Advice for beginners on choosing a guitar.

[Glassy]

Yeah, when practicing sweeping you have to go with a clean distortion.

And, now I'm wondering just what the heck I meant by "clean distortion"..........

[Franky G-String]

Yeah, when practicing sweeping you have to go with a clean distortion.

And, now I'm wondering just what the heck I meant by "clean distortion"..........

I would say distortion without any extra fizzle, no more than you would need for a good crunch when you hit a chord hard.  Not enough to induce feedback for sure.  That helps keep the notes from bleeding together.  More on the side of a hard overdrive than a liquid lead gain makes since for that application. 

[son of gumby]

well, if someone walked up to me on the street and asked me this question, i would advise them this way:

1) how serious are you?  if you're not sure, you might want to consider renting one for a month. many of your high-end shops rent instruments for reasonable prices.

2) unless you plan on playing only classical, or only kumbaya-type folk songs, buy an electric.  it's easier to learn on, and the cool factor comes alot faster. 

3) how much can you spend?  plan on spending a minimum of $300. of that, at least $250 of it will be for the guitar.  if you can spend $500, that's ideal.  people will tell you that a crapy guitar sounds better through a nice amp, than a nice guitar sounds through a cheap one. they're right.  however, you're a beginner, and great tone is not your primary concern for quite a while. besides, you probably don't know great tone yet anyhow. $50-75 for an amp is just fine for your first one.

4)buy used, and try to source as locally as possible. pawnshops, craig's list, your local music store.
keep it simple. no suspension bridges.  6 strings only. no locking nuts.
telling you to spend time playing the guitar is a waste of time.  you can't play, and you'll only be uncomfortable trying to look cool around the shredders that sometimes hang out at guitar stores.  you only want to play enough to find defects.

5) if you have a more experienced buddy to turn to, definitely enlist their help. if not, you'll want to be able to inpect the guitar for defects.  eyeball the neck by looking down the side of the fretboard from the neck to the bridge, on an even plane with your eye.  using the string as a guide, you'll want to avoid a neck that deviates to one side or up and down. the neck should be mostly straight, and the string should sit at approximately the same height from the frets all the way down the neck.  look at the spot where the neck joins the body. see any cracks? if so, you don't want this one. ditto on the headstock.
 look for chips, broken spots, gouges, on the fretboard, nut and bridge. look for loose or missing  hardware.
plug it in and search for buzzing/dead frets.  listen for knobs that crackle or don't work. ditto the jack.

6) do your best to avoid paying the sticker price. if you sourced through craig's list, ask the guy if he'll take $50 less. tell him you're a noob and you still have an amp to buy.  the worst he can do is say no.
if you went to the music store or a pawnshop, they're not going to discount a $250 guitar. but maybe they'll throw in an inexpensive strap or a set of strings. while you're there, ask about lessons. you could teach yourself how to play, but you'll learn faster with a good teacher.  you can also find a ton of free lessons on the internet. youtube is your friend

[atkinsmetal]

if you're looking to play metal, you want to get something with emgs and a quick action, like a shecter, dean, of esp.

this one is the best one i could find for metal-
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Schecter-Guitar-Research-Hellraiser-Deluxe-Electric-Guitar-104989173-i1443064.gc

[Mushroony]

3) how much can you spend?  plan on spending a minimum of $300. of that, at least $250 of it will be for the guitar.  if you can spend $500, that's ideal.  people will tell you that a crapy guitar sounds better through a nice amp, than a nice guitar sounds through a cheap one. they're right.  however, you're a beginner, and great tone is not your primary concern for quite a while. besides, you probably don't know great tone yet anyhow. $50-75 for an amp is just fine for your first one.


telling you to spend time playing the guitar is a waste of time.  you can't play, and you'll only be uncomfortable trying to look cool around the shredders that sometimes hang out at guitar stores.  you only want to play enough to find defects.

