Choosing Your First Guitar

For playing-and-singing, go with a “folk (steel-string) guitar” — it's bright and great for accompanying your voice, and it's this site's default. A classical guitar has nylon strings and a wider fretboard; it's easier on the fingers but leans more classical / fingerstyle. An acoustic-electric is a folk guitar plus a pickup so you can plug into an amp — worth considering if you might perform someday, and it plays just like a folk guitar when unplugged.

More important than the brand is the “action” — how high the strings sit above the fretboard. Action that's too high makes the strings hard to press and hurts your fingers. When you're trying a guitar, fret a few chords, especially up high, and the one that presses down easily without buzzing is the one with good feel. If you can, try it in person at a shop, or buy from somewhere that allows returns.

If you want numbers: measure at the 12th fret from the top of the fret wire to the bottom of the string — about 2.0mm on the 1st string and 2.5mm on the 6th string is comfortable (an acoustic naturally sits a bit higher than an electric). Too high is hard to press; too low buzzes. Lowering the action on an acoustic means working on the saddle, so for a big adjustment it's safer to leave it to a guitar shop.

Size and body shape: for adults the common ones are 41-inch (dreadnought — big body, strong bass, punchy for strumming) and 40-inch (OM / GA — a size smaller, more balanced for both fingerstyle and strumming, easy to hold); for small hands or kids, go with a 36-inch or a cutaway. Note that “38-inch” is mostly a domestic practice guitar — not an international standard, and usually built with so-so materials, so be cautious.

By materials there are three tiers: laminate (multiple layers pressed together, roughly under ¥800, sturdy but average-sounding) → solid-top (a solid wood top with laminate back and sides, roughly ¥1,000–3,000, the sweet-spot tier for value) → all-solid (solid wood throughout, roughly ¥6,000 and up, opens up the more you play it). The top has the biggest effect on tone, so for most people that jump to a “solid-top” is well worth the money; if the budget is tight, laminate can get you started too.

Online or in person, favor a source that lets you try it or accepts returns, and when it arrives run through this checklist: ① feel (is it easy to press up high?); ② go string by string and fret by fret listening for any buzz or muting; ③ is the neck straight (hold down the 1st fret and the 14th fret at once — a tiny gap “a little thinner than a business card” between the string and the 6th–8th frets is ideal; dead-straight actually buzzes more easily); ④ are the fret ends sticking out and catching your hand; ⑤ any cracks or bulges in the top, and is the bridge lifting at all.