• Is this your first Guitar?
• Deciding what style of music you want to play is essential in deciding what kind of Guitar you need.
• To begin with, a Steel String Guitar with close action and an adjustable neck, be it a concert, grand concert or dreadnought size body, is often preferred. Nearly all music can be played on a steel string guitar.
• Although an electric guitar is easier to play, its also easier to pick up bad playing habits and harder to build good control when learning on an electric guitar.
• Classic guitars are generally unsuitable for playing Rock, Jazz or Country Music without formal Classic Guitar training. Although Willie Nelson uses one for country music and Charlie Byrd uses one for Jazz, we don't recommend Classic Guitars for anything but for serious study of Classic Guitar, with an instructor. 
• Keep in mind, if you do decide to enter into serious study of Classic Guitar techniques, (2 to 12 years) you should find yourself able to play any style you wish! Get a Classic Guitar only if you can arrange lessons with a qualified Classic Guitar instructor and are willing to put the additional practice time in.
• A guitar with a solid top, not a laminated (layered wood) top is preferred if its within your budget. The more you play such an instrument, the better it will sound over time.
• Beware of Myths.
• Popular Myth. Classic Guitars are easier to play... NOT!
• Actually Classic guitars have a softer touch due to nylon strings, but are much harder to keep in tune and the strings cost more and must be replaced twice as often.
• Classic guitars have a wider neck that is difficult to handle unless you are formally studying Classic Guitar technique.
• Classic guitars have 6 nylon (or gut) strings with three wrapped using a thin wire or metal coated silk. Standard Metal Guitar Strings will quickly destroy a Classic Guitar.
• Medium Gauge strings may sometimes sound better ... but ...
• Most Steel String Guitars made since 1970 have all been designed to use Light Gauge or Extra Light strings with the possibility of extreme damage being caused if Medium Strings are used.
• Light Gauge strings are easier to play.
• Many manufacturers' warranty are void if you use Medium or Heavy Gauge Strings.
• If a guitar would have lasted 10 years with Light Gauge Strings, figure it to be usable for two to six months, up to two years with extreme care using Medium strings.
• Guitars bought by mail or over the Internet are (not) ready to use.
• To prevent damage to an instrument's truss rod, manufacturers ship their guitars with the truss rod loose. Using such an instrument without the rod being set may cause extreme damage to it. Shipping it with the rod tightened will usually result in the rod breaking.
• Truss rods are not a user adjustable item.
• Broken truss rods are worse for a guitar than a broken axel is for a car.
• If you do plan to buy by mail/Internet be sure to find a local repairman beforehand who will agree to check out and set up the instrument for you. Get a rough quote on what they'll charge to do this.
• Guys don't like to return things even if they hate something and the Internet companies know and take advantage of it!
• Keep all boxes, packing materials, paperwork etc for at least a year, even if you don't plan to return anything. 
• Be prepared to send back anything that doesn't work as you WILL need to.
• Some companies may take as long as a year to refund your money even if they promise prompt refunds. If you used a credit card, contact the credit card company immediately! Any delay may result in your inability to recover your money. Document everything!
• Buying from a Superstore/Internet/Mailorder "saves" you money.(?)
• Superstores and mail order/Internet companies often demand better discounts from manufacturers. Some manufacturers have lowered the level of quality of their instruments & accessories in order to give them those discounts.
• Sometimes a manufacturer will raise their list price so they can give a better percentage whosale discount to these companies.
• The results is you may pay the same price or often more that you'd have to pay if they didn't exist, or even with their "Discount" with a higher list price than that product's quality deserves.
• Choice is the biggest loser when it comes to Superstores and mail order/Internet music sales. 
• Only "Supposed" brand names are promoted at such places. 
• What's wrong with that? See "You can go broke buying Brand names" below.
• Guitars and related products like Taylor, Jay Turser, Aslin Dane, others, would not exist today were it not for independent dealers giving them a chance.

• Buying a used Guitar?
• Examine its usability (what shape its in, what repairs or parts are needed)
• Have an experienced repairman examine it, not just a friend and not some jerk in a store who says he/she "knows" Guitars.
• Before you buy, have a local repairman check it out. Have them:
• See what repairs may need to be done to it.
• Find out what repairs, refretting etc. that will be needed in the next two years.
• Get a rough (written) quote on what they'll charge to do all this and take that into consideration when negotiating prices on the used instrument.
• agree to set up the instrument for you.
• Get a signed receipt IN INK listing the instrument, description and serial number and if possible, get a copy of the receipt where the seller bought it from. Make sure its dated. 
• Be aware even a used instrument bought from a store may have been stolen some time in the past.
• A person paid $100 for a drum set at a yard sale. After they bought everything they needed to get it working, they paid $50 more than a compatible set would have cost them Brand New!

• Make a List of what else you need
• Include estimated costs. (Add taxes & if by mail, freight costs.)
• Guitar Strings, picks and other consumable items should be on it. 
• Method Books and cost of lessons.
• Don't forget an amp if you get an Electric Guitar.

• You can go broke buying Brand names
• If a $150 microphone sounds better than an $85 microphone, but is only $10 better in tone, if all other things are equal, the $85 microphone is the better buy.
• Buy an instrument or equipment because it does what you want it to, what it sounds like, not because of the brand name.
• In many situations you will find products listed as being established 1886, 1949, 1955, 1965 etc. but that company has only been in existence for a year or two but bought an existing brand name from another company. Always gauge these companies on their own merits, as they are now, not their brand name. Some are good, some are worse than horrible.
• Out of the major Guitar companies, who do high volume, Aria, Ovation, are a few of the main manufacturers who still belong to their founders. Gibson, Fender, Guild, Washburn and many others are far removed from their founders. Many of today's Takamine Guitars are not made in the original Takamine factory.
• Often, off brand companies have their equipment made in the same factories as the brand name companies, at times taking from the exact same production lines as the brand names.
• Don't go on appearance alone, be sure to test and compare sound quality, durability and usability between generics, off brands and name brands. Some companies like Alverez are designed to "look" like a guitar you want to buy, with much of their prduction cost spent on how they looks instead of on their quality.
• A number of "Made in U.S.A." Guitars and Amplifiers are only assembled in the USA, with little construction of parts etc. actually done in America. Only 10% of the work has to be done in U.S.A. for any product to have a "Made in U.S.A." tag on it, not just Guitars.

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