Electric Guitar.

[treeofwisdom7]

Well im on my way to buying a guitar. I have an old takamine but now i want something with a plug in, something i can play Hard music with. I dont want anything special just something thats reliable. My question is,

What is a decent electric guitar, and how much do they run for?

[James Boston]

This one (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/517030/)

[treeofwisdom7]

[ QUOTE ]
This one (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/517030/)

[/ QUOTE ]

gawd thats crazy. i was looking for something half that price at most

[MelchyBeau]

what type of music do you want to play. That plays a large role in what type of guitar you should get

Melch

[ptmusic]

A couple hundred bucks should do the trick, but you'll also need some more time and money to research and buy an amp, cables, strap, etc.

Go to Guitar Center with someone who REALLY knows what he's doing and take his advice. Get a good guitar, not a cheap piece of crap, and not a collector's item. Do NOT listen to the saleman (he's not necessarily lying, but he is trying to make his commission).

Go to guitar player mag's website and the musicplayer.com forum's - you'll probably find some great tips there.


Or just play the intro to Stairway to Heaven as best you can, buy three picks and call it a day!

-ptmusic

[James Boston]

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What is a decent electric guitar

[/ QUOTE ]

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i was looking for something half that price at most

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Then I'm affraid you're out of luck.

[James Boston]

[ QUOTE ]
Do NOT listen to the saleman (he's not necessarily lying, but he is trying to make his commission).


[/ QUOTE ]

I doubt that. I worked in a music shop, and had friends who worked in different music shops, and none of us ever earned commission. I don't think it's too common in that business.

[ptmusic]

The Guitar Centers near me work on commission. And I don't mean to imply that all music salesmen are lying bastards, sorry about that. But many of the salesmen at GC really are not experts in the products they sell. A buyer who is also not an expert should bring one with him.

-ptmusic

[IQ89]

Two basic things you need to check for when shopping for a guitar (especially the cheapo type you're thinking of buying).

1) Make sure the neck is straight
Hold the Guitar at This Angle (http://www.designdebris.co.uk/talman/images/neck_straight.jpg) Close one eye and sight along the fretboard edge to see if there is any bow in the neck.

2) Play every note on the guitar one-by-one on each string. Listen to make sure they don't buzz. [It's no big deal if there is a little buzzing on the thick 'E' string or 'A' string down past the 17th fret since you won't be playing there much (if at all).]

[Uston]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What is a decent electric guitar

[/ QUOTE ]

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i was looking for something half that price at most

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Then I'm affraid you're out of luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's not true. He can just buy a Gibson SG Special Faded (http://www.music123.com/Gibson-SG-Special-Faded-i73798.music) for half the price of the Les Paul.

[JaBlue]

both of these issues are fixable for cheap, but definitely not something you want to do when buying your first guitar.

(FYI)

[James Boston]

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He can just buy a Gibson SG Special Faded for half the price of the Les Paul.


[/ QUOTE ]

It's not as good of an instrument, and not what I would consider "decent."

[Voltron87]

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[ QUOTE ]
He can just buy a Gibson SG Special Faded for half the price of the Les Paul.


[/ QUOTE ]

It's not as good of an instrument, and not what I would consider "decent."

[/ QUOTE ]

im guessing your standards are different than a beginners. a beginner does not need as good a guitar as an experienced player, and it is not worth their money at that point.

[treeofwisdom7]

[ QUOTE ]
Two basic things you need to check for when shopping for a guitar (especially the cheapo type you're thinking of buying).

1) Make sure the neck is straight
Hold the Guitar at This Angle (http://www.designdebris.co.uk/talman/images/neck_straight.jpg) Close one eye and sight along the fretboard edge to see if there is any bow in the neck.

2) Play every note on the guitar one-by-one on each string. Listen to make sure they don't buzz. [It's no big deal if there is a little buzzing on the thick 'E' string or 'A' string down post the 17th fret since you won't be playing there much (if at all).]

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks for the reply its helpfull.. not sure when im gonna go out and buy my guitar but im gonna look today

[Cunning Linguist]

OP, just ask curtains. (WWCD?).

And while on this topic, i've been wanting to get myself an acoustic guitar for a while.
Is there any chance I'll find something decent for under $150?

[JMP300z]

[ QUOTE ]
OP, just ask curtains. (WWCD?).

And while on this topic, i've been wanting to get myself an acoustic guitar for a while.
Is there any chance I'll find something decent for under $150?

[/ QUOTE ]

no.

[fluxrad]

Truth be told, your amp will probably play a bigger role in the sound of your guitar than the guitar itself. Make sure to buy something decent (I prefer Marshall). You probably want no less than a 50 watt amp. Anything smaller tends to sound like [censored], no matter the brand.

