I would appreciate some advice
As a mere sax player I must try to make the effort to learn to play the guitar ..does anyobe have any advice re a good beginner's model of acoustic guitar and useful literature???

A lot depends on what kind of styles you want to play. I always tell newbies to start with a decent nylon string. Much easier on new fingertips, much classical music is written for it, and it's better for things like fingerpicking. Since you already play sax, it should be easier for you to pick out melodies. Get a basic chord chart, and a book of songs you really like. Nobody likes to practice music they don't love, and this is a problem with many music teachers. Later on, you can move "sideways" to a steel string. Don't worry about brand name. Just get something that stays in tune and feels good for your hands. These days, there is so much on the internet, you can search that way. But I'm old fashioned. I go to the music store, play a bunch of them, ask advice of the salespeople. If you're gona sing. buy a capo. I believe in learning all the keys, but that's down the line.

Many thanks for these helpful suggestions Rick. I will follow your advice...  start off with basic folk/country styles and if I make progress move on to other stuff.
I used to play in jazzrock/jazz funk style bands when I was younger but dropped out for a long time cos of time pressures  work/family etc . Have just recently started to get back into music by doing one woman type shows of satirical songs using backing trax.. and just adding a bit of sax but I do miss the sound of live guitar more than anything!!

"Mere" sax player?  ???

How many guitarists does it take to change a lightbulb?
21. 1 to change the bulb and 20 to say "Oh, I can do that".

Q How do you get a guitarist to turn his amp down?
A Put music in front of him.

what do you call something that has three legs and a c***t on top????

a drum stool

oops too many asterisks

by the way in case anyone thinks I am being insulting to drummers I must just say that that joke was told to me by a very fine drummer (he used to drum for a band called the Climax Blues Band.. (one of their songs .. couldn't get it right has been parodied on this site .)..

doesn't anybody have any more drummer/guitarist etc jokes???

I only know one orchestra joke:
Q: What's the difference between a conductor and a sack of sh*t?
A: The sack

Hi MarthaDTox, love your parodies. It depends what kind of music you want to play, and if you want to play guitar onstage, too. Rick's right about nylon being easier on the fingers, but the guitar neck of a nylon string acoustic is usually wider (which makes it difficult to learn on. I'd recommend perhaps a 3/4 size acoustic guitar (John Lennon played a 3/4 size electric with The Beatles. With a steel string guitar you can always add a guitar pickup to amplify it, which won't work with nylon strings. Folk songs are good to learn with, as Rick said, but so are Ramones songs. Most punk, '50s and early '60s songs are only three or four chords. The hardest part of playing guitar is building up callouses on your fingers. You really can't play without 'em. Good luck!

Quoting:
I would appreciate some advice
As a mere sax player I must try to make the effort to learn to play the guitar ..does anyobe have any advice re a good beginner's model of acoustic guitar and useful literature???
End Quote

I have a nylon with a pickup, sounds great. The wider neck is a plus unless you have tiny hands. Remember I mentioned fingerpicking. Plus if you ever want to play classical (or flamenco), Nylon is it. Most of Lennon's guitars were not 3/4, though occasionaly, his time signatures were.

Many thanks for the kind remarks and the really helpful advice I am going to get to work on those callouses....