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For ypur first electric i would say buy a good brand name, tbe best you can afford…. The Fe.nder Strat USa made is great but their Made in Mexico model is virtually the same for half the price, abot 500 bucks. Most Epiphones like their LesPaul or es335 Studio are very good for the price too. If you can manage the cost you could go for a genuine Gibson SG, Les Paul studio. You’d never regret it learning on a quality instrument that you could play and enjoy for life..For an amp check out Fender Mustang or GDec .
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At the risk of over replying, I waffled about buying the higher priced quality instrument, but now I dont reget it at all… I really look forward to learning, playing and practising with it every chance I get. It’s my most prized possession. It is much easier to play than the :cheapy’s and definately sounds better! (better pickups, tone, set up ) In cas you are considering a less expensive “starter guitar” you could check out Guitar Player magazine this month (January). They have reviews on 8 models as Best Buys Under $300!
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I think my american deluxe strat was 1500 ,an american standard i think you have enough for now
or an american standard telecaster. I want a telecaster in a bad way :grrr:
the way I looked at it was strats are good for blues or country or rock. I got the HSS so I would have the hummbucker
it comes down to what you want. if you look at the people who play strats, from Jimi hendrix,Eric clapton,SRV,Jeff Beck,
the list goes on and on. All very different except the strat. so you can get a wide range of different sounds from a strat
anyway that was the way I dicided what to get, I did waver over a standard or the deluxe, but I thought what the heck :cheese:
my 1st real nice guitar. good luck and let us know what you get and of course we WILL want pictures -
Knowing your price range helps alot. I’d have to second the vote from Deluxe Strat about the American made Strat or Tele Standard. Very good value around $1000 bucks. I would like to suggest also the Gibson SG Standard with p90 pickups, a superb guitar at amazing price $1050 in my local shop… (If you wanna wait and save up a bit more, you could really up it to a Genuie Gibson Les Paul Standard starting around $1800 bucks and up;)
For $1200 bucks you could walk out now with these great guitars AND a practise amp like a Fender Mustang (I think there are 3 models varies with the wattage, and features) or maybe a Fender GDEC 15amp (fantastic variety of sounds all in one modelling amp) for around $125 bucks. By the way, theses quality guitars tend to hold their value and acutally get more valuable over time, whereas the cheapy ones become just cheaper used ones. Not to mention your buddies will say Wow you got a Gibson (or Fender)!
It sounds like you wanna get started now, SO GO FOR IT! Good luck and Happy Tunes! -
A Fender Stratocaster. Get the best one you can for that $1,200.00. And if you wait Fender has Instant Rebate Events through the year. The better model Strat the more the Rebate. You’d get the top amount off they offer — which amount I can’t recall right now. But that Rebate increases your buying power.
Good luck in deciding, but I’d stick to a Strat. They seem to work fine for Eric Clapton :coolsmile:
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Gibsons are nice but I think pricey I do have a friends Epiphone SG at my house right now and I do have an Epiphone les paul
go to the store and play them, to me it seems the gibsons have a fatter neck and dont feel as comfortable to me. the fenders are thinner and feel better to me. but to you it might be the other way around. the sounds are different too, I prefer the maple fret boards, does gibson offer them? im not sure
either one would be nice guitars and hold thier value and give you years of playing -
I’d agree many of the Gibson models are quite pricey, but the quality is idefinately superb. My Es335 (like Brians ) is hand made by a hand full of craftsmen who have been building these beauties for many years, and that doesnt come cheap. I did motice that this year Gibson ia putting out some llowrr priced Les Pul models in celebration of th 50th anniversary. As for the SG I ve tried the Koean built Epi vs the USA model…no contest …. the Gibson SG is way betterand an excellent buy .. I dont know of any Gibson model with a maple fretboard..Personally I love the neck shape (1963 re issue on my 335) prefer rosewood or ebony f board….A question of preference I guess.
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@Neiles335 wrote:
What, no Gibson fans in the house? 🙂
Sure I like ’em. Their semi-hollow body models are great for Blues. Ditto for the Epi models.
But if you’re going for your first electric guitar the Fender Strat covers everything from Blues, Country, and to Rock — except maybe for Jazz :coolsmile:And with a Strat you can choose to ‘Whammy’ or ‘Not Whammy’. Can’t do that with an LP or SG, it’s ‘Hardtail’ all the way.
[ I wouldn’t pick a Tele — or a Fender Jaguar like mine — for a ‘first electric’ either ] -
Ok guys.. I agree the American Strat is a great choice for a quality first guitar… Just a matter of taste imho.
While we’ve been having this debate, I wonder what Muiread (the original poster of this thread) thinks? Hey Muiread let us know if you decided or bought one!BTW MIkeG I noticed you have a 4) Fender Blacktop Jag HH.in Silver I gather this is a newer one HH? How much different is this from a Jazzmaster? I’ve look at them on line, kinda cool… different but cool What are your thoughts/impressions?
