About 15 when my parents bought me a cheapo no-name acoustic guitar with baling wire for strings and that good high action I've seen mentioned above. Talk about callouses! I eventully saved up some money and bought a Harmony Sovereign when I was 18. That was my only guitar until about ten years ago when I traded my truck for some cash and and a couple of electric guitars and an amp. Then I bought my Taylor 310 and pretty much retired the Harmony.