Hi
Only signed up. 46 and total notice. What is the best guitar to start with?
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Hi Conor it would be helpful if you gave an idea of your budget and whether you were considering acoustic or electric guitar. It worth checking out the below
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Welcome here! Watching the video James posted is a good idea for sure.
To answer your question and to give any suggestions you need to provide more info. Firstly, what guitar do you have in mind, electric or acoustic? What music you wanna play, what are your goals if you have any already? That’s the main question to answer and with that settled you can get some suggestions.
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This all depends on your budget and location but you are better off buying a proper entry level instrument than a guitar shaped object as that will just end your enjoyment
For electric look at squire, yamaha, epiphone etc plus a Katana 50 amp or fender micro or audio interface
For acoustic there are plenty entry level guitars but I would spend a bit more than bare to get something nicer, size, material etc all matter here on personal preferences
You can play pretty much anything on any guitar so don’t stress that and your first is to get you started you’re not married to it for life
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Hi Conor!
It can be a bit nerve wracking choosing the gear to get started with any new hobby!
I agree with the responses above…
First things first - what style of music do you favor & do you want to be able to play a little way down the road? If you love Metal for instance, a nylon-stringed Classical guitar might not be the best choice for you!
Secondly, with guitar, size matters! If you’re a small to medium sized person, a Jumbo sized guitar probably isn’t the best option! Something that a lot of non guitarists don’t realize is that aside from the body of the guitar, the width and shape of the neck varies from instrument to instrument and style to style!
Third is your budget. Many people just starting out purchase the least expensive guitar they can find - this is not usually the best way to go. Although there are some well made guitars that don’t cost much, many entry level guitars are cheaply made & create obstacles that cause “newbies” to give up. Before you decide on anything, it’s a good idea to set yourself a ceiling that you will stick to, shop within the budget you’ve created.
Another important consideration is to buy something that you like… if your new guitar isn’t visually appealing & inspiring, you won’t be as likely to pick it up & practice… if (like me) you love the look of natural wood, find something with a grain that you think is lovely… not a painted guitar in a color that you don’t like!
Finally, if you know someone who plays, get them to go into a music store with you. Hold different guitars of various styles and sizes. See what feels like a good “fit”. If you’re alone, have an employee help you - tell them that this is going to be your first one & have them play so you can hear it. Ask them to explain what the “Action” is… if you decide that you’re ready to take one home, ask them to include a “Setup” - they’ll make sure that it’s ready to play without any issues.
Hope this helps & good luck!!!
Tod
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Hi Conor,
You have some good advice above. I’d treat that as you research but keep an open mind on the advice you’ve received. Then go to a guitar shop / music store as Catman says (hopefully there is one near you). The staff in the shops are almost always musicians (or at least they are in the UK). I’ve always found their advice helpful. They will want you to be happy with your purchase so that next time you want to buy something, you go back to them.
Good luck and enjoy your guitar journey,
Simon
That’s really important! On one hand - find a guitar that you don’t find uncomfortable, but can rather befriend,
and then: have someone set it up properly. I’d rather go for a lighter, easier, or “lower” setup when beginning.
Because many cheaper guitars (sometimes also uncheap instruments) are much more difficult to play than necessary because they are not setup properly.
I wish you lots of fun - and when you go through times where you’re out of motivation to practice or play - don’t stop - it’s 10x worth the hassle when you later have those great guitar moments! 
PS. Or maybe you can borrow a guitar from someone for a few months? and then a different one? I mean, at the start it’s hard to know what really suits you…
definitely start out with deciding what music you want to play. or at least, what you want to play first.
quite a lot of people end up with both an acoustic and an electric at some point.
I got an acoustic as my first one. I can also reiterate that size can be a pretty big deal. My first acoustic was a full-size dreadnought. I had no idea that there were other sizes, honestly. it was always a little uncomfortable to play. I learned only just this year about smaller bodied acoustic guitars and that’s where I am comfortable. I haven’t played that full size dreadnought in quite a long time. to the point where I’ve been thinking about donating it to a charity that’s focused on getting instruments to people who lost theirs in the flooding from Helene.
borrowing an instrument can be a great solution if it’s available to you. a coworker of mine was borrowing a guitar as she learned. I borrowed a baritone ukulele for a little while (it’s tuned the same as the top 4 strings on a guitar, it’s basically a nylon-stringed tenor guitar). I’ll probably get one eventually. actually pretty easy to go between that and a guitar.
Love my dred the sound range is amazing
But when you start learning holding any guitar feels awkward at best and yeah they are large
Definitely a lot of good advice above.
A well setup guitar makes an enormous difference and can massively increase the satisfaction of playing. As a beginner it has made a huge difference to me. I think that early on, easy playability is much more important than the tonal quality of the guitar. It was a revelation to me when i got my guitars set up nicely and massively increased the “grin factor” 
Also as mentioned above the comfort of the guitar is important. My electric guitar (a tele) sure felt awkward when i first got it. Then when i got a semi-hollow body guitar, that felt enormous and the tele now feels quite small and very comfortable. Definitely don’t go for something too large at first.