It isn’t the brand, the wood, or the price. It’s one measurement — and you can check it with a ruler.
The short version
- Action is the whole game. Acoustic ~2.0–2.5mm high E, electric ~1.5–2.0mm, measured at the 12th fret.
- A $180 guitar with a $70 setup beats a $600 guitar that’s never been adjusted. And costs $350 less.
- You can measure it yourself with a millimetre ruler, in about thirty seconds, before you buy.
- Buy used. Guitars don’t wear out. Used plus a setup is usually cheaper and better than new without one.
- Ignore tonewoods and brand. That’s where beginners get upsold, and it’s where the money does least.
You’re about to buy a first guitar, you’ve been handed one and it feels hard to play, or you’re helping someone else choose.
You want model recommendations — this is about what to check, which works on any guitar and doesn’t go out of date.
On this page
The measurement that decides everything
Action is the distance from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string, measured at the 12th fret. It’s the single most important specification on a beginner instrument, and almost nobody checks it.
| Guitar type | High E string | Low E string | Typical target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric | 1.5–2.0mm | 2.0–2.5mm | ~1.8mm |
| Steel-string acoustic | 2.0–2.5mm | 2.5–3.0mm | ~2.6mm |
| Classical / nylon | Higher by design | Higher by design | ~3.0mm |
Acoustics sit higher than electrics deliberately — they need the extra string travel for volume and tone. That’s why an acoustic at 2.6mm is correct and an electric at 2.6mm is high.
The trade-off, honestly stated: lower action is easier to play but more prone to fret buzz; higher action gives cleaner tone and more sustain. A proper setup finds the balance for how you play — it doesn’t just drop the strings as low as they’ll go.
How to check it yourself, in thirty seconds
You don’t need to be able to play to do this, and any shop should let you.
- Get a ruler with millimetre markings — a small steel rule is ideal, and they’re a few dollars.
- Stand the ruler on the 12th fret, touching the top of the fret itself, not the wood between frets.
- Read the gap between the top of the fret and the underside of the string.
- Measure both the high E (thinnest) and low E (thickest).
- Compare against the table above.
Then do the press test: hold each string down at the first fret. It should take gentle, comfortable pressure. If you’re working at it, or the string feels far from the fretboard, the action is high — regardless of what the ruler says the shop thinks.
Why bad action makes people quit
This is the mechanism, and it’s worth understanding because it gets misdiagnosed as a personal failing.
Say an acoustic that should be at 2.6mm is sitting at 4.0mm — not unusual on an unadjusted budget instrument. That’s 54% further to press, on every single note.
A beginner practising twenty minutes a day performs roughly 8,400 string presses a week. Every one of them harder than it needs to be.
The guitar is set too high. Not broken — just never adjusted. Most instruments ship playable, not optimised.
Pressing notes hurts more than it should. Fingertips are tender anyway in the first fortnight; this compounds it.
Practice sessions get shorter. Not through lack of motivation — the hand simply gives out sooner.
Calluses take longer to form. They’re built by repetition over time, so less playing means the discomfort lasts longer.
Chords sound buzzy and dead. Because clean fretting requires force the player can’t yet apply at that height.
“I’m just not musical.” The conclusion has nothing to do with musicality. It’s a 1.4mm adjustment that nobody made.
A large share of people who “tried guitar and couldn’t do it” were fighting an instrument nobody had adjusted.
They didn’t lack aptitude. They lacked a $70 setup — and they blamed themselves for it, sometimes for decades.
$250 beats $600
Here’s the comparison that should change how you spend.
| Option A | Option B | |
|---|---|---|
| Guitar | $180 | $600 |
| Professional setup | $70 | $0 |
| Total spent | $250 | $600 |
| Action in spec? | Yes — adjusted for you | Unknown. Often not. |
| How it feels to play | Easy | Possibly hard, at 2.4× the price |
Option A costs $350 less and plays better. The setup is 28% of Option A’s total cost and the majority of its playability. That ratio is the single most counterintuitive thing about buying a first guitar, and it’s why “which brand should I buy?” is close to the wrong question.
What actually matters, ranked
Action, neck relief, intonation. Costs $50–120 and transforms any instrument. If you do nothing else on this page, do this.
How it feels when you press a string. Some budget instruments can’t be set up well because of construction issues — that’s the real reason to avoid the very cheapest end.
A dreadnought is a large instrument. If you’re smaller-framed, a concert or parlour body will be more comfortable — and comfort determines how long you play.
Whether it plays in tune up the neck, not just at the open strings. Adjustable in a setup, but worth checking — a guitar that sounds wrong higher up is quietly discouraging.
Do the controls work without crackling? Cheap to fix, annoying if ignored.
Signals build consistency, not playability. Any brand can produce an instrument that plays badly unadjusted.
Genuinely does matter a little — you’ll play it more if you like looking at it. But it’s seventh, not first.
What doesn’t matter (and gets sold hardest)
These are where beginners are most reliably upsold. Not because shops are dishonest, but because these are the things with margin and a good story attached.
| The pitch | The reality for a beginner |
|---|---|
| Solid top vs laminate | A real difference that grows over years of playing. Largely inaudible to someone still learning to fret cleanly. Not worth doubling your budget for at month one. |
| Tonewood species | Real, subtle, and utterly secondary to whether the thing is comfortable to press. Revisit in year three. |
| “Room to grow into” | An expensive guitar doesn’t make you improve faster. If you stick with it you’ll want a better instrument in a few years anyway — and you’ll know what you want by then. |
| Brand prestige | Buys consistency, not playability. A well-known logo on an unadjusted guitar still plays badly. |
| Starter bundles | Convenient, and the included accessories are usually the cheapest available. Often better to buy the guitar and choose a decent tuner and strap separately. |
New or used?
