Hi all, I think I've come across similar post in the past but cannot find back. Hope admin doesn't mind I post again.

I signed up for acoustic guitar lessons abt 2 years ago. After 6 mths, I started experiencing frozen shoulder pain and stopped playing guitar to heal my shoulder. It also caused me to stop any physical exercises involving arms. I think it's due to the guitar being too big for me as I'm quite small body size with short fingers. I was using beginner Yamaha F310 guitar. My shoulder isn't 100% healed but I don't experience pain like before. I tried practicing my guitar a couple of times last year but started experiencing shoulder fatigue barely 5-mins into practicing. As such, I stopped completely. Today I tried again and same happened.

I am still keen to learn to play and am thinking to get a 3/4 size guitar instead or maybe parlor guitar...not sure which is more recommended. I don't want to get one that is too expensive as I am not sure if I have the discipline to stick to learning but at the same time I want to get a decent one that can motivate me to learn.

Can you guys give me some suggestions on a few recommended brands? My budget is around RM500-800..is this reasonable? I googled a few but want to narrow down to at least 5 so that easier for me to decide. Need opinions from sifu based on your experience with guitar.

This post has been edited by honkkydorry: Jan 3 2021, 05:02 PM

Might wanna take up ukulele instead

Yamaha GL1 Guitalele

I thought about that before when I bought my Yamaha but I still prefer guitar over ukelele.

Being a beginner I did struggle with a F310 too, too big and hated the heavy gauge strings.

I think 3/4 guitars are a good idea. Check out the Fender MC-1 or MA-1, they are within your budget.

play in the classical position, ie. guitar resting on left leg etc.

I'm looking at between Cort Earth Mini and Yamaha JR2. Anyone has played these 2 before?

Haven't played these two but both these brands has good builds so both good choice.

For me I will pick one with longer scale length because the guitar is more in tune and also makes the jump into regular size guitars in the future easier.

i had the cort, and i tried the yamaha.
cort is way better any day...

i eventually sold the cort for a tanglewood tw2-te, cos i wanted a laminated top and its also mahogany...also it comes with a built-in pickup / tuner...
playability both quite similar...but the tanglewood i feel is more durable...something i can just leave out on the stand and dont care about it.

Thanks for the insight. I decided to not consider Yama JR2 after reading @quarantined's comment as it makes sense to not get one with scale length too short. I'm now considering between mini earth and Cort AD Mini

Oh, just got to know that Tanglewood indeed does have a 3/4 size guitar...another brand to consider. The price is similar to Cort AD Mini too.

Does anyone know which music store carries both Cort and Tanglewood guitars? I've looked at a few stores' website e.g. The Guitar Store, Guitar Collection, etc. but it seems they carry either one or the other brand only. I like to test out both at the same time rather than going from one store to another. If you know of any, please do let me know ya. Thanks in advance.

none that i know...at least definitely not the full range since they would just be regular dealers...not the distributors like TGS or GC are for the respective brands.