Are you thinking of buying your first guitar? Whether it's for rock, pop, flamenco, gypsy jazz, blues, or metal, you'll have to pick out the appropriate guitar and then buy it.
However, there are plenty of different guitars out there and it's difficult to work out what you need and how much you should spend, especially if you're just starting your guitar lessons.
The main things that affect the price of the guitar are how they're made, who makes them, and what kinds of features they have. You'll be looking for a well-built musical instrument and the price tends to go up with build quality.
The shape of the guitar will also affect the price, especially with electric guitars, with the more unique shapes being costlier to produce and even more expensive by the time they reach the end consumer.
Guitarists can pay thousands of dollars (NZD) for a new guitar, but we wouldn't recommend doing that if it's your first guitar. After all, there's the expression "all the gear, no idea" that can follow people around who overinvest in their latest hobby. An amazing guitar will sound better, but it won't make you play better so look to guitars that are appropriate to your level.
If in doubt, you can always ask the experts: your music teacher, fellow guitarists, staff members in a music store, etc.
In this article, we'll look at what affects the prices of different kinds of guitars.
How Much Do Classical Guitars Cost?
While electric guitars tend to look more impressive than acoustic guitars, most music or guitar teachers may recommend learning on a classical acoustic guitar.
Even if you play a classical guitar, you can always play an electric guitar later or vice-versa. While certain techniques are specific to classical guitars or electric guitars, playing the guitar is universal across all guitars and if you can play one, you can play the other.
A classical guitar can be a little more welcoming to beginners as nylon strings feel softer than the steel strings of an electric guitar and until you've built up callouses on your hands, your fingers will get sore when you start playing an electric.
Generally speaking, those who start by playing a classical guitar tend to become technically better guitarists in the long run. This is likely due to the musical education that comes with the classical guitar rather than the guitar itself, though.
So how much should you expect to pay for a classical guitar?
Around $250 seems to be the average starting price for your average brand-new entry-level nylon string classical guitar. As for the most expensive classical guitar, the sky's the limit and you can easily spend thousands on the rarest and best classical guitars.
So how much should a beginner spend?
If you see a guitar priced around $100, don't risk it. These are often just guitar-shaped toys and while they may be somewhat playable, they're not worth the investment.
You can probably find a second-hand guitar for closer to half the price of a brand-new one and if it's to find out whether playing the guitar is for you or not, then you can buy one without breaking the bank.
Around $150 will get you the most basic classical guitar, but the more famous brands like Epiphone, Fender, Cordoba, etc. tend to start at double that price.
How Much Do Electric Guitars Cost?
After some time learning how to play on a classical guitar, you might want to move on to an electric guitar. Maybe you just want to play rock, metal, or punk music and will pick up an electric guitar as your first guitar.
Much like when buying classical guitars, there's a broad range of electric guitars to choose from for almost any budget you can think of. Much like with classical guitars, electric guitars also tend to start around the $250 mark, but there are rarely mega-cheap versions of electric guitars available brand-new for around $150.
Second-hand electric guitars are also an option, but you need to carefully check that they're in working condition and it's almost impossible for somebody who doesn't yet play the guitar to do this.
The real cost of electric guitars is different, though, because you need to buy an amplifier (guitar amp). You can technically play an electric guitar without an amp, but if you do this, you may as well invest in an acoustic or classical guitar. Amps start at around $100 for tiny amps that are about the size of your typical transportable speaker and rarely worth your time.
An electric guitar is only as good as the amp so if you invest in an electric guitar, you need an amp that's at least as good as the guitar or you'll be wasting your money.
There are several options for buying entry-level electric guitars and an amp together and several brands do "learn to play guitar" or "start playing" bundles that include everything you need: an electric guitar, an amp, cables, a guitar strap, a guitar stand, plectrums, etc.
These bundles can be found for somewhere between $400 and $600 depending on the brand you choose and how many accessories come with it.
When it comes to buying amps, you'll spend more the bigger the amp and if you're thinking of using your amp for performances, you'll be looking to invest a few hundred dollars.
Brands like Yamaha, Epiphone, ESP, etc. are often recommended as high-quality entry-level instruments for beginners.
