Electric Guitar

Edgler Vess

I've found myself with some extra money and I probably shouldn't but ive decided to buy a guitar, just for fun really but I have never played any sort of instrument since I was in 5th grade. Thus, I am, Obviously, a beginner. I can probably strech to 300 dollars total if I had to to get started, but I've been looking on the net to see what I can find and what my options are:

First Option: Go to the pawn shop, pick up something that looks like it may be for a beginner such as myself and see whats up (a reasonable chance to get something decent at a decent price, but could also pick up a guitar to advanced for my skills) Price: Varies

Second Option: This one from Sam's Club:

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=349574&pCatg=5856

Upside is: Amps are expensive, but this one has a small one included and it appears to be for a beginner
Downside: Quality (being from Sam's Club) is a question mark.

Third Option: I'm from Meridian, MS and Peavey (makes instruments and amps) is stationed and from here, so I am a little partial to pick up something made by them this looks to be a good beginning guitar, its not terribly expensive, but it has no Amp to go with it, which is a real drag.

http://www.peaveymag.net/productdetails-dealer-26812-prodid-106.aspx


Anyone out there have any expierence with a guitar and buying one as a beginner with some advice?

Tube

My stock answer to my students for a cheap, reliable beginner guitar is a squier stratocaster. They're good and reliable. Don't worry too much about amps, you don't really need one that badly (but obviously it's fun), and you can always upgrade later. Any old piece of shit will do.

The best thing to do is definitely to go to a shop and play around with some different guitars. Make sure you pick up a tuner and a lead.

The Cheese

Lead is bizarro English for "cable".

Tube's right about everything though. Don't buy something without playing it, because even though other people might like it, it won't necessarily suit you. Strats are perfect starting guitars. If you can find a cheapo Mexican one or a Squier you should be good.

Aaron Lee

In my opinion, this is the best bang for your buck. By no means the best guitar you can have, but for $150 it's more than appreciable, especially for a beginner. I played on one of these for a bit and was tempted to buy it until I took the plunge and purchased one of these guys.

Peavey amps are ok to start with, and honestly you should go as cheap as possible until you feel like playing guitar is something you're willing to take more serious. No sense in blowing a bunch of cash and figuring out guitar isn't for you.

Edgler Vess

So then maybe the pawn shop is my best option? Just go there and play with all the crap they have until I find something that is reasonably priced and fits me?

Oh and I do ABSOLUTELY need an amp of some sort right? Or my new instrument will make no sound?

The Cheese

Do you not have any guitar shops around you? Go to one of those. Even a chain like Guitar Center would be good.

Edgler Vess

Yeah, weve got a place called Mississippi Music, I haven't been in there yet but I know that they are heavily Peavey influenced due to our location, Christ I talk to Peavey's damn AIRPLANE (Im an air traffic controller) practically everyday, the whole city are Peavyzombies so I just want to get some good bias free advice before I start spending any money.

Uncle Long

Edgler Vess wrote: »

So then maybe the pawn shop is my best option? Just go there and play with all the crap they have until I find something that is reasonably priced and fits me?

Oh and I do ABSOLUTELY need an amp of some sort right? Or my new instrument will make no sound?

Meh, you can hear it well enough. I mean unless there's some other noise going on in the room. But, even if there is usually the person playing it can hear.

AKA if you want other people around you to hear you then you need an amp. If you're just playing around then you can learn fairly well a tune, but you will have a hard time picking out incorrect sounds if you're ear training.

The Cheese

Peavey amps are good. Never really played their guitars except some stupid V thing that I hated.

Edgler Vess

Yeah, I heard Peavey makes good amps, unfortunatley they are smoking expensive if you buy them brand new: Look and Despair!

http://www.peaveymag.net/categoryproducts-catid-191-dealer-26812.aspx

Peavey amp is out of the question at those prices, even if i could use it for world domination.
The guitar i linked to in the OP looks to be okay though for 150, but no amp sucks...

Tube

Edgler Vess wrote: »

So then maybe the pawn shop is my best option? Just go there and play with all the crap they have until I find something that is reasonably priced and fits me?

Oh and I do ABSOLUTELY need an amp of some sort right? Or my new instrument will make no sound?