I disagree, for the green coloured reason. You get it very fast that your 75$ amp is an utter piece of crap. You won't hear as fast that your 250$ amp isn't as awesome as you first think it is, but you'll accept it's tone and at least enjoy it for a certain amount of time. Never ever be too cheap on the amp!!

Why would you care about shredders hanging out in the store? It's your money you're spending, and you have as much the right to try out the product you're buying as they have. And if they start acting obnoxious, just flip them off and tell them to sod off if they can't stand your playing.

[Mushroony]

if you're looking to play metal, you want to get something with emgs and a quick action, like a shecter, dean, of esp.

this one is the best one i could find for metal-
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Schecter-Guitar-Research-Hellraiser-Deluxe-Electric-Guitar-104989173-i1443064.gc

Quick action is not brand bound. It can be as quick on a fender, as it can be on a gibson, Jackson, ESP, Ibanez or schecter. It depends on the setup you give it.

[Guru Atma]

I teach guitar to elementary school kids, and often they get electric guitars for christmas.  It's often a surprise, and the parents buy a combo pack: guitar+amp+cord+gig bag.  Not only do the kids not get to try it out first, but the parents have never seen the actual guitar because it's in a box.  Often the guitar is ok---the kids pretty much play cowboy chords and some power chords.  So if it's hard to bend at the 19th fret, it's no big deal. 

But where the companies seem to save money is on the crappy amps.   Some are so bad, it's like one of those cigarette-box amps.

Other things for new players, especially kids:

1. Weight of the guitar.  In a store you usually play sitting down because the guitars don't have straps.  But for kids, a heavy guitar can be killer.
2. Check the frets.  A lot of guitars that are made in humid climates have wood shrinkage that makes the frets stick out the side of the neck.  Not comfy.
3. Avoid tremelos unless you're comfortable tuning frequently.
4. For small hands the Gibson scale will be a bit easier than the Fender 25.5 scale.
5. Instead of buying the boxed combo set at Costco, go to a real guitar store.  They'll often give you the same deal by saying "choose one of those guitars and one of those amps".  They'll also make sure the guitar is somewhat set up.

[bigsound]

In an attempt to come up with some actual intelligent answers for new players...

I thought maybe we could do some brain storming in this thread.  It is very common for new players to ask questions like. "What's a good first guitar?" As many of you know that can be a very subjective question.  There is no right or wrong answer.  It depends.  It depends on what kinds of music they like.  It depends on how serious they are about learning the instrument.  You don't want to buy a $1,500 guitar for someone who is going to lose interest in 2 months.  Instead of answering by saying "I'd pick a ____ over a _____ brand." or "Don't buy a _____ brand"  Maybe it would be cool if some of the seasoned veterans could list things they look for in their guitars and why they are important.  As a newbie, it's impossible to grasp the vast differences from one guitar to another.  To a beginner they are thinking, "They all have 6 strings, what's the big deal?"   When a newbie speak of good quality, they are thinking of a product "Not breaking".  When a veteran thinks of "good quality" they are thinking of a guitar that "plays in tune and stays in tune".  Obviously not breaking down in the middle of a gig is important, but it's more than just the quality of the parts.  It's a matter of how well the parts work together to make an instrument.

I'm sure I'll have more to say on this subject later, but for now, add your thoughts.

Thanks for the post

[Larry]

In an attempt to come up with some actual intelligent answers for new players...

I thought maybe we could do some brain storming in this thread.  It is very common for new players to ask questions like. "What's a good first guitar?" As many of you know that can be a very subjective question.  There is no right or wrong answer.  It depends.  It depends on what kinds of music they like.  It depends on how serious they are about learning the instrument.  You don't want to buy a $1,500 guitar for someone who is going to lose interest in 2 months.  Instead of answering by saying "I'd pick a ____ over a _____ brand." or "Don't buy a _____ brand"  Maybe it would be cool if some of the seasoned veterans could list things they look for in their guitars and why they are important.  As a newbie, it's impossible to grasp the vast differences from one guitar to another.  To a beginner they are thinking, "They all have 6 strings, what's the big deal?"   When a newbie speak of good quality, they are thinking of a product "Not breaking".  When a veteran thinks of "good quality" they are thinking of a guitar that "plays in tune and stays in tune".  Obviously not breaking down in the middle of a gig is important, but it's more than just the quality of the parts.  It's a matter of how well the parts work together to make an instrument.

