The guitar you have is the guitar you need.

Almost 10 years ago I was given this guitar. It’s a Washburn D100 acoustic guitar. This guitar has no onboard electronics and sold brand new for less than $200. When I was gifted this guitar I already owned my Taylor 814 and was pretty set on never touching another acoustic guitar ever again! So I grabbed a cheap stand I wasn’t using and put the Washburn on ‘display’ in the corner of our living room. I barely played the poor thing, it just sat there. I would pack up my Taylor and bring it to and from the office every day. That way, if inspiration would hit, I had my best guitar ready to play. After a while I got lazy. Dragging my Taylor back and forth proved fruitless since I barely got it out of the case at home. However, I would spend a few hours a day playing at the office prepping for mid-week and weekend services. So eventually it just stayed at the church most the time.

From time to time I would pick up the Washburn and play a bit. The strings were bad and the neck needed adjusting, but the guitar itself looked brand new. My friend who gave it to me barely played it. He had hopes of learning one day and that day never came so he wanted to give it to someone who would use it. So what do I do? I put it in a corner and never play it because it wasn’t my prized Taylor guitar. *Cringe* After a new set of strings and a quarter turn or two on the truss rod, this guitar played and sounded really nice! I started playing this guitar more and more. I even borrowed it out to someone to take to a wedding they were attending. The singer performing at the wedding had an issue with his guitar and he couldn’t play it. After he played the Washburn he asked if he could buy it from me. I declined. I was beginning to really like this guitar.

In my years of leading worship, I have recorded and produced two worship albums. This guitar was not only used on the records to add a second acoustic sound, but it was often used in the writing process of the songs. I’m so glad I was given this guitar and that it has become my go-to guitar to play at home. Even now, when my Taylor is home most days, this guitar still ends up in my lessons and living room jam sessions.

There could be a lot of points to this post. One point being I should have been more grateful for the guitar that was given to me instead of feeling like it didn’t have the right name on it or a big enough price tag. Yikes, that point could be a whole different blog post. What I’m trying to say is that you don’t have to spend a lot of money or in the case, any money, to get a quality guitar that will sound great and last a really long time. I personally didn’t learn how to play on this guitar but I could have! It’s not just a great guitar “for the price” or “for beginners”, it’s a great guitar! Unfortunately, this exact model is no longer available. However, I have a post that might help you if you’re looking to purchase a guitar with hopes of learning how to play.

Do you already have a guitar laying around somewhere? Did you buy it in college with hopes to play but never learned? Is it sitting in your basement, attic, or closet collecting dust? My challenge for you is to find your guitar, get it tuned up, maybe even have someone put strings on it and give a quick adjustment and start learning. You won’t regret it! As Benjamin Franklin put it, “Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”. Procrastination is not your friend. Think of where you and your dusty guitar would be if you would’ve started playing a month ago, a year ago, 3 years ago, etc. More on that in a future post.

Find your guitar, wipe the dust off, and start learning how to play. Future you will be happy you did! Remember you can try our first video lesson for free!