to want to give dd my dp's guitar.

[lemisscared]

So my dd1 (grown up) wants an accoustic electric guitar for xmas. They start at £150 and it is really pushing my budget and the quality will be not brilliant. I really could do with not spending that much money if i don't have to.

Thats the thing - i don't! !

Dp has a guitar that he has had for years and never really used. Bought back in the time when we could afford luxuries. It was over £300 and a lovely instrument. Sitting in the corner of my bedroom gathering dust.

I would like to give it to dd and whilst dp says i can i can tell he isnt overly happy. He says he will not be able to replace it but he never touches it.

Its such a waste. My dd has just taught herself to play and it seems she is pretty good. Has even got a gig booked sometime in the summer.

I am really torn. It seems a shame the thing is never used and having to fork out £££ i cant afford for something not so nice.yet i also share dps reticence about letting sonething go we bought in easier times.

I agree with mstwanky, an electronic tuner is a must!

If he has had it for yrs & hasn't played it, it might not play well.

My dh stored his for a few yrs & it didn't work as well as before.

Good grief! Adults in my family exchange little gifts at Xmas, regardless of who has most income, about £10 per head. You can't spend the rest of your life buying expensive presents because you feel guilty about something long ago. As said above, better to chip in money towards a new guitar anyway than buy one. Your daughter needs to feel the guitar she ends up with and choose.

DH is a guitar obsessive OP, there's an entire room of them in our house. He's not a musician, he doesn't even play that brilliantly, but he appreciates the living crap out of them. They don't always all get played, but that's not the point. I've just asked him if I could give away one of his guitars and the face he pulled was priceless...I think I've more chance of getting a kidney.

He has just said this (in scandalised tones) "les paul said:'a guitar is a man's best therapist' so it needs to be there for when he needs it, whether it gets played every day or not"

He is utterly horrified at your suggestion and would like me to beg you to reconsider.

He may not be the most rational person about guitars (all of his have names) but he is a guitar owning man, and I think he has a point.

The guitar is not yours to give, and whether or not you think your DP uses it enough or not the decision is not yours to make or influence.

(I cannot believe I have been indoctrinated to this degree by the way. Before I met DH I was in the 'it's just a guitar' camp.)

Ok decision has been made. Thank you ladies. I am going to buy dd a new guitar and go halves with my mum.

Mrs twanky so much for that rather exhaustive list. It made me decide we don't know enough to risk a second hand guitar so going for an entry level tanglewood on the recommendation of a guitarist friend of mine.

Honestly - going for a new guitar won't really reduce the list of things you need to look for that much, except that you would expect it to be in relatively good condition. The sound and feel will still vary from one instrument to the next, so if you have someone to take with you to choose one, then that is probably the safest option.

Yup, just returned to the thread to say exactly what DoJo has. It's possible to get a very good guitar for between £100 and £400, but: A) what's comfortable for one guitarist may be uncomfortable or even totally unusable for another, and B) the lower the selling price of a guitar, the more you have to rely on yourself/a trusted friend to take on the role of "quality control" to filter out the badly set up, poorly made, and ill-maintained instruments which cluster at the low end of the market.

If your DD, your DP or your guitarist friend can work through the list of checks I've outlined above, all your DD will have to do afterwards is find the most comfortable and nice-sounding guitar within her budget.

Your best bet is to take my list and somebody who is at least somewhat familiar with guitars to several shops, and look at everything they have that's within spitting distance of your budget (new and second-hand). Try Tanglewoods, Arias, Lunas, Ibanezes, and ideally also the Taylor GS Mini that I mentioned. Start with a few guitars at the absolute top end of your budget (i.e. Christmas + birthday present money from you and your mum), and work down from there so she starts of with a sense of how a good guitar should feel. If at the end of it your DD decides that the more expensive guitars are substantially more comfortable or rewarding for her to play, I'd encourage her to wait until enough birthday and Christmas money has accrued (topped up with any earnings she can make) so she can get the most appropriate guitar.

If you don't mind me asking, which part of the country are you based in? I might be able to recommend some shops - I've been to many over the years!

Just to clarify - there are other really good entry-level guitars, so don't take the brands I've suggested as an exhaustive list. They're just brands I've been impressed by, either as a result of owning or trying out their guitars over the years, and are therefore worth a look. The more options you know about, the more likely you are to find something appropriate within your budget.