Before buying myself a steel strung acoustic guitar I did a little research into what makes a good guitar and how to spot one; now I have got my guitar I feel the need to share the knowledge I have gained during the experience.
The first thing you should always do when you pick up a guitar is play it, even if you’ve never touched a guitar before. The way it feels in your hand and sounds to your ears is very important. A quality guitar neck will fit nicely within your hand and feel comfortable; remember you will spend a lot of time holding this in the future.
So now you’ve found a guitar you like the look, feel and sound of, now its time to inspect the build quality. A high quality steel strung acoustic will have a small action, that is the strings will never be around half a centimetre above the fret board at the top fret(closest to body of the guitar). This can vary and some people may prefer a guitar with a higher action.
Next look at where the neck joins the body; and the join between fret board and the body of the guitar; Do these look well made? Is there little gaps with bits of glue visible, a surprisingly common problem, or do the joints look well defined and clean?
You should also check how straight the neck is, this shouldn’t really be a problem with a new guitar, but if you are looking at second hand model this becomes a lot more important. The neck should be perfectly straight and perpendicular to the body.
You should also check the tightness of the tuning pegs. They should not be so loose that it makes them easy to knock out of tune. If you plan to use high grade (thick) strings you should also check that the pegs aren’t too tight as they will be tighter with higher grade strings.
Most models of steel strung acoustic guitars come in two versions, Full size and Folk size. The difference between the two is the size of the body not the size of the neck. A full size guitar will have a fuller sound and play louder, but the folk sized guitars are often more comfortable.
I would advise looking at as many guitars as possible, some above your budget and some below. You can often pick up a much nicer guitar for a small amount more than you were planning, and conversely you can often find great deals for less than you expected. I would advise keeping away from the very cheapest ranges as this are often made to a very low quality as most people buying them either don’t know what a good guitar is or don’t care.