Different guitars meet different needs. Do you want to be an all-around player or focus on one particular style? Are you big enough to play guitars with full-length necks? Are your arms too short to play a really big guitar comfortably?
After over 50 years of everybody having to own "dreadnought"-style guitars to be "cool," some of the other shapes and sizes are being "rediscovered." Though there may not be a wide a range of choices in each class, they may meet your specific needs better than the more popular shapes. And since more musicians are playing more different kinds of guitars, you're less likely to have people stare at you if you walk in with a parlor guitar or whatever than in times past.
If you're shopping for a student with really short arms or small fingers, a so-called half-sized or 3/4-sized guitar may still be the best starting point. They have shorter fingerboards than full-sized guitars so the little fingers don't have to stretch so far. More on that later. For most people over 12, there are "big people" guitars that will work just fine, even if the really big sizes are too big to hold or play comfortably.
Here's a link to our article on what kind of guitar to start on.
http://www.creekdontrise.com/acoustic/s ... guitar.htmPlease add your comments and questions to this thread. If you haven't signed up already, you may use the following link to do so.
http://www.creekdontrise.com/creek_forum_signup.htm