Obviously you’re going to need a guitar, if you don’t already have access to one.  Perhaps, like me, a family member had bought a guitar with the best intentions of learning.  Of course you can get going with the basics on any guitar, but the type to buy rather depends on the style of music you want to play.  Bear one thing in mind: it has to inspire you!  Don't compromise on the style or the colour.  If you love it, you're going to play more!

Type of Guitar
Classical guitar is a genre all of its own and you really need a nylon strung classical guitar.  For anything else you might be thinking acoustic or electric.  If you are a beginner, I would advise that you begin with an acoustic guitar.  There is a certain way to treat an electric guitar in order to suppress unwanted noise and it won’t be long before you can progress to an electric guitar, maybe a few months, but an acoustic guitar to begin with is worth the investment.  Firstly, you’re always going to find the use for one, and secondly, you’ll quickly learn the kind of things to look out for when you do buy an electric guitar.

Quality
A word of warning here – you don’t need to spend a load of money to get an astonishingly good guitar.  But you will need access to someone who knows what to look for.  See budget versus expensive gear.  Musicians sometimes play instruments, particularly classical ones, worth tens of thousands of pounds; but when I’m in the audience in the Royal Albert Hall, I hear the amplified sound through the PA, not the instrument.  Even a recording is a representation through electronic equipment.  I’m not saying that paying over £1,000 won’t get you a good guitar, only that you can get to a professional standard without doing so. 

Important!  The Set-up

Do yourself a favour:  take someone with you who knows about guitars when you buy.  You might be lucky; that second-hand Squier may have been owned by a gigging musician who has already sorted out the niggles.  Someone who knows will be able to find you a guitar which needs very little money spent on it.  Don’t just buy one, unseen, off of eBay.  Some of the larger on-line retailers and shops will promise to sell you a guitar which is ‘set-up by our luthiers’.  They should certainly play adequately, but I have bought very few guitars, which haven’t needed extra work.  Unfortunately, you’re going to need advice on finding a luthier, as well.  Especially as a beginner when you won’t know whether or not he’s done a good job.  I live in Hertfordshire, England, and have had a terrible experience with a luthier I found browsing the Internet.  Luckily I live not too far from Terry of TJC Guitars in Stevenage, who does a superb job at a very fair price.  He’s also a gigging musician.

Acoustic
Acoustic guitars, like any instrument, will vary in quality.  The less-expensive models will be made of plywood.  The medium priced, about £200 to £500, will have solid wood tops.  The premium guitars are made of solid woods.  Sometimes makers will use solid woods at lower price points, but it probably won’t be very thin or well made.  As I said, it will never be a waste of money starting out with an acoustic guitar as you’ re always going to come back to it, perhaps when you’re having a party or barbecue.

Nylon strung. 
Always used for classical although they can also be used for other styles.  The classical is the Spanish guitar.  Heavy strumming with a pick will soon wear out the strings, which can’t really be bent effectively for styles which demand it.  If you already have a nylon strung guitar in the house and you want to do some singing and strumming, with maybe a little finger-style, this will serve you well!

Steel strung
These vary in size and shape with the larger, ‘jumbo’ models ones projecting more volume, with 12 string guitars being even louder.  Some are fitted with pickups, so that they can be amplified through an amplifier or directly through the PA.

Electric

Second-hand, you might be lucky enough to get a used Squier (Fender) or Epiphone (Gibson) for around £100.  These are budget guitars which are mass-produced, which means there are some great ones around, but also some terrible ones!  Some will have a neck which is not straight or tuners that don’t hold the guitar in tune.  If you already have access to an electric guitar, spend some time with it before buying a different type, so that you know what you like or don’t like about it.   You can get started in any style with any electric guitar, really although some are more known for particular genres:

Types of Electric Guitar
I’m going to divide these into three categories and then the brands.  The chances are that I’m not going to influence your decision.  You probably already know the style and colour that you’re going for.  Each has its own ‘look’, but you need to try one out to ensure that it suits you.

Solid Body
Solid body guitars tend not to ‘feed-back’ (see Tips n Tricks) unless you deliberately want them to  (a skill worth developing!)   The Fender style can be pretty robust.  In this category fall Stratocasters (Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, John Frusciante, SRV), Telecasters (Keith Richards, Status Quo, Brad Paisely, Robben Ford), Les Pauls (Gary Moore, Les Paul (!)  Note that there are many manufacturers that make the different styles of guitars.  I’m going to list them with the names of the first company who made them – so Fender Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul – although the model might be made by another company.  Note also that Squier is the budget Fender range and Epiphone the budget Gibson range.

These guitars all have different sounds, but are pretty versatile and can be used for most styles of contemporary music and jazz.  Usually, but not always, used with effects, they must be amplified.  They are less easy to tell apart once the sound is distorted.

Fender Stratocaster



It's a personal choice, but this is my favourite.  I've owned, bought and sold dozens over the years and will probably have one for sale, if this is what you want.  The iconic Strat was first produced in 1954 and quickly became famous.  They are still produced today and Fender continue to make many different versions to ensure that even people who own one still want more!  In my opinion the most versatile guitar there is, from crunchy or heavily distorted to twangy country or soft jazz.  Some people have issues with tuning, because of the tremolo arm, or noise, due to the single coil pickups, but these can both be managed and I describe how to do both in Tips n Tricks.  There are many less expensive (and more expensive) clones.


Gibson Les Paul



Also iconic they tend to be heavier than Strats and have a thicker tone, owing to the humbucker pickups.  Played in most genres of contemporary music and jazz.  Even country. Think Gary Moore, when it’s cranked up through a Marshall amp!  Less robust than Fenders, the body and headstock are both set at an angle to the neck, so they can break if left unattended and knocked over.  They can be professionally repaired so that the playability is not affected.  I’ve met one jazz musician who said that his had been repaired three times!

Semi-acoustic



Think Gibson 335, here.  Of course there are a myriad of other brands and models but Gibson, and their Chinese subsidiary Epiphone, produce the best known.  Also very versatile, they are well known as pop, rock and blues guitars although they are a jazz favourite as well.  Can feed-back at high volume.

Hollow-body



The first electric guitars were acoustic guitars fitted with pickups.  Often only one in the neck position, but sometimes two.  Generally played with a clean tone by jazz musicians and Gibson and Guild are the best known.

I’m going to have to include Gretsch here as well, only because I love them.  Think of Brian Setzer, Eddie Cochran and Darrel Higham.  They have quite a distinctive tone, owing to their pick-ups and hollow body.  Played on the verge of breaking-up for rockabilly or rock and roll, or clean for jazz.  Owing to the hollow body they can feed-back at high volume and some models have a restricted access to the upper frets, but they’re not really designed for super-distorted, high note solos.