Seagull S6 acoustic guitar feels very hard to play

Question

I am beginner guitar player. I had a cheap $150 guitar for slightly more than 1 year. I started learning guitar with that. It’s a 3/4 size guitar. I had no problem with it other than the sound bit low. It was easy to play for my fingers. After lots of research in the internet i come down to 2 choices Seagull s6 vs Taylor big baby. I bought Seagull S6 concert hall guitar for $400+ Coz, most forums suggest its a good guitar for a beginner and it’s a full size too.

But, after playing couple of days, I feel it’s very hard for me to play. My fingers hurt a lot. I can’t do string bedding also. I didn’t change the strings, they are the original ones came with guitar(please see photos). Please advise me what can i do to make the guitar bit more playable for me?

Answer 1

A 3/4 sized guitar has a shorter scale-length than a full-sized guitar, so there is less string tension for the same string gauges on the smaller guitar. This might be responsible for the difficulty you are encountering.

I would always recommend putting new strings on a newly acquired guitar, and you could try some lighter-gauge strings to reduce the tension (don't know what you have on now, maybe .012s or .013s, you could try some .011s). This might require a new setup. I would get the new strings and change them, and if you have any fret-buzz or other issues, take it to a guitar tech or luthier.

It is hard to tell from the photograph, but the string action looks like it might be a little bit high. Lighter strings might improve this a little, but it might be a good idea to take this to a good shop with a guitar tech (or the shop where you bought the guitar, if possible), and have them check it out. If you take your new strings with you (or buy them from the shop) they should be able to install the strings and make any needed adjustments for a small fee.

In any case, I think that it might take some time to get used to the transition from the 3/4 sized guitar to a full-sized one.

Answer 2

Along the same lines as what David Bowling said - a lot of cheap instruments (and some quite expensive instruments!) come from the shop not very well-set up. High action is a particular problem with acoustic guitars - it's easier to set the instrument up without fret buzz with a high action, but that makes it hard to play.

Your choice may well be to spend a bit of time learning how to set up the guitar, or a bit of money getting it set up professionally.