The action on your guitar can make the difference between an instrument that plays and sounds good and one that you want to throw out the window.
When my parents bought my first guitar I was 12 years old. My father took me down to the local music store and let me choose one within a certain price range.
Unfortunately neither of us knew what I really needed and I picked one that looked nice.
The good news is these days even inexpensive guitar from good manufacturers like Fender, Ibanez, Gibson, Yamaha, and several others make good instruments in lower price ranges. You can get a decent starter acoustic guitar for about $140.00 and a starter electric guitar pack that includes the guitar, amplifier and some accessories for about $199.00.
These instruments generally come set up and ready to play, but on occasion need some adjustments to the action (The height of the strings) to play well.
This isn’t a real difficult process if you are handy with a few tools. There are usually only a few things that need to be done to set the action on your instrument.
1. Bridge height
2. Truss rod adjustment
3. Nut action
There are many videos on line that show how to do this properly or you can purchase a book or dvd as well. Here are a couple of links.
If you are a handy person I would suggest in investing in one of these options or look on http://www.youtube.com and search for guitar setup and repair.
If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself seek out a local certified repair person that has a lot of experience.