How to choose a guitar for a beginner

I get a lot of people ask me about suggestions to buy a guitar for themselves or their child.

Which Kind, acoustic, electric, (and what name brand)..?

What size…?

Where to go..?

Let’s start with smaller children.  If you child is 5-12 chances are that they will need a 3/4 size guitar (three quarter).  It is three quarters of the size of a regular guitar.  Most 3/4 guitars are terrible about staying in tune.  I’ve found that Jay Jr. is a good name brand for this size.  http://www.jayjr.com/  These run for about $80 before shipping if you buy it off of the site.  I bought one for my son and it was the best money I spent.  If you are serious and want your child to learn then spending a little money is well worth it.  If you go to a reputable guitar store in your area and pay $80-$120 you will be getting a good deal.

Now, if you or your child are over 12 year old range, you should probably look at the full size guitar.

If you live in the Frankfort area then Pro-Byte has some very good deals.

My easy and quick suggestion is if you are just learning, start with an acoustic.  It’s simple and easy…if you start with an electric, now you have to spend money on an amp and chords and thats a whole other topic at this point, plus with an acoustic you can take it anywhere easily…it’s just simpler.  Everything is the same on an electric and acoustic, there is just a little different approach and that can be taught later once you get started playing.  With that said, I started with an electric so it’s not wrong or better either way…But I played without an amp for a long time and I worked and saved to buy my first amp…

So, acoustic guitars come in many shapes and sizes.  The “Dreadnought” is the body shape of the most common acoustic guitar, it’s probably what you envision when you think of an acoustic.  If this is too big there are smaller bodied guitars.  You can get a smaller bodied guitar with the same scale neck.  Don’t let the body size fool you, it will still be a “full size” guitar.  Get what is comfortable, that’s why there are thinner guitars.  There are guitars that sound better than others, but when you get to the point where you can tell, then you will know enough and you will know what you want.

Takamine makes a beginner guitar called Jasmine.  They run about $120-$150 and I have heard good things about them.  Once again if you go to a reputable guitar store and pay about $120-$200 you will have a good guitar to start learning, and depending on what you want to do with it…it could last you for many years.

I hope this helped!

If you have any further questions please go to my contact page and send me a message!

Thank you,

Jason

Frankfort Times Front Page, Hot Dog Festival

As I was drinking my morning coffee this morning, just before I was going to post my “Good Morning” post, I got a notification that I was tagged in a post…one of my friends told me about the front page of the paper…I thought it was pretty cool, I didn’t know they were going to do that…

I’m really looking forward to playing on the big “Main Stage” this Saturday!  From my perspective it is going to sound really good (Sound equipment wise).  I hope it sounds good to everyone else…lol!  I have tried for many years to get on the main stage at this home town festival.  I still don’t have prime time, but I’ll take it and rock the stage to the ground.

Thank you all for your support!

Jason

Trip To Ohio…and things

Well, tomorrow I will be heading to OH for the weekend.  I’m taking the family with me and we are visiting my Mom.  Saturday I will be doing a concert in the park for about 50 or so family and friends and hopefully new fans.  This started out as a house concert but we ended up in the park, so…..it is a house concert in the park….I was working on a Friday gig and maybe a couple nursing homes but I decided to back off this weekend a little and enjoy the time with my family.  I really think that one good gig on the park will be more worth it, then playing continuously all weekend.  I’m really looking forward to this intimate concert!

Sunday morning we will be heading back and I have a gig in Lafayette, IN at 3pm, The Rock the House for Riley!  It’s a fundraiser for Riley Hospital.  I really hope traffic clear….lol!  I forgot to mention that before we leave in the morning I have to get up and change a spark plug wire on the van, because it is shorting out…it’s the one in the center in the back of the engine…it’s practically impossible to get to…It will be fun…

I get a lot of people asking me when I sleep….I sleep very well at night and I get about 6-8 hours of sleep believe it or not…lol!  I make my coffee strong in the morning and after about three sips I’m going going going all day long.  Speaking of coffee, I drink columbian generic or if I get name brand it is Folgers…

Thank you for your support,

Jason

new blog

Ok, I’m starting a blog and I’m going to try and write about my gigs and things that are going on….Things that are working and things that aren’t…

I just went to Indy last night for a follow up interview with Indy In-Tune, should be out Sunday night or Monday sometime.