>There's a weird kind of asceticism around the notion of paying-ones-dues on an acoustic first This is probably mostly financial. Just about everyone knows som

>There's a weird kind of asceticism around the notion of paying-ones-dues on an acoustic first This is probably mostly financial. Just about everyone knows someone with an old acoustic they can borrow. Picking up even a budget guitar like an entry-level squire and a budget amp is easily a $500+ commitment. Worse, if you end up not liking guitar playing, the resale value is especially terrible. Doubly worse, that 15 watt practice amp isn't going to cut it when you want to jam with a buddy who owns a drum kit or a real bass amp, so now you've sunk $250+ on something you keep in your bedroom and shortly will need to start pricing out 'real' amps and eyeballing pricetags at $1,000 or more with cabinet. Don't get me started when you outgrow that Squire. Suddenly, $1500+ Fenders go from 'who buys that expensive stuff' to 'I should get one.'