to play? Do you want to learn to play bass guitar?
So: Have you had best guitar to learn to play on? And can you find out the best guitar for kids?
Please let me know your experiences. Also, have fun with the songs to learn on guitar.
Good job on the beginner guitar Roundup. IMO the best beginner guitar is really dependent on the individual. What do they like? What music do they enjoy?
A Junior High student who loves metal, isn’t gonna be too excited to play a classical acoustic. But if you put an Ibanez RG in front of him, he won’t be able to put it down.
Whatever guitar encourages the student to play is the perfect beginner guitar. If you are drawn to a certain guitar, you are more likely to play it.