(Disclaimer: did a search on this and nothing came up. So if it has someone let me know via a post so I can see why it gets zip responses)
Ill start-piano was my first but I wasnt cut out for it. About then the Folk craze had begun (yeah the KT) and my Mom had some old junker banjo-uke with nylon strings so I learned some basic chords on that. Had to have a steel string guitar and got a Silvertone from our local Sears-knew nothing about woods, saddles, nuts, spacings, bracings, etc. But it did fine. My pal had a Stella which as was pointed out elsewhere has some kind of nostalgic value now.

Always was a "trader-upper" and have gone thru Guilds and a not so hot D28 that never sounded right to my ear-prolly needed a good set up but like I said, if I knew then what I know now wouldnt have ditched it. Got into a Guild 12-er for a few years. Also picked up some cheap banjos along the way. Ears changed over the years along with interest in luthery and guitar shapes/sizes to the point that I decided dreadnoughts for me at least lost their appeal but I wanted the volumn. Anyway, that ol' Silvertone with the tailpiece was my first guitar and a lot easier to tote around than a PIANO!! Like I "advised" Michelle in the BS section, theres so much out there these days its worse than the cereal aisle at the grocery store--still have Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Guild (owned by Fender along with Tacomas) and a bazillion imports from China, Korea....but I think the best imports in reasonable gits are coming in from Canada, along with single builders lke Thompson, Kronbauer, Alberico, etc. But that old Silvertone still haunts me and I wish I had it still as a knock around. Anyone else wanna chime in on this one? Some of you DO play, right? Also-you UK or non U.S. posters, what's out there besides Lakewood, Lowden, Flyde, etc. that's decent but won't cost yer first-born?