im going to buy an electric guitar soon (my very first)
i've had acoustic lessons for about a year now and i plan to teach myself the electric guitar and was wondering what i should look for when buying one.
i may buy second hand but im not sure... is that a good option?
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Second hand is fine, but you have to make sure that there is no damage to the guitar. Body damage isn't much of a problem, but any damage to:
1. The tuning knobs
2. The neck/fingerboard
3. The base of the neck (Where it connects to the body)
4. A warp in the neck
Means "Don't buy me".
Same thing goes with new guitars.
Best suggestion I can give you is to go down to the local store, ask to see beginner guitars, and play some of them on a few amps. Find one that has a good mix between tone/sound and price. Looks are secondary :P Doesn't matter what the guitar looks like, girls will still dig it.
__________________ In Flanders fields the poppies grow - Between the crosses, row on row, - That mark our place, and in the sky, - The larks, still bravely singing, fly, - Scarce heard amid the guns below. ~John McCrae
I agree with the other posts here, but one thing I would add is buy a cheap guitar.
This is your first one and you really don't have the experience yet to know what you really want in a guitar so don't blow a lot of money.
Your next guitar after this one will be more important because by then you will have the experience and knowledge that will point you in the right direction.
And as an old friend told me when I first started playing, "Don't worry about getting a good guitar yet. If you can learn to sound good playing on a piece of crap then imagine what you'll sound like when you do get a good guitar."
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- Wisdom is the knowledge of how much you don't know.
I agree with Hauptman, but don't buy a dog of a guitar- you want something reasonably well made, that stays in tune and has a playable action.
Honestly, buy a squire- they are very playable, well made, they are not expensive, the amps they come with sound decent, they are perfectly acceptable intitial gigging guitars if and when you join a band. Plus, they suit pretty much any style of music- from jazz to metal.
Plus, they are very sellable if you decide to give up!
But the point Hauptman has is very valid- the first guitar I brought (15 years ago) cost me £50. Two years later I knew what I wanted and brought a £600 guitar- they remain the only two electric guitars I have ever owned (and I have gigged regularly).
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots"
Doesn't matter what the guitar looks like, girls will still dig it.
i AM a girl...
about the other posts. i am probably going to buy a cheapish guitar as i havent got a lot saved up.
anyone know how much a fender squire costs in New Zealand?
i am probably going to go for a starter pack that the rock shop offers. it has a guitar(not sure what type), a stand and some of the other little necessities.
anyone got any tips about the picks because my acoustic guitar teacher doesn't teach us to use picks.
__________________
Was that an earthquake or did I just rock your world?
about the other posts. i am probably going to buy a cheapish guitar as i havent got a lot saved up.
anyone know how much a fender squire costs in New Zealand?
i am probably going to go for a starter pack that the rock shop offers. it has a guitar(not sure what type), a stand and some of the other little necessities.
anyone got any tips about the picks because my acoustic guitar teacher doesn't teach us to use picks.
No idea re.cost.
I think that your choice of picks is the least of your worries, but to put it very simply, don't get one too thin (which will offer little control for picking and are only good for strumming) or too thick (which are no good for strumming).
I'd go for a nylon medium- something between 0.75 and 1mm (if we are getting geeky, I'd say 0.88 jim dunlop).
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots"
If you are into music, get past the cosmetics. You want it to be playable. That is to say string action (height) pitch (fret position) and the sting band (spacing between strings at the nut and bridge) should work well for your hand.
Check out the neck. Just check fret each string at every position one by one. You should not require much pressure to make it sound, nor should the height of the string over the fret be excessive. Check out the action on a really top of the line --les paul studio for example for reference. There is no reason even the cheapest guitar should have a significantly worse action. No string in any fret position should buzz on another fret if the neck is set up well. A lot of cheap necks are twisted and there are some ranges that buzz like crazy and won't get better. There are also some that have excellent necks.
Finally check the accuracy of the tone. Sound the octave harmonics---just light pressure without fretting to get the octave( you know how to do this right?) then fret the octave. Did the pitch change? It shouldn't. If it does the frets are out of place any you will always be out of tune somewhere. Sometimes you can fine tune the bridge (there are screws for that), sometimes you can't fix it. You can check other harmonics against other frets. No space or time here...look those up.
