Whether you dream of becoming the next Hendrix or want to lead a bonfire sing-along, know what to look for when selecting a guitar.
| How to Choose a Guitar |
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Five factors will help you decide what type of guitar to buy: Musical preference, performance location, size, price, and branding.
- Musical Preference: Different guitars produce different sounds. Before you start shopping for a guitar, decide what type of music you want to play.
- Performance Location: Where you plan to play can have an enormous impact on the type of guitar you buy.
- At Home: Beginners just learning to play at home usually choose a steel-string acoustic guitar or an electric guitar. Electric guitars have lighter-gauge steel strings that are easier on a player's fingers. However, they also require amplification to create sounds that can be heard by people other than the guitarist.
- Live Venues: Budding guitarists who plan to join a band will likely want an electric guitar that allows a musician to amplify sound to fill a large room and use a wide variety of effects pedals.
- Live Acoustics: Guitarists who prefer the sound of an acoustic guitar and plan to perform in front of an audience should consider an acoustic-electric hybrid. These guitars provide the sound of an acoustic but include a built-in sound pickup for amplification during live performances. Some performers also choose to mike their acoustic guitars.
- Outdoors: Salt and sand can quickly degrade a guitar's finish and metal components. If you want a knock-around guitar to take camping or to the beach, look for an inexpensive acoustic guitar made of hardwood or plywood. Electric guitars contain a lot of metal and make a poor choice for bonfires and cookouts. They are hard to hear unplugged and you probably won't be able to power an amp in the great outdoors.
- Size: Guitars come in different shapes and sizes. For example, children will find 1/2 size and 3/4-size guitars more comfortable to play than full-size guitars. A guitarist who travels a lot may prefer a ligher-weight guitar. Compare weight and overall dimensions while you shop.
- Price: Most guitarists, from beginners to live performers, should invest in a quality guitar. Well-constructed guitars made of good tonewoods retain their resale value and many even appreciate over time. They also produce rich sounds that improve with age and use. Low-quality woods don't have the same tonal qualities and a guitar with inexpensive construction may not last as long.
- Branding: You'll find a lot of popular brands on eBay, including Fender, Gibson, Paul Reed Smith, Rickenbacker, Martin, and Taylor as well as private label guitars. When you buy a name brand guitar you buy peace of mind. You'll easily find replacement parts and advice if you need them. If you choose to buy a private label guitar, ask the seller specific questions about its construction. Some are carefully built by professional luthiers while others are mass-produced in factories. Ask questions about a guitar's construction, especially its bracing and neck assembly, and the types of woods used for its body, neck, and fretboard, before you buy.
| Electric Guitars |
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 Companies such as Dean, Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, Paul Reed Smith, and Jay Turser make excellent electric guitars. When you shop, keep your budget in mind. Most inexpensive models have decent play and features.
Body Types
Hardwoods such as maple, alder, ash, and mahogany typically make up an electric guitar's body.
- Solid Body: Solid-body guitars can be made of a solid piece of wood or several pieces of wood glued together and topped with a veneer. These widely-played and popular guitars sound good with loud amplification and effects pedals. The three most popular types of solid body electric guitars are the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster, and Gibson's Les Paul.
- Hollow Body: Hollow-body guitars, also called jazz guitars, are a couple inches thick and hollow. They almost sound acoustic, but are prone to feedback at high amplification.
- Semi-Hollow Body: Semi-hollow guitars have a design similar to hollow-bodies, but a slab of wood runs through it. These versatile guitars, often with two humbucker pickups, have a more acoustic sound than a solid-body and still sound good with high amplification.
Although most guitars have a stoptail bridge for stable tuning, some have a tremolo bridge perfect for metal. Scale length can also vary from 24 1/2" to 25 1/2". Gibson uses 24 5/8", Fender uses 25 1/2", and many others, including Paul Reed Smith, use a 25" scale length.
Neck
Most manufacturers use maple, mahogany, rosewood, basswood, or pau ferro for necks. Most have 22 frets, but if you want to play the higher register you'll need to buy a guitar with a 24-fret neck. The neck and body can connect in several ways:
- Set-In: Neck glued to the body. It almost always uses dovetail joints and some believe it offers better sustain. Gibson Les Paul guitars have set-in necks.
- Bolt-On: Neck connected to the body with bolts or wood screws. The Fender Stratocaster and many other solid-body guitars have bolt-on necks.
- Neck-Through-Body: Neck runs the length of the body. A lot of solid-body guitars have neck-through-body style necks.
Sellers may also describe a neck's profile in terms of width (regular, narrow, wide), depth (regular, thin, fat), or by its shape.