How Much Do Electro-Acoustic Guitars Cost?
An electro-acoustic guitar is the halfway point between a classical guitar with nylon strings and an electric guitar with steel strings. Electro-acoustic guitars (also sometimes called electric acoustics) are essentially acoustic guitars with pickups so that they can be plugged in and amplified like an electric guitar.
With an electro-acoustic, you can play it unamplified and the sound will resonate from the body just like with an acoustic or classical guitar, but if you want to perform live, you can run it through an amp and a PA system.
An electro-acoustic guitar is suited for a broader range of musical styles than your typical classical guitar since you could also add effects to it with pedals, etc.
So how much will you pay for an electro-acoustic guitar?
Electro-acoustics are slightly more expensive than your typical acoustic guitar since they're essentially acoustics with some of the hardware of an electric one. Brand-new electro-acoustic guitars are available for around $300, but as always, the second-hand options are available for around half that price.
With an electro-acoustic, you'll also want to invest in an amp but since it works as an acoustic without an amp, you can always buy one and then pick up an amp later.
However, consider buying a guitar case, a tuning fork, a tuner, a metronome and a capo. The last one shortens the neck to change the tone. It’s a tool as useful as the pick to have fun playing guitar!
How to Find Cheap Guitars
While most of the prices we've mentioned so far were for brand-new guitars, there are ways to find cheaper options by buying second-hand. It also helps to know what you're looking for and what will drive up the price of a guitar.
Cheaper guitars aren't necessarily of a lower quality than the more expensive options. Guitarists can be quite vain, after all, and are quite happy to pay for the aesthetics as much as the sound.
Some guitars are more expensive simply because of the finish (essentially the paint or varnish). We're not saying that these aren't beautiful or worth it if that's what you want for your guitar, but you can save money by choosing a guitar without an expensive finish while still enjoying the sound quality of a model that would otherwise be more expensive.
Since every guitar is made of wood, you'll also pay much more for certain kinds of wood. The body, neck, fretboard, and head are all made from wood and different types of wood (spruce, oak, maple, rosewood, mahogany, ebony, etc.) all come at different costs. The wood isn't always an aesthetic choice, though, as the type of wood affects the sound, but some woods are used for their aesthetic qualities and you can always look for cheaper guitars without these.
It also pays to be a savvy shopper and look for sales and discounts or even keep an eye out for second-hand guitars, especially a few months after Christmas when a lot of budding guitarists (or their parents) have decided that their newest toy is just collecting dust.
How Much Do Guitar Strings Cost?
To get the most out of your guitar, you need to maintain it and the strings.
Don't wait until a guitar string snaps to replace it. It's recommended that you replace your guitar strings regularly, though the debate rages on as to how often you should do this. String manufacturers will naturally suggest that you do this very often and touring musicians replace their strings all the time.
Your typical amateur guitarist can replace their strings every few months, but we've also seen suggestions that you replace your strings after using them for 100 hours.
Unless a guitar string snaps during a performance you replace just that string, you'll usually fully restring a guitar and replace all six strings.
If you don't want to constantly be replacing strings for your guitar, it's recommended that you wash your hands before playing your guitar and wipe the strings down after each session.
You can get packs of six strings for between $10 and $20 depending on the brand or you can pick up an individual string for a few dollars.
As for changing your strings, we'd recommend asking your guitar teacher or a fellow guitarist how to do it. It's not incredibly difficult, but it's quite easy to get it wrong.
Buying Guitars Second Hand
You can buy guitars second-hand and it's an excellent way to find beautiful musical instruments at a much lower price. If you're buying your first guitar, you can usually find a much nicer instrument at a lower price than a brand-new entry-level guitar.
A flea market is a great way to see and try the instrument before you buy, which is incredibly important when buying a guitar. However, in our experience, guitarists are so particular about their instruments that they're brutally honest about most imperfections when selling them online.
That said, make sure that you're not getting ripped off. Look at the retail price of the guitar that you're buying, see if it's still available, and if you can, complete the sale in person so you can examine the instrument for signs of damage.
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