So my 16 yr old has never played guitar or taken lessons. I’m not opposed to getting him a guitar but I know less than nothing about them, no idea what’s good or bad. I told him I’d get him lessons too but I’m not going to spend a ton on a guitar right off the bat. So any suggestions on what to get him?

Look at an Epiphone DR series.
I have one and everyone that plays it loves it.
It's a sub $100 guitar on sale.

Make sure you show him this first

The main thing is not to good too "cheap" - nothing is more discouraging to a beginning player than a guitar that is hard to play. Epiphone, Fender, and Ibanez have decent "starter packs" that wont frustrate him by being unplayable. Don't know what your budget is, but $200 is a reasonable budget for a starter guitar.
If there is a guitar center close, go to the acoustic room and let him try a few in that budget

What's the budget? You can look at some guitar options on
Guitarcenter.com
Musiciansfriend.com

quote:

Originally posted by gt2022:
The main thing is not to good too "cheap" - nothing is more discouraging to a beginning player than a guitar that is hard to play. Epiphone, Fender, and Ibanez have decent "starter packs" that wont frustrate him by being unplayable. Don't know what your budget is, but $200 is a reasonable budget for a starter guitar.
If there is a guitar center close, go to the acoustic room and let him try a few in that budget

Bought a Fender Drednaught starter pack for my daughter about a month ago as she was wanting to get into playing. It cost around $190 shipped from Amazon and has picks, extra strings, a tuner and a bag. It also came with a code for 30 days worth of free online lessons.

Seems to be a pretty decent starter guitar and she’s enjoying it so far.

Solid top Yamaha for $200 on sale. FG or FS I think.

By far the best at that price. $500 opens a lot of other options.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Solid top Yamaha for $200 on sale. FG or FS I think.

By far the best at that price. $500 opens a lot of other options.

This.

quote:

Originally posted by birddog1:
So my 16 yr old has never played guitar or taken lessons. I’m not opposed to getting him a guitar but I know less than nothing about them, no idea what’s good or bad. I told him I’d get him lessons too but I’m not going to spend a ton on a guitar right off the bat. So any suggestions on what to get him?

Taylor or Martin. Better resell value. And, they're top notch sound.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Solid top Yamaha for $200 on sale. FG or FS I think.

This.

As has been said, don't go too cheap. A sub-$100 guitar is going to sound like it and play like it. It will only succeed in frustrating him and ultimately discouraging him. For a little extra money you can get a guitar with a good enough action and good enough sound to keep him interested. And, if he ends up not liking it, you can still sell it. The cheapos end up in the landfill.

I started on a Yamaha FS and it was a great guitar. I think it was around $300 from Guitar Center.

I will echo the Taylor or Martin comment. You will spend a little more but both company's low end guitars are excellent. A Taylor Academy Acoustic can be had for less than $500. If they decide they don't want to play, you can resell it for $400.

I spent a little more on my sons first guitar last christmas and he is quite good now and plays it everyday....once he got some basics down it became fun for him which I’m very please about! There was a period of him not picking it up daily during his initial stages of some basics...it’s a learning curve. As I type this I can hear him in his room right now playing...I offered lessons and so far he has declined but he told me if he changes his mind he will let me know.
I bought him an acoustic Ibanez for around 300 and it has a really nice/warm tone to it....so much so I went out and bought myself an Ibanez 12 string....he grabs that one once in a while as well...

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Solid top Yamaha for $200 on sale. FG or FS I think.

Definitely Yamaha.

Key is to get it set up right for him so playing it doesn't kill his fingers. Maybe start off with light gauge strings.

When/if he decides to keep playing, that's when you look to expand the budget.

Check out www.elderly.com

I would find him a nice condition used one on craigslist.

It lets you get something a little nicer for less money and if he doesn't stick with it, the guy you bought it from already took the majority of the depreciation hit.

Yamaha does have decent stuff in the $200 price point (Ibanez has some decent offerings as well).

The action (string height & playability) is more important for a beginner than the sound quality.

If the guitar is not reasonably comfortable to play, it will sit. Acoustics with high string height are very difficult to play for a beginner in my experience.

A used Takamine with a rounded synthetic back is a great beginner guitar because they tend to have nice low action and they are more resistant to humidity fluctuations because they are partially synthetic.

Find an instructor in your area who has guitars to lend/rent to beginning students, so your son can experience a variety. That's how most of us started out when we were kids, though in my case it was the clarinet.

Most likely, if the instructor has them available, he will also sell them, which opens the possibility of used gear.

I was thinking about $250 for the budget. The thing is, looking for a used one I wouldn’t know how to tell what kind of shape it’s in so I’d prefer new. I’ll check out those suggested

Caution: My kids first gee-tar turned out to be a gateway gee-tar.
Check your local pawn shop for higher end guitars with very cheap prices. Take a guitar guy with you to make sure its a good buy.

There are tons of free YouTube video lessons and musicians who show how to play just about any song. Also tons of guitar "tabs" or tablature on the internet that show the guitar chords for almost any song. Just type the name of a song followed by the words guitar chords. Note that for your sound/playing, you may have to go try several tabs to find one in the same key as the recording. A capo will be useful accessory. A key aspect of sticking with it is to be able to play along as best he can with a song he likes.

One thing I would STRONGLY suggest:

Buy your son's guitar from a music shop that will include an action setup in the purchase, or include the cost of an action setup from a reputable music shop in your budget.

There are basically two easy parts to a guitar being set up properly.

First, there's a rod in the neck that can be tightened or loosened to adjust the bow of the neck. Depending on player preference, it should be somewhere between perfectly straight and bowed very slightly so that the middle of the neck is farther from the strings than if it were perfectly straight (this slight bow helps keep the frets from buzzing when the strings are set low).

Second, the height of the bits that hold the strings at each end (the bit at the end of the neck near the tuners is called the "nut" and the bit on the body is called the "bridge") should generally be adjusted to place the strings as close to the fretboard as possible without causing buzzing (if the strings are too low, when you fret a note, particularly a high note near the body of the guitar, the string will buzz against an even higher fret, or in extreme cases actually play the note of the higher fret).

(There are some more involved bits like making sure the tops of all the frets are level, but that's more work and more expensive to get taken care of.)

The benefit of a properly set up action is that it is easier to play. The farther the strings are from the fretboard, the more finger strength it takes to push the strings down hard enough to play clean notes. Especially when you are just starting, a steel-string acoustic guitar with a high action can be torture to play. It will be more difficult to play, it will wear out the fingers faster, it will tear up the fingertips more, it's just no good.

Many guitars, even very expensive, very well-made ones from top-quality brands, do not come out of the factory set up properly. I have a beautiful Martin acoustic guitar that was almost $2000 that came from the factory with an appallingly high action.

For (relatively) inexpensive acoustic guitars, I've found Ovation and Seagull to be the best playing and best sounding. New, they start over your budget, but you should be able to find very clean used ones in your budget.