- C: Rounded C shape
- Oval: Rounder than a C, but with a less pronounced curve
- U: Almost rectangular and good for players with long fingers
- V: Has a groove down the middle
Pickups
Pickups sense different tones produced along different lengths of a string. Most guitars will have two pickups but some have three or more. In a two-pickup setup, one pickup sits close to the neck and the other sits close to the bridge.
- Single-Coil Pickup: Produces a bright sound, but may experience some interference in concert venues.
- Humbucker: Produces a darker sound than a single-coil pickup, cuts down on hum, and works well in concert venues.
Make sure the guitars you look at include a switch as well as a volume and tone control for each pickup. The switch allows you to choose between pickups or blend them.
| Acoustic Guitars |
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 Acoustic guitars from companies such as Fender, Gibson, Martin, Taylor, Ovation, Takamine, Alvarez, Washburn, and Ibanez project a rich, organic sound from their body without the assistance of electronics. Although an audience will hear your music in a small room, you'll need to mike your guitar if you decide to play a concert-size venue. When shopping, look at the materials that make up a guitar.
Nylon & Steel Strings
Acoustic guitars can either use nylon strings or steel strings. Nylon strings, used on classical guitars, produce a mellow tone perfect for classical, flamenco, and some folk music. Rock, country, blues, and jazz musicians prefer the loud, clear sound of steel-string guitars. Don't try to throw a set of steel strings on a guitar made for nylon strings. The bridge and neck won't be able to withstand the additional tension.
Body Types
Several pieces of wood make up the back, sides, and top of an acoustic guitar's body. Luthiers use hard tonewoods such as mahogany, rosewood, or maple for backs and sides and a soft tonewood such as Sitka spruce for tops. Laminate tops composed of several layers of wood can also be used for tops. Although laminates offer durability, many believe solid-tops produce a better tone. Finishes also play a part in the overall price and appearance of a guitar. Lightweight satin finishes cost less than heavier urethane gloss finishes, but dent more easily.
Sellers sometime describe body shapes and sizes in item listings.
- Archtop: Archtop guitars have a curved top and hollow body that creates a sound perfect for country music and jazz.
- Flat-top: Flat-top guitars have a similar shape to a classical guitar. If you play rock, folk, or blues, buy a flat-top.
A standard-size guitar with a 24 1/2 to 25 1/2 scale length will work best for most adult players. You'll also find small parlor and beginner guitars, large-bodied Dreadnoughts, and larger Jumbo guitars on the market.
Necks & Fingerboards
A guitar's neck, usually made of a hard wood such as rosewood or mahogany, has to handle a lot of string pressure and some use a truss rod for additional support. The fingerboard, a piece of wood (usually ebony or rosewood) mounted to the neck, holds frets and inlays. Standard-size or dreadnought acoustic guitars have between 18 and 21 frets overall, with 12 to 14 sitting clear of the body. An item listing can describe these guitars as 12-fret or 14-fret models.
12-String Guitars
The rich sound produced by a 12-string guitar almost sounds like two guitars playing at once. But until you master the 6-string, don't move on to the 12-string. It requires more skill to play, a more expensive set of strings, and takes more time to tune.
| Acoustic-Electric Guitars |
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Audiences have a hard time hearing an acoustic guitar over the din of a crowd. Performers can opt to mike their acoustic guitar or buy an acoustic-electric hybrid guitar from a company such as Fender, Epiphone,Takamine, Washburn, Ovation, Taylor, Yamaha, or Jay Turser. Acoustic-electrics look and sound like an acoustic and include a built-in pickup. Typical models use:
- Active Electronics: Guitars equipped with active electronics usually have a piezo transducer under the saddle and a battery-powered preamp with three bands of EQ. The additional components add to the overall weight of the guitar and cost more than other options.
- A Piezo Saddle Transducer: These lightweight pickups, often used with a preamp built into the endpin jack, allow you to connect to an amp. You will need to adjust tone and volume with your amplifier or preamp.
- Dual Source Systems: Dual source systems have a piezo transducer and mike inside the body. They provide a lot of amplification, perfect for people who pluck strings rather than strum, but can be prone to feedback.
| Bass Guitars |
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 Bass guitars from companies such as Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, and Peavey produce low tones used in rock, R&B, jazz, country, and funk. You'll have tons of shopping options, but beginners should stick with the basics: a 4-string solid-body with a bolt-on neck and fretted fingerboard. When you shop, ask a seller if:
- Tuning pegs, volume control, and tone controls turn smoothly.
- The neck has any pits or bowing (you want a straight neck).
- Strings produce any buzz when they're played unplugged or at low amplification.
