HB 14x5.5 Ebony lacquer snare drum

High Gloss Ebony Birch 14"x5.5" Snare Drum

Year one - purchased a cheap electric guitar and amplifier pack. Used this to discover that I loved the electric guitar.

Year four - Splashed out on a middle range Jackson guitar - about 350 - well known, respectable brand although not the top name - High quality guitar with good pickups etc.

So you can see from the above I certainly didn't rush into my purchases. I am now considering what to buy next though!

If you are totally new to the guitar or you haven't played much before then it would be crazy to go out and buy a high specification guitar as you could be wasting your money. If you decide a month down the line that guitar is not for you, you have wasted a fortune that was not neccesary.

This is my guitar history

If you want to play the guitar then you have made a good choice of hobby. Great stuff - a very well informed choice. The common misconception however is that most people do not realise that, whilst the guitar looks quite easy to play, it is in fact quite difficult to master and takes a lot of time, effort and dedication.

Year six - Bought a top end Ibanez guitar - 1200 approx. - Well made, plays lovely and still the guitar I use today.

If after a few months you still have the motivation and inspiration to continue with your learning then you may like to consider trading in your old guitar for something a little nicer.

Year two - purchased a second hand guitar off of a friend - slightly better specifications but still very cheap - (this was in fact them buying a reasonable guitar to start with to then find they didn't enjoy it)

For a first guitar I would recommend that you do not go for a well-known brand. I would also suggest that you also do not go for the cheapest - You can pick up a decent starter kit now for under 80 and, whilst this most likely will not be an instrument you will be taking to your sell out gig at Wembley stadium in a few years time, it should do the job of allowing you to learn the basics of the guitar and establish if learning the guitar is for you.

At the other end of the scale if you go for a really cheap guitar you could actually be put off of learning the guitar full stop. How could this be? Well, cheap guitars generally use a lot more cheap, lower grade materials and components. While you can get very well built cheaper models some tend to create issues pretty quickly. Problems can start to occur such as the guitar constantly going out of tune, the intonation being out, generally not playing nicely or fret buzz. The list goes on. All of these things can be very off putting for a guitarist and can cause abandonment of the hobby.

There are many factors that make a cheap guitar cheap and an expensive guitar expensive. As with any products there are brand names involved. Top brands such as Gibson, Ibanez and Fender will command a lot more money for a guitar with a similar quality of materials used than a guitar by a lesser known brand. It's the way the world works in almost all markets - brand names cost more. I personally use branded guitars as at least with a brand name you do buy a degree of trust. You know that the price paid does reflect the quality of the product although it is a little more expensive.

What does the above have to do with buying a guitar? Well if you are intending to start guitar then you will need a guitar to begin with. There are many options out there to consider when buying a guitar. Make a visit to your local guitar store you will see prices that range from 45 right up to 5000 and beyond. If you are a guitar newbie then what do you buy? What are the differences between the cheap guitars and the more expensive guitars?