I'm sure I'll have more to say on this subject later, but for now, add your thoughts.

Thanks for the post

no problem Bigsound.  I assume this means you are looking.  let us know what you come up with.

[FuturePage]

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread.I joined this forum for reasons like this.I read about every post and it's actually helped alot.I wish I had this before I got my guitar about a month ago.I ended up doing pretty much what was previously said and skimming craigslist and found an Ibanez Art 300 Caiman Black.the Art 300 is the one with the EMG pickups as to the earlier mentioned Art100 having the screw styled pickups.I tried getting ahold of the guy and got impatient(big mistake) and ended up hitting a pawnshop and got a Epiphone special.It's not to bad it gets the job done for me being a beginner and I can always get a better one down the road.Like i said I was kinda in a hurry to get one as i wanted to start playing ASAP.But like I had said this is what I needed and after reading everyones post I feel much more educated as to what my next guitar may be.

[Herbie B]

This is a great post, one I saw after I bought all my gear, but I'll add my $.02 since I was the target of this post over the past year.

well, if someone walked up to me on the street and asked me this question, i would advise them this way:

1) how serious are you?  if you're not sure, you might want to consider renting one for a month. many of your high-end shops rent instruments for reasonable prices.

Good idea and great first tip. I was pretty serious though, and knew it. It's a great first tip because it happens to coincide with a recognized program whose 1st step is ADMITTING THAT YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. lol

2) unless you plan on playing only classical, or only kumbaya-type folk songs, buy an electric.  it's easier to learn on, and the cool factor comes alot faster.

 

Can't agree with this one enough. I struggled an entire year trying to teach myself guitar on an acoustic/elecetric. Getting an electric renewed my vigor in wanting to just get the thing out and do something with it. After about 5 minutes of that, I was ready to open the lesson book back up. And lately that's led to about 1-1.5 hours of practice each night.

3) how much can you spend?  plan on spending a minimum of $300. of that, at least $250 of it will be for the guitar.  if you can spend $500, that's ideal.  people will tell you that a crapy guitar sounds better through a nice amp, than a nice guitar sounds through a cheap one. they're right.  however, you're a beginner, and great tone is not your primary concern for quite a while. besides, you probably don't know great tone yet anyhow. $50-75 for an amp is just fine for your first one.

This one was loaded, but again, I basically agree. Minimum $300? If you're looking at new gear, that's about spot-on in my region (guitar+amp+picks+cable). I agree great tone isn't the first priority of a student, but disagree that they will "probably" not know what good tone is. That's an argumentative comment against a subjective topic - even after I've been playing for 10 years (in 9 years) you and I will still likely disagree on what is or is not "great tone". I bought a $99 15w modeling amp that was on sale for $79 when I moved to an electric, and it is perfect for my use as a learning/practice amp...but to the loaded aspect - price was no object to me. I simply wanted to get more or less entry level stuff to learn on and once I was convinced that I was a player (and no longer JUST a student) of the guitar, then I'd go as crazy as I wanted with G.A.S. Not bragging, just saying that not every beginner is young and broke. The advice could be to start slow/small, and later begin to acquire better gear comensurate with one's ability. This wouldn't alienate 40+ year olds with deep pockets who simply want to learn the instrument. Just because I chose a new Mexican Strat over something used or cheaper as my "first" guitar shouldn't draw ire from anyone for "overbuying" for a beginner just because they/I could afford it. My quick and dirty version would be to buy whatever guitar you want to learn on that is sound/functions properly, fits you well, feels good slung over your shoulder and in your hands and will not cause you to miss any rent/mortgage, car payments or take food off of your table. Yes, I dropped over $1500 on my acoustic (and its hard case) and my electric, it's amp, some cables, picks and several Hal Leanoard books...but I could have just as easily dropped $2995 on that phat vintage piece and nothing else. Where one starts monetarily is relative to where one is at the time.

