:redface:

It is pretty damn good (understatement of the century)... [/hijack] So, about them guitars?

I have little experience in recent acoustics, but since you are starting from zero, your best bet for your money is probably craigslist or eBay.

The problem with spending a lot on your first instrument is that you won't know what you really want until you've been playing a year. People will tell you "play it! try it! go for what you like!" But you don't know what you like. After you've been playing for a while, *then* you can go play stuff and find what you like.

But if you find a used mid-level instrument of a name like Yamaha, Ibanez, Fender, or maybe even Martin, something that sold new for $500 eight years ago and they want $250 for it, you can hardly go wrong, that's what I would do. And if you can find a non-student CF Martin for $300, go for it.

Tune using an electronic tuner. Don't bother training your ears to do it, your ears lie. A hand-held electronic tuner is cheap now, even new. Korg is the king of this market.

Found two decently priced, good condition Fenders. A DG-25S for $200 and a DG-16 Dreadnought for $260. The DG-16 is cooler looking but the DG-25S has waaaay better reviews...

Ebay has a ton of guitars in my range. Too many choices.

Apparently the "S" part means it was part of a starter kit?

A starter kit for acoustics? What's included, a pick?

Ear plugs.

Hahaha. Damn right.

A strap, electronic tuner, picks, instructional dvd, stand, etc.

I picked up this for $175 (~$400 retail).

The thing I forgot to budget for?

Lessons.