Everything you needed to know before buying a Beginner (Acoustic) Guitar in Chennai

This article is a guide to buying a beginner guitar. It is a follow up on my most famous post "Beginner Guitar (Acoustic) Shops in Chennai". It deals with Everything you needed to know about guitars before buying. Consider this as a homework before you set out buying a guitar for yourself or your friends. When I wanted to buy a guitar at Chennai in February 2009, the first thing I naturally did was google it. However, I realized that there was no official help for buying a guitar in Chennai.

I did not know:

§ Who sold guitars?

§ What type of guitar to buy?

§ Which brand to buy?

§ What to look for in a guitar when buying one?

§ What the price range will be

§ Which shops are the best?

I went up and down every single major guitar dealer in Chennai. I’ve written a memoir of my experience here. In this post, I’ve written about EVERYTHING you need to know before you buy a guitar. Although the post is specific to Chennaites, I think it suits all Indians. I personally found out everything on this post and I want to share it with other people who are interested in buying a guitar but do not know how to.

1. Make up your mind:

If you are buying a guitar, make up your mind. Are you planning to buy an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar? If you’re a beginner, you should go for an acoustic guitar. You can upgrade to an electric guitar later. If you are buying an acoustic guitar, there are two options for you. Going for branded and going for custom made guitars. Two other options that branch out is buying a brand new guitar or buying it second hand. I personally feel if you’re a beginner, buying a brand new guitar motivates you to learn far more than anything. If you’re on a tight budget a second hand guitar is perfect. All you need is something to practice on but ultimately you’ll end up buying your own guitar. Why not get it now itself?

2. Brands of guitars

There are two major brands: “Pluto” and “Givson”. A Pluto is superb. A Givson is decent. I prefer Pluto over Givson. Beware of cheap duplicates that have a logo similar to “givson” only they read “grason” or “givsom”. They look exactly like givson, and most shopkeepers told me this:

“They are the same company, they change the names to avoid tax problem”

“Givson is the father, Grason and Grasom are his sons. They started their own guitar manufacturing companies”

I don’t know how far these stories are true, but I figured, if you’re spending the money, you might as well go for good stuff.

3. Price Range:

Givson guitars are cheaper than Pluto. They start at Rs. 2500. That is the actual rate. But no dealer will start with that price. He’ll start with Rs.2650 or some weird number like that. A little bargaining helps. A Pluto starts from Rs. 3000. Custom made guitars start from Rs. 1800. Second hand guitars from a shop will start at Rs. 1500. If you know some friend of yours who’s selling a Pluto or Givson, you can grab it for around Rs. 1500. The non branded ones start from Rs. 1800 to Rs. 2500. This includes those Grasom and other weird named brands.

4. Sizes:

Guitars come in three sizes.

§ Normal: The normal ones are what you’ll need to most probably buy.

§ Jumbo: If you’re a big guy, you might want to buy the “Jumbo” guitar. This is thicker at the base. Tall and hefty guys need to buy the jumbo guitars because the others look very kiddish in their hands.

§ Semi-Solid: If you’re a small guy, you need to buy a semi solid guitar. It is very thin version of the guitar. The base is very thin.

Baby Guitar:

The baby guitar is for kids under the age of thirteen, who are not big enough to hold the normal one. It looks very small. Avoid buying this because once the kid grows older he can’t use it. So make sure you don’t buy this for someone who might grow soon.

5. Shapes:

There are two shapes:

§ Symmetrical: Some guitars are symmetrical. They have the same shape on both the sides.

§ Cut- Guitars: There are some guitars that are not symmetrical. On one side they have this little cut. This little cut enables you to play the lower frets easily. It’s optional because it costs Rs. 200 extra. It doesn’t really matter if it isn’t there. If you are specific about getting the perfect guitar then look for the cut as well.

