The following recommendations concern lower priced beginner guitars not guitars for advanced players. All prices are approximate in Canadian dollars. I am not affiliated in any way with any of the companies listed.

Children's Guitars

It is not necessary to spend a lot of money on a guitar that your child will outgrow. The most important thing is to buy a guitar that is the right size for them and easy to play. Montana makes a variety of small guitars which retail for about $100 including half size guitars which are ideal for very young children (5-9 years old). An instrument at this price is obviously not the highest quality instrument available but they are well constructed and play well. Some Montana guitars are made in Romania and some in China and the Romanian ones are a bit better quality.

For a guitar of a bit better quality, there are two options from Godin. The first is the Ami under the Art and Lutherie brand which has a smaller body and a 7/8 size neck. This comes in both a steel string and nylon string model and while both are good I would recommend the nylon string version. There is also the Motif in the LaPatrie classical line which has a regular sized neck but a smaller body, i.e. good for a child whose arms are long enough to play a regular sized neck but whose body is still too small to sit comfortably with an adult sized guitar.

Classical Guitar

LaPatrie line of guitars: Motif (children's size), Etude, Concert, Presentation and Collection in order of cost. The price range of these guitar is from $300 to $500 with the Motif being below $300. All of them have a solid wood top (very important) and the top of the line Collection is all solid wood. Options available on some of the models include a cutaway version and electronic system allowing amplification both of which add to the price. They are also available in left-handed models though this may require you to make a special order as not all stores will have them in stock. These guitars are easy to play and sound excellent for the price, far better than any other brand in this price range. The thin lacquer finish is good for the sound but does make them a bit more delicate. If you are going to take care of your guitar this is an excellent choice but if you are going to be leaving it around and bringing it to parties and campfires it may not be the best choice.

Yamaha guitars would be my second choice. They do not sound as good as the LaPatrie but are sturdy and well made. You have to buy a higher level of guitar to get a solid top from them but the market pressure from LaPatrie is starting to inspire them to offer somewhat better guitars at a lower level. Their guitars are made with a thicker finish which harms the sound potential of the guitar but does protect the instrument. Thus, this is a good guitar if you suspect it may receive some rough treatment.

Steel String Guitars

My first recommendation would be Norman guitars which are made by Godin, the same company that makes LaPatrie. The same company also makes the Seagull, Simon and Patrick and Art and Lutherie lines which are all fine guitars with minor differences in the design from the Norman brand.

The competition for godin is a bit stronger in the acoustic than classical guitar field. Good instruments are also available from Fender, Gibson and Hohner among others. If you are willing to spend a bit more money ($700 and up) Martin guitars are fine instruments. You do pay a bit for the name, i.e. if you are an experienced player you might be able to find a similar guitar a bit cheaper, but are guaranteed a level of quality.

Electric Guitars

The greatest amount of competition is in the electric market. The asian manufacturers seem a bit more competitive in this market probably due to the importance of the electronic component in the instruments sound. Godin guitars again rank among the top values but also have strong competition from Hohner and Ibanez.

A major problem with budget level electric guitars is tuning. While cheap classical and accoustic guitars do not usually go out of tune many cheap electric guitars constantly go out of tune. This is very frustrating and I recommend paying a bit more for a beginning electric guitar than for an acoustic for this reason. The cheapest electric guitar I have noticed that consistently does not have a tuning problem is the Godin Detour which retails for around $400. I also recommend staying away from guitars with a whammy bar at this price range. Whammy bars are notorious for putting guitars out of tune. There are good whammy bar/locking nut systems that can keep the guitar in tune but they are not found on budget guitars.

I do not recommend either Gibson's budget brand Epiphone or Fender's budget brand Squier because a large percentage of these guitars have tuning problems. These brands were both companies' response to Asian copies of their more expensive guitars and are also made in Asia. The no name Asian Gibson/Fender copies are of widely variable quality but sometimes are quite good and a great value for the money (However, because of the greatly varying level of quality I do not recommend buying such a guitar unless you are knowledgeable about guitars). Both Gibson and Fender's Asian versions of their guitars tend to be of poor quality and as stated earlier, often have major tuning problems. The real Gibson and Fenders are made in the US and are of very good quality although as with Martins they are expensive and you do pay a bit more because of the name. Thus, I am disappointed that these companies would put their name on a budget level product that is not worthy of their reputation (the acoustic maker Martin does not sell any poor quality entry level guitars which suggests a company with a bit more pride and integrity). Fender does produce a mid-price line of guitars in their Mexican factory which are of better quality than the cheaper Asian Fenders and do not have tuning problems. It is also interesting to note that Epiphone was a very old and well respected manufacturer of guitars that competed against Gibson for many years until Gibson bought it and turned it into their budget brand. The vintage Epiphone that you may see a blues great playing may be a very good guitar with little in common with the Epiphones of today.

Amplifiers

There are a number of good, small and cheap practice amps on the market today. My top recommendation would be the Roland Cube series of amplifiers. The Roland amps are modeling amps as well as featuring a number of other sound effects. Modeling amps are amps that use digital processing to imitate the amp sound of various other amps. When this is done well it means you can produce a great variety of sounds on one amp. The sound quality of the Roland amps is astounding at this price range, in fact I think the sound quality of my Roland practice amp is comparable to that of my much more expensive professional amp. The main difference in the two amps is that the professional one is much louder. Another amp I would recommend is the Peavey Rage 15 watt amp which has very good sound and volume for an amp at this price. Peavey also offers various other small amps in their Trans Tube series with more wattage and various features (optional reverb and digital effects) at slightly higher prices. Equally good are the amplifiers in the Marshall MG series which also come with various wattage and features.

If you want a small portable amp that can run on either batteries or regular outlet, the Roland Micro Cube is the best choice. It has the same quality of sound as the other Roland Cube series amps but sacrifices some volume for the ability to be run using batteries. It is still loud enough for the purposes of most people though may not be loud enough if you are playing in a noisy environment. In other words, it has plenty of volume for practicing at home but may not be loud enough for playing at a wedding reception or busking. Unfortunately, the other battery run amps I have tried that are louder than the Micro Cube such as the Fender Amp Can do not have a good quality of sound.