Any tips on buying an electric guitar for a begginer?
April 27th, 2010 | 
Author: I want to learn how to play the electric guitar, but I have never played an instrument before, just the piano, but for about 1 year. I have no experience in the electric guitar, whats a good brand and model for a begginer? and what is a good price for a new one and a used one? any tips on buying one?
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Hello there,
For lots of reasons, keep your first guitar purchase simple. Fact is you do not know what to look for in a guitar yet. Your are not going to learn that in a few minutes at a web site. You don’t know what style of playing you will develop. You do not even know if you will still want to play a year from now. So, just keep is simple.
Two of the oldest guitar makers are Gibson and Fender. Both have made great guitars for decades. I have played both Fender and Gibson guitars for over 40 years. They were around before I started playing. Also they make the two most popular styles of electric guitars. The Gibson Les Paul and the Fender Stratocaster. Those two guitars have been copied more times than any other guitars. Why, because each is a great guitar. They are both different. So the represent to two most common (general) styles of electric guitars.
Go look at each. If you can, try them out. What you are looking for is which feels more comfortable to play. The necks are slightly different. The body shapes are a lot different. Whichever, you like best, for what ever reason, go with that style guitar.
Now about actually buying the guitar once you have decided which style to get. I always suggest you buy a used guitar for a starter guitar. You can buy a used good quality guitar for about the same price as a new lesser quality guitar. More bang for your buck. You can check your local want ads, the Trader, Craiglists and things like that. eBay also has a lot of good used guitars listed there. How much is in your budget will determine the brand you will most likely get. Most beginners are not going to spend $700 to $1500 on their first guitar. So, Gibson and Fender brands are out of your budget. However, both companies has less expensive brands with beginners in mind. Gibson has the Epiphone line and Fender has the Squier line. Both make good starter guitars. If you decide you like the Strat, you will probably be looking for a Squier Strat. If you decide you like the Les Paul you will probably be looking for an Epiphone Les Paul.
All that is keeping things simple. Instead of learning what to look for in a good quality instrument, you are trusting the two best know names in the business. All you have to do is decide whether you like the Les Paul or the Strat style better.
Do not blow you entire budget on the guitar. You are going to need an amp. I recommend staying away from the beginner packs (amp and guitar in one deal). I do not think the amps are very good in those. The amp is an important part of your sound. Give it as much consideration as you do the guitar. A great guitar played through a poor amp will sound lousy. I mediocre guitar played through a very good amp will sound fairly decent.
You will find very fast that you will want an effects pedal. To start with, plan on getting a distortion pedal. Danelectro makes all right distortion pedals that are inexpensive. Boss makes good distortion pedals. Check eBay, you can usually find a deal on a used one and not blow your budget. While you are on eBay, plan on getting an electronic tuner. That makes life a lot easier. I like the Qwik Tune. They are cheap and easy to use. Here is a link to one I found at eBay so you can see what I am talking about. I just pulled this one randomly. I did not search to see who has the best price.
http://cgi.ebay.com/QWIK-TUNE-QT-11-QT11-AUTOMATIC-GUITAR-AND-BASS-TUNER_W0QQitemZ310198204873QQcategoryZ0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m506QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DNGRI%26its%3DI%252BC%252BS%26itu%3DUA%26otn%3D10%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D7624633880011564631
You can also plan on buying a gig bag (soft black case) to carry your guitar in. Those are not expensive. You can usually pick one up for around $20.
Now to get you on the road to playing. Save these links. When you get the guitar you will already have the resources to start learning.
Here is a link to a video lesson at Youtube. This guy has a series of 12 lessons available there at Youtube. You can find the other lessons in the related videos section. He covers the basics very well. You can learn a lot from him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxhxIV0I5T8&feature=related
Next is an article about how to read tabs. The more common way of writing guitar music these days is in what is called tabs.
http://www.jazzguitar.be/how_to_read_guitar_tablature.html
Here is a link to a chord chart. It is several pages long. You can look up how to finger various chords with this.
http://www.guitarnotes.com/guitar/notes2/ultimate11.shtml
When you are ready to start learning some songs, you can search for the tabs. Just Google the name of the song and the word tabs. A common site you will see with guitar tabs is 911 Tabs. There are many, many others. Also, at Youtube search the song name and the words lesson or how to play. There are a great many good video lessons on songs there.
Good luck and have fun.
Later,
Here’s the best tip for a beginner, concerning buying an electric guitar: Don’t buy an electric guitar.
That’s right. Buy an acoustic guitar. You need to learn the fundamentals first. You have to learn how to swim before you go buy a boogie board. Same principle.
Piano? Lucky… For an electric, I’d go with the Fender Starcaster beginner package. $200 will get you started. Someone will probably say "Don’t buy that, it’s a piece of junk" because it is a piece of junk in truth. I have one because I didn’t know if I’d stick with guitar or not, so why waste $300+ on something you’re not going to stick with?