:coolhmm:
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I wish I had $1200 to spend for guitars. But, I wouldn’t drop it all on one guitar. I’m kind of cheap! I’d probably buy a used in mint condition Fender MIM Strat (I have one if these). Then depending on how much that cost me (but I would try to keep it at or under $300), I’d look around for a mint condition Fender MIM Telecaster, (again trying to stay within a $300 budget). Then I would get online and head over to Rondo music and pick out an Agile Les Paul copy (I have the $225 ak2000, great sounding/playing guitar). With what I have left I’d pick up a effects looper pedal, no need to even have ab amp with one of these, and there are several available that are outstanding for under $300.
I have nothing against Gibson, American made Fenders or any other high dollar guitar. Like I said, I’m cheap, and if I can get an awesome sounding, easy playing beautiful guitar for less, I’m going to take advantage of it. But, it’s your money and your decision. Whatever you decide on will be right for you, because you made the decision.
Be sure to post up some pics -
Sorry for taking so long to get back to ye but I’m afraid I am going to have to agree with Neiles335, I am also a Gibson fan!
I’ve decided to wait and get a Les Paul! I prefer it to the Fender strat. I’ve played both in local guitar shops but for me the Les Paul is the clear winner.. That’s just my opinion of course!
And luch_handt I agree it is a lot of money for one guitar and understand where you are coming from but I have been saving specifically for a guitar and although cheaper guitars can sound extremely good I want something which will almost be a symbol of how hard I worked to raise the money for my dream guitar which is the Gibson Les Paul and something which I will have for a lifetime!Thanks for the help everybody! 🙂
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Congrats on your decision Muiread! I felt exactly the same way. I saved up for about 3 yrs for my “dream guitar” (guess which one 🙂 and am really enjoying it as I think you will too. Now, the bigger decision…which Les Paul model to get? The Standard, the Custom? One of the new models with coil splitting humbuckers, mini e-tune robot tuning? Gold top, plain top, flame top, finish etc. etc. etc.! The fun begins!
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I went to my local music store when I bought my first guitar, I looked at the real cheapies and nearly bought one for $149, I thought it would be great just to learn my chords and get my fingers moving around on the fret board, on my way to the cashier I noticed a stand with several used guitars, I ended up buying a mex fender strat with a mustang 1 amp, the guitar cost me $279 fully reconditioned (new price $449) so it was a far better deal in this case to get the used one and have a nice sounding guitar that will last me a long time, rather than buying a new cheap one that would have needed replacing down the road, assuming of course that the cheap guitar didn’t put me off learning all together.
Terry.
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I agree with most of the other people, get the best thing you can afford. The better guitar will make playing easier and overall more enjoyable. It doesn’t really matter which brand, I own a Gibson and a fender plus a Taylor t5. All rather high end types but I’ve been fortune to be able to afford them and found good deals as well. Find something that fits and sounds good to you, I believe that’s what really matters.
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@Muiread wrote:
Hey, I’ve been playing acoustic guitar for a while and have decided to progress to electric. Has anybody got any good recommendations on guitars, for playing blues?
Thanks.Depends on how you play…fingerstyle or flatpick.
The Gibson ES 335 is sort of the gold standard for electric blues, but it’s out of your price range…and if you play fingerstyle it’s not really well suited to that. (string spacing)
On the other hand, a Les Paul works well for both styles. I have one that I have strung with 11’s that I can use for fingerstyle or playing with a flatpick. The heavier strings let me play harder with my fingers but still bend without too much added effort. I think, too, the string spacing might be a tad wider than on a Strat or Tele.
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As a newbie here, I’m just reading some of these older posts and thought I’d contribute to this one…back in 2009 I bought my first 5 string banjo (a cheap Ozark)…I took to the banjo playing style very quickly, and within a few weeks I was finding the banjo more and more difficult to play as my playing progressed…slides were ‘sticky’ and as I learned more complex pieces I realised just how ‘tinny’ the sound was. After just 6 weeks I sat down in my local music shop and picked up a Gold Tone OB250, (all 14lbs of it!) and my fingers just glided over the frets, it felt as though it had been custom made just for me. I had always believed, at least in part, that ‘a bad workman always blames his tools’ but after this experience I’d always suggest to anyone learning anything, to buy the absolute best you can afford. If, as in my case, you’re new to something, try to borrow a better quality model and see how you take to it first. If I’d been able to borrow a banjo then I wouldn’t have wasted, let’s see, I’m in the UK so in USD it would have been about $320.00 for a ‘cheap’ banjo which I only had for 6 weeks.
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** I had always believed, at least in part, that ‘a bad workman always blames his tools’ but after this experience I’d always suggest to anyone learning anything, to buy the absolute best you can afford .~~~ Arty71
I couldn’t agree more. In this day of cheap imitations, one must be cautious because all are not created equal when we are talking of stringed instruments.
