Getting an electric guitar

[Lorian]

I'm saving up for this: http://212.135.151.17/cgi-bin/live2play.fi...3&2Dplaynow&2D2

It's £140 so it'll take me a while but my christmas money will definantly but it'll be worth it, can't wait to start learning it

[King Tutankhamun]

That looks like a neat guitar.

[Klaas]

Well if I don't recommend an Encore. You should be able to get a Squier for the same price, which is a bit better. Squier is a Fender brand, it's the budget. ones they produce in China. Look for the basic Stratocaster model.

If you can save up some more I would suggest an Epiphone. It's the budget brand of Gibson (that ranges from $150 - $1.000 for a guitar). If you have even a little more I really suggest a Mexican Fender stratocaster. You get the real Fender brand and quite a good guitar for around $350.

I would go for Fender or Squier when choosing an amplifier, they offer small ones which are quite cheap.

You should also think first of what sound you want. Which guitarists or band do you like? There's a very big difference in coils that are used. This Encore, or any other Stratocaster-like model (like Fender strat or Squier strat) use three single coils. It's a cleaner sound, guitarists like Clapton, Knopfler or Stevie Ray Vaughan play(ed) it. The other popular coil set up is two humbuckers (these are two paralel single coils), which you will find on Les Paul models (Gibson, Epiphone). It's a much fatter sound, you'll find it in hard rock bands.

But if you just tell me which guitarists you like I could find out which kind of coils they use.

The amplifier used makes also a big difference. You have analogue, tube or digital. I recommend an analogue to start with, since it's the cheapest option. Digital isn't so expensive (though you have very expensive ones too), but it would give you too many features. Tube is expensive but has a great sound and it's very loud. So if you wonder why your guitar sounds weak compared to what you hear from other bands it's usually because they use a tube amp.

[Lorian]

I love Green Day, they rock, I'll look into some of your suggustions, thanks

[Lorian]

Ok I followed your recommendations and this pack looks good: http://212.135.151.17/cgi-bin/live2play.st.../SQR&2DPACK&2D1

Alos my sister is getting me this for christmas (I can use it on my mums acoustic while I'm saving for my electric):

http://212.135.151.17/cgi-bin/live2play.st...duct/View/FLEXI

[Klaas]

The first link gives me an error.

The second one is a pick (plectrum) I suppose? Well it seems to be a sophisticated one, of more use for experienced players. I suggested you get a batch of Dunlop picks (light ones, the light-gray ones are good for beginners, if you want a heavier take a dark-gray one), they are a lot cheaper.

Here's the page with them: http://212.135.151.17/cgi-bin/live2play.st...ct/View/44R&2D1

.60 and .73 seems to be the good ones.

Oh and don't buy Fender plectrums. Maybe it's because I've got an aggressive playing style, but I play such a pic to dust (literally) in only a week. They're made of hard plastic I think, which makes them quite useless. The Dunlop plectrums are in nylon, which makes them more flexible.

Edit: I now realise I once played with a Dava plectrum. Yes, they are very good, though a bit hard for a beginner.

Oh and the guitarist of Greenday plays a stratocaster, so if you choose the Squier strat or even the Encore one you're fine.

[Lorian]

Hmm, well look for "Fender Squier Strat Pack" on the site. I'm going to the music shop tomorrow anyway so I might aswell get a cheap pick there.

[Klaas]

Oh, yep the Squier strat pack sounds fine. I also started out with a squier strat, nice guitars

Oh you already get picks with the squier strat pack, though I fear those will be Fender picks :/

Here's a picture of my guitar, a Fender Jazzmaster The Ventures limited edition (made in Japan):

http://www.surfmusic.be/fenderjazzmaster.jpg

If you ever want to get a better quality guitar get one of these or a Fender Jaguar, they play extremely comfortable.

[Quacker]

Well, at least now i know about what brand of elec. guitar to get if i actually do get one.

What about electric bass guitars? Any good budget ones?

[Lorian]

Oh, yep the Squier strat pack sounds fine. I also started out with a squier strat, nice guitars

Oh you already get picks with the squier strat pack, though I fear those will be Fender picks :/

Here's a picture of my guitar, a Fender Jazzmaster The Ventures limited edition (made in Japan):

http://www.surfmusic.be/fenderjazzmaster.jpg

If you ever want to get a better quality guitar get one of these or a Fender Jaguar, they play extremely comfortable.

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Nice guitar!

