Buying a guitar. Advice required.

I know a lot of session guitarists and I've noticed they all own one with a hole in it.

Seagull, Yamaha or Fender in that order

If it looks too cheap there are probably strings attached

how much do you want to spend?

you get one for £60 and spend 3k or 4k.... if he doesn't now how to play, they will all sound sh!t... but if he is serious about learning then best to start off with something semi decent, £250 should be good enough for a beginner, but the best advice is to please please please get him a tuner, (about £15). All beginners overlook the importance of having your instrument in tune!!

If he has never played one at all then he is up against it.A ukulele may be a better bet.You can buy a good,playable,instrument ,all set up,with tuner and Aquilas for less than £100.In fact you can get a playable tool for less than £50.
If you insist on a guitar remember that you will need it set up by an expert.So,find an expert and take him with you when you buy the instrument.

. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Yamaha-Acoustic-Guitar-Natural-Starter/dp/B000I1V5KA

I would disagree about the getting it set up by an expert, I dont believe it will benefit a new learner. Everytime I walk past a guitar shop I always pop in and find plenty of perfectly playable intruments straight off the hook that I can play a few songs on before leaving the shop and telling them 'I'll  think about it and might come back tomorrow'...

Something like what Cahoochie suggested should be fine for a beginner or around that price range. Make sure you get steel strings and not nylon strings, big difference in sound.

and finger pain levels , but stick with it, the skin hardens,.... eventually....

For a beginner I'd buy a second hand nylon string accoustic. People are getting rid of them all the time and usually they have hardly been used. Local paper ads or ebay are good. I wouldn't spend more than £100 which should get a decent one. If he takes more interest in learning to play he'll upgrade to a better one. Decent guitar shops often take part exchange so they might have some decent 2nd hand instruments.

My maximum is 250/350 but I'm not sure there isn't a big gap between the cheaper and the better. I was looking at a Washburn WD10S for about 180. I read about the steel strings etc for a better sound. I don't know whether or not he will take it up but he writes a lot of poetry and used to sing in a band years ago around the local pubs. e's a big chap and teaches martial arts in the evenings. He used to cage fight. Settled down a lot now. Sounds like you get a lot of pleasure from it Ample. If he does that I'll be pretty happy.

I believe Martin is very good.

I started learning at 18, apart form about 8 lessons early doors, taught myself from magazines and books.  22 years later I still play pretty much everyday, if only for 2 or 3 mins on my battered old acoustic (washburn!) that I bought about 15 years ago for £350.... I occasionally play down the local with the barman a couple of times a year (St Patricks and Xmas usually) which is great fun, but ultimately I learned because I love doing it. I am not amazing at it, but can play most stuff to a decent level, and looking back whan I started, I would never have believed I would be as profficient as I am now, It never/doesn't came naturally to me. But like most things in life, if you have a passion for something, you stick with it and you make the most of you 'natural ability'.

The huge advantage in learning nowadays,   is the internet, pretty much any well known song you can think of will have someone on youtube doing a simple tutorial for it. and there are loads of lessons on there for beginners in any style you choose. A wonderfull tool, I wish I had it when I was 18, would have made life a lot easier than trawling through magazines and boks trying to decypher written guitar music...

I wouldn't go mad on price.

The one suggested will be fine as he won't play an expensive one any better, just in the same way as a novice gofer
wouldn't benefit with a £3k set of clubs!

What I would say is to get a stand, from day one, to protect it.

My beautiful wife bought mine as a surprise, and really thoughtful gift, just months before I lost her!

I will hazard a guess that he will wish he had one years ago as you can't measure the pleasure that it will give.

Some very good friends always bring there guitars, and a flute, and it's great to sing and play together with no inhibitions.

When the girls sing together it is actually really good. I always have tears and wish my girl could here us!

Thanks Ample, that's what I am hoping he gets from it, nothing outstanding just quiet pleasure.

