What type of Electric Guitar should I buy? Which is the best for me? I’m a beginner, help appreciated?
Hi, my name is Daniel. And hmm I need help :D. I'm a begginer.
I've practiced guitar for a while, but started to take it serious from about 3 months now. I have learned some basics and other things. Those 3 months I've learned by myself. I'm about to take acoustic guitar lessons soon (just for like 2-3 months), and after that, electric guitar lessons. I'm thinking of buying an electric guitar. The thing is that I'm not sure of what should I buy. The problem is not the money (no I'm not rich haha), the problem is that I want a good guitar but at the same time it has to be a guitar like for begginer or beginner-intermediate something like that and of a good quality and that can last a couple of years and that it's worth the amount of money it costs. I don't know that much about guitar brands and everything, but I've been checking the Ibanez, Squier, Epiphone and some MichaelKelly. I've seen the Squier by Fender Stop Dreaming Start Playing Pack, also the Ibanez Jumpstart pack, the Michael Kelly Patriot Vintage Electric Guitar, the Epiphone LP-100 and the Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I want a guitar with good sustain, good pickups, good tuners. I'd like to know which is the best begginer guitar for me, and also which one would you recommend for me, it could be any other than the ones I mentioned. My style of music is rock, punk and alternative mainly. Music like Linkin Park and related bands. So you could also consifer that. (Also if it is better to buy a pack to begin or the guitar and the amp separately).
Thank You.
I have about $750. And also I'm considering to buy it on musician'sfriends but also I would appreciate if you told me another site.
Is it necessary to order the guitar with a hard shell case? (I live in Panama)
Please tell me about good brands of amps also.
Thanks.
Seward
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
I tell this to anyone looking for a guitar, BUY A GIBSON!!! Les Paul , SG, Flying V all great guitars and they look sweet too.
guitarcenter.com has the same prices as musiciansfriend and usually more guitars
But since your gonna need an amp I say go a $400-500 Epiphone (but the $179.99 Epiphone Specials are really good for beginners and sound great) and Schecter’s Damien 6 is INSANE for around $350
and a Line 6 Spider III Amp (about $200)
I started out with an Ibanez RG2EX1 which only cost $300. The thing lasted me for years and was great for a beginner and pretty good for an intermediate player. But, since you got $750 to pay then I would advise you to get any Ibanez guitar in the RG series that doesn’t have a Edge III tremolo bridge, because as a beginner it is a pain to learn how to use change wires and tune it. The Fenders are great guitars but the Ibanez I found to have fast neck which is good for solos and shredding. Trust me the Ibanez RG2EX1 is an amazing beginners guitar.
As for the site, Musiciansfriend is a great place to get a guitar, because they have a huge collection of awsome guitars. They have one of my favorite brand of guitars on there too. The ESP which is a great metal guitar company.
For your first electric, I’d buy a cheap Squier or Epiphone, it’s not a good idea to get a really expensive guitar if your just a beginner, just don’t expect to get a lot of mileage out of it, you’ll want to upgrade and get something more professional like a Fender or a Gibson or an Ibanez in maybe a year or so if you decide you want to stick with electric guitar. I’ve heard a lot of bad things about starter packs, particularly the Fender Stop Dreaming Start Playing Pack, though I don’t have any experience with any of them myself.
Of all the answers, Joey J is the closest to being good.
DO NOT BUY CHEAP GUITARS. Bad gear produces bad guitarists. Musiciansfriend belongs to GuitarCenter, that’s basically the same. Check out Sweetwater.com and zZounds.com to see different models - also Music123.com.
Ibanez RG guitars are good, and in your case I’d maybe even go all $750 out for an Ibanez Prestige (those are upper end Ibanez manufactured in Japan, not Korea) preferably RG or S-series, so you get professional quality, then get an amp later when you save a few more hundred. Learning on a “dry” guitar will teach you how to really play and control the sound with your fingers and build your technique with no technology to play instead of you.
Gibson guitars are decent but WAY overpriced for the quality and they’re one-trick ponies. Awesome one trick, but one trick nevertheless.
