whats the best brand for a starter guitar?

Hello. I just got a new guitar and mine is excellent. It had amazing quality and excellent set-up out of the box it arrived in. I got Fed Ex shipping for $3 more and I ordered Sunday and it arrived just before noon on Tuesday. My guitar shipped from Indiana and I am in Ohio. Many sellers on E-bay are drop shipping from the same or similar warehouses in California. My guitar with shipping was amazingly under $80! In a music store it would sell for around $300. One music store sold Indiana starter guitars for $200 and my guitar is twice the value - feels better to hold, better finish, and has a better sound. I got the Art Deco Traditional Dread-naught from an on-line store on Ebay called muzikutopia. I got the natural and it has a lazer etched rosetta around the sound hole which is subtle. The head stock is shaped like a guitar brand called Galveston from 20 years ago. Because there is no brand name they can sell these guitars at a much lower price. I used the savings to order a padded Gig bag on ebay from a seller who had a great price and low shipping for that - brand is Stone Case Company. If I had gotten the inlaid finger board model I was going to order their hard case which muzikutopia also has a good price for. If you can't swing the $80 for that guitar then theguitarking1 has a Crescent YMG with cutaway (i sent the natural to my daughter in N.C. and she loves it) They also have it in an acoustic electric model for the price of the Art Deco model,

The last suggestion, except HSN sold out this year, was to get an Esteban Acoustic Electric. I got his Rock On guitar which is way cool (I have just the two guitars) It came in in a great case - black alligator look soft outer and firm inside with velvet lining and storage/neck support. Mine sounds great. Set-up was excellent. Most guitars ship with the action slightly high at the 12th/13th fret and the 1st fret. On my Esteban all I had to do was lower the saddle (sanded the bottom and put it back in the bridge to get string height I wanted.) Otherwise I take my guitar to a luthier and have them set it up - saddle/bridge, neck bow/truss rod, dress frets, and file the nut if it is required. If you love your guitar later you can have a bone nut and saddle installed by a luthier when you make a string change.

Here is a site to show you how to change tour strings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJkp-bRAYWE

Besides the bag I purchased, I used my savings to sign up a month of access to www.guitartricks.com. Their Core Learning System is an excellent value. I got a stand and digital tuner from Heartland America for $9.99 (free shipping!). Even came with a strap, pics, and strings! I did splurge at a music store (don't want to be a complete stranger - they have sheet music and guitar polish!) and got a soft strap to go with the laser etched rosetta. Finally, to go with my on-line lessons I ordered the guitar instructional DVD called Easy Beginners Acoustic Guitar. So for everything i spent just under $130 dollars. The other suggestion is to try the package "Guitar for Dummies" It is a great value and the guitar is excellent - checked by a distributor out of Texas. It went up in price on Amazon $20 to $99 but is a great value for the whole package. The only other value out there is if you find a Glen Burton (get it in natural as they have to select nicer Spruce top) and they generally include a digital tuner which is nice. There is a gorgeous Esteban Paula Abdul guitar with case which is worth it for under $100 - a lady out of Arkansas sells one every two weeks or so on Ebay. It is beautiful and is equivalent to the Rock On quality I mentioned. She sells them at a low starting bid because there was a slight fade in the paint, otherwise it would be a $400 dollar guitar for an acoustic electric with a case! HSN has a great value on amplifiers until they sell out - shop around if you do not believe me!!! good luck. Let me know what you end up with!

I think the best advice is not to buy too cheap of a guitar. If you do, it may never sound good and that might make you frustrated. At the same time, you don't need to spend a thousand dollars either. I would say that just about any guitar made by the established companies would be fine. They all make less expensive models for beginners that still sound good. Then if you truly fall in love with guitar playing, you can always get a better one later. Here are some of the companies I mean:

Taylor, Martin, Yamaha, Gibson, Fender, Alvarez, Guild, Laravee, Epiphone, Gretsch, and lots of others. But that should give you a good place to start.

Good Luck!

I love my Seagull S6 original. It's way too underrated for such a great guitar. Handmade in Canada, it features a solid cedar top, wild cherry back and sides, a Silverleaf maple neck, and a rosewood fretboard. The cedar top gives it a warm, rich tone that is very impressive for its low cost, while the wild cherry back and sides give it a lot of aesthetic appeal. It's great for both fingerpicking and strumming. The instrument also comes at a great price- $399.

I bought my Seagull last summer, and am very pleased with it thus far. The quality and sound of the guitar is definitely a steal for the price. Check it out at a local music store for yourself!

my first electric guitar was a fender and it lasted with me for a good 4 to 5 years without breaking, but it was a bit costly. a small fortune to pay for a sturdy guitar that won't break on you. it also helps to go to small guitar shops because they would know exactly what you would need and they'll bargen it for a much much much cheaper price than what the other stores sell them for. I got my guitar at a small shop down the street called Guitar World and they were really nice people that gave me a very good guitar for a really great price.

i like ibanez.

but for lessons...This is absolutely, IMO, the best online source to learn how to play guitar, as they have over 35 teachers who each have their own style, they are cheap but have high quality videos, and great support.

They teach you many genres and have many different songs to choose from. Best of all they start you from the absolute beginning if you need it. I LOVE this site.

http://www.howtoplaytheguitarlikeapro.com/jamplay

There are several good brands for the beginner and intermediate such as Alvarez, Ibanez, Ephiphone, Takamine, Washburn, and Fender.