I have a PRS copy, its a good guitar with a great neck and overall workmanship …..but it isn’t a PRS. My neighbor bought a Strat copy made by Cozart and it was a huge waste. He ended up using the pots and pickups for other projects but the neck and the body was one of the worst examples of quality that I’ve seen.
Save your nickels and dimes and follow Arty71’s advice – wait until you buy the absolute best you can afford
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I wonder what ever happened to the op of this thread, he never did post up his choice in purchase along with any pics.
I somewhat agree and disagree with some of the comments on lesser expensive guitars. There are good and sometimes great copies out there of les Paul as well as strats and teles. I think a lot of it is in the players experience. I’ve witnessed someone take crappy cheap guitars, pick them up and just make them sing. And I think that if a person has the money to spend on an expensive guitar, then by all means go for it. But, not everyone has the means to purchase a Gibson, fender, or even an epiphone and end up with a lesser guitar, but can still learn and play it. There are fantastic guitars available for around $200 US dollars.
I said before, I purchased an Agile al2000 Les Paul copy from Rondo Music for $225 + shipping. That model guitar and the more expensive ones are reviewed as better than epiphone, and some as good as Gibson. And these guitars come out of Korea.
So I say, if you have a limited budget and want to transition from acoustic to electric, or maybe you have never played and want to learn, don’t be afraid to make a purchase on a lower end guitar. Just do the research on what’s available and go from there.
And, no matter what you choose to do, be serious about your playing and you can evolve into one that picks up that crappy guitar, and makes it sing. -
My post was more in relation to my banjo experience, I know there are many decent cheaper guitars out there…my Martin (although still expensive) is a Mexican built one, and it has a nicer tone and feels nicer to play than some of the American Martin’s I’ve tried which cost 3 or 4 times as much. I tried about 12 in the shop when I bought it before settling on it. It came down to a choice between 2 similar Mexican builds, and in the end I sat them both in front of me on the stands and played the open strings so that I was hearing them as someone else would, and one was just much sweeter in tone than the other…didn’t have to think about it any more than that.
Reading how much you pay for your guitars in the US, it’s brought home to me once again just how much we get ripped off by our government in the UK. $200 is approx £130 and wouldn’t buy you much over here in the electric guitar department, the most basic starter Strat copy thrown together in China. That said, I’m sure there are many who could make it sing too, but it wouldn’t be for long as the build quality wouldn’t be up to much and the electronics would likely develop faults quite quickly too.
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I know what u mean Arty…In Canada we often pay significantly more for USA made products than Americans do even though our money( dollar )is about par! Plus we pay 13% g.s.t. tax on top. I even had to pay more for a Canadian made Godin guitar ( thats made about 250 miles away from where i live)than Americans do for the exact same model! (about 20% more).
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What is your g.s.t. Neiles335..?
Is that the same as our VAT or Value Added Tax which must be paid on all non essential and luxury items in the UK..?
If it is then ours is at 20%
I bought my Turner Model 1 last year, had to pay 2.7% import duty, then 20% VAT…they don’t exactly do much to encourage trade in these difficult times, but I guess that would be a topic for the “Discuss Anything” Forum lol
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Arty
Yes this is the same sort of tax. Some provinces Have a GST and PST. Goods and services Tax and Provincial Sales Tax. Others Have HST Harmonized Sales Tax which is just the combination of federal and provincial taxes. Only one province here has just GST, Alberta where the provincail tax is 0, lots of oil LOL.This topic is always interesting! Canada is an exporter of oil but it’s more expensive here than the countrys we sell to.
Gas prices here in Vancouver are about $1.40 per liter or about $5.38 a US gallon. I think yours are about 25% higher. Many here drive across the border to USA to purchase gas (as well as other products) where we pay about $3.60 a US gallon. American political rhetoric would say thier economy would collapse at anything close to our rates of taxation.
We can buy USA made products under the Fair Trade Agreement with no additional tax’s. A US Strat is tax free but a Korean Strat we would pay an additional tax on upon returning to Canada.Gordo
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That is shocking Gordo…we pay the equivalent of 2.21 CAD per litre, or 2.15 USD per litre…
That would make a US gallon (3.79 litres) the equivalent of $8.15 and a British or European gallon (4.55 litres) $9.78. I wish I had your prices, but ours just keep going up, and I believe around 85% of it is tax.
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@luther paul wrote:
1200……….
I’d be in strat heaven and it sure would not smell like sweet and sour chicken…..
I have just added a real beauty to my collection – American Deluxe Strat SSS, MN, Alder body with natural stain – it sounds amazing with the S1 switch and the satin finished fingerboard feels amazing!
Really fat sound for single coils – and re-stringing takes a few minutes with the locking tuners – I’m blown away!
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