Guitar players - how are these for starter guitars?

[tRidiot]

So I am going to get a basic starter guitar each for my wife and son for Christmas. I think plain old acoustics would be fine, not too expensive, nothing fancy. We can and will upgrade in 6 months or a year if/when they take to it and decide they like it and are going to stick with it.

I used to own a Mashburn electric acoustic I bought for myself that I thought was pretty nice for a starter guitar, but I bought it right before going back to school and never really learned to play and ended up essentially giving it away. Think I paid around $350 for it at the time.

The wife is on the small side - about 5'5", 115 lbs, so I've picked a slightly slimmer version for her. Her hands are fine size-wise, not too small to reach a regular-size neck, I don't think. Here's what I came up with for her:

Yamaha FS800 T - just slightly shallower than the FG800, not too expensive, but not a cheap-ass POS, either.

For The Boy, I chose a 3/4 size. He's 12 and most places I read recommended full-size once they hit teenage years, but he IS one of the smallest in his class, only about 74 lbs and I think right around 60" tall.

Yamaha JR2 TBS - 3/4 size

So what do you guys think? I know, they're not super great, they're just beginner guitars, but should have a decent enough sound and be easy enough to play to not be discouraging, right? Couple hundred bucks apiece, that's about all I can want, I think.

 

[nemesis]

Buy the best you can afford. It's not just the sound that's important. Expensive guitars have better tuners which means they stay in tune. Lesser expensive guitars use cheap, improperly fitted tuners that require constant tuning.

Expensive guitars also have a finer tuned action. String height relative to frets is very important. That requires quality neck work and wood. Lesser expensive guitars use inferior wood for necks and prone to warp. Then to eliminate fret buzz you have to raise the strings. And high strings are murder on a beginner's fingertips. That's the way they're manufactured, viz. with high strings to hide fret buzz, etc. And painful playing is the most discouraging aspect. And they can't be fine tuned/set up the way good guitars can. Cheap wood means it will be in constant movement. I've tried. It's not worth the trouble.

Also, cheap guitars have fret of varying height. That also makes it impossible to lower string height to a comfortable level. Because good playing at one string height/fret height means fret buzz on a different fret.

Research quality and price of new guitars. Then go to Craigslist and find bargains. You can also find bargains on Reverb.com. There are also tons of guitars for sale on The Gear Page .com.

Oh, and get the boy a full sized, quality guitar. He will grow into it.

 

[ghostrider]

Yamaha guitars are good for beginners. If they think they want to go electric then I would start with a Squire Telecaster or Stratocaster. They are lighter in weight and easier to play.

 

[filbert]

Does anybody know a good guitar instructor for an adult?

 

[Gunbuffer]

Yamaha fgs are great above average student learner guitars. You have chosen wisely.

 

[nemesis]

Does anybody know a good guitar instructor for an adult?

Until you find one in your area, there is a ton of instruction here: https://www.justinguitar.com/

 

[MacFromOK]

Guitars (especially lower end acoustics) are highly individual items.

Try before you buy, and get one that frets easily (two of the same model may not). If it's too hard to play, they'll be much more apt to lose interest.

Just my two cents.

 

[tRidiot]

I appreciate the feedback. Thanks, guys.