As for the guitar. As others have said, it's entirely dependent on what you want to play.

Are you into blues? I like nothing better than a Les Paul (priced around $350+). Rock? Get a Fender Strat. Country (ewww), you probably want a Telecaster. Also, the Gibson SG (probably out of your price range) is an excellent smooth sounding instrument.

Personally, I think if you're just starting out or don't play all that often, I'd forget getting an electric and focus on a nice acoustic guitar (Fender and Gibson both make decent beginner models for ~$300).

[KungFuSandwich]

I got a mexican fender stratocaster (I think its a delux or something) with active pickups. Its nice and versital if you got good effects, and its center pickup sounds good through just about any amp.

Id look to see what kind of guitar the bands you want to sound like play.

[gorie]

danelectro.

[treeofwisdom7]

i have an Takamine acustic. but i really want to hit rock/punk tracks. /images/graemlins/mad.gif

[OrangeCat]

If you are on a budget, buy an Agile guitar for about $200. They make LesPaul, Strat and other copies. http://www.rondomusic.net/electricguitar-ss5.html

The guitar setup makes a huge difference. Pay a good guitar tech about $50 to level and crown frets, adjust innotation and set the truss rod. After this, the guitar will probably play as good as (if not better) than anything you will pull off the wall at guitar center. I know a lot of guys who own PRS, Suhr, Gibson and Fender who swear these Agile guitars are great.

With electric guitars, the amp means more to the sound than anything else besides the player. Get a used small Fender like Blues Jr. or Deluxe reissue. If you want good distortion sound at low volume buy a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 on ebay for about $100.

[The Goober]

If its your first electric, don't worry about spending a lot of dough and just get something that feels good to you when you play it. If you just want to crank up the distortion and bang out some power chords, pretty much anything with a straight neck will do. One thing I would recommend, though, is get something with a fixed bridge (no whammy bar) - this will make it easier to tune and keep it in tune. After you beat on this thing for a while, you'll have a better understanding of what in particular you are looking for, and then you'll probably start lusting after guitars in the $700+ range.

Likewise for the amp. A tube amp is going to give you a much better sounding distortion, but there's no shame in buying a cheap solid-state amp to start out with. One advantage to a solid-state amp is that you can usually get a full distortion sound without making it really loud. If you don't have a good practice space, you will have trouble getting a nice tube amp really heated up without really pissing off your neighbors.

[treeofwisdom7]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are on a budget, buy an Agile guitar for about $200. They make LesPaul, Strat and other copies. http://www.rondomusic.net/electricguitar-ss5.html

The guitar setup makes a huge difference. Pay a good guitar tech about $50 to level and crown frets, adjust innotation and set the truss rod. After this, the guitar will probably play as good as (if not better) than anything you will pull off the wall at guitar center. I know a lot of guys who own PRS, Suhr, Gibson and Fender who swear these Agile guitars are great.

With electric guitars, the amp means more to the sound than anything else besides the player. Get a used small Fender like Blues Jr. or Deluxe reissue. If you want good distortion sound at low volume buy a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 on ebay for about $100.

[/ QUOTE ]

%hit just canceled my credit card. you wouldnt know any good sites take neteller payments? anyway this looks like a good guitar so i'll chat with some friends about it b4 i get one thanks.

[jokerthief]

[ QUOTE ]
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This one (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/517030/)

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gawd thats crazy. i was looking for something half that price at most

[/ QUOTE ]

Go for a Fender Strat. You can find them for $400 and they're a decent guitar.

[PokerBob]

how much do you want to spend and what kind of sound do you want? I know quite a bit. pm me if you like.

2 things...buy used...buy american

[turnipmonster]

my yamaha classical cost 80 bucks, and it plays and sounds fine. played many gigs with it and no one has ever complained.

the main thing the OP should be concerned about is playability. yamaha makes pretty decent low end gear that can take a beating.

[ackid]

Go for an Ibenez RG. Its got two double coil pick up's a humbucker, and a floyd rose tremolo. Its also got a soild spruce neck, 24 frets (shark tooth inlays), Its super light and easy to play. Good for rock/metal. 200$-300$ Les pauls are expensive and heavy as [censored]. Strats are for old timers.

[manpower]

My first electric was an epiphone les paul copy. They look the same, sound good, play good and are produced in Mexico to pass the savings on to you! I payed around $450 for mine. I believe they're still pretty common and i'm sure you could find one easily.

Seriously though, BUY USED. Guitars aren't cars, they don't get worse over time, you should be able to find a real good guitar for less than half the new price if you shop around. Again, things like bowed necks and fret problems are cheap to fix.

[EliteNinja]

Jay Turser JT-200 (Les Paul copy)

I got one of these (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7336246390&category=64 403&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1) for $400 Canadian. Mine is blue with white trim.

