Itching to live out your rock star dreams?

Out of all the musical instruments you can play, the guitar is the best way to start rocking. It’s easy to learn, light enough to carry around, doesn’t take up a lot of space, and is available almost everywhere. 

Practically every major city in the country has a mall that contains a music store like JB Music and Perfect Pitch that carries a wide range of acoustic and electric guitars to choose from. And with a Metrobank credit card and its 0% Installment Plus Shop Now, Pay Later program, all you have to do is go to the store itself and pick the instrument that captures your heart.

But the question is, what kind of guitar should you get? Here are some tips to guide you into choosing the right one for you.

Acoustic vs. Electric

There are basically two kinds of guitars — acoustic and electric — and choosing between them is typically the first step in buying one. It all boils down to what kind of music you want to play. Do you want to be Jack Johnson or Jimi Hendrix? Do you like clean, natural tones or amplified and distorted sounds? If you’re more of the former, then an acoustic is the right guitar for you. If you belong to the latter, then by all means, get an electric.

Of course, getting an electric guitar means you’ll also need an amplifier and a cable, and this brings us to the next guideline.

Have a Set Budget

Electric guitars are typically more expensive than acoustic guitars, even if you don’t factor in the cost of the aforementioned amp and cable. Given this, how much can you set aside from your earnings for your instrument? A brand new electric guitar can go for as low as P20,000 or as high as over P100,000 depending on the model, while you can get a decent acoustic guitar for P7,000 and up. With a Metrobank credit card, you can pay at 0% installment ranging from 3 to 36 months. On top of that, Metrobank offers Shop Now, Pay Later where you can defer the first payment up to 90 days after. So, while you won’t need cash on hand when you finally visit the music store, you’ll need to know how much you can budget every month to pay for your guitar.

Do Your Research

To have a better idea of what specific guitar to get, it’s good to know more about the different models available out there. Go online to read or watch videos about the guitars your favorite players use. Listen to each one to hear if it’s close enough to the sound you want in your head. Both Perfect Pitch and JB Music carry Fender Guitars — one of the world’s leading guitar brands — and they offer a variety of iconic models like the Stratocaster, Telecaster, Jazzmaster, and more. Each one looks, feels, and sounds different, and you’ll have to consider all these when buying your first guitar. Perfect Pitch and JB Music also offer 0% installment up to 12 months across all their stores nationwide, allowing you to purchase your guitar with flexible payment terms.

Plug In and Play

Now you’ll go to the music store with a number of options in your head, but you’ll only make the final decision once you’ve actually played the guitar. Grab the guitar off the rack, plug it in, and play it. Take into account how it feels in your hands, how it sounds in a room, and what the colors look like in real life — you can even stand in front of a mirror to see how it looks on you. 

Test as many guitars as you can; there may be something in the store that catches your eye — a model that you didn’t know existed or wasn’t among your original options. For all you know, it could be “the one.” In the end, you’ll be bringing home an instrument that you’ll end up playing for a very long time.