The cheapest guitars: types, tips for choosing and owner reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The eternal problem of choice for beginner guitarists is the purchase of a musical instrument - cheapness fights quality, and the latter does not always win. There is a high probability that the cheapest guitar will be defective. What instrument to choose for a person who wants to learn how to play, but does not have a large amount of money?

Materials for making budget tools

The cheapest guitars are made from simple woods - alder, maple, linden and low quality spruce. The manufacturer, using the listed breeds, can significantly save on raw materials. It is logical that in this price category there are no guitars made of solid wood. In order to save money, manufacturers resort to the use of veneer and laminate; The body of electric guitars is created from pressed plywood shavings. The sound of such instruments differs from more expensive and high-quality ones, but this is quite enough for a beginner. Therefore, when choosing the cheapest guitar, they pay attention to build quality, and not tosound quality - in any case, it will diverge from the ideal.

How to choose a quality guitar?

During the initial inspection of a musical instrument, the strength of the assembly of the body and joints with the neck is checked. The surface of the guitar must be free of chips, scratches, cracked paint or blistering varnish. The neck should be flat, the strings should not lie on it and rattle. The pegs should rotate easily in both directions.

Don't forget about electric guitars. The cheapest guitars are equipped with a lever tremolo system that should act for tuning and tightening purposes, but this is not always the case. Its use can completely detun the instrument. It is not worth saving on an electric guitar - it is better to take it if you have enough money or with a one-sided tremolo.

Famous Manufacturers

The lower the price segment, the more brands it has. The market for cheap guitars is full of manufacturers copying not only well-known brands, but also each other. Which of these should you look out for when choosing the cheapest guitar for beginners?

The Flight brand has established itself as one of the best manufacturers of electric guitars, as well as Phil pro, Ashtone. In the more expensive segment, Epiphone, Cort, Fender Squer, Magna stand out. Among the cheapest classical guitars, you should pay attention to the high-quality and affordable Colombo, Martinez, Prado, Hohner. Good acoustic guitars with metal strings are made by Hohner, Colombo, Prado, Cort.

Varietiesguitars

Guitars are classified into three types:

• acoustic;
• classic;
• electric guitars.

The difference between electrics and acoustics does not raise questions for beginners, unlike the difference between the first two. The first thing that catches your eye is the differences in bodies: classical guitars have smaller and rounder ones.

The strings on the classical guitar are only nylon - they are softer and do not injure the fingertips of novice musicians so much. Unlike acoustics, the neck of the classics is shorter and wider, which simplifies the learning process. In sum, these factors give a completely different timbre of sound and, accordingly, the purpose.

When choosing the cheapest but good guitar, beginners should focus on the above information. However, the above list is incomplete: there are seven-, ten- and twelve-string guitars, as well as four-string ukuleles.

Life of a budget guitar

Different factors affect the lifespan of a musical instrument:

• material quality;
• storage conditions: temperature and humidity;
• guitar frequency.

The average life of cheap guitars varies from one to five years. The reviews for the same Hohner HC-06, for example, indicate a period of up to ten years. The main problems are the poor quality of body bonding, which can lead to breakage of the neck or peeling of the saddle. Nutson the cheapest acoustic guitars, they wear out over time, but are easy to replace. The peg mechanism also changes when it fails.

Incorrectly or incompletely dried body wood can lead to more serious consequences - the neck can "lead". A crumpled guitar begins to go out of tune even with perfect tuning, the strings on it are poorly clamped and rattle. Only contacting a service center will help correct the situation.

Should I buy a cheap tool?

The disadvantages of the cheapest guitars in the world are not as terrible as it seems at first glance. It is best to purchase a tool in a good store, where consultants will help with the choice. It is desirable that sellers know how to play the guitar and be able to check its quality and tune it. For a beginner musician, a cheap instrument is ideal to get familiar with it and learn the basics of playing.

What to look for when choosing?

When buying a guitar, it is advisable to follow a few tips:

1. Explore the musical instrument market - don't buy a guitar at random. Explore articles, forums on the Internet, reviews of guitar owners, choose from several manufacturers that have proven themselves.
2. It is advisable to visit the store, enlisting the support of a familiar musician - he will be able to assess the quality of the instrument. With a similar request, you can contact the sales assistant.
3. The selected guitar must be checked for external defects - chips,scratches, blistering paint and varnish.
4. It is worth asking about the availability of service and warranty card.

What is the difference between a cheap guitar and an expensive one?

The main difference between guitars of different price categories lies in the materials of manufacture. Cheap instruments are usually made of laminate, mid-range instruments are complex: the top deck is made of solid wood, the back and sides are made of laminate. Expensive models are made from solid wood. Solid wood is preferred as it provides a quality and accurate sound that improves over time. The disadvantage of solid wood is the exactingness of storage conditions and susceptibility to changes in temperature and humidity.

The advantage of laminate and, accordingly, the cheapest bass guitars, acoustic and classical guitars is resistance to external factors and the absence of the need for thorough maintenance. The sound quality of a well built laminated guitar is average but does not improve over time. These models are ideal for beginners, as they do not require special knowledge in care and maintenance.

Build quality is another difference between expensive and cheap guitars. On the body of budget tools, traces of glue, varnish streaks, cracks, crevices or chips are often noticeable, which can lead to breakage and deformation. Poor assembly affects the durability of the guitar: branded expensive instruments do not have such errors and last much longer.

Factory musical instruments after purchase require manual refinement - for example, adjusting the truss rod or filing the frets. The amount of additional work directly depends on the cost of the guitar. In many stores, the tool chosen by the buyer is brought into proper condition - tuning is carried out, the necessary accessories are selected, further free maintenance is provided.

The main difference between an expensive guitar and a cheap one is the sound. It directly depends on the material of manufacture of the body and at the beginning of training it does not really matter, since a beginner needs to install equipment. Therefore, for training, it is recommended to purchase budget models of tools. As they gain experience and playing skills, musicians are advised to buy better and more expensive guitars, taking into account preferences in convenience, sound, shape and other nuances.

When choosing a guitar for a novice musician, you should not stop at expensive models - the difference in sound will be noticeable only with experience in playing. However, saving too much is also not worth it: too cheap a tool may turn out to be of poor quality and spoil the whole impression.