4)buy used, and try to source as locally as possible. pawnshops, craig's list, your local music store.
keep it simple. no suspension bridges.  6 strings only. no locking nuts.
telling you to spend time playing the guitar is a waste of time.  you can't play, and you'll only be uncomfortable trying to look cool around the shredders that sometimes hang out at guitar stores.  you only want to play enough to find defects.

Agree with keeping it local: I didn't want to "mail order" my first actual guitar (nor did I my 2nd one either). Luckily, my current town has a Guitar Center and a Sam Ash, right across the street from one another. And my actual (nearby) hometown is pawn shop central - great stuff can be found all over here. While I may have been more tactful about the "you can't play" thing, you're basically correct. I got into a corner of the Sam Ash with the guitar dept manager and played on it for a minute or so, checking the overall feel, and "playing" what little I know how to...then I handed it off to him and ask him to cover the fretboard playing something, anything, so we could check the sound across the instrument's entire range. A half hour later, I was convinced that it was the one for me. (This, after about 10 days of trying every electric I could find in both shops above and about 5 pawn shops). To me, it was about the guitar's rough feel: How did it feel over my shoulders? How did the fretboard's profile feel in my hands? Everything else can be tweaked and setup to my liking as I learn what sort of setup I need to excel.

5) if you have a more experienced buddy to turn to, definitely enlist their help.

Great tip. All my guitar playin' buddies have long since quit playing. I walked this road alone, but would've loved to have had the insight you reference here.

6) do your best to avoid paying the sticker price. if you sourced through craig's list, ask the guy if he'll take $50 less. tell him you're a noob and you still have an amp to buy.  the worst he can do is say no.
if you went to the music store or a pawnshop, they're not going to discount a $250 guitar. but maybe they'll throw in an inexpensive strap or a set of strings. while you're there, ask about lessons. you could teach yourself how to play, but you'll learn faster with a good teacher.  you can also find a ton of free lessons on the internet. youtube is your friend

Another fine set of tips. Definitiely haggle. Like was said above, all they can really do is say no. And I chose not to search out an instructor due to time contraints (I own/run several businesses) and due to the fact that I am already a musician. Online videos (thanks to thebird55), my printed lesson books and a couple of DVDs I found on the topic are working out great. IF the guitar is your first instrument, I would agree that some lessons from an instructor, early on at least, would greatly speed up the learning curve. Learing an individual instrument is a chore (the guitar is my 3rd), doing so without the benefit of being able to read and understand music first will present a much steeper challenge. Even so, I do not swear off lessons. I didn't need them to get started, but I may very well need some assistance to get to the "next level" eventually. I taught myself to play golf too, beginning at age 12. Took my first golf lesson at age 24. By myself, I couldn't seem to ever break par (but could consistently shoot in the mid-high 70s). I took 2 lessons that one spring and broke par several times the following summer. In my warped sense of reality, I am not good enough for guitar lessons yet...I don't do well being taught to do something, but I appreciate being taught to do something better.

[Bronkowitz]

I just wanted to thank the experienced players for their input in this thread.  I bit the bullet yesterday and got my first electric, and I took some of the advice here with me to the store.

This was my approach (similar to how I buy my cars):

1. I did a few months worth of research.  I read about the different types of guitars (single coil vs. humbucker, Fender vs. Gibson Vs. Ibanez, etc) and amps (solid state vs tube).  Incidentally, the amp FAQ here contained great information as well.  Gracias

2. I set a spending limit.  For me, $1000 was what my budget allowed (read: what my wife said I could spend ).  And because I'd done my research I knew what range and quality of guitars I was looking for (Mexican Strat, Epiphone SG) if I wanted a good amp.  The point is I knew something like an American Strat was out of my price range, so I didn't go in too wide-eyed.

