• Determine Your Acoustic Guitar Needs

• Choose the Right Accessories and Equipment

• Understand Acoustic Guitar Construction

• Find Acoustic Guitars on eBay

• Buy Acoustic Guitars With Confidence

Determine Your Acoustic Guitar Needs

Determine Your Acoustic Guitar Needs

Choose the kind of acoustic guitar you want based on these factors:

• Musical style: The kind of music you want to make can help determine what kind of guitar you should get. Classical guitar requires nylon strings. Blues, rock, and jazz mostly use steel strings. Buy a bass guitar if you want to play a supporting role in a band, or if you just like funky bass lines.

• Venue: Acoustic guitars are excellent for small intimate venues. That doesn’t mean you can’t play a big gig, you’ll just need some kind of amplification or a microphone. Or, purchase an electric-acoustic. Electric-acoustics have pickups built-in so you can just plug them into amplifiers.

• Size: Buy a 3/4-size acoustic guitar if you’re on the small side. Children’s guitars are available in half sizes. Travel guitars are smaller and lighter without sacrificing sound quality.

• Quality: Many first-time acoustic guitar buyers select less expensive, beginner models, reasoning that if they drop it, break it, or lose it, it won’t matter as much. As their skills develop, however, they inevitably outgrow it and need to purchase one of higher quality. The tone of a quality acoustic guitar will actually mature and mellow with age producing a richer, fuller tone. In addition, well-made guitars will retain their value—and may even appreciate over time.

• Brand: Many brands make quality acoustic guitars. Each brand has a unique sound, so try out some of the well known ones to see which one you like. Some popular brands include Fender, Gibson, Martin, and Taylor acoustic guitars.

If you buy an acoustic guitar from a private manufacturer, make sure that you ask a lot of questions about the construction. Some private manufacturers are true craftsmen who love the art of making acoustic guitars. Others are gigantic companies that mass-produce their guitars to maximize profits.

Choose the Right Accessories and Equipment

Choose the Right Accessories and Equipment

Regardless of the kind of acoustic guitar you get, these accessories will protect your investment. Many are essential items you can’t get along without.

• Guitar cases: A guitar case will protect your guitar and make it easy to carry. Many have compartments that are useful for holding picks or extra strings. There are hard-shell and soft-shell cases. Hard shells offer more protection, but are bulky and heavy. Soft-shell cases are light and highly mobile, but offer only modest protection.

• Acoustic guitar strings: Acoustic guitar strings break. It’s a fact. Buy them in bulk and save.

• Guitar picks: Guitar picks get lost easily. You’ll need to get extra and buying in bulk is best.

• Guitar tuners: Electric guitar tuners make it easy to keep your guitar sounding great.

• Guitar straps: Unless you’re planning on only playing while seated, you’ll need a guitar strap. Straps distribute the weight of the guitar to your shoulders, freeing your arms to play.

• Acoustic guitar pickups: A pickup allows you to plug your acoustic guitar into an amplifier.

• Cables: You’ll need cables if you’re planning on plugging your guitar into an amplifier.

• Guitar stands: A good guitar stand will help protect your instrument from unintentional damage and allow you to display your acoustic guitar in style.

• Slides: Slides are used to rapidly change the pitch of a note on your acoustic guitar. They’re famous in blues music, and have been used by guitar legends as diverse as Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt.

• Capos: A capo holds down all the strings on an acoustic guitar fret, so you can play open chords in a higher key.

• Instructional books for acoustic guitar: Using instructional books or videos are a good way to learn how to play. Even if you’re taking lessons, books and videos can be a great learning aid.

Understand Acoustic Guitar Construction

Understand Acoustic Guitar Construction

The construction of an acoustic guitar is crucial to the quality and type of sound produced. While some acoustic guitars vary in construction all of them have the same basic parts.

Acoustic guitar body

The hollow body of an acoustic guitar resonates when a string is plucked or strummed. The most important part of the body is the soundboard. The soundboard transfers the string’s vibrations to the body. The body amplifies the sound to make it loud enough for us to hear.

Accompanying the soundboard is the sound hole, which allows the vibrations to escape the hollow body of the acoustic guitar. The strings are connected to the soundboard at the bridge.

The bridge is a block of wood wedged between the soundboard and the strings; it is what actually transmits the vibrations from the strings to the soundboard.

The body of most acoustic guitars narrows toward the centre, which makes it easy to rest the guitar on your knee. The bulges on either side of the narrow are called bouts. The large bottom bout accentuates lower notes and the smaller upper bout accentuates higher notes. The size and shape of the bouts will change the tone of the acoustic guitar.

Acoustic guitar neck

The neck of the acoustic guitar houses the fingerboard. The fingerboard contains metal bars called frets. By fingering the strings on the frets you change the length and tone of the strings being played.

Acoustic guitar head

The acoustic guitar head is connected to the neck and houses the nut and the tuning heads. The nut, along with the bridge, keeps the strings suspended. Tuning acoustic guitar heads adjust the pitch of the strings by increasing or decreasing the tension they are under.

Acoustic guitar strings

Acoustic guitars use either steel strings or nylon strings. Nylon strings produce a warm, mellow tone appropriate for classical and folk guitar. Rock, blues, and jazz need the bold, strong sound of steel strings. Don’t use steel strings on a guitar made solely for nylon strings. They aren’t designed to handle the tension and could be damaged.

Find Acoustic Guitars on eBay

Find Acoustic Guitars on eBay

Once you know what type of acoustic guitar you want, go to the Musical Instruments portal, click the Acoustic link under Guitars, and start searching for items 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 Gibson, Martin, Taylor, and other brands.

• Keyword search: Search eBay title listings for specific words. For example, if you want to find hollow body guitars, type "hollow body guitars" (without quotation marks) 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.

If you can't find exactly what you want, try shopping eBay Stores, tell the eBay Community what you want by creating a post on Want It Now, or save a search on My eBay and eBay will email you when a match becomes available.

Buy Acoustic Guitars With Confidence

Buy Acoustic Guitars With Confidence

Before making your purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're buying, research your seller, and understand how eBay and PayPal protect you.

Know your purchase

Carefully read the details in item listings.

• 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.

• If you want more information, ask by clicking the "Ask seller a question" link under the seller's profile.

• Always make sure to complete your transaction on eBay (with a bid, Buy It Now, or Best Offer). Transactions conducted outside of eBay are not covered by eBay protection programs.

• Never pay for your eBay item using instant cash wire transfer services through Western Union or MoneyGram. These payment methods are unsafe when paying someone you do not know.

Know your seller

Research your seller so you feel positive and secure about every transaction.

• 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?

• 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

In the unlikely event that a problem arises during your transaction, eBay and PayPal are there for you.

• Pay safely with PayPal: PayPal enables you to pay without the seller ever seeing your bank account or credit card numbers. In fact, PayPal protects buyers 100% against unauthorized payments from their accounts. Plus, with PayPal Buyer Protection, your purchase can be covered up to C$1,250.

• eBay Security & Resolution Centre: Visit the Security & Resolution Centre to learn how to protect your account and use eBay's quick and efficient resolution tools.