jhawkrktekt

went and did a little shopping today.  first place i went was a smaller local store.  In acoustics they carried mostly Taylors and had some Fenders and Ibanez.  I told the Salesman i was interested in the Seagull S6 and since they didn't carry those he pointed me to the Taylor Big Baby.  Sounded good and felt good, but for whatever reason I feel like I want a full size guitar and the Big Baby is a 3/4.  It's also nearly 500 bucks which is a bit more than i wanted to spend on my first guitar.

So next I went to Guitar Center and tried out the Seagull.  Really liked the sound of it, but I also like the sound out of a couple of others that were MUCH cheaper.  

Epiphone pr-150VS I thought sounded great, as did the MItchell md100s.  All three of these are dreadnoughts, and frankly, it seemed like all the guitars I saw at either store in my price range were dreads.  I guess these are slightly bigger?  Maybe for me since I"ve never owned a guitar it makes no difference?

Was really looking for the Epiphone EL-00 which i read some about online, but neither place had that one.

Any thoughts on the Epiphone or the MItchell I listed above?  They both seemed to sound a bit "brighter" to me than the Seagull, which sounded a bit deeper, albeit to my inexperienced ears....

Thanks for all the coments so far everyone.

I really am most interested in strumming acoustic based material at least to start out with, so I think I'm gonna go that route, especially since as some of you said (and as I've read elsewhere) its harder to start with becuse of the higher string action, but will make electrics easier down the road.

I read an article online on the top 10 beginner guitars and the Seagull S6 that some of you mention was at the top of the list.  I was hoping to only spend between $250 and $300 and the Seagull is about 100 bucks more than that.  Seems like there are some Epiphones and Fenders for my original price range though. 

I will  go and play with some of them in the stores like you all suggest and decide If i want to jump up to the Seagull.  I really don't think I want to spend much more than 400 bucks for my first time out, unless I just can't get something of quality otherwise. Sounds like that's not the case though.

I see the Seagull has a cedar top and cherry body while the Epiphone EL-00 which is in my original price range at 300 bucks has a solid spruce top and mahogany body.  Is this the main reason for the difference in price between these two?  What do these types of woods do to the sound of either instrument?

Greetings all

After many years of saying "i would really like to learn to play guitar" I am finally getting ready to take the plunge and by an instrument.  Outside of screwing around with my roommates guitar back in college, I have never played in my life.

I have to admit I'm a bit intimidated and lost about how to pick out an instrument and thought I might hit up some folks on this board who likely share my appreciation for Wilco and therefore must be at least semi-intelligent and thoughtful enough to provide me with some solid direction to get going. 

I have no designs about ever trying to play professionally or anything like that, but would hope to be able to pick up a life long hobby - I am serious about that.

I have a few questions right of the bat:

1. Should I learn on acoustic or electric (seems like I've always heard its best to start acoustic, and that's the way I'm leaning right now,but i'm interested in others' opinions)

2. What is are the most important things to look for when shopping for my first instrument?

3.  Any suggestions about specific brands and/or models to look at as a first guitar?

4.  What is a good price point to be considering in order to get a quality made instrument, for a beginner, that might allow me to grow into (that is not something that I would outgrow within a year or two)

Any suggestions on the above or any other pointers would be most appreciated

Cheers