Advice to parents buying a guitar for their child

My tips for parents buying a first guitar for their child:

• If the kid wants an electric guitar, don't get him/her an acoustic guitar as a "starter" guitar -- with the notion that if she/he keeps going with the acoustic, you can "upgrade" to an electric later. The difference between electric and acoustic guitars is like the difference between a synthesizer and a piano: they're too different to be satisfactory. The electric guitar, plus amplifier, will be a bit more expensive -- but you're also more likely to get most of your money back if you sell it used, if the kid stops playing it.

• Getting an amplifier with a speaker that's too small (less than four inches in diameter?) will produce a tinny sound. Playing guitar with a crummy sound **really** poisons the experience -- which makes it less likely that your kid will actually play the guitar. And you'll get most of your money back if you end up selling a "decent" speaker. (Workaround: If you or the kid is at all handy -- use a garage-sale stereo speaker as "the speaker" -- wire it into the teeny guitar amp you bought, and disable the built-in speaker.)
  

• And, if your kid wants to play an acoustic guitar, please get the type of acoustic guitar -- nylon-string or steel-string -- that suits the type of music that your kid wants to play. Nylon-string is good for classical music and flaminco-style. All the other styles (folk, campfire songs, folk-rock, pop, rock) really do sound better with steel-string guitars. Yeah, the steel-strings cost a little more: but again, the guitar won't sound right.

--GG