Used, in most cases — and this is the recommendation that costs the industry money, which is roughly why you don’t read it often.
Guitars don’t deteriorate with use the way cars or laptops do. A ten-year-old instrument that’s been looked after can play as well as it ever did, and sometimes better. Meanwhile depreciation is steep, which works entirely in a beginner’s favour.
| Used + setup | New, no setup | |
|---|---|---|
| Comparable instrument | $120 | $250 |
| Setup | $70 | $0 |
| Total | $190 | $250 |
| Plays well? | Yes | Maybe |
$60 cheaper and it plays better. The only real precaution is checking for structural problems — see below — and those are visible in two minutes once you know what you’re looking at.
The in-shop checklist
Ten minutes, no playing ability required.
What’s worth walking away from
Distinguish adjustment problems from structural ones. The first are routine; the second can cost more than the guitar.
| Fixable — don’t be put off | Walk away |
|---|---|
| High action | Twisted or badly warped neck |
| Poor intonation | Lifting or separating bridge (acoustic) |
| Old, dead strings | Cracks in the wood, not just the finish |
| Crackly electronics | Severe fret wear — grooves under the strings |
| Scratches and dings | Anything the seller won’t let you inspect |
On a budget instrument, the walk-away list can each cost more to remedy than the guitar is worth. That’s the only reason to be fussy — everything on the left is a routine setup away from fine.
Buy a modest used guitar, spend $70 having it set up, and ignore almost everything else.
You’ll have a better-playing instrument than most beginners who spent twice as much, and you’ll have removed the single most common reason people give up.
Common questions
What should I look for in a first guitar?
Playability above everything else, and playability is mostly determined by action height rather than by brand or price. Action is the distance from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string, measured at the twelfth fret. A steel-string acoustic should sit around 2.0 to 2.5mm on the high E and 2.5 to 3.0mm on the low E, while an electric should be roughly 1.5 to 2.0mm and 2.0 to 2.5mm. A guitar measuring well above those figures will be physically harder to play, and that’s the most common reason beginners stop.
What is guitar action and why does it matter?
Action is the height of the strings above the frets, conventionally measured at the twelfth fret. It matters because it determines how much force is required to press a note. A beginner practising twenty minutes a day performs several thousand string presses per week, so an instrument set 50% higher than specification makes every one of those presses meaningfully harder. Lower action is easier to play but more prone to buzzing, which is why a professional setup aims for a balance rather than the lowest possible height.
How much does a guitar setup cost and is it worth it?
A professional setup typically costs between $50 and $120 and adjusts action, neck relief and intonation. It’s generally the highest-value money spent on a beginner instrument. A guitar costing around $180 with a $70 setup will usually play better than a $600 guitar that’s never been adjusted, because most instruments leave the factory playable rather than optimised.
How much should I spend on my first guitar?
Around $150 to $300 for the instrument, plus a setup, is sufficient for most beginners. Spending more doesn’t reliably buy better playability, and spending very little often buys an instrument that can’t be set up well because of construction problems. Budget for the setup as part of the purchase rather than as an optional extra, since it affects playability more than the difference between a $200 and a $500 guitar.
Should I buy a new or used first guitar?
Used is usually better value. Guitars don’t deteriorate with use the way most consumer goods do, so a well-maintained used instrument can offer substantially more for the money. A used guitar plus a professional setup will frequently cost less than an equivalent new one and play better. The main precaution is checking for structural problems such as a warped neck or a lifting bridge, which are expensive to correct and are the one category of fault worth walking away from.
Do tonewoods and brand matter for a beginner guitar?
Very little at this stage. Tonewood differences are real but subtle, and largely inaudible to a player who’s still learning to fret cleanly. Brand primarily signals build consistency rather than playability, and any brand can produce an instrument that plays badly without adjustment. These are the areas where beginners are most commonly upsold, and money spent there produces far less benefit than the same money spent on setup.
How do I check the action on a guitar before buying it?
Use a ruler with millimetre markings, placed against the twelfth fret, and measure from the top of the fret to the underside of the string. Compare against the standard ranges for the instrument type. Also press each string at the first fret to check how much force is required, and play every note up the neck listening for buzzing or dead notes. A shop should allow this, and reluctance to let you check is itself informative.
What guitar problems are worth walking away from?
Structural faults rather than adjustment issues. A twisted or badly warped neck, a lifting or separating bridge on an acoustic, cracks in the body or neck, and severe fret wear are all expensive to remedy and can exceed the value of a budget instrument. High action, poor intonation and old strings are not reasons to walk away, because all three are corrected by a routine setup.
Not sure what you’re looking at?
Bring a guitar you own — or one you’re thinking of buying — to a first lesson. I’ll check the action, tell you honestly whether it needs a setup, and show you what to look for. That’s usually five minutes of the hour and it can change everything about how the instrument feels.
In person across [[YOUR AREAS]] · Online anywhere · [[YOUR EMAIL]]
And if you just want the short version: buy something used and modest, spend $70 on a setup, and start playing. That’s genuinely better advice than most of what you’ll be told in a shop.
Related
Sources
- MusicNomad — the complete guide to string action height
- Guitar action height: string height chart in mm (2026)
- Stringjoy — string height and action adjustments
- Guitar setup cost guide
Action specifications are typical targets and vary with playing style, string gauge and instrument. Setup and instrument prices reflect San Diego market rates as of July 2026. Last reviewed: July 25, 2026.