When you have a few hundred more, look up Carvin.com and buy the best amp from them your money can get you - those are amps played by Steve Vai and Zappa, for example - awesome and affordable, about 1/3 of the price of comparable models by other companies.
An Ibanez or an ESP would be great for playing Linkin Park, However, if its punk and alternative that you want to play I suggest you get an epiphone
I’ve been playing guitar for 14 years, mostly acoustic stuff. I started getting into electric about 5 years ago. I started on a Yamaha strat starter pack which came with an amp and everything I needed. It played great, it sounded good (at least, I thought so at the time), and it looked amazing to me.
The moral of this story is, find something that looks good to you, plays good, and (perhaps most importantly), sounds good! Some people would prefer to go for the starter packs which give you a decent guitar and amp for a lower price, and some will want to buy them separately to make sure they’re getting exactly what they want.
As for guitars, because you say that your style of music is mostly rock/punk stuff, I’d point you in the direction of Epiphone (not Gibson, give yourself something to work towards! :] ). They almost always come with “humbucker” pickups which deliver a much fatter sound, and when coupled with distortion is the epitome of rock sound. Epiphone sells a few “player packs” for a very good price, but if you want to buy an amp separately, I’d steer you in the direction of Line 6. They are the king of modeling amps, which will allow you to really explore your musical tastes and styles of playing (from blues to metal and everything in between).
In particular, if I was in your position, I’d either buy an Epiphone LP-100 or a G400 (depending on which design you liked better) and a Line 6 Spider II 75, to start out with. This way, once you become serious, your equipment will be able to withstand a lot of the beatings that you’ll give them.
Though, honestly, the only way to know if you’ll like a certain guitar or amplifier, is to try it out yourself! Go to a local guitar store (guitar center is a popular one) and try out anything you want. This way, you can get a feel of what each guitar feels like and sounds like to aid you in your decision.
Hope this helps!
I’ve been playing guitar for over 30 years and trust me, you have enough money to buy a truly great guitar. Musician’s Friend has a Fender Strat HSS, ( Fat Strat ) for $399. This is not only a good guitar, but a GREAT guitar. I play Jacksons right now, but I am considering selling one of them and buying a Fat Strat. Strats are the most versatile guitars made as far as variety of tones goes. They have great playability. They are also rugged and EXTREMELY reliable. They are ready right off the shelf with very little setup and stay in tune through Hell! The strat I used to play was a cheaper Japanese model, yet it is the only guitar I ever owned that did not need a backup. I gave it to my niece when she started learning to play and I still miss it! This is an axe you can learn on and continue to play for the rest of your life.
p.s.
After reading some of the other answers, I’d like to further qualify my suggestion. As a beginning guitarist, you don’t know yet where your style and tastes are gonna go as you learn. You may be into totally different music a couple of years from now. The Ibanez guitars mentioned are perfectly good guitars, I have owned a couple in the past. The thing that sets the strat apart is the versatility. You can adapt these axes to whatever styles of music you wish to learn and play. They are equally as at home with heavy metal, punk, jazz, or even (maybe especially) country music. Even if you spent $1500 to $2500 for a Gibson Les Paul, you would not have a guitar with near the flexibility. For the most part, even top of the line strats are usually half the price of other brands’ top of the line instruments. ( More like a third if you’re talking about a PRS, high end Jackson, or high end ESP. Soloists are $1500 minimum and Les Pauls can go nearly 5 grand!) And they last practically forever. The most coveted strats in the world are now over 50 YEARS OLD! (And worth a mint, I might add). Strats sound astonishing when playing clean tones, yet they sound just as amazing when overdriven to the hilt. The other guitars here each have their own strong points, but a strat stands out in any field for half the cash. Can you tell how much I am wanting one? Trust me, I love my Jacksons. My soloist is my dream guitar, but I miss my strat!
Reba
Just get a cheap Fender from Sam’s Club or Walmart. Or go to your local music stores and see what they’ve got…or even a pawn shop. You may be able to get a guitar and amp pretty cheap.