Your guitar makes a sound without an amp. I play without an amp maybe 90% of the time

Spackle

Everybody guitar teacher or guitar shop owner has always had good things to say about the squier strat as a beginner guitar. You can pick them up pretty cheap and something like a Fender frontman 15g cheap as well to get you started. The distortion blows on it but it's a starting point. In fact, doesn't Fender have a track record of poor distortion when compared to other competitors like Marshall or Peavey?

Tube

Depends on your taste, and what you're using it for. I wouldn't take one on a metal gig, but there are plenty of situations where the distortion sounds great.

supabeast

The current issue of Make magazine includes instructions for building an amp with $5 of parts from radio shack and a cracker box. No distortion effects, but it works...

Sam

Cardboard Tube wrote: »

My stock answer to my students for a cheap, reliable beginner guitar is a squier stratocaster. They're good and reliable. Don't worry too much about amps, you don't really need one that badly (but obviously it's fun), and you can always upgrade later. Any old piece of shit will do.

The best thing to do is definitely to go to a shop and play around with some different guitars. Make sure you pick up a tuner and a lead.

I don't know, you need an amp so you can avoid bad habits that you won't notice if you play it unplugged. Either get a squier and something like a little roland cube amp or get an acoustic. If you go acoustic you'll be able to get a better guitar with the budget.

cooljammer00

i wouldnt recommend a pawn shop.

i guess you could see what guitars are at the pawn shop, then go try out those models at a real guitar store

Pheezer

Peavey amps from the 80s are awesome for projecting sheer volume. They've never been a high end company, and their guitars tend to be weak and rely on weak celebrity endorsements (Van Halen? Come on), but they've made a number of solid as brick shithouse amplifiers, and the black widow cones are pretty decent for the price.

For a guitar, the primary problem with at Squier is that the body is made from two pieces of wood, glued together. Over time, particularly if you live in a climate with wide transitions in temperature and humidity, the body will warp in ways a Fender won't. If that's not a problem, or if you're not sure you'll stick with the instrument, it's not a big deal and you can sell it before it loses much in value over what you paid.

Raivotar

I'm a beginner guitarist. I'm primarily a drummer, but I screw around with guitar every now and again. I would suggest heading over to musiciansfriend.com and looking through their catalog. That's where I got my guitar, and I've been happy with it. You can good guitars for a really reasonable price, and amps as well.

I've never had to buy an amp, and a few of my friends play guitar. I've been able to borrow amps and other equipment. But, I'd definitely check out Musician's Friend, and look around.

And I'm using a Peavey amp currently, and love the sound it produces. A buddy of mine uses the 5150, and I fucking love that thing.

romanqwerty

If your just starting guitar have u considered Acoustic?
I know it isnt as cool as an electric but they are lot cheaper, u dont need an amp and most importantly much better to learn on. Playing an acoustic will make u a better player then playing electric.

That said if you have ur heart set on an electric u absolutely should not buy a guitar without playing it, no matter what others say about them.
My advice is to go to ur local guitar shop and try them out. 2 important things to look for, sound and feel. If should sound good but, in my opinion more imporantly, feel good to play.
For my 2 cents i would avoid cheap squiers and starter packs they have a tendency to go bad pretty quickly while a decent guitar should last a lifetime (provided u treat it right).

stigweard

If you can find a Squire '51 strat, grab it up. They are 100$ and most sound and feel like they are worth 4x that. They were discontinued (in part because they were so successful) and are getting hard to find. With that, you can invest in a decent practise amp (Roland Micro Cube or Epiphone valve junior) ,get the pedal of your choice, and still ocme in around 300$.

Edgler Vess

Thanks for all the advice all, going to go with the general sentiment around here and go down to the guitar shop on monday give em a try, buy one and a little amp.

Spackle

Cardboard Tube wrote: »

Depends on your taste, and what you're using it for. I wouldn't take one on a metal gig, but there are plenty of situations where the distortion sounds great.

