Why You Never Cheap Out on Your First Guitar

Few musical instruments capture the imagination and passion of people across all ages, walks of life, and musical tastes, like the guitar. How often have you heard someone, after attending a concert or performance of some kind that featured the guitar, say, “I always wanted to learn to play!”? And the great news is that just as the desire doesn’t seem to fade with age, neither does the possibility for a satisfying and enjoyable experience with a little quality time spent playing the “right” first guitar.

Many hobbies start out with a shopping trip for the basic supplies, and the tendency is to go the cheapest route “just in case.” But here are 5 reasons not to cheap out when choosing your first guitar.

1. You’re setting yourself up for failure

About that cheap “just in case” guitar—just in case… what? It’s hedging bets on either utter failure or (worse) flatout quitting. That’s why, if you’re going to cheap out (“just in case”), don’t bother. It might be a smaller investment, but you’ll get no return.

2. You’re making a big value statement

Would you make (or agree to) a first date at McDonald’s? No offense intended to McDonald’s, but if you think the first date is worth something, you back that up with your wallet. And the reason it’s called a “first” date is because you hope and expect there will be more, so time and money are invested into that first date. Choosing your first guitar is like investing in a first date with your dream of becoming a skilled guitarist. You don’t have to spend “fine French dining” cash, but even a sit-down chain restaurant is better than a drive-thru.

3. Poor quality makes for a bad experience

Many veteran guitarists joke about their first instrument and how the strings were a mile off the fretboard and the neck of the guitar felt like playing a baseball bat. It may be humorous now, but it’s guaranteed that every one of them would have preferred a playable instrument. Cheap, poor quality instruments are often difficult to play, impossible to improve, and can almost guarantee you’ll quit. You’re serious about wanting to learn, right? Your first guitar should work with you, not against you.

4. How much do you want it?

If you wanted to share your love of food and open up chic new restaurant, would you shop at Little Tikes® or Viking®? If you want to be successful as a guitar player (even just for your own pleasure), don’t shop in the toy section, but invest in the right equipment—and that shows how much you really want to reach your goal.

5. What if you stick with it?

Maybe you muscled through the challenges of working with an inferior instrument. It didn’t really help you but gave you six strings and a fretboard and you somehow make it work. You’re going to stick with it, and guess what? It’s time to go shopping. You need a better quality instrument so you can continue to make progress, play with others, and maybe no longer have to explain why your pickguard has cartoonish art on it. So you refer back to this post and realize that with a good investment in your first instrument, you could have enjoyed more playing time and less frustration all along—if only you’d bought a guitar the first time that you could stick with.

Next time, we’ll follow up with how to choose that first guitar, and why “quality” doesn’t have to mean “expensive.”