3. I wanted to "feel" my way into the guitar.  I know it sounds corny.  But I made up my mind not to get caught up with the prettiest girl in the room.  I played probably a dozen guitars and eventually narrowed it down based on comfort and playability.

I chose a local privately owned guitar shop.  I went into a Guitar Center a month or so prior, and I was not impressed with the customer service.  The people at the store I went to were very knowledgeable and helpful.  The first salesperson to help me answered all my questions, most of which I already knew the answers to because I'd done my homework.  Not that I advocate playing dumb, but since I really was new to the game, and since salespeople rarely like it when newbie customers try to impress them with their not-so-big brains, I wanted to see if what I'd read matched up with what he was saying.  It did, so I kept quiet while he re-educated me.

I stayed there two hours and tried a variety of guitars on the really nice amp.  (They let me play a 1970 Les Paul with a $3600 price tag.  That was kind of fun.  )  I inspected each one for signs of damage.  Wear and tear from a used guitar I don't mind.  But outright damage is something I wanted to stay away from.  I started winnowing out the guitars that had some sort of defect or just didn't feel or sound right in my hands.  I eventually narrowed it down to two that were rock solid: a used Mexican Strat and a new G&L Tribute Legacy.

Once I'd found the core group of guitars, I started trying different amps.  I knew how they sounded on the $900 Egnater amp.  Well, I should say I knew how my extremely limited palate of songs, chords, and scales sounded through that amp.  I played the same few things over and over.  Hey, if I looked like a dork for doing that, then I looked like a dork.  I wanted the best guitar for me, so I didn't worry about looking like a fool. 

Since I also knew I wouldn't be taking the Egnater amp one home, I tried others.  I figured it didn't make sense to spend money on a good guitar and then get a wimpy amp.  I have no plans to play for anyone but myself.  But I want to experiment with this guitar and see what I can do with it.  I don't want to put an upper limit on my playing because of the amp.

The selection of amps wasn't great, but I wanted to stay away from a small bedroom amp.  It came down to a 15W Crate V Series from their new/old stock and a 60W Tech 21.  I had the salesperson help me out by playing it so that I could see what the amp was capable of.  He was nice enough to show me some of the extremes so that I could imagine what was possible.

I ended up taking home the used Mexican Strat.  It was $150 cheaper (which made it possible to buy the Tech 21 amp), and the G&L had a squeaky tremolo plus a loose jack.  I'm sure that was nothing that couldn't be fixed easily, but c'mon.  It was new.  I think the point of buying something new is that you don't have to put up with questionable quality.  But the Mexican Strat felt great in my hands.  It was very solid all the way around and just felt the most natural to me, even if it wasn't the sexiest one there.

I'm sure that if I had more experience and was a better player, I could have found something even better.  But I think this was about as good as someone like me could hope to get.  The were no surprises at all.  I learned a great deal, but I wasn't caught off guard once.  I made the best decision I could with the information I had, which is all I can expect out of any decision I make.

Again, thank you to those who offered their advice in this thread.  It gave me some more things to think about, and I'm very satisfied with my purchase.  I've been having so much fun with it since I brought it home yesterday.  Makes me wonder why I didn't do this sooner!.

[Herbie B]

Bronkowitz, it sounds like you had a solid plan and executed it well. Congrats on the aquisition, may you have many hours of enjoyment with your new setup. I love my Mexi Strat, have no complaints whatsoever with it as yet. I've had the chance, since getting mine, to handle a few other guitars (I also went your route of looking at several prior to my purchase), from cheaper than to hundred$ more than my guitar and still like the feel of mine better than most. That's not to say I won't ever move on to an Ameri Strat, or some other model or even some other brand(s). But for now I'm happy. I may upgrade the pickups and trem (or replace the trem with fixed), but first things first. I am about to need new strings. I have gone nuts with mine lately - so bad that I took last Friday off (played hookie) to stay home and play/practice. Ended up in the practice room for about 6 hours total (3-2 hour sessions) over the day.

