Acoustic Starter Guitars

Knowing how to decide on the correct acoustic starter guitar and how to identify a nasty one, will save you from countless headaches, as well as finger aches.
Acoustic guitar bodies are available in essentially the same hourglass shape, with several variations, but they do vary in size, color, wood-type, style, and further features. You may even purchase an acoustic guitar so little that fits right into a hiking rucksack.
Guitars come in a very wide range of costs, but in relation to instruments, normally, you get what you pay for, especially whenever you buy new. There’s a genuine difference between getting a bargain and buying cheap.
Except whether you buy new or used may also be determined by lots of personal factors including your budget, and each has their own pros and cons.
Buying new, provides you with a warranty and, with any luck, a return period, if for some reason you’re not totally pleased with your acquisition, or something goes wrong.
Under ‘usual' circumstances, a second user guitar may ordinarily be purchased cheaper and has already gone through its “break-in” period.
Commercially designed guitars are ordinarily mass manufactured. “Custom-made” guitars are just that. They are custom built and tailored to your specs by a very skilled guitar maker.
Prices for a custom-built guitar vary to a large extent, determined by the skill level of the craftsperson you contract the job to, however, normally, they are usually quite higher than a commercially built guitar of “similar” quality. Each custom built guitar is exclusive and therefore hard to match in price with a commercially built guitar.
FOR THE "TECHIES"
Understanding some of the parts of a guitar will definitely assist you when it comes to the Pre-Purchase Checklist.
BODY: This is the part with the sound hole in the front. It's where the strumming is done, and it can vary in size. The specific size, shape, variety of wood, coating, and general build of the body too affects how a guitar will “sound”, whether it’s a rich and warm sound, or a thin and ‘twangy’ sound. {The body tends to become the part that also gets scratched, damaged, and typically banged-up the most.
NECK: This is the long piece extending from the body and ends at the ‘head’ of the guitar where the ‘Tuning Heads’ are, also often known as ‘machine heads’. The strings travel from the ‘Bridge’ on the body, across the sound hole, along the ‘Fret Board’, which is attached to the front-side of the neck, and at last arriving in the tuning heads where they are wrapped about tuning posts. The tuning heads are then turned by hand, which then turns the posts, making the strings tighter or looser, thus affecting their ‘tuning’. Necks tend to warp and twist if not looked after, or if ever the guitar is left propped against a heat source.
BRIDGE: The Bridge is generally located on the front of the body by sound hole, and on the side of the hole opposite to the neck. The strings are mostly fed through the bridge first before they cross the hole and travel up the neck into the tuning heads. The bridge is like an anchor-point for the strings. Metal bridges are best, except on most acoustics they are either hard plastic or wood. Bridges generally tend to crack and split over an extended era of time.
FRET BOARD: The fret board is glued to the front of the neck. This is the portion you press the strings onto to make chords or play individual notes. Since it’s glued on separately, a fret board is made of a wood that’s different from the neck.
The strings travel over the fret board and the space they are above the fret board produces a difference to the playability of the guitar. If the strings are too far above the fret board, then they will be hard to press down, making the guitar awkward to play.
Whenever a beginner plays a guitar, at the outset her or his fingertips are incredibly soft and require to become hardened. A guitar with the strings too far above the fret board, also known as having a ‘high action’, will cause the player’s fingers to hurt so much that they're more likely to put the guitar away in despair and perhaps stop playing totally.
STRINGS: Acoustic guitar strings, are available in a large sort of ‘flavors’. They can be} manufactured from nylon, brass, steel, or even a fusion. Nylon strings are generally only found on Classical guitars and Student guitars, as they’re easier on the fingertips. They've a rich, lukewarm sound to them.
Strings sets come in numerous  ‘weights’, or sizes. Strings that come from a package marked ‘Heavy’ are typically quite thick in size and sound “beefy”. Strings which are light, or extra light, are very thin and usually have a brighter sound to them, but are also quieter sounding than heavy strings.
String choices are purely individual taste. Light strings are easier to press than heavy strings except also sound rather different. The more often strings are played, the dirtier they grow. If a cloth isn’t run over and under them, from time to time, the sound will become incredibly dull.

THE PRE-PURCHASE CHECKLIST
- Before you buy a used guitar, cost-compare against the purchase price of a new one, unless the guitar is rather old. You could also compare its used price to other used prices by going to an online auction and either searching for the same or a similar guitar. 
- Check the general order of the wood for cracks, scratches, splits, dents, chips, etc.
- Also check the lacquer finish for cracks and splits.
- Check the neck/fret board for warping and twisting. You could do this by holding the guitar flat on its back, with the sound hole facing upward. Bring the guitar up to eye-level, with the neck running from you and the edge of the body very nearly touching your face. Let your eyesight fly across the front of the body and down the fret board. You have got to be able to notice if the neck is twisted or bowing.
- Tune the guitar, or have the vendor tune it for you.
- If you know the way to play about 5 or 6 chords then play them. In the event you don’t know how to play, ask the vendor to play them for you. This check ensures the neck of the guitar is not warped, even though the fact that you couldn’t physically notice it. If the neck is warped, and the guitar is properly tuned, then several of the chords will sound good, however others will sound as though the fact that} the guitar is not tuned. If this happens, verify the tuning again. If it persists, then don’t buy the guitar.
- Check the bridge of the guitar. If it’s made out of wood or plastic, make sure it’s not cracked or splitting. The bridge must be rock-solid, as many pressure is exerted on the bridge by the strings.
- Check the tuning heads. Do they turn easily, or are they very stiff and hard to turn. Even with the high tension of the strings, a top quality guitar will have tuning heads which are somewhat straightforward to turn.
- Check the ‘action’ of the guitar. Are the strings a fair distance from the fret board? Are they easy or hard to press down at different points on the fret board?
- If you are buying the guitar for yourself, and you know how to play, regardless of whether you’re a beginner, then play the guitar.
- How does it feel?
- Is it easy or hard to play?
- Could you fit your hand around the neck/fret board comfortably to play chords?
- Is the guitar a comfortable size and shape for the body? Is it simple to hold?
- If you propose to play standing up, ask for a guitar strap.
- Do you like the sound, the color, etc?
- If you don’t play, have another person play it for you so that you could make up your mind what it sounds like.

WHERE TO BUY
Getting a guitar from a physical retail music store means that you can ‘test drive’ the guitar and ask more questions up front. Buying your first starter guitar pack on the net or from a catalog may also bring you additional cash savings.