Maggie's Farm

Funny - I attended a guitarist clinic yesterday at Re-Tunes and the instructor played a instrumental version of that song.

That is a very good version - I like it a lot. The finger picking indicates classical training - usually self trained pickers work from the side across the strings and it sounds dull - she was working from the top and actually plucking the strings. That clarity in note generation just adds to her very pleasant singing voice.

Great stuff - love it.

13 huh? Well...let's put on the old thinking cap.

"Reasonably" priced is most likely in the $200/$400 dollar range? If you are looking for six string acoustics, then you cannot go wrong with Ibanez, Yamaha, Dean or Washburn. These guitars, generally in the $250 to $300 range, are made in Indonesia and are quality instruments. Fender also has a six string acoustic in that range that is made in Mexico and are hit and miss in terms of quality - when you get a good one, you just will not get rid of it. It just depends on which body style - full dreadnaught, cut away, sound hole or F hole. You can also find really good acoustic/electric guitars by Ibanez or Yamaha.

My personal choice is Ibanez - I have three of them, a German built AK95 acoustic/electric jazz box, Japanese built 12 string spruce topped dreadnaught and an Indonesian built six string quilted maple standard dreadnaught - they are all great guitars. My theory is if you give a child a quality instrument that plays easily and sounds good, that is only encouragement to continue.

If he wants to get into rocking and rolling, well a hard body electric is probably his first choice. There are a thousand choices in that price range, but the best (as far as I'm concerned) are the Fender Squire series electrics. Two choices here - the Standard Stratocaster or Standard Telecaster. These are inexpensive high quality instruments that over time will serve him well. There is an additional advantage as both of these guitars are highly customizable - there are a lot of different combinations of pickups, controls, tone adjusters, etc., which he will probably want to do as he gets better. If it were me, I'd opt for the Telecaster - it is a very popular guitar among the R&R set and as we all know it is important to look cool. The Strat is a close second - a lot of blues players and studio musicians use Strats. For all practical purposes, the Squire series and the regular Fender originals are so close in sound and handling that its hard to disguinish one from the other.

I bought my oldest Granddaughter a Squire Telecaster (she's about the same age) and she loved it - much better than her acoustic "student" guitar. She's doing great with it - six months in and she's asking me theory questions.

Anyway, training. In my opinion it is important to get the boy playing first so you need to find a teacher that will avoid over complicating things and just teach the basics at first, then songs and riffs - chords, chord forms, moveable chord forms and simple riffs and licks he can play with popular songs. Trust me on this - he will learn the theory as he gets better and better. Why? Because, despite its apparent complexity, guitar is a very simple instrument to learn and as he goes along gaining in confidence, the theory kind of falls into place - you almost have to learn it to get better.

Hope that helps. If you want any more, just let me know.

Yeah - I guess. I'm not a big Gibson fan to tell the truth. I had a ES-135 once that was without a doubt the worst guitar I ever owned. I sent it back to the factory for service under warranty and it came back the exact same way as I sent it. I've stayed away from Gibson ever since.

On the other hand, I guys that I play with occasionally have Epihones and Gibsons and haven't had a problem. Personal opinion I guess. :>)

Agree with the whole tabs thing. I've always sent folks learning off to find the Guitar Grimoire series - that is one fantastic group of books on guitar - once you read through them, you come out with a really good understanding of whatever subject you want. Amazing teaching tool.

To each their own I guess. The cheaper Martins and Taylors are made in Indonesia or Mexico - some in China depending on the model. Same plants probably. Only the name changes.

I was aware of Recording King as I have one of their resonators (nice guitar by the way), but I wasn't aware they had a less expensive model. Never played one, but by reputation they are very good.

With respect to Ibanez - well, let me put it this way. I['ve been offered $1K for my AK-95 from a New York studio musician - must be a really horrible guitar. :>)