The pickups can always be changed later.....
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"a braggart, a rogue, a villaine that fights by the book of arithmatick. Why the dev'l came you betweene us?.."
It's her first guitar, you really think she knows how to do octave harmonics? I've been playing for 4 years and just learning them... on bass, anyway. It's really an electric guitar thing, after all...
Quote:
i AM a girl...
What I said still applies :P
But I also agree with most the stuff said here. Go for 10 gauge strings, low action, nice straight neck, medium thick pick. Hold the pick between your thumb and index finger.
P.s. I said something wrong earlier. If you're really looking to compare tones, make sure you
A. Tune each guitar prior to testing
B. Play each guitar on the same amp, with the same settings. Note that some guitars will simply sound better with certain makes/models of amp. You can try a couple different amps, but make sure you're comparing AMP1 Guitar1 to Amp1 guitar2, and amp2 guitar 1 to amp2 guitar2
__________________ In Flanders fields the poppies grow - Between the crosses, row on row, - That mark our place, and in the sky, - The larks, still bravely singing, fly, - Scarce heard amid the guns below. ~John McCrae
Craigslist is your answer. Plain and simple. Especially if you have no money. Buy an IBANEZ with 24 frets and a Floyd. Simple to tune and it stays in tune due to locking nut. If you are a beginner you can put a block of wood behind the floyd trem block to increase sustain and tuning stability. It wont allow you to use the trem but you still have the coolness factor without the trem confusing you just yet.
The other option is to build your own guitar. I have built over 40 guitars in my life and am entirely self taught. I didnt have youtube showing me anything at the time. Just 1 book. Now youtube can show you every aspect and from every angle. It's great and I learn alot even today.
Guitar building is very simple and can be done entirely with hand tools except for the fretboard... which requires about $100.00 in specialized hand tools like a fret saw. See stewmac.com for details.
You dont have to worry about anything when building. its so easy. I built my first playable one at 14 or so with nearly no tools and just a little time in a HS wood shop.
Personally I'd go with Craigslist for your first guitar and investigate building your own. Look at Les Paul, Brian May(Queen) Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, etc all had a hand in the building, parts assembling of a guitar. Different guitars have a way of influencing your play.
if you are a girl and you have slight bone structure or smallish hands you might want to investigate a shorter scale. Nearly ALL guitars are 25.5 inches in scale length. Makes for difficulty in chording at the lower frets. Brian May from Queen uses a 24 inch scale. Ted Nugent uses a 23.75 inch scale (Gibson Byrdland). The shorter scale makes for sweeter sounding notes and MUCH easier chording and bending for more soulful playing.
Just some thoughts but Craigslist if probably still your best bet.
I have a Jagstang and a Gibson SG. There used to be some decent SG copies out there. I think Epiphone makes a bunch now, but I haven't tried these. My recommendation in this price range is to make sure you get a chance to try it out. If they have multiple of the same guitar, try all of them. You will likely find one superior to the others in both playability and sound. There is more a variance in quality from guitar to guitar in this range.
__________________ Whatever doesn't kill you, is gonna leave a scar...
i wasn't planning to. believe me
me + building things = BIG explosion
although thanks for the tips to FF. i might try it when i trust myself.
i'll look into the fender squeir (is that how you spell it?)
Fender Squier (don't worry, I had spelt it wrong myself).
The strats and teles are both good.
BTW- I know that N-Z has a relatively small population but I just looked on its ebay site and there appears to be 3 electric guitars for sale! There are literally thousands on the UK one.
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"There are no stupid questions, but there are a LOT of inquisitive idiots"
do you think music shops will also sell Fender Squiers?
just wondering. how do you tune a guitar. I've never been taught it. any videos or something?
i'm also really double jointed and i have difficulty forming some of the bar chords on my acoustic and sometimes my lower arm muscles end up getting really bunched up and sore. does anyone else have the same problem?
__________________
Was that an earthquake or did I just rock your world?
Last edited by UnidentifiedFencerOnline; 10-09-2009 at 11:00 PM..
do you think music shops will also sell Fender Squiers?
just wondering. how do you tune a guitar. I've never been taught it. any videos or something?
i'm also really double jointed and i have difficulty forming some of the bar chords on my acoustic and sometimes my lower arm muscles end up getting really bunched up and sore. does anyone else have the same problem?