Strings
Bass guitars typically have four strings tuned to G, D, A, and E. Five-string, six-string, eight-string, and 12-string versions are also available. Look for a bass with a bridge that allows you to adjust the length and height of each string individually. This type of bridge gives you more control over string buzz, tone, and adjustments you may want to make for comfort.
Body Types
The guitar industry hasn't set a standard for bass guitar construction yet and options abound. Like any guitar, you want quality materials, construction, and sound as well as comfort. Bodies can be made of woods such as maple, ash, alder, mahogany, and walnut or a hard synthetic material. Exotic wood veneers are also available as laminate tops, but these specialty woods add to the cost of a bass.
For comfort, you'll want a bass with a 34-inch scale.
Neck & Fingerboard
Basses usually have a bolt-on neck and a maple, rosewood, or ebony fingerboard. The fingerboard can be fretted or fretless. On a fretted board, metal frets mark each half step on the fingerboard, which make the instrument easier to play and tune. Fretless boards create a tone closer to an acoustic bass (often used in bluegrass music), but are harder to tune and play with accurate tone.
Pickups
Depending on your shopping priorities, you may have the opportunity to choose between bass guitars that use single-coil pickups and humbuckers.
- Single-Coil Pickup: Produces a bright sound, but may experience some interference in concert venues.
- Humbucker: Does not produce as bright a sound as a single-coil pickup, but does not often experience interference.
If the bass you want has more than one pickup, make sure you'll have the ability to switch between them. The bass should also have tone controls and a volume knob.
Some bass guitars use active electronics to help you amplify sound and shape tone. Active electronics add to the cost and weight of a bass.
| Amplifiers |
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Amplify your guitar and play loud and proud. Beginners only need a small 15 to 30-watt practice amp with 6" to 12" speakers. If you don't want your neighbors or roommates to hear you practice, make sure it has a headphone jack. When you join a band you can look into louder 25 to 50-watt models with speakers 12" to 15" in diameter.
Amplifiers can have one control or more than a dozen. In general you'll want:
- An on/off switch.
- A volume control (sometimes called post gain).
- Separate high and low tone controls for treble and bass. More expensive amps can also have a midrange control to adjust the tone between bass and treble.
- If your amp supports reverb, you'll want a reverb echo control as well.
- At least one 1/4" input jack. If your guitar has active electronics, make sure the amp has a low/-6db input jack that can handle its higher output signal.
Many guitarists also like amps with channel switching, a feature that cleans up audio at the press of a button. These amps include a pre-gain control to handle distortion.
Types of Amps
Companies such as Fender, Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Peavey, Vox, Ampeg, Crate, and Kustom make traditional amps for electric guitars, bass amps for bass guitars, and acoustic amps for acoustic-electric guitars and other pickup-equipped acoustic guitars. The different amps bring out the best tonal qualities of each type of instrument. Pricing and sound quality also depend on the type of technology an amp uses.
- Solid-State: Solid-state amplifiers use transistors to amplify. They don't weigh as much as tube amps, cost less, and offer more durability.
- Tube: Tube amps use vacuum tubes to amplify. They weigh more than solid-state amps and often cost more. Fragile tubes can also break or wear out. However, many guitarists prefer the sound they produce.
- Modeling: Modeling amps use digital processors to simulate the sound of a tube amp. You can usually preset tones and many include built-in digital effects.
They can also come in several configurations:
- Combo: A single cabinet houses amplifier circuitry and speakers.
- Piggyback: A separate amplifier head sits on top of a cabinet.
- Stack: Combines two cabinets and a head. Marshall and Mesa Boogie are best known for stacks.
- Rack: Cabinet that can securely mount multiple speakers and amplifiers.
Until you begin playing with others, stick with an amp in your price range that has basic features.
| Effects Pedals |
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Enhance your electric guitar's sound with effects pedals from Line 6, Boss, DigiTech, Marshall, MXR, Morley, Zoom, Danelectro, DOD, Dunlop, Electro-Harmonix, Johnson, Pro Co, Rocktron, and Tech 21. You can get a pedal that supports a single effect or a multi-effects processor that can handle two or more effects.
- Chorus: Split a signal into two or more parts and create the illusion of multiple guitars.
- Compressor: Don't allow signals to fluctuate beyond a set or adjustable level.
- Delay: Repeat a signal after a short lag.
- Distortion: Clip, boost, or compress a signal.
- EQ: Control the amplitude of an audio signal.
- Flanger: Split a signal in two and slowly move the pitch of the louder frequency slightly up and down.
- Fuzz: Further emphasize distortion, harmonics, and sustain.
- Modeling: Recreate vintage guitar sound.
- Octaver: Change a signal one or two octaves and mixes the new signal in with the old.
- Overdrive: Mimic the sound of an overdriven amp.
