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My 9 year old is taking music lessons and is interested in guitar so I found a Pyle electric guitar and old Crate G-10 amp for $60. Not the best but good enough for him to start with. That being said I’ve spent as much time messing around with it as he has so it’s peaked my interest in getting an acoustic or acoustic/electric to mess with and help him and I learn chords. I tried over 20 years ago but gave up. That being said, I know they can vary widely in price. I want to stay below $150 to begin with so I can recoup my money if I need to upgrade or decide it’s not for me.

Would I be better to get a package guitar online from Amazon, ebay, etc or find something used? Only issue with used is I don’t know enough about them to know what is a good deal and if there is any issues other than cosmetic. There is a guy locally that has a nice looking Epiphone PR 715 listed for $125 which seems like a good deal but I haven’t seen it yet. Any advice, other than up the budget and buy new from a music shop?

Cheap guitars can be pretty good or really bad.

Support your local Mom and Pop and ask them to pick out something and hook you up with a few lessons.

$150 isn't gonna get you much that will allow you to recoup by reselling.

I'd tell you to start in the $300 range

He said acoustic or acoustic electric.

Actually if that Epiphone PR 715 is in decent shape that might be a good starter. Looks like the going price on those used is in the $400-$500 range. Check it for cracks and look down the neck to see if it's bowed. Play some chords, see if you like the tone and the action.
I was at Guitar Center with my son when he bought his first acoustic guitar. The room probably had at least 150 different acoustic guitars of all price levels and while he was deciding what he liked I pulled a bunch of them down and played them. I have a Gibson Southern Jumbo (Hummingbird without the fancy pick guard) and my wife plays a Martin D28 so I know how a decent guitar plays. Well to my ear the one that sounded and played the best that day was a $400 plywood body Fender. I couldn't believe it, I should have bought it for a beater.

Budget up and buy new from a local music shop.

Friend, if I may make another suggestion, start with an electric.

Electric guitars, especially low-end beginner guitars, have lower actions and are easier to play then budget acoustic guitars. They have more comfortable body contours and thinner necks.

If you bump yourself up a little, say $250-300 bucks, you could get yourself into a Squire Affinity which has had positive reviews as a "budget beginner guitar."

Good luck, man. Oh, the #1 reason to buy local is to get it "set-up." Most all guitars, acoustic or electric, will need some type of tuning out of the box.

P.S., start the countdown, you're about 12 months away from dropping $5k on a Fender Custom Shop Strat.

Warmoth parts-caster if he's really loony.

Like skeen said, electrics are MUCH easier to learn on because of their lower action and smaller diameter strings. 1st string on an acoustic is often a 12 ga and 1st on most electrics is a 9. Much easier on the fingers.

I'd recommend the inexpensive Epiphone Les Paul version...sometimes found for $99 on sale. The important thing is to have the neck and intonation PROPERLY set up by someone who knows how. Kind of like sighting in.

3 or 4 chords and a couple of scales and you can play 90% of all tunes.

Big money is better spent on a Gibson than on a fender. Fenders were designed to be a cheap guitar originally, no matter how expensive they are today. They are amazing guitars, though...in the right hands.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0eACoei1eo&list=RDE0eACoei1eo&start_radio=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YSEP6lSupM

plus you can set the distortion so you can play mistakes

Whatever you buy have it setup by a professional luthier. All my favorite guitars have the frets’s dressed and leveled, the nut adjusted and the neck straightened. This will make even a cheap guitar play like a thousand dollar guitar. It will also be easier to play thus being easy on on the fingertips until you build up callouses on them.

Squier (Fender) makes a good beginner guitar. The “affinity” was specifically made for people with smaller hands so it would be a good choice for a beginner electric for your son. Don’t worry you will be able to play it too. I have a few and they play just fine and my hands are about medium in size.

Yamaha makes some outstanding acoustic guitars for the money with nice tone and they only get better with age.

Get a beginner guitar book and learn the basic cowboy cords G C D A F ect. Stay with it, you will hit a wall every now and then, but don’t quit keep practicing you will break through the wall and move on.

Youtube is your friend while learning to play.

Get someone who plays to hit the pawn shops with you.

New retail prices are way to high. If you have to buy on-line look at Guitar Centers used gear.

Sweetwater is a good place to window shop and read reviews. Also a great place to buy. They have a few guitars in your price range. Free shipping and a great reputation.

https://www.sweetwater.com/c600--6_string_Acoustic_Guitars?all&sb=low2high

I know its not under 150, but I'd figure out a way to get a bottom of the line Taylor GS mini or baby Taylor. I bought my 11yo one and I play it more than my full size. No setup needed, plays great and you will both enjoy it.

While there might be some diamonds in the rough in your price range....I just see you fighting with them, gonna have to get them professionally setup and still may not be what you are looking for. The more you enjoy the guitar, the more you are gonna want to play. Spend a little more, a nicer guitar will keep your interest going longer.

I like the pawn shop idea, I've ran across some decent stuff at good prices in them.

That's the guitar (Taylor GS Mini Mahogany) I bought. It has great sound and I like the 3/4 size. Makes it nice to have it beside my lazy boy and just pick it up and mess around with it. (My playing skills can only be called messing around).

I’ll agree with almost everything Sheriff Joe says except for his last point.
If I’m spending big money, it’s going to be on a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster. The body contour of both will fit most any person better than most all Gibson’s. And are much easier to hold and play while sitting or standing by a younger player. And much lighter too. And have a whole lot less problems than Gibson guitars. Not to mention cheaper in price in most every instance.
And all my Fender’s stay “in tune” better than any Gibson I own.

This is the koa top

Gawd...there is nothing that makes learning to play less enjoyable than learning on a piece of schit.

Yall need to stay on subject, he mentioned acoustic or acoustic/electric. There is just something about graduating from an acoustic starting out to an electric when its time. Learn the basics on the acoustic, build up that hand strength and calluses then move a decent electric and it will be like getting behind the wheel of a ferarri for the first time.