[Klaas]

Thanks Lorian

@Jordan

Well I'm no expert in that field but I guess a squier precision bass or jazz bass will do. The Fender eqiuvalents are much better of course, but they are very expensive :/

[Centurion_13]

Ill keep this thread in mind next if I ever get an electric guitar

[Enarwaen]

nice guitar there Klaas!

i do have an old Fender Jag (basically it's a vintage '65 IIRC) i bought in '92 when i was in California (blame John Fruscinante / Red Hot Chili Peppers ) - mine is black/brown and sunburst - but it'd need some fixing up before becoming active again (pickups, bridge, tuning machines ...)

[Klaas]

Wow, your guitar is worth a fortune these days Bernd!

[Centurion_13]

wow thats one nice guitar there bernd.

[Enarwaen]

thanks guys ... and i know it's pretty rare - but i don't know HOW rare ... but it also cost me around USD 900,- back then

[Klaas]

Well a music shop here was selling one for around €4000

[Enarwaen]

really? well that one was probably in mint condition ... mine is a bit errm used ... but still!

[Klaas]

Well they weren't in mint condition, but probably better than yours. But I bet yours would still be worth between 2000 and 3000, of course depends on who would buy it. There's currently a whole retro rage in the alternative and rock music scene, so these guitars are in great demand.

But a new Jaguar or Jazzmaster (made in USA) is also very expensive, I believe around €2000 in Belgium.

[Uppy]

Java3 aka Ruthie has an electric guitar that is matalic blue and loves it. I would love to learn to play the electric guitar.

[Jeru]

This thread is right up my alley... I was just about to start a thread about electric guitars. Thanks, Lorian, Klaas and everybody else who participated! I learned a lot.

I've been wanting to play a musical instrument since my early childhood, but I never really got around to nagging my parents very seriously about it. I've always had a musical talent, but so far it's really only manifested itself by singing at a school choir in 3rd grade and being able to remember entire songs in my head.

My brother and I were contemplating whether to buy a classical acoustic guitar, an acoustic guitar or an electric guitar. Our main concerns are the learning curve, the sound quality, the kind of music that can be played, the portability and whether the volume can be lowered (so as to minimize the disturbance to other people in the house while practising, namely my mom, who would have a fit).

- Classical: My brother got a dirt cheap one when he was in college and he said he got sick of it very soon. Nylon strings mean the sound leaves a lot to be desired, and we read an article that recommends classical guitars only for those interested in playing classical music. So that is pretty much out the window, at least for now.

- Acoustic vs. Electric: A while ago I was actually considering buying a good acoustic guitar. I like the acoustic sound, and there are a few good acoustic songs I'd like to play. The main advantage of an acoustic guitar is that you don't need to use an amplifier for it, so it's more portable and I could take it to social engatherings, the army base I'll serve at or whatever. While the electric guitar is less portable, the main pluses are the (allegedly) lower learning curve and the option to connect headphones to the amplifier. Plus, I pretty much grew up on electric guitar music (U2, Metallica, The Eagles and more)... While Metallica Unplugged is one of my favorite albums, I'd really love to be able to play along with some of my favorite songs.

But if you just tell me which guitarists you like I could find out which kind of coils they use.

What does The Edge from U2 use? Joe Walsh from The Eagles (or whoever the lead guitarist in "Hotel California" is)?

[Klaas]

The Edge plays all the popular ones: Les Paul, Stratocaster and Telecaster. But I think his sound is made by the effects he uses, mainly delay.

The Eagles are real Gibson players, so a Les Paul will do fine. The thing is that Les Paul guitars are expensive, The Gibson ones start from $1000, the Epiphones around $300. There are alternatives like the Les Paul copies from Encore, but I can't garantuee you any quality in that case

Which type of guitar you choose really depends on what you like to play:

- nylon stringed acoustics: Good for classical music or flamenco. They are the hardest to play imo since the neck is quite wide. If you ever want to learn that it's required to know music notation and theory and you will lickely need a teacher. Many flamenco musicians don't know any theory though, but these are usually naturaly talented people . You also play these with your finger nails, not a plectrum.

They are they easiest to carry with you, small and light. They are also the cheapest guitars you can find, though the professional models can of course be very expensive.

- acoustic/folk/archtop guitars are good for folk music or jazz à la Django Reinhardt (Gipsy Jazz), or acoustic/unplugged rock music. Also harder to play than an electric, but easier to carry with you. You also have electro-acoustic guitars. They have a special element and an output so you can connect it with an amplifier to have a louder sound. I don't encourage you to get one like that though, only suitable for musicians who play on concerts and who have enough dough to get a quality electro-acoustic (the cheap ones are crap usually).