You REALLY REALLY DON't want a Fender anything let alone a Squire. The smaller frets on a Squire are horrible sounding and difficult to finger properly.
There's a reason that nearly every modern guitarist uses super jumbo or jumbo frets. They sound. work and feel better.
Also Fender Squires sound horribly thin and tinny. I like single coils but those are cheap sucky ones.
Get an Ibanez RG. Another guitar in your price point is Washburn's Nuno, non extended cutaway guitar. About $200.00 or so. Sounds great and is versatile for a wide range of styles.
You definitely should look around- Yamaha Pacifica is another really good beginners guitar (it's actually probably better than the squier, and has a humbucker pick up- but it's a bit more expensive and the packages are not as good). You can also get squiers with humbuckers (that's a double pick up as oppose to a single coil).
Possibly an Ibanez- they do some good jumpstart packages.
But squier packages often come out on top in the guitar magazine and website recommendations. And I would buy a guitar+amp+lead+strap package as they really are the best value (and the fender amps are better than the Ibanez).
I totally disagree with FF- he is talking rubbish about most guitarists using jumbo frets and nor does the squier have tiny ones. The Washburn he recommends is about US$ 500-700. Unless he means the cheapo N1- which is a hunk of crap.
You definitely should look around- Yamaha Pacifica is another really good beginners guitar (it's actually probably better than the squier, and has a humbucker pick up- but it's a bit more expensive and the packages are not as good). You can also get squiers with humbuckers (that's a double pick up as oppose to a single coil).
Possibly an Ibanez- they do some good jumpstart packages.
But squier packages often come out on top in the guitar magazine and website recommendations. And I would buy a guitar+amp+lead+strap package as they really are the best value (and the fender amps are better than the Ibanez).
I totally disagree with FF- he is talking rubbish about most guitarists using jumbo frets and nor does the squier have tiny ones. The Washburn he recommends is about US$ 500-700. Unless he means the cheapo N1- which is a hunk of crap.
In fact, I would use this to check out all the guitars in your price range.
yet another subject you seem to know so little about but post a lot on. It was the N1 and it has Lawrence pickups and a seymour duncan so those squire pickups don't hold a candle.
/
Also yes, most famous guitarists in magazines today use Ibanez/Schecter/BCRich and others. Most custom maker also use Jumbo frets which just sound better because there is more mass.
Finally squires are just poorly made instruments. Pickups are mounted to the pickguard for crappy tone. Tremelo isnt worth a @@@@
If she wants to look like she cant play and a complete amateur then fine. Buy a squire.
It's a first guitar. It doesn't need to be akin to the axe of a rock god just yet. I understand the school of thought that you should get a good instrument right away to ease the learning process - but it really just isn't practical. At that stage most people aren't really willing to drop that kind of cash, and a newbie doesn't know what they yet like in a guitar anyway, or how to tell a good guitar. There are $700 pieces of crap out there, too.
I'd second the recommendation for Squire. They're cheap, and while it certainly isn't the axe of a rock god, they are very playable, and they sound nice. I would hazard a guess it's probably one of the best-selling "first guitars".
Regarding tuning: In all things guitar, youtube is your friend . There is a plethora of information there.
I would recommend getting an electronic tuner. You should definitely learn to tune the guitar yourself, but as a newbie, sitting and tuning for an hour can kill the fun of learning.
Alternatively, if that isn't an option, Google "Guitar Guru". Download that program. It's free. It will show the neck of the guitar, and with the click of a mouse it will continually play one string so you can tune your guitar to match (remember that you generally should be tuning "up". Start lower and tune your guitar up until it matches. It's easier on the instrument.). You may also find this program useful for learning songs, as it displays what frets and strings to play right on screen on the virtual neck (note that you do have to pay to download songs).
You could also use a pitch pipe or a tuning fork, but I prefer Guitar Guru or some other online guitar tuner.
As a disclaimer, I myself do not play much guitar. I now play mandolin. But I did start with guitar, and these are things I found useful. YMMV.
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"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it."
Last edited by I_luv_saber; 10-12-2009 at 05:13 AM..
. There is a plethora of information there.
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