Hi guys, I am wanting to start guitar for playing chords for Irish music, and to sing some great songs as well. Are there any recommended brands? Will any acoustic guitar work? What would I need to get started? I know a bunch of great songs, but I have nobody to play the guitar part, so I thought that I should learn the guitar part. Thanks a bunch. 
My husband says, and he has been playing for a long long time 
(not true if he is reading this now)
Any acoustic will do and a cheap one set up by a professional will play better than a good guitar set up by a shop.As long as it isnât too cheap. If you like the sound of it, it will be good enough.
Cool, thanks Pammy.
Yeah, thatâs important. Iâve heard that manufacturers
are doing a much better job than they used to setting
up new instruments before sending them to shops, but
with the cheap ones, expect to spend another $100 or
so getting it professionally setup.
Make sure you can play it before buying. Try to check
the tuning up the neck. At the very least, play each
string open and then at the 12th fret, and make sure
the 12th fret is in tune an octave above the open
string. If not, the bridge might be misplaced, and thatâs
an expensive fix.
Erm, not really. Certain ones do, and certain ones donât.
$100 is entirely too much to pay for a setup on a new acoustic guitar. I charge $45-55 for that job, and Iâm not particularly cheap. Cheers,
Rob
Are we supposed to guess? 
Yeah, I was just guessing. Who knows what Ashvillians are chargingâŚ
I will venture, though, that MOST cheap (generally Asian/Pacific Rim) acoustic guitars are better and cheaper than they used to be. The South Korean factories, in particular, are turning out some pretty good stuff in the $500-600 range. And the big-box music retailers will generally set them up fairly well. Top-end theyâre not, but at least thereâs a mid-tier available these days. I could say the same for some of the Canadian companies, too. Itâs a lot easier to get decent-playing acoustic guitar than when I was a starving student.
If you need me to tell you, then it doesnât really matter, does it?
If itâs $100, thatâd be more like the Ashvillains.
Rob
Iâd say itâs more like certain runs from certain manufacturers are okay; I still see a never-ending tide of sorry-looking string nuts and ill-fitting saddles. The nut is perhaps the single most important item in having a comfortable setup, especially for those who rarely venture out of open position, and even boutique guitar companies routinely send out their wares set up at the nut for slide. 'Sokay, keeps me in pizza.
rob
Wait, what?
EDIT: let me rephrase:
I already feel like a schmuck for being wrong twice,
it would help me feel better if I at least learn something.
If youâd be so kind as to share your knowledge, I would
be grateful. Hey, it might even help Whistle Collector,
who is buying a guitar for the first time, and actually
does need someone to tell him these things.
Clever.
Just funninâ, as me dear departed Grandma would have said. What I meant was that it should be pretty obvious which guitars have a good setup and which donât. Unless, of course, youâre trying to buy a guitar online that youâve never held in your hands, which I donât recommend under any circumstances despite how often it goes down like that in todayâs world.
As for a recommendation, itâs kind of difficult without a price range specified. Perhaps the OP would do us the favor of posting a ballpark estimate of how much heâd like to pay, after which Iâd be glad to make a suggestion or two. My main suggestion, though, is go out and play loads of different guitars before putting your hand in your pocket. Cheers,
Rob
Thanks guys. I will look around at some prices. Asheville is extremely overpriced though.
Come on over to Raleigh; weâll hit the guitar stores and try to find you something suitable.
Rob
Yep, yep.
When I sold acoustic guitars for a âlivingâ (note the scare quotes) ⌠Iâd have people come into the store and spend hours trying the instruments on display - some in various states of customer abuse, but we did our best. Finally, theyâd walk over to me with guitar in hand.
âAh, I see you found one you like.â
âYes, this guitar sounds great, just what I was looking for.â
âOK, great. Let me clean it up, throw on some new strings, and pack it up for you.â
âOh, no. Do you have one new in a box?â
âUh, yes, I think so.â
âI want one new in a box.â
âBut you said you like that guitar.â
âYes!â
âBut a new one in the box is not, yâknow ⌠THAT guitar.â
âRight. I want one new in the box.â
âOkey dokey.â
When I got my beloved Martin M-36, I went through 3 or 4 different ones before I found the instrument that made my hair stand on end and made me weep like a little girl when I hit the first chord.
Iâd take Rob up on his generous offer.
I really appreciate that offer Rob. Sadly, I just have to come up with some money though before I can take you up on that offer. Thank you very much though.
My husband says that the problem with buying guitars is that when they leave the factory they tend to have âhigh actionsâ(string height from the fret board-the higher the more difficult to play) to allow for all the different climate changes it will travel through before it reaches the shops. USA built guitars tend to be sold with higher actions as Americans prefer it while generally Europeans prefer a lower action. He said he has never met a shop owner that can set a guitar up properly unless they have a dedicated/trained guitar technician employed.A proper set up will include nut adjustment, truss rod adjustment and as well as bridge. Someone not knowing what they are doing can wreck a good instrument.
I hope this thread isnât dead. I have lots of questions about accompanying TIM and other whistle/wooden flute on guitar, and Iâm fairly new to the site so I wasnât sure guitar would be considered a traditional stringed instrument (duhâŚ). But, back to the question.
First, it is trueâyou really should play an acoustic before you buy it. There is such a range in individual guitarsâplayabiity, in tune, nice tone (that appeals to you). Have someone else play it and listen, too, because acoustics can sound different to the player from how they sound to an audience.
If you had the dough, a Martin or Taylor would be the cream of the crop (short of true boutique handmade guitars). Martin actually has an entry level type acoustic, but I havenât heard any. I think theyâre still a bit priceyâI believe in the $400 range.
I would suggest looking at an Epiphone. They make less expensive (partly because without the tradename) version of Gibsons (i.e. theyâre related companies and make their own versions of a particular model). I found one in London this summerâa âHummingbirdâ, which is a very nice Gibson model. It was new but had a small cosmetic blemish, but was otherwise beautiful and played very easily and in tune. I got it for around $225. Very good deal. You pay for the name in part, and Epiphone has always offered pretty nice axes without the premium price. Personally, in the U.S. I play a Guild and a Guild 12-string. I bought them both used at a store in LA with lots of used acoustics, so I could play/sample. It was some time ago (like 15 years), but got each of them (used) in the $600 range. They both sound and play greatâGuild makes nice acoustics.
Iâm sure you could find a decent Japanese (eg Yamaha) acoustic for a good price, but you should play itâthe range between each guitar could be enormous. Otherwise, used guitars not of the top labels, such as Martin, Taylor, Gibson, etc. (i.e. not âcollectorâ guitars, but rather player guitars) can be great. I donât know where you live, so you might need to travel to a city big enough to have a good used instrument selection so you can try them.
I hope thatâs useful.
Jaydoc