Mrrzy, I figure you need to work out what you want the instrument for -- do you want it for simple accompaniment to your singing, or do you want to play melodies? Are you after a primarily chordal or linear music environment? In most folk songs and ballads, you can sing them strumming a guitar with chords after about half an hour of work (G, C, D7, for instance, and maybe an Eminor to be really daring). It takes a lot longer to get a guitar (or much of anything really) to do melody work at speed.

yours, Peter T.