My 14 year old, multi-talented son will not shut up about getting an acoustic guitar for his birthday this fall. I've been looking at some, but I see them labled as "full size" and "38 inches." Which should I get for him? Is the 38" one kind of "baby-ish"--you know, for little kids? He's not a big kid, so would the full size be hard for him to handle?

Also, any suggestions as to which brand to get would be appreciated. Mind you, he is really musically talented. He already plays electric guitar, bass and drums, but being 14, he does not take care of his stuff properly. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a guitar that he will leave laying around, but I also don't want it to fall apart within months.

Thanks!

I think you could do a lot worse than getting an Alvarez. They've got some pricey high end models but a lot of inexpensive entry-level stuff too, and I've heard good things about them all. I plan on getting one myself one sometime when I've got a little extra cash.

Otherwise an Epiphone is a fine cheap guitar.

Just be sure that the action is good, if you can. Nothing worse than a guitar with strings that are too high! The best guitar is the one that's fun to play.

dustysgirl said:

My 14 year old, multi-talented son will not shut up about getting an acoustic guitar for his birthday this fall. I've been looking at some, but I see them labled as "full size" and "38 inches." Which should I get for him? Is the 38" one kind of "baby-ish"--you know, for little kids? He's not a big kid, so would the full size be hard for him to handle?

Also, any suggestions as to which brand to get would be appreciated. Mind you, he is really musically talented. He already plays electric guitar, bass and drums, but being 14, he does not take care of his stuff properly. I don't want to spend a ton of money on a guitar that he will leave laying around, but I also don't want it to fall apart within months.

Thanks!

The best thing to do is take your son to a guitar store and let him play different size guitars and see what feels comfortable to him. Needless to say you don't have to buy what's there (they may have what he's looking for) but you can get an idea what he'd like. One thing to consider, nut width, scale length, the depth of the guitar body, and the size/width of the neck, this can also affect how comfortable a guitar feels and plays.

Here are the standard guitar shapes.

[img:$uid]http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j220/gowes/guitarbodyshapes.jpg[/img:$uid]

You should also consider string space and scale length of the guitar.

nut width: 1 11/16 & 1 3/4

scale length: 24.9", 25.4", 25.5" in rare cases you can find 25.6" (long scale)

This isn't gospel (what works for you or in the case for him is right) but the bigger guitars, jumbo's & dread's are used for flatpicking and strumming. Grand Auditorium's can be seen as a hybrids (a cross between a jumbo/ small jumbo) that can handle strumming, flackpicking, and fingerpicking respectively. Since GA's have a tendency to have a smaller tighter waste they may be comfortable to play. The smaller guitars OM, OOO, and O (palors) have a tendency to have a shorter scale 24.5 or 25.4 on average and a wider string spacing for fingerpicking 1 3/4, on average. Yeah, they can be flatpicked and strummed too but in some instances not as aggressively.

It all depends what your son does and wants out of the guitar, does he like to strum or flatpick? What type music does he play? A dread or an OM would work; if his a fingerstyle/fingerpicker player mostly, than a OM/OOO would do.

These are the ones I recommend you and your son checkout. What's your budget anyway?

Dreadnought Guitars

Yamaha FG700S Folk Acoustic Guitar (High gloss finish)

Yamaha FG720s Dread (High gloss finish)

http://guitars.musiciansf...amp;rpp=20

I can't praise Yamaha guitar enough from low to high they make good/superb guitars.

Martin DXM Acoustic Guitar (SatinFinish)

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Martin-DXM-Acoustic-Guitar-?sku=514745

Martin DCX1E Acoustic-Electric Guitar (Satin Finish)

http://guitars.musiciansf...sku=514816

Seagull The Original S6 Acoustic Guitar (Natural)

http://guitars.musiciansf...sku=512120

OM / OOO Guitars

The Epiphone Masterbilt EF-500R Acoustic Guitar (solid rosewood back and sides)

TheEpiphone Masterbilt EF-500M Masterbilt (solid mahogany back and sides)

http://guitars.musiciansf...sku=519061

http://guitars.musiciansf...19060#used

Martin Martin 000CX-1 Acoustic Electric Guitar

http://guitars.musiciansf...sku=513317

BLUERIDGE BR-43 "000"

http://elderly.com/new_in...--BR43.htm

BLUERIDGE BRISTOL BM-16 "000"

http://elderly.com/new_in...BRBM16.htm

Walden 0550 -OM

http://www.waldenguitars.com/O550.html

http://www.youtube.com/wa...WsZ7c8kYaY

With the exception of Blueridge BM -16 "000" all this guitars have a solid spruce tops except the Seagull cedar top, some have solid wood back and sides some have laminated back and side. All guitarist would recommend a solid top guitar, most of the sound comes from the top and they simply sound better, whether the back and sides are of solid wood is at this point of little consequence. There is some basic maintaince for keeping a solid top properly humidfied. If he's really "destructive" maybe a "selective spruce top"/laminated top would do, they pretty much can take a beating.

The guitars in this range with the exception of the Walden, you'll have to buy a case. The Walden are tuff to find in stores (I don't know why) but for the price, this is the only guitar I'd take a chance purchasings online. If you have to purchase online make sure you pick a seller that gives you time to return the guitar for whatever reason, Musicians Friends gives you 30 days, no questions asked. A local guitar shop should offer you a FREE setup if the don't . . . don't bother with them. I would strongly recommend, buy local ! Though I can vouch for Musician Friends and Elderly Brothers . . . I used them just as an reference.

I think I've covered the basics and if you have any more questions Org me or ask here, I'll check back.

[Edited 7/31/10 16:41pm]