As a beginner Iād say do it if you know your current instrument is holding you back.
Iām on a 10 year old Yamaha FG700 i bought when I attempted to learn the guitar and failed miserably. I wasnāt sure whether I really needed to upgrade even though the neck is somewhat bowed in the middle and the action is pretty high up the frets. I also didnāt really know what to upgrade to due to my preferences and so on.
Iām now in grade 3, and playing more regularly higher up the neck has confirmed that my fingers get strained and potentially injured because of how much more inward it is around frets 5 - 9.
Iām saving up to get something new after I complete Grade 3.
Understandable, but you might find the $80 investment gives you a guitar that plays and sounds as good as a new guitar that costs a lot more than that.
Btw, the age of your guitar could be a virtue, not a defect: many people believe that guitars sound better as they age.
Iāll highlight a point made in the Brandon Acker video that @kimlodrodawa posted. The player (a classical guitar expert) chose the $300 yamaha over a $9K master built guitar because of the playability. The Luthier says he set brandon up on purpose by giving him an affordable guitar that he expertly set up to compare with a master built instrument that needed a setup.
If you acoustic plays nice and stays in tune no need to upgrade unless you donāt like the way it sounds.
Iām still a beginner my self and when I was shopping I didnāt know anything. I chose for hope the instrument felt (didnāt want anything big because Iāve had some shoulder issues in the past). I also know I wanted a next level up from intro because I wanted to put some skin in the game so to speak to ensure I give the new hobby sufficient time before I gave up. Iād have miserably stuck with it because I paid $500 where as i could have quit if I only invested $200. That said I would have stuck with it regardless because its been some satisfying.
I would summarize as if you can afford it there is no reason not to upgrade, but if you struggle to stay in tune, donāt like the sound or have to fight the instrument, then upgrade (or expand).
As for your description of your instrument I think your action is a bit on the high side, so a good set up may improve playability.
The other reason you may want do consider a guitar is based on playing style but Iām not well enough informed to guide you on that (e.g. I think that if you like playing finger style a smaller bodied guitar man be better suited than a large dreadnaught)
But in terms of something holding you back, I think itās probably a matter of a good setup vs a bad setup rather than the quality/price of the instrument.
It is always time for a new guitar.
Just because itās cool to have a new guitar. Iām still a beginner in the early stages and already got 4 of them. I play every single one, they donāt sound the same, they donāt have the same weight, they are pretty and different from each other in many ways. For instance, I tried to be in touch with different body types and brandsā¦with an acoustic (Yamaha), an electric Les Paul, electric from Fender (Strato) and a SG semi-hollow body electric.
Read my words as a typical symptom of GAS - Guitar Addiction Syndrome.
Do I really need them all to meet my objectives? Of course not. My skills donāt even justify more than one. But they did make their job as they served as motivation to keep exploring and also as a kind of reward to myself as I meet my goals.
Not to talk about amps and pedalsā¦seems this can be a very expensive hobby.
I would like to know how did you decide about buying new instrument and what is your new experience? Its been a while, so sorry for opening old topic, but I am also interested in your folky fingerstyle. Is there any topic I can see your playing level?
On my own experiencesā¦ my first guitar cost 70 dollars. Still have it but then i bought Takamine for 380 dollars and it was like stanger instrument that does not belong to me and wasnt nice to meā¦ like that my first 70 dollars guitar was better in every way, even in sound and colours. So after 14 days I put it back and bought slightly cheaper Fender for 300 dollars and thats my soul, I love it, so price does not always matter and I know it has been told here.
Now I have bone nut and saddle from Thomann ready to change for stock ones and I am learning how to upgrade guitar by my own, I really like it.
Hi @Carreta, you are right, it has been a year since I asked the question, so itās interesting for me to look back at where I was and what happened next!
The short answer is that I didnāt upgrade my guitar. I feel a great affection for it and itās become clearer over the last year that itās me, not the guitar that needs to improve.
That said, I do now own two more guitars in addition to my Aria, but they are for very different purposes.
The first guitar I bought is a Journey Puddle Jumper travel guitar. I made a rule for myself when I started to play that I had to pick up and play the guitar every day, even if for only 5 minutes. This guitar allows me to stick to that rule, although to be honest the action is quite high so I am not a great fan as I really struggle with the F chord on it, but itās better than no guitar when I am travelling.
Itās collapsible (the neck detaches), I can fill the body with soft clothes and take it as hand baggage on flights with me. As I also only had a 2 seater car with very limited luggage space (until three days ago), if I was travelling with a passenger thereās no room for a full size guitar. Yes, I have just bought a bigger car so I can carry my guitars!
The second guitar I was given by a friend was a 1970ās Classical Yamaha. I was getting increasingly frustrated and bored with strumming songs that were unrecognisable if I didnāt sing along (which I find very hard with all but a few simple songs) and whilst in holiday in Seville, Spain in November, I took an in person lesson that was an introduction to Classical guitar and loved it. The teacher recommended Yamaha as a brand and my friend knew I was looking and gave me the guitar for Christmas. It would sell for less than Ā£100 (apparently my friend paid Ā£30 for it a few years ago).
