[muso] Cheap Acoustic Guitars?

[SOTS]

I'm looking to teach myself to play guitar at some point in the future I was wondering if anyone could recommend some really cheap acoustic guitars.

I'm not bothered about the quality or anything either. I'm really not very well-off at all.

[Cack Hen]

It might be worth looking in some charity shops. For some reason, I always see slightly worse for wear spanish guitars in them for a couple of quid.

[Marty McFly]

Not to sound all snobby, but learning on a real piece of shit instrument will not inspire you. It just exacerbates all the problems learners have.. same as you wouldn't recommend somebody learn to drive in a clapped-out Reliant Robin or something.

With acoustics, the best advice I can give you is get yourself down your local music shop, tell them you want a cheap acoustic guitar, and see what they have.

Yamaha acoustics tend to be very nice quality for little cash, or more often than not you'll find something of Far-Eastern origin with an unmemorable brand name that fits the bill nicely. As I'm sure others will tell you, they've found £50 guitars that feel like £500 guitars this way.

If you have a local Cash Converters or an equivalent shop, sometimes they have nice instruments too.

Try and go to an independently-run shop to try guitars out, those places normally actually give a shit about what they sell and they wouldn't want to ruin their reputation by selling an instrument of bad quality. (In theory.)

The main thing you want to be aware of on an acoustic is the "action" - that is, the distance between the strings and the fretboard of the guitar's neck.  A common problem on lower-cost instruments is that they have really high action, which makes pressing the strings down quite difficult.

Ideally, at the very last fret (the one closest to the sound hole) you shouldn't have the strings any higher than  5-7mm or so.

I hope that was of some help, and if it came across in any way condescending, I apologise :)

[SOTS]

I think part of me is afraid of spending a lot and then failing/losing interest when trying to learn.

[Marty McFly]

oh, don't say that.. learning the guitar is tremendous fun. :D

[wheatgod]

Bit of a bump - I've managed to borrow a guitar off a mate, and would love to hear Whores' tips on how best to teach myself. Is there a killer book out there? A great website? An ultimate technique?
Cheers.