Guitars I Own
Before I knew I would really like playing a guitar, I thought I’d get something cheap. That was perhaps the greatest guitar decision I ever made. My first purchase was the $110 Oscar Schmidt by Washburn.
No, I didn’t own four of them. Mine looks like the one on the left. I’m not going to call this guitar a piece of crap, because it’s not, but it sure feels like it in comparison to other guitars. The action (space between the strings and the neck of the guitar) was significantly high, making it harder to hold the strings all the way down. For a greenhorn to play a guitar with high action is like being thrown into a war without basic training. Not only do you have to learn all the chords and finger positions, but you have to learn to hold them down reeaally hard.
My Oscar Schmidt gave me some calluses pretty quickly. It hurt like a bitch to play this guitar after about ten minutes when I was just getting started. I would try to come back to it after a thirty minute break, and still couldn’t play because of the pain. People kept telling me to keep at it and I’ll eventually get calluses to make it easier, but it took weeks for those damn calluses to come to the rescue. Perseverance definitely paid off, though, and learning to smoothly change chords while strumming felt pretty good. If you’re just getting started, remember to keep at it, no matter how badly your fingertips hurt. And hurt they will, especially if you get a guitar like this one.
After I got better playing the Oscar Schmidt (about three months later), I felt like I deserved an upgrade. I recently purchased a $800 Walden at half-price, so $400. I love it.
Here’s the product page for my Walden D710CE. It’s an acoustic-electric, meaning it’s an acoustic that you can plug in to an amp and play a lot louder. It has a unique sound that really attracts me; it even makes my mistakes sound okay. The action is way lower, so I don’t have to hold the strings as hard to play, for which my now-callused fingers are thankful. I’m also excited about that cutaway part near the base of the guitar’s neck; it allows for much easier access to the higher frets, which make certain songs easier to play.
I’m glad I got such a good deal on it, and I look forward to many years of service from it.
Edit: As of the end of February 2008, I sold my Oscar Schmidt to a budding guitarist.
Looks like a fine instrument. Action is very important to me too. I learned on a 71 Gibson SG given to me from my dad that has the lowest action and smallest neck of anything I’ve played. It has some small problems, so I rarely play it anymore, but I still haven’t found a guitar that matches it in playability.
I’m not really an acoustic guy, myself. I no longer need to serenade women by moonlight, and my interests favor electric guitar. Acoustics are good to learn on, though, and they’re good for playing around without an amp. As far as sound, I find that a clean electric signal with some chorus and reverb added can sound about as nice as an acoustic. Chorus is like cheese: it makes everything better.