Let me ask, as I am also interested in learning how to play guitar, how much of a part does the quality of the guitar impact one's learning curve? I know that in some things, like shooting, a good quality firearm is important. Crap gun means unreliable function, poor accuracy, and a more difficult learning experience. Does that hold true for guitars as well?
IMO, a quality guitar will make you want to play more, and make you sound better.
Crap guitars go out of tune, don't sound as good, have questionable fretting qualities.
That said, I count Lower cost epiphones and much of the squire line as "quality".
A decent epiphone that costs a few hundred bucks new will be perfectly fine for learning.
However. Once one has some skill.... then it makes a greater difference. Kinda like if you hand a brand new shooter vs a competition shooter a race gun...
I spent almost 2 grand on my custom Carvin. It was literally built with every piece exactly the way I wanted it. That guitar is just flat out EASIER to play, EASIER to make sound good, etc. But I don't think I would have noticed the difference earlier.
Basically, a new guitarist's lack of skill will overcome any playability advantage a super nice instrument has.
There's also some real diamonds in the rough as well. Prestige guitars makes a VERY inexpensive (by comparison) les paul clone. And I beliee it to be a vastly superior guitar to Gibson's own standard les paul. And it's cheaper. Same with Carvin. Carvin CT6 is a BETTER PRS at a lower cost, again YMMV.
