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How to Choose a Guitar-

There are only two important things that a guitar must have.
1- It must be built so that it can be tuned correctly.
2- It must be at least fairly easy to play.

(if you're in a hurry, I'll tell you what brands that I would buy down below)

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 You don't HAVE to know these next two paragraphs.--

Some inexpensive guitars are built poorly and the necks are such that even if you can get the guitar strings in tune down lower on the neck, the strings won't be in tune when you go up and play higher on the neck. Conversely, when you can get the strings in tune so that you can play in tune while higher up on the neck, then the strings won't be in tune when you play lower on the neck. This is a function of an imperfectly built guitar. A guitar like this is basically unusable for a serious player. How can you tell if this is wrong with the guitar you're looking at? You'll have to ask someone who knows. The salesperson should know, but I'd have a trusted friend along with me who knows also.

As far as playing easily goes, perhaps you've noticed a guitar whose strings are very high off the neck. (that is to say, they're far away from the neck) This guitar will be hard to play since the strings have to be pushed down so far. This also may even cause the tuning problem mentioned before. You can find a guitar that's easy to play for any price. If one that you're interested in seems to play hard, ask someone like the salesperson, or your friend, to lower the strings (easily done in a minute or two on most guitars). Then the guitar should play easily, although some guitars are so poorly built that the strings can't be lowered very far.

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With all that in mind, don't worry, because most any guitar over $200 these days probably will not have either one of these problems to any really serious extent. And these days, even most guitars over $100 will probably be okay.

Do you want an electric or a non-electric (acoustic)? There are a few major differences:
1- the electric will probably play much easier.
2- the electric almost certainly will need a guitar amplifier. (the very cheapest ones are maybe $30-40).
3- the electric will sound thin and not very full compared to the acoustic.
4- if you plan to play music that has power and drive, like rock, you want an electric.

If you want an electric, do you want solid body or hollow body?
Hollow bodies sound fuller and mellower, solid bodies have a thinner sound but have better sustain and 'edge'. Most rock/metal players use solid bodies for that 'edge'.

To be safe, and if you are seriously trying to save money, you should plan on spending at least $99-150 for a guitar. Very little is available under that anyway.

What would be good guitars to buy?

Everyone has their own opinions of course, but I would depend on Gibson and Fender without any doubt. Fender (or its sub-brand called 'Squier') has guitars that are sometimes as low as $99 on sale, and frankly I would trust anything they make. Some Fenders are probably much nicer than others, but I would imagine that anything they make is good enough to buy.

Gibson has nothing under maybe $700 or so, but Gibson has a "sister" company called Epiphone, who I would also trust in every case, and they make basically the same guitars as Gibson but they are much cheaper. You can get a fabulous guitar from Epiphone for $300-$400 and even though some people might kick me for saying it, I'm not sure that any electric guitars anywhere are significantly better than these Epiphones.

Peavey, Yamaha, and Ibanez are dependable also (probably even in their cheapest guitars, which probably start around $200). And there are certainly other dependable guitars also.

Buying a guitar at a NON-music store (like a department store) or buying one from somewhere that isn't actually a store is where you can find some really crappy guitars. There is one exception I know however. There is a brand called First Act (one place to buy them is Walmart), and they are VERY inexpensive ($79 and up). I have played two or three of them extensively, and I have found them to be quite acceptable, especially for beginners.

For acoustic guitars, it's tough. I would call Martin the best I've ever played but they start at $700 or so. Acoustics come cheap, but the only thing worse than a lousy electric is a lousy acoustic. Be careful. You'll probably have to spend $150-$200 to get something decent. Have someone who plays guitar try it out for you. Yamaha, Alvarez, and Fender make good acoustic guitars.

I should mention now that there are two kinds of acoustic guitars. The ones you see most often by far, are the ones with steel strings. But there are acoustics that have nylon strings also, and they are usually called classical guitars because they are used mostly by guitarists who play classical guitar music.

These nylon string guitars play easier than steel string guitars. They have a mellow, subdued sound compared to the bright, alive sound of a steel string guitar. Unless you want to play classical, you probably don’t want one of these classical, nylon string guitars. But who knows? There are no rules about what you should buy, and whatever sound you like is most important.

I don’t know much about which ones to buy, but I’m confident that if you buy one among the brands I’ve mentioned, you’ll have a worthy nylon string guitar.

Here:
Overall, if I had $100 to spend on an electric, I'd buy a Fender Squier or Epiphone. Otherwise, I'd buy a First Act. If I had $300-$400, I'd buy a  higher cost Fender or Epiphone. If I had $700 or more, I'd buy Fender or Gibson. Many folks feel that some other brands are just as good as Fender or Gibson. They're very possibly right. If I had $100 or less to buy an acoustic, I'd ask a friend to help me find one because I don't know a brand that has a consistently good acoustic under $100. Although, I bought one from an internet shop for $70, brand name Johnson, and it was a very decent guitar. I'd own it anytime. If I had $200-$300 to spend, I'd look at Yamaha or Alvarez or Fender.

Keep in mind that there are dozens of other brands that I’m not familiar with that are good, some perhaps better than the ones I’ve mentioned. I’ve just tried to keep it simple for both of us.

How to choose a guitar amp

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