I guess I should have specified the Fender distortion in regards to metal is lousy. I get a great dirty blues tone through my Fender Blues Jr, but if I want that metal distortion, I need a metal zone. Bedroom player so it never gets loud.

limester816

stigweard wrote: »

If you can find a Squire '51 strat, grab it up. They are 100$ and most sound and feel like they are worth 4x that. They were discontinued (in part because they were so successful) and are getting hard to find. With that, you can invest in a decent practise amp (Roland Micro Cube or Epiphone valve junior) ,get the pedal of your choice, and still ocme in around 300$.

^^^ I have the same advise, Squier '51 (almost a mix between a tele and a strat, with a humbucker in the bridge to boot), a Roland Cube 15/30, and then a nice pedal. Actually, believe it or not, the Digitech Bad Monkey has stacked up to all of the $200+ overdrives I have, and it is only like $35. Pedals can actually make ok sounding amps sound really lively and tube-like.

Tube

pheezer FD wrote: »

rely on weak celebrity endorsements (Van Halen? Come on)

Yeah, who the fuck is van halen? All he ever did was effectively reinvent the electric guitar, and that's been done like, a whole one time before

Edgler Vess

Ive been a bad man, I decided to buy the Fender Starcaster from Sam's thats linked in the OP. I like the looks of it and it seems to have everything I need, (and im an instant gratification whore, AND sam's let me put the 200 dollars it costed on my only credit card on earth, my sams card, this way I can make two payments on it).

Got to play my first few notes on it, Had a hard time figuring out the FT-100 Digital Chromatic Tuner that came with it. I just plucked each string individual and adjusted it until when i plucked it the blue light in the center came on and held there for a moment or two. I think this is right (I googled it). Any tips for keeping a guitar close to being in tune after youve tuned it would be nice.

Watched a bit of my DVD that came with it also, I only played with it for about 90 minutes or so, and my left hand finger tips are numb, they say this is normal, I hope i get the calluses quickly because its obnoxious.

I bought the Guitar for Dummies book, man there are a lot of notes and a lot of stuff to learn.

liquidlogan

The calluses will build quickly. Not to worry about that.

In terms of keeping you guitar in tune.. I find that your guitar will eventually fall out of tune with playing. Nothing to really stop it. Just make sure you are in tune before every session. The last thing you want to do is struggle to play a song only to learn that your tuning is off.

Aaron Lee

Stick with the basic bro. Don't get caught up in complicated chords and scales and all that stuff. Hell, just start off with A-B-C-D-E and F and that will give you the fundamentals to moving on to minors and stuff like that. Bar chords are a different ball game, but are a breeze with practice.

Just take it in small steps, and it'll come to you. Your fingers may hurt for a little while, because callouses aren't instant. Give it a couple weeks.

cooljammer00

and once you get good, get a wangcaster.

i really want one!

Spackle

Lessons also help. I didn't take any when I started and wished I had. I will start up some lessons this june after over a year of playing to really help sink in style with music theory. I think i'd be further along if I had taken at least a couple months of basic lessons just to make sure my playing was right.

I had so much time when I first picked up the guitar, 4 hours a night of playing you're bound to pick something up :P

stigweard

Get lessons. You don't need a whole lot, even a month's worth will put you way ahead of the game. You can learn proper form, finger positioning, and transitions and it will save you a ton of time compared to trying to figure it out on your own. I've been doing without and it has been a bear to figure out the simplest things, like you don't need a whole lot of pressure to make a note. The lighter your touch, the looser your hand and the more quickly and fluidly you can move from note to note and chord to chord, but too light and you'll either buzz or not make the note.

Get your guitar setup. Any guitar, no matter how expensive, is going to need to be setup to ensure it has the proper relief in the neck, a good action, and proper intonation. If you can be allowed to, watch them set it up so you can have an idea of how to do it yourself. Changes in temperature and humidity affect the shape of a guitar (more so with an acoustic) and knowing how to make adjustments to intonation can save you a ton of cash. You might want to consider replacing the strings right away too. One way to cut corners on guitars is to put cheap electronics and other components in, since it is hard to skimp on the neck and body.

Learn to read sheet music sooner than later. Tabs don't tell you anything about the overall rhythm, subtleties or lengths of the notes. If you really need tabs, try out a program like guitar pro that shows both the sheet music and the tabs at the same time. Also check out video lessons since there are plenty of free and some subscription based sites that have great lessons that can teach you different chords, licks, and songs.