6. Vendors:

I’ve compiled a master list of Guitar shops in Chennai. Try Justdial.com. Or if you want to just look at the list online, read my “Beginner guitar (Acoustic) Shops in Chennai” post. This was the original post, I wrote it immediately after visiting all the vendors and how responsive they were. It might tell you where you want to head. I suggest you call up and enquire at these places before you buy. You will know if they have stock and what ranges they offer guitars at. Sometimes, you’ll know whether you want to make a deal with the guy on the phone or not.

7. Freebies:

When you buy a guitar, make sure you demand for the water-proof cover and some picks free. Most dealers are upfront with the picks because they cost around Rs. 2. The ones they give you are generally cheap ones. You can buy some decent picks from them. They start at Rs. 10 and go up to Rs. 35. What most dealers will do is tell you that they will sell the guitar for Rs. 3000 and the bag will cost you another Rs. 200. Don’t agree. Bargain, demand, request or do whatever it is to get your guitar and the bag for Rs. 3000. If they don’t give you a decent bargain, I suggest you walk out.

8. Tutors:

This is by far the most important part of the process. I actually started going for classes before I bought my own guitar. So make sure there are tutors nearby and that they are good tutors. Once you have bought a guitar, you will need an excellent tutor to start taking lessons. I personally know people who play guitar exceedingly well by just learning from the internet. That takes a lot of patience and time. But I really can’t stress enough the importance of learning proper western classical music from a trained professional. Look into the classifieds or look for banners or ads.

Generally, the guitar dealers have a good list of teachers in and around that area. You can ask them for contact details. They will be more than willing to help. I can’t stress the importance of a good tutor. One who is patient and knows stuff. Most guitar teachers are genuine guitar players. They charge around Rs. 500 per month. The best way to know about the tutor is to ask one of his students. Hang around the class for a while and ask the students. There was this tutor once, who refused to teach me because I was an engineering student. He said:

“Engineering students lack dedication. They will come till their exams and run away during semesters. My classes are by design, very tough and require a lot of practice. I generally don’t take college students at all. If you’re really dedicated enough to learn for a year, come and join.”

I was dedicated but I refused to join this fellow, because clearly he was impatient and I did not want to go into a military to learn the guitar. There are thousands of other great musicians who are patient and respect the students. I joined one such place. My tutor is excellent with kids. There are kindergarten children learning guitar from him and he is extremely patient. He’s a grade four guitar player and does recordings. So choose your tutor wisely. Make sure the place is close to your house or if you can afford it go for home tutors. Mind you they are expensive.

Another guy said: “If you’re learning guitar from me, I suggest you pay me the money, I will buy you a guitar. Only then I will teach you.”. It is obvious that I did not want to join this fellow.

You usually do not have to inspect what the tutor knows. Just make sure he’s an amicable person and someone you can sit with and learn. Not some rough and tough, impatient, money minded guy.

9. Warnings:

Most guitar dealers make their money by having tie ups with major music academies. They sell in hundreds. So you are not special because you buy a guitar. They generally don’t treat you like a king and you better not expect to be treated as one. I bought two guitars, one for myself and one for my friend. I thought buying two would fetch me a decent bargain but there was no concession at all. One particular dealer said:

“There is no big profit for me in this. Either you take it or leave it.”

But I managed to get a good deal elsewhere. So be ready to leave a dealer who is unwilling to sell you the piece. It’s a waste of your time and his. Usually a phone call before you go in helps learning about the dealer’s people skills.

Also most tutors suggest places to buy guitars. This is fine as long as its only suggestion. Don’t go to tutors who demand that you buy the guitar only from where they ask you to.

Make sure they tune the guitar once you have bought it. Ask the dealer to tune the guitar for you, even if you don’t know what that is. Generally they do this themselves, but just to be sure don’t feel shy to ask.

10. Practice:

It definitely takes a lot of practice to play the guitar. It’s not difficult. It simply won’t come unless you try and keep trying. That’s all. So make a schedule and stick to it. Start going for classes and attend them regularly.