Brilliant AP. Nothing I can add really. As we get older we will all have to address these tragedies. I know first hand that love almost always ends in tears for someone but memories and sometimes inconsolable sadness will remain. Take care.

Would NOT get a 12 string.. (Run before you can walk etc)

Isn't an electric easier to play than acoustic, as they tend to have a lower action.

Also, I can remember tearing up the ends of my fingers on an acoustic's strings more than I can on an electric.

If you learn on a steel stringed acoustic your fingers will hurt at first, especially with the beginners  nightmare chord of F - but you will become used to holding down strings, and you will then be able to pick up a nylon stringed guitar and play it easily.

However, if you start with a nylon stringed guitar, the strings will be a lot easier to hold down, but you may struggle when you swap to steel strings. On the plus side, nylon acoustics generally have a wider neck, and stretching your fingers to get chords will be hard at first, but be a piece of cake when you switch to a guitar with a narrower neck.

I've been playing for over 40 years but I was blessed with long thin fingers and found it all easy. The ony hard time I have is when, as some guitarists do, use their thumb to hold down the 6th string. I can't do that as I can't bend my left thumb, I have to make full 'barres' with my first finger, no matter where I play on the fretboard.

The 'action' is the term used to denote the distance between the fretboard and the strings.

The cheaper the guitar you buy, the worse the 'action' will be, and you will struggle with chords past the 5th fret with a crap guitar, as the 'action' will be too high. 

Like ampleforth, I play every day, fortunately for the neigbours, I don't sing.

I was blessed with long thin fingers and found it all easy

that's just what Fagin told Oliver

'SHUT UP AND DRINK YER GIN'

Mr Brewers- I must inform you that you is incorrect!
I studied Oliver Twist for my A Level Ingerlish and have seen both the film Oliver, starring A Guiness and the musical Oliver by Lionel Bart many many times, and at no time does Fagin say them words wot you attribute to him!

I hope this clarifies the matter!

Best advice I can give you is make sure you have an Ebay account , because as sure as eggs is eggs you'll be selling the fecker after 1 months collecting dust when he can't be @rsed with it anymore

It is also a wow for pulling women

One of my favourite ex boyfriends loved his guitars and I used to really enjoy listening to him play and sing, especially on acoustic guitar.  He was also in an amateur rock band and we know how good that is in pulling women.

Brigust

A golden rule is get one with a low action. Where the gap between the strings and fret board is low.

Also consider getting an semi acoustic guitar and a little practice Amp with some headphones. An extremely good make for your son would be a semi acoustic Tanglewood Odyssy with a round back. It`s probably the easiest and best sounding combination in your price range.

If you go to your local guitar shop you should be able to haggle them down to about £250 for the guitar. You don`t need the Amp at this stage but if you wanted a little practice Amp for him you can pick one up for no more than £70. Perhaps a little Vox amp.

^^I think you could get the Tanglewood Odyssy semi accoustic guitar, a practice Amp and decent headphones, a tuner and a couple of chord/song books for £350.

He will love it.

Well impressed with responses. Will defo look at AG's recommendation. I have a couple of months but plenty to go on so many thanks to you all.

no need to spend hundreds get a good guitar for £120,a good 2nd hand one is better than a naff new one,understandable if youd rather buy new tho,no need to buy a tuner,lots of online tuners(assuming he's online)

online tuner,be sure to unclick all the crap,download to pc(then no need to be online to tune)     http://www.guitar.sk/guitar/guitar_software.htm   ...

I have just tried three of them and they are erratic to say the least.
I knew all my instruments were bang on but a novice may not .Treat with caution and if you have a cloth ear use simple physics to tune .

Tuning by ear takes under a minute
12 string is slightly longer
Never used a tuner

Tuning by ear takes under a minute

That`s fine if you can find the low E. But how many new starters can find a low E?

Get a tuner Brigust. There are more advanced tuning methods but he is beginner. Lets make it easy for him to start off with. Get a tuner.