I can't really comment on the amp as 1) I am still a beginner and non-clean tone isn't terribly high on my radar just yet, 2) I have no future public performance plans so a small, cheap, digital modeling amp was all I needed to get me going, and 3) reasons 1 & 2 have kept me from doing a ton of research on amps as of yet. I did read a review in UK's Guitarist mag last month on Slash's new Marshall AFD100 amp that sounded good. But I don't need 100 watts, as cool as that amp has to be otherwise. No, my next major purchase will likely be a DAW actually. I miss recording and want to get back into that in a modern way.

[Scott]

1. Do some research online and read some reviews - at least you can narrow down your choices - some reviews are rubbish but there are detailed reviews out there worth reading. I wanted a non-expensive second guitar and based on reviews tried a Squier Classic Vibe 50s and bought one - seriously nice guitar for the money. Keep in mind that factory made guitars can have variable quality - I tried several CV50s and chose the best one of the bunch
2. Finish, Fit, Playability - are the fret ends smooth or are they sharp and protrude, does every note sound clearly-no buzz, does it feel comfortable, does it sound good unplugged, bends feel good, hardware ok, neck fit and general work nice and tidy...
3. Sound - ask to plug into a decent amp and give it a good work out and see how the tuning holds and select differnt pickups - as others say, bear in mind that pickups mods are easy and not necessarily a big expense, how does it sound with effects, overdriven etc.
4. Generally when you are looking at buying your first guitar you can't play well enough to do the above so take a friend with you who has some experience and get their impression too
5. Don't necessarily take the advice of the guitar shop guy who may have a guitar that he wants to get rid of, but don't ignore him either
6. As mentioned, you should invest in a decent amp at the same time or you're wasting your time
7. Guitars are a subjective matter different guitars sound and feel vastly different - a Strat to a Les Paul-   both great guitars but differnt planets so try out a bunch of 'em and see what seems to feel right for you

[Ric]

Wow, this is good stuff here!

I've kinda ran the gamut of dos and don'ts in my time playing. My first guitar was an Alvarez acoustic. Learned three chords, got used to changing chords quicker, and some years later I got my first electric... a black Harmony with a battery-powered amp. Had fun with it, but the first chance I had I upgraded to an old Peavey Studio Chorus/Kramer with a Floyd Rose trem(learned REAL quick that it sucks having to tune a floating trem). Saved up and traded the Peavey for a new Crate 212 solid-state combo. Then came the jewel of my life... a metallic blue Ibanez JS100(used to idolize Satch) I had played a year before at Ken Stanton in Marietta, GA. Played that thing for 13 years and loved it! I hated having to pull on the whammy to get it back in tune after a dive though. Traded with a friend for a Fender Princeton Chorus solid-state, and that was my kit for years until having to sell it all to get me and my family home. My next guitar was a DEMON-POSSESSED(not kidding!)Washburn G-Junior. Played it last summer/fall, and recently gambled on eBay for a green Ibanez S520EX... The G-Junior is now on pawn indefinitely. I love this green guitar, possibly more than ol' Joe! Just need an amp, now.

My suggestions are similar. Weight, playability, workmanship, materials used, neck type(thru-neck vs bolt-on, maple vs rosewood), PRICE, all are important.Pickup type/brand are all matters of opinion based on musical genre played, and can be changed later if you like.

I once wanted a Les Paul so bad I could taste it... till I played a couple of those boat anchors! I used to be in love with Strats till I tried to go metal with one... stupid single coils!

If you play a lot of different styles, a coil tap circuit is a Godsend!, If you do a lot of dives with the whammy, a ZR-style tremolo is hard to beat... I dove the S520EX down to 5-string-bass low-B and it popped right back in perfect tune!