- electric guitars are the easiest to play (well except if you get a really bad one). The neck is quite thin and they usually have a curved body. If you get a mediocre one they can also be adjusted to various types of strings. For example if you put thick strings on them you can adjust the tension of the neck and the bridges. You can even adjust they height between the neck and the strings. The negative side is that you need an amplifier and that the guitar is quite heavy (it's a full piece of wood as opposed to the hollow cases of acoustics). There are however very small (10-15 watt) amps, and even mini amps (5-10W), the size of a cigarette pack.

There are also semi-acoustic guitars. These are usual electric guitars but with a hollow body. They are usually used for jazz, blues and rockabilly (Brian Setzer). You won't find these for a cheap price though, starts at $300 and a decent one will cost between $600 and $2000.

For some cheap brands:

http://www.squierguitars.com/ (good for beginners, Fender budget brand)

http://www.gretschguitars.com/ (good if you want les paul style guitars, also a Fender brand)

http://www.epiphone.com/ (good for beginners, many Les Paul styles, and also acoustics, a Gibson budget brand)

[Titus Ultor]

I got a "Kramer Focus" electric with a crappy amp for about two hundred dollars. It works fine.

With electrics, a great deal of your sound quality will come from your strings, amp, cables, and effectmajjigers. Most of an electric guitar is just a conduit for sound to travel from your strings.

[Klaas]

Yep, strings are very important. These is the bad side imo, since if you always want a good sound, expect to put down a lot of money for strings. After two weeks your strings will loose their fresh sound, so if you care about that you'll have to buy new ones. I'm using D'addarios, special flat wound ones, which cost here around €15 for one pack (that's 6 strings).

I recommend D'addorio normal wound light gauge. They're a bit more expensive than other brands, but it's worth it. Don't get heavy gauge strings or flat wounds unless you need it. These are good for jazz or surf music, but not for rock or blues. The heavier the gauge, the harder to play them, because they are much harder to push and bend.

For cables I recommend a short one. The shorter, the better the quality. Of course there are long cables of good quality, but they are much more expensive.

The only effect you need as a beginner is distortion. You already have it on most amps anyway, but a single distortion unit is much better. If you want to experiment with more effects I suggest a digital effect unit. There are cheap ones available such as the Zoom 505 ($50-$100) which includes 30 different effects IIRC.

For the best quality you should go for analogue effect units. The best brand imo is Electro Harmonix, but the traditional rock player usually goes for a Boss analogue unit. These are more expensive though, you'll pay $35-$200 for only one effect.

Another option is buying an amplifier with a digital effect unit built into it. Fender has such an amp, but it's very expensive ($2000 I think). Line6 is the brand to go for in this case; they are the pioneers in mass producing such amps and they offer cheap models too.

[rohirwine]

Well, at least now i know about what brand of elec. guitar to get if i actually do get one. 

What about electric bass guitars?  Any good budget ones?

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Well, someone prefers the Gibson Les Paul, as rock electric guitar.

When i used to play i had an Ibanez Artstar 400, a jazzy guitar wich left itself to be rocked quite a bit (with a valve Marshall). Usually, with good amplification and effects, you can get good sounds even from a broomstick with phone cable strapped upon it...

Lately i preferred to play acoustic (even if amplified) with D'addario acoustic strings: they are great! Talking about acoustic guitars in general i won't suggest to go on savings: sustain and natural volume are essential (even if amplified): better postpone the expense and save some money to buy a better guitar, than waste it on a birch log barely planed off...

...in the acoustic field good brands are Washburn, Martin, Ovation (i love those ones), some models of the Ibanez (cheaper) and Fender. They all cost like diamonds, so better practice with cheaper electric ones before spending more than what you needed... (as Klaasy wisdomely suggested)

As top acoustic amplification i heard that Trace-Acoustic are great amplifiers, but never had the chance to try one... (man: they cost a lot!)

For beginners i suggest to buy a cheap classic guitar, though. I began over a Sakura 100. And yes, even if i began studying classic guitar, i soon found out you could play a bit of folk-rock-jazz-blues with a classic guitar too, just do not expect to sound like Mark Knopfler or The Edge.

Why classic guitar? Because it has a decent volume, strings are soft (excellent strings are the Augustine, Bleu kind)and don't tear your fingers over what you can bear, most of all they can be very cheap: you won't regret too much after a spark of a campfire will brand some exhotic sketch over the top of it. With time you can decide wich kind of guitar is best suited to your style, phisical build (little or big hands...) and your wallet (the most important aspect of the deal... )