Much better quality than Epiphone Les Paul Copies for the same price. Pickups are better than Epiphones fer sure.

[rustyboy]

I also bought used and american. A five year old telecaster for me as my second electric and it makes all my friends jealous.

[Gomez22]

If you honestly want to get a good guitat, the best thing I can say is to make sure you have plenty of time and to fiddle around with different ones in the music store.

I taught guitar for 2 years, and I currently have 4 guitars:

Aria Pro MA-30
This is my personal favorite guitar. I replaced the factory humbucker in it with a Seymor Duncan Screamin' Demon. For me, it's the most versatile guitar I've ever had and the Demon brings out some good deep tones. I hung out with George Lynch about 9 years ago, and he signed it for me, so it has sentimental value as well. For the money (cost about $850 when I got it), this is the best value guitar I have ever had or played on.

Fender American Standard Stratocaster
This was my FIRST big-name guitar. I had the single coils in it replaced with the fender lace sensor pickups and wilkinson rolling nut. Not the smoothest playing guitar I own, but it does have a nice tone and a confortable feel. For what it's worth, this would be my second favorite guitar that I own.

Ibanez RG-450
The only guitar I have with a maple neck/fingerboard. Decent feel and playability, this is the guitar I use for rock and melodies/leads. The maple fingerboard, for me, is not as nice as rosewood, but it's still decent guitar. #3 on my list of guitars I own.

Aria Pro - Fullerton Series
OK... I don't know the model # of this one, and it was given to me buy the owner of the music store I used to teach at as a "retirement gift". I used to comment that I really liked the paint job on it, so when I went to college, he gave it to me. It's not a bad guitar, and would be a great starter guitar for most people, but compared to the others that I have, it's sorta like a sears tin-can special, although it DOES have a nice sound when you wnat something a little "thin".


As I said earlier, you want to get a guitar that feels good to you... it doesn't have to be a $3000 guitar or a "big name" six-string. That's why I advise you to spend a few hours in the music store trying different guitars with different amps.

Small adjustments can be made to the playability with fret-files and the truss rod (in the neck), but make sure the following are applicable for your guitar:

1 - Check the neck for straight-ness. Look down the neck of the guitar from the head. What you DON'T wnat to see is side to side warping or bending.... a little bit of bowing isn't that bad, and can be easily fixed via the truss rod, but warping from one side to another is a big problem.

2 - Make sure you don't have buzzing at any frets. If there should be some small bit of buzzing, a fret-file can easily resolve this, but if you have buzzing acrosse multiple strings at multiple frets, this can be a more serious problem.

3 - Ask a tech in the store to "set-up" the guitar for you BEFORE you pay for it. Most places I've been in will ask you a few questions and do this for no charge when buying a new guitar, but it can take a day or three to get the guitar while this is being done. After it's set-up, make sure you still are comfortable with it's playability. DO NOT BUY FROM A MUSIC STORE THAT WILL NOT ACCOMODATE YOU IN SETTING UP A GUITAR AND MAKING SURE YOU ARE HAPPY WITH IT!

4 - When you find a guitar you think you like..... play it WITHOUT an amp. Listen to the natural tones of the guitar. This will be a better indicator of what the instrument's natural sound is like. It can also help you to better choose an amplifier.

5 - Check the thickness of the neck. The Aria Pros that I have both have low-profile necks, which are better suited for someone with smaller hands. The Ibanez has a big fat neck, and may be unwieldy for players with smaller hands (I have big hands, so no biggie for me). Make sure you can access all playing areas of the guitar easily.

Hope this helps somewhat....

'Mez

[guller]

If your thinking about getting a Fender, check out G&L. They are a little more expensive but they have much better quality, feel, and playability. You can ebay one for about $600-$1000, depending on the model.

[treeofwisdom7]

All right im going to the store to pick up a toy guitar, something cheep and something that i can throw away. In half a year i'll order a really good guitar something with balls like a studio LP.

thankx for the tips everyone.

[RunDownHouse]

Definitely buy used. If you can afford to be patient, you can pick up something really nice for really cheap through the classifieds, craig's list, etc. Again, take someone with you when you go to look at it so you don't get a piece of trash.

I got an American Strat and a 130W Peavey amp for $550 total (this was 9 years ago maybe).

[coltrane]

unquestionably, get a Fender Strat.....they have a lot of reasonably-priced entry-level models and you can't go wrong buying one......

[shakingspear]

[ QUOTE ]
OP, just ask curtains. (WWCD?).

And while on this topic, i've been wanting to get myself an acoustic guitar for a while.
Is there any chance I'll find something decent for under $150?

[/ QUOTE ]

Pawn shop, man. I got a really nice Hohner semi-acoustic for about that price. Plays beautifully.