I will forever love my Fender Starcaster because hey, it’s my first guitar and I stuck with it after all
EDIT: The reason I didn’t recommend an acoustic guitar is because it’s harder to learn on one as a beginner. I started out on electric to get the basics down and then moved over to the acoustic. Much easier in my mind.
EDIT 2: What moron buys a setup for hundreds of dollars if they don’t even know if they will keep with playing the guitar? Wtf, go with a cheaper rig; even if it is "rubbish" it WILL get you started and you won’t regret it if you do further your career. Jwen, excuse the rest of us that we’re not rich…
you should start with acoustic to get the techniques and everything really good so that it’ll be easy to play an electric
but if you want to get an electric, you should probably start with the fender starcaster set that comes with an amplifier. You will probably want to change it once you are more experienced though.
The best thing to do is to start with an acoustic and then make your way to an electric after you have learned different techniques. The problem with starting right off with an electric is you also have to buy an amp, which will increase the price. When buying the electric I would suggest an epiphone les paul standard. It looks great and sounds really great also for about $450. I have an epiphone les paul and I absolutely love it. I bought mine used with a slight dent in the back for $220
the best guitar is the one you like, the one that feels and sounds good to you and is comfortable in your hands.
Of course that’s assuming you’re talking about a decent quality instrument. The worst clunker can to the untrained ear sound decent and feel and look nice while still being utter rubbish.
I agree with others that learning on an acoustic instrument is usually the better way to go (and I’ve used both).
Not only do you not get caught up in wondering whether something sounding wrong is because of your playing or because of some setting on the instrument or amplifier, but you also can’t mask your errors behind tons of distortion and effects, and can more easily travel as you don’t have to lug that amplifier and a bunch of cables with you.
And of course, not having to buy an amplifier, your budget will stretch to a better instrument.
Back to electric guitars, you are typical in asking exclusively about the guitar itself.
When playing electric, the guitar is only half (and depending on your equipment, quite likely less than half) of the sound you produce.
The amplifier is at least as important for that, yet is often overlooked by beginners who get some cheap thing that they are quickly dissatisfied with (this happens even more often than people becoming dissatisfied by their guitar).
As a rule of thumb, your amplifier should likely cost at least as much as your guitar, if not more, they’re that important.
And cables too are important. While there might not be a bit visible difference between a $10 and a $50 one of the same length, the difference is well worth the investment when it comes to what comes out of the speakers (note, I’m not talking $100+ cables here, there is a limit).
As to what are "good" instruments, that’s hard to tell. It’s a very personal choice, what may be right for me may be totally wrong for you.
In general, brands like Ibanez, Fender (and Squier), Gibson (and Epiphone) and the other major brands all make good products if you stay away from their lowest range models.
The only way to decide which you should get is to actually go out to some stores and try a dozen or more different models from several brands.
Some may be uncomfortable to you, others may not sound right or you may simply not like the looks of them.
Same with amps. Roland, Vox, Fender, and others all produce good amps. Try different guitars on several makes and models and notice the differences.
Then try the guitars you’ve decided might be best for you on several amps you think would work for you and decide which combination is best.
Buy that, in that store, don’t do them a disservice by buying online for a few dollars less, cheating a real store out of a lot of time and resources spent on helping you.
For the guitar, get a good (preferably leather) strap. Also get a good guitar stand.
Do NOT buy starterkits of any kind. They’re rubbish.
Total budget? $1000 should do the trick for a decent guitar+amp+cable+strap+stand+picks and cleaning kit.
Anything much less is likely to disappoint you relatively quickly unless you can find something in a clearance sale that suits your tastes and is heavily discounted.
For an acoustic otoh, you’re set with a pretty nice instrument for about $600.
It’s best to go to a place like Guitar Center or Sam Ash & just start picking them off the walls & playing them. Don’t be so concerned with brand name or model like Fender Stratocaster. Find one that you find most playable & buy it, b/c other ppl’s suggestions are based on what they like, not what you like.
As for price, there are $300.00 guitars that suck & there are $1800.00 guitars that suck. There are also some for both prices that are awesome. Again, it’s what plays best for you given your hand/finger size, grip strength, dexterity, etc.
Yamaha pacifica was my first guitar. Great sound at a good price. Just make sure you really want to play guitar before buying.
Don’t listen to people telling you to get an acoustic. If you’re interested in playing electric guitar, then get one. If you get an acoustic instead you may not be as interested in playing or have as much fun, then what’s the point?
Spend as little money as possible since you are a beginner and you yourself are probably not sure how serious you want to get into this.
Expect to pay 100-300 bucks for a cheap electric guitar to get yourself started. Get something you think looks cool enough and something that will make you want to keep playing.