The Classical teacher gave me some old books and I started to learn to play from reading music rather than just guitar tab. I also finished Justinās grade 3 on my original Aria acoustic guitar. I was supposed to be consolidating grade 3 for 3-6 months but injured my wrist trying to play Bm barre chords and quite frankly was bored with what I could play and a bit lost as to how to incorporate the skills I had learnt into real music. So I have changed direction, found an in person teacher, taken a step back and am studying for Trinity College Londonās Classical Guitar Grade 1 exam (so learning to read music) and am dabbling with learning more advanced finger style songs using Trinity College Londonās Acoustic guitar Grade 3 material (using tabs as I canāt read music well enough yet at that level). I also pick up the acoustic and just play my strumming song repertoire from time to time to keep my hand in, but I am much happier that I am finding my niche as to what I like to play and exploring that. Which is exactly Justinās advice at the end of grade 3.
I can relate to this - Iām beginner grade 2 and have two guitars at the moment and plan to get another soon but the pre-purchase guilt creeps in!
Iām justifying it by saying, I want a more ergonomic guitar with a solid body (quieter practicing), itās a reward for completing grade 2 (soon), itās my birthday etc. etc.
I think I will take the advice given previously of going and playing as many as I can and then deciding from there.
I donāt have any videos Iām afraid, not my thing.
There are some great people on here doing classical and finger style though and posting videos, so I am sure you can find some inspiration from them.
If youāre interested in Classical style I have a PDF of a book with 30 pieces in it, youāre welcome to download it if itās of use to you. It was a free download from a site I used to be on and itās free from any copyright infringement issues - free to distribute. It has both TAB and standard notation on it which is useful!
I know EXACTLY what you are trying to say hereā¦ I express it as ālosing Oneself in the moment & the musicāā¦
Once in a while, especially on a rainy weekend day when thereās no work to be done, Iāll be sitting on the sofa with an acoustic guitar & just playing random chord progressions fingerstyle, eyes closed, no worries or concerns. Iāll vary the chords used & the pattern & just be lost in the musical momentā¦ my wife will come into the room & ask if I want or need anything & at that point, Iāll realize that Iāve been playing for an hour or two - not the 15 minutes that I thought had passed!
Itās magical and itās therapy for the soulā¦
I advocate for learning guitar with most people I talk to, especially retired people who are a bit lost trying to find their path after their working life has ended & a new life has begunā¦ I tell them to come out of their cocoons, spread their wings & fly into the new world that is open to them now that theyāre not constricted by the 8-hour workday any longer! (I am SO ready to retire but still have a couple of years to go!)
@CATMAN62 Great to hear someone can feel same things like me while playing guitar. Its has been 7 months since last message and lot changed in my fingerstyle journeyā¦
You are great you are telling people to start playing guitar. I borrowed to my brother my first old guitar and now he plays about one year.
Cant wait for having time only for this when retireā¦ but I got some time in front of me tooā¦ I am 27.
Wow!
27!
Itās not too smart to wish for what could have beenā¦ if I had Justin to learn from & a decent guitar at 27ā¦ oh man! I envy you the years you have to learn & get betterā¦ the fun youāll have, the music youāre going to makeā¦
Enjoy & explore your imagination, Michal!
@CATMAN62 Thank you very much.
Now I will tell you something that seems like problem in this timeā¦ globaly. You struggled with low materials and informations. This time is full of materials and informations and it can be really overwhelmingā¦ maybe it will sound funny to you.
For these reasons I am avoiding informative media because most they do is they spoil our minds with negative things that happen in the worldā¦
But let me get back to that āmany informationsā. I started guitar with Justin. Reached to stage where I wanted more fingerstyle, so I decided for Paul Davids. Learn a little and tried to move to Marco Cirillo. Did a really little from himā¦ but I did not match. So I checked Justin Johnson, but he is too PRO. So I checked one Justins older club meeting where was Joe Robinson who fascinated me with thumb pick and freight train song.
Well he also talked about some guy Tommy Emmanuel. I could not remember his name. Did not know him.
Now I really know him. Watched many interviews and decided to follow his fingerstyle route. On other hand watching guys like Mike Dawes playing so I can so how it can be done.
Tommy Emmanuel talks lot of time about Mr. Atkins and I would like to be guided be these legendary names.
I hope and I will do everything to stick to this. Now I am waiting for my thumb pick to be delivered in beginning of next weekā¦ right now developing my independent thumb. I got something from Paul, so it does not feel that hard, but like some process where I can see progressā¦
Manā¦ I am oversharing again.
I also wanted to tell you that age is just number. I saw video of Elizabeth Cotton playing freight train really old and she could!
On the other side I know few guys who died in their 40 and now they are just waiting to be burried. Sad people. No taste for living anymore. I tried to speak to themā¦ they just gave up in life.
So no matter how old are youā¦ you are learning guitar and that counts!