- Phaser: Time-based effect similar to a flanger that makes sound waves seem to swirl.
- Reverb: Echo effect that mimics the natural ambient sound of a room.
- Sampler: Play back or loop a short sound clip.
- Talk Box: Pedal that feeds a signal into a plastic tube held in a player's mouth.
- Tremolo: Rapid repetition of a single note or two alternating notes.
- Vibrato: Pulsating effect created by slight rapid variations in pitch.
- Volume: Allows adjustments to the loudness of a signal.
- Wah-Wah: Wavering sound effect made famous by artists such as Jimi Hendrix.
Many sellers also offer effects pedals designed for bass guitars.
| Must-Have Accessories |
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Pick up some add-ons that'll help you protect your new guitar and get the sound you want.
- Case: Properly store your guitar in a case. Lightweight softshell cases and gig bags work well for students and people who have to tote their guitar around town a lot. Buy a hardshell case if you plan to throw your guitar in the back of your buddy's van or perform live. Guitars can get kicked and beat up at clubs, bars, and even coffee shops if you're not careful. Beginners may want to simplify the buying process and get an acoustic beginner pack, electric beginner pack, or bass beginner pack that includes a guitar and a case.
You'll see a few common case abbreviations in item listings:
- HSC: Hardshell case.
- SSC: Softshell Case.
- OHSC: Original hardshell case.
- OSSC: Original softshell case.
- Strings: New strings sound best and last longer than used strings. Buy a couple extra sets. As you play and strings snap, you'll need them. Crank the tuning pegs and string your guitar even faster with a string winder.
- Picks: Guitarists lose picks all the time. Keep a lot of them handy.
- Tuner: Some sellers will tune a guitar for you, but you'll need to tune it for yourself eventually. An electronic tuner can help you achieve just the right notes, which really helps beginners who don't yet know how to tune by ear.
- Strap: Unless you plan to stay seated while playing, buy a strap so that you can support the weight of your guitar with your neck, shoulders, and back when you stand.
- Cables: Electric guitars and bass guitars require proper instrument cables to connect the guitar to an amplifier.
- Pickup: Amplify your acoustic with an add-on pickup.
- Stand: Don't throw your guitar in the corner at home or when you set it aside on stage. Buy a stand and display it in style.
- Slide: Use a slide to quickly change pitch by moving your finger up and down your fretboard.
- Capo: Clip a capo onto your fretboard to hold down all your strings and uniformly raise pitch.
- Instruction Manuals: Sure you could learn to play guitar by ear, but an instructional book, CD, or video can help you get up to speed a lot faster.
| How to Find Guitars on eBay |
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 Once you know what type of guitar you want, go to the Musical Instruments portal, click Guitar, and start searching for item listings on eBay.
- Categories: The Categories list on the left side of each page will help you narrow down your listings by item type. You'll find links for Acoustic, Acoustic Electric, Electric, Bass, Amplifiers, and more. As you dig deeper into the site you'll also be able to narrow down your choice by brand.
- Keyword Search: Search eBay title listings for specific words. For example, if you wanted to find an acoustic guitar with mahogany wood and a cutaway, you'd type "acoustic mahogany cutaway" into the search box. Click "Search title and description" to expand your results. Visit eBay's Search Tips page for more tips on searching with keywords.
- Want It Now: Looking for a hard-to-find item? Create a post on Want It Now and tell millions of sellers exactly what you want.
- Stores: Visit eBay Stores to find items available for immediate purchase from favorite eBay sellers—it’s like walking into a virtual music store.
- Saved Search: Still can’t find exactly what you want? Save your Search and eBay will email you when a match is available.
| Buy With Confidence |
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 Take a couple of seconds to research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.
Know Your Purchase
- Figure delivery costs into your final price. If you spend a lot of money, make sure the seller will insure the item when it ships.
- Is the item you want still under warranty? If so, what are the terms? If you want more warranty information from a seller, ask by clicking the seller's "Ask seller a question" link under a seller's profile.
Know Your Seller
- What is the seller's Feedback rating? How many transactions have they completed? What percentage of positive responses do they have?
- What do buyers say in their Feedback? Did the seller receive praise?
- Does the seller have a return policy? Most top eBay sellers operate like retail stores and have return policies. Do they offer a money back guarantee? What are the terms and conditions?
Buyer Protection
- PayPal Buyer Protection: In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, PayPal is there for you. Learn about PayPal Buyer Protection and how your purchases can be covered up to $1,000.
- eBay Security & Resolution Center: If a problem arises in your transaction, eBay can help you solve it quickly and efficiently. Visit the Security & Resolution Center to learn more about eBay's resolution tools.
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Must use Buy It Now and PayPal.
