Get a Good Guitar and It Will Play Itself

I’m a keen amateur guitarist having played for well over thirty years. In recent times I’ve gotten into electronic music production, but my first love is the guitar.

As a keen guitarist I have a growing collection of guitars both old and new. My favourite is a genuine 1931 National Triolian that has clearly been well played in its near eighty years of life. The guitar has all the signs of considerable use with deep grooves in the neck and all the paintwork chipped off the body. I just need to strum a chord and slide up the neck and the sound is straight from the Mississippi Delta.

But this fantastic vintage instrument would have been way out of my price range when I was first learning to play. Back then I could only dream of owning a real Stratocaster or Les Paul. The Tokai and Squier guitars started to appear in the music equipment stores. These guitars were affordably priced copies of popular Fenders and Gibsons. I bought myself a nice black Squier Telecaster that was just brilliant to play. A guitar playing friend once told me that a good guitar can nearly play itself and this is almost true.

My Squier Telecaster served me well for many years when I was playing in various blues bands. Then I managed to save enough to buy a genuine Fender Stratocaster. But, to be totally honest, I preferred my old Squier telecaster which I’d sold to a friend.

Not many young people who are starting to learn the guitar have the cash to spend on top of the range models. Luckily these days there are plenty of alternatives many of which are equally as good as the guitars they are copying. For example, Epiphone is one manufacturer who make outstanding instruments that play beautifully and sound exactly as they should.

For anyone looking for a first guitar I strongly recommend that you get the best that you can afford. There are some stores that offer some great deals so look out for these as they can save you a fortune. Its always worth looking around for a second hand guitar as these will often have been setup already and cost you a fraction of what it would cost for a new one. Always shop around and maybe take a guitar playing friend along when you go to check out a guitar. And its really worth remembering that a good guitar really can inspire you to play more and make playing much more enjoyable.