Be patient. Different skills come at different speeds for different people. A good chunk of people who try guitar quit before things start to click because they get too frustrated, or feel overwhelmed at the sheer amount of content they need to digest. Take it a bit at a time and set goals for yourself. It doesn't have to be about learning songs, scales or chords either. You can take a week and do nothing but practise bends if that is what you want to do. So long as you are happy and stay interested, you'll keep getting better and every technique you can put under your belt is another technique that will become part of your playing style later on.

The last thing I can think of off the top of my head is to practise smart, not hard. If you want to practise two hours a day or ten hours a day, that is fine, but don't waste your energy while you are doing it. If you are learning a song and are only stumbling on one part, forget about playing the whole thing each time and just practise the part your are stumbling on until you get it down, then go back to practising the whole thing. Also, practise with a metronome. It has been said in other threads and I have just started myself and it is important. It helps you to improve your timing and be able to fully control what you are doing.

Edgler Vess

Finally made it down to the music shop today, Im glad I bought the guitar I choose, they had nothing to speak of in my price range (lots of midrange stuff all 400 dollars+), And they are going to call me to tell me when one of thier 5 guitar teachers is available to give me a lesson, I figure ill at least get a couple to get started past the simple stuff (like how to tune my guitar, how best to hold it, and some basic notes, etc).


oh and the point of the post: Is 20 dollars to much money for a 30 minute lesson? (Thats what they charge, but I dont know anything about how much they are supposed to cost)

Mishra

I pay 25/half hour so no. I hope you enjoy it, it's a great hobby, worth sticking with. Now come back in 6 months and we'll have another one of our Gibson/Fender wankfests wehre we try to convince you which guitar is best to upgrade to.

Jimmy King

Edgler Vess wrote: »

Finally made it down to the music shop today, Im glad I bought the guitar I choose, they had nothing to speak of in my price range (lots of midrange stuff all 400 dollars+), And they are going to call me to tell me when one of thier 5 guitar teachers is available to give me a lesson, I figure ill at least get a couple to get started past the simple stuff (like how to tune my guitar, how best to hold it, and some basic notes, etc).


oh and the point of the post: Is 20 dollars to much money for a 30 minute lesson? (Thats what they charge, but I dont know anything about how much they are supposed to cost)

Sounds pretty decent to me. My sax lessons ran $100/hr back in the day.

Tube

For a visit where I don't travel, I would charge roughly the equivalent of $50 an hour to a beginner. I would say anything above above 60 is getting unreasonable, unless they have fantastic qualifications (like, played for Roger Waters). Don't pay more for guitar lessons than you would for driving lessons.

Spackle

Mishra wrote: »

I pay 25/half hour so no. I hope you enjoy it, it's a great hobby, worth sticking with. Now come back in 6 months and we'll have another one of our Gibson/Fender wankfests wehre we try to convince you which guitar is best to upgrade to.

Those always turn out interesting.

Les Paul!

Spackle

Cardboard Tube wrote: »

For a visit where I don't travel, I would charge roughly the equivalent of $50 an hour to a beginner. I would say anything above above 60 is getting unreasonable, unless they have fantastic qualifications (like, played for Roger Waters). Don't pay more for guitar lessons than you would for driving lessons.

What would you teach someone who just wanted to take like 3 lessons for the basics? Just curious.

Tube

Spackle wrote: »

Cardboard Tube wrote: »

For a visit where I don't travel, I would charge roughly the equivalent of $50 an hour to a beginner. I would say anything above above 60 is getting unreasonable, unless they have fantastic qualifications (like, played for Roger Waters). Don't pay more for guitar lessons than you would for driving lessons.

What would you teach someone who just wanted to take like 3 lessons for the basics? Just curious.

How to tune up, how to hold the guitar without injuring yourself, a few basic exercises, basic chords and scales. You can't really finish the basics properly in three weeks, and I teach by the hour.

Spackle

Really, what you described would have been a huge jumping point for me when I started. I think the first thing I did is looked up tabs for "Cloud Connected" by In Flames and tried to play the power chords (without detuning heh).