Christmas gift ?....

[kellyg403]

OK, my 12 year old daughter has wanted a guitar for two years. She actually plays the clarinet in school. I have been on the fence about the guitar thing since I am not sure that she is really all that intersted in musical things, but since she has been asking for two years I have been paying more attention. After some price shopping a friend at work said not to buy one she has one her son played for a year and never touched again she would give to me (I offered to pay several times) anyway, I thought well, I could get a new case, have it restrung and maybe cleaned up a bit. It is in great condition but obviously not "new" condition. Would you do this for your child for Christmas or would you just splurge for something new? A new one would run me around 120.00, This one around 58.00. Now that dd is entering her teens I am seeing her fliting and fluttering from one thing to another and I just hate the thought of spending so much money and then seeing it sit in the corner. What would you do????

TIA

Kelly

 

[Jsme]

OK, my 12 year old daughter has wanted a guitar for two years. She actually plays the clarinet in school. I have been on the fence about the guitar thing since I am not sure that she is really all that intersted in musical things, but since she has been asking for two years I have been paying more attention. After some price shopping a friend at work said not to buy one she has one her son played for a year and never touched again she would give to me (I offered to pay several times) anyway, I thought well, I could get a new case, have it restrung and maybe cleaned up a bit. It is in great condition but obviously not "new" condition. Would you do this for your child for Christmas or would you just splurge for something new? A new one would run me around 120.00, This one around 58.00. Now that dd is entering her teens I am seeing her fliting and fluttering from one thing to another and I just hate the thought of spending so much money and then seeing it sit in the corner. What would you do????

TIA

Kelly

I would do it. I would do what you suggested though. But I would compare the price to what I could get a new one for. It gets expensive buying a new case and having new strings put in for you.

ABC Distrubuting use to have one with a case fairly cheap. They have a website. You could go look.

Here is the site http://search.abcdistributing.com/exec/?q=guitar&&

 

[AngieWin]

I would give it to her also. Add some cool guitar picks, or a gift certificate to a music store for a strap.

 

[kellyg403]

I will look further into that one. I wonder how much s/h will be and if that would put me back closer to the 120.00 mark. Thanks for the quick reply!!

Kelly

 

[kellyg403]

That is a great idea! I know that when my older daughter was invited to a party a last year we went and got a few picks for the boy who turned 13. He was really into guitars! And they are relatively cheap!

Kelly

 

[spoon full of sugar]

Personally, I would give her the used one. If she really gets into it, she will want a much better (ie: expensive) guitar anyway. $120.00 is not going to get you a really good guitar, but both of them would be good enough for a beginner, so why pay the extra money? Unless you think it is tacky to give a used gift? My aunt got her son a weight set, I said why not look in the paper, people buy them all the time and never use them, you could get a set used for a fourth of the price. She thought that was just terrible! No way would she give a used gift! This is the same woman who buys her furniture from Sears and has plastic dollarstore picture frames in her family room. I guess she just doesn't like old things? I suppose she thinks all my antique furniture is tacky becuase other people have owned it in the hundred years or so it's been around. Different people have different priorities, I prefer quality over quantity and have taught my ds that principle. If he were given the choice of the two guitars, he would choose the used one, I know, we have been in similiar situations.(he would laugh his butt off at anyone who would pay more for the same product, only new) Maybe you could use this as a good life lesson for you dd?

 

[Shagley]

I would give her guitar lessons for Christmas, and the used guitar. Focus on the fact that the lessons are the gift. And maybe tell her that if she likes it and sticks with the lessons for a year, she can get a new guitar next year for Christmas. I wouldn't even spend the money for a new case, and to have the used guitar restrung unless it needs it - because the gift is the lessons, not really the guitar.

Just my thought

 

[swilshire]

Buying a $50 or $100 guitar for a child may be a mistake, though it's one I've made myself a couple of times. The problem is that a really cheap guitar is harder to play usually and also doesn't sound very good. It's easy for the student to get discouraged. My daughter never learned and my son never really did until I bought him a better instrument.

I would suggest buying a decent used one. If you can find one at a decent price, you can always sell it for approximately what you paid if it doesn't work out. Good, old instruments go up in value, not down.

I would find a teacher first, then ask him/her for guidance on the instrument. If you don't know stringed instruments, it's easy to make a mistake. The suggestion to make the lessons the gift is a good one.

JMHO.

Sheila

 

[aka-mad4themouse]

I think that it's an excellent idea to give her the pre-owned guitar and lessons. She can always move up to a better quality instrument if she becomes serious about studying it.