Looking for advice on electric guitars

[bmh16]

I am looking to start learning the electric guitar, and was looking for advice as I'm a complete novice on such matters. I want to buy an amp with the electric guitar, and wouldn't want to be paying over £200 together for them. Anyway, I may have missed some important 'wants' out, but as a complete novice, I need to know what to do, and how to get a decent deal If anyone who knows their stuff about such things could find me a decent deal, I would really appreciate it

Cheers,

Ben

[arcticfox]

Originally Posted by biker14

I am looking to start learning the electric guitar, and was looking for advice as I'm a complete novice on such matters. I want to buy an amp with the electric guitar, and wouldn't want to be paying over £200 together for them. Anyway, I may have missed some important 'wants' out, but as a complete novice, I need to know what to do, and how to get a decent deal If anyone who knows their stuff about such things could find me a decent deal, I would really appreciate it

Cheers,

Ben

I saw an electric guitar on ebay earlier for £5 honest, no strings attached

sowwee, couldnt resist

[djgallagher]

lmao arctic that made me laugh, should of seen it coming

[the_saint]

Gotta say if you're a complete novice you can't go wrong with one of those Squier Strat/amp packages, that's how i started. The pack contained a Squier strat, squier 10watt (i think) amp, Fender strap, strings, picks and a tuner. They were £100-£110 when i got mine in 1996 so i would guess less than £150 for sure today. Any Sound Control will do them if you live near one, I think Dawsons do (though the last one i saw in Dawsons was a pink hello kitty one!!). Mine also came with a gig bag but i think that (and a couple of other extras) were because 1996 was Fenders 50th anniversary so maybe they don't come with one any more.

Obviously its only a squier so won't really be up to professional gigging - but as a novice neither will you be!! It will last you though, i still have mine!! The sounds OK for a novice guitar, in fact i'd say better than OK and for the price i would say very good.

I don't know if 10 watts will do you for an amp though?? They can get very loud but get quite heavily distorted when you go very loud. If it's just for practicing on it will be absolutely fine, but when you get to gigging you will need (ideally) a 100 watt one with all the extras

If you really want a bigger amp for that kind cash you'll have to go second hand probably.

Anything else just ask.

PS - I know arctic was kidding but do NOT get one from Ebay!! There are tonnes of people selling replica's from china for £60 but they (literally) fall apart and are a waste of money!!

[guitarfreak]

Lol being called Guitarfreak i had to reply to this one...

I second what saint said, as a beginner you carnt go wrong with the squire... They tend to do good beginner packages, another good make for beginners is aria, they do a strat for around £79 and its slightly better imo.. You can get that from Stringsdirect - Online Guitar Strings and Accessories last time i checked... Though no amp im afraid...

I actually own an aria myself, got 5 guitars lol.. Another interesting point is, if you wanna take this serious alot of players start on acoustic as it toughens up your fingers quicker...

And as a bonus point visit Learn how to play guitar the right way without getting bad habits! lot of good stuff on there.

Hope that helps

[the_saint]

Originally Posted by guitarfreak

Another interesting point is, if you wanna take this serious alot of players start on acoustic as it toughens up your fingers quicker...

That's true, but i think if you are an absolute beginner an acoustic can be hard work and dishearteningly painful and may make you give up, whereas i think an electric isn't so painful and may be easier to stick with.

But it's swings and roundabouts i guess.

Also i forgot to say earlier whatever guitar you get i recommend Super Slinky strings (for an electric anyway), very easy to play with and feel and sound great.

What you reckon Guitarfreak?

[wolf]

I got myself an Aria strat type guitar when i first started. It was really useful, came with amp,leads, gig bag and that. But tbh, i would suggest you start off learning acoustic, primarily because if your just a beginner you dont want to fork out a hundred odd quid for a guitar just in case you decide it's not quite the thing for you. You can get a fairly decent acoustic guitar quite cheap. And if you learn on one, you might find electric a lot easier to play.

cheers
Wolf

[chigley]

I started on a Strat Squire pack too, I'd recommend it!

[Lucaio]

I agree with The Saint.
Squire Strat all the way! Great novice guitars, it was my first ever guitar along with my crappy Carlsbro amp.

[guitarfreak]

Yeah super slinkys are good.. (in answer to saint)