[Music] Buying a guitar

[Velky]

Thinking of purchasing a guitar.

Does it matter what I start with? Acoustic or electric.

Reason I ask is the music I'm interested in and would like to play is mainly played by an electric.

[Exilon]

I would suggest electric to start out - you don't need to have the same finger strength and that will make learning chords and scales much easier. Down the line if you want you can always get yourself an acoustic once you have gotten some calluses on your tips but electric should be your first step.

GL!

[IRunSoFarAway]

If most of the music you want to play is electric then buy an electric and a small amp. I started acoustic and then bought an electric, but it doesn't really matter which comes first.

[Mancowski]

What types of music are you into? Certain types pickups give certain tones.

I've been playing the guitar for about 13 years now. Love it. You gotta stick to it though. no half-assing!

[Bigtimmy]

If you want to play electric, buy an electric. It's as simple as that, in my opinion. Acoustic does require a little more discipline in general because there's not as much to hide behind, but there's no point forcing yourself to play something you're not as interested in. It's supposed to be fun!

Also, to make it easy on yourself, I'd just recommend going with one of the starter combo packs you'll find at your local music shop. They come with everything you need (guitar, amp, cables, etc). If you find yourself really liking guitar, you will probably want to upgrade from any starter pieces anyway, so there's no point spending more money on piecemeal components to start unless you're incredibly picky.

[errosync]

Thinking of purchasing a guitar.



Does it matter what I start with? Acoustic or electric.

Not really. Most acoustics now come pre-stringed with steel rather than the incredibly stiff nylon that's normally found on a classical acoustic, so it's far easier to learn chords and scales than it used to be. It is quite a bit larger volume-wise than the average electric, but it's great to just tote around and play wherever since you don't have to drag an amplifier around with you (if you're into that).

Reason I ask is the music I'm interested in and would like to play is mainly played by an electric.

Then get one of those Squier or Ibanez starter kits and if you have any extra money, buy a better secondary amp. The ones that come in the kit is pretty terrible, but again, you're not paying the couple hundred or so to get just a good amp, you're paying for a whole setup. Though I haven't seen anyone with one of the starter Ibanez guitars, I'd recommend it over the Squier since the Squier I have doesn't have as fast of a neck or a nice humbucker setup at the bridge. Squiers (and most Fender branded guitars) do tend to be lighter than Ibanez's, so again, pick your poison.

[Bigtimmy]

What types of music are you into? Certain types pickups give certain tones.

I've been playing the guitar for about 13 years now. Love it. You gotta stick to it though. no half-assing!

Also, this is a question worth asking. Basically if you're into heavier rock music, you'll probably want a humbucker pickup in (at least) the bridge position. They're good for other types of music also, of course.

Single coil pickups are also great, but they tend to be brighter and more punchy. They also hum under "heavy" distortion, which is bad if that's what you're into.

My first guitar was a Fender Strat style with hum/single/single configuration, which I consider to be pretty ideal for a first electric guitar. It's hard to beat the versatility of that setup, and you'll be able to determine what sort of sounds you like when you're ready to move up to something a little more expensive.

[Velky]

What types of music are you into? Certain types pickups give certain tones.

I've been playing the guitar for about 13 years now. Love it. You gotta stick to it though. no half-assing!

Metallica, Alexisonfire, all of Bucketheads stuff, Protest The Hero

[Bigtimmy]

Metallica, Alexisonfire, all of Bucketheads stuff, Protest The Hero

In that case, I'd suggest one of the Epiphone electric starter packs, found here: http://www.epiphone.com/Products/Packs.aspx

The Les Paul pack is what I'd more specifically recommend for your tastes, as it's the starter version of what those musicians basically use. It should run you about $200. Of course you can get something a little nicer if you want to spend a little more and get everything separately, but something similar to that is what you're looking for.

[Velky]

Here's probably where I'd buy from. And here's one I could get.

http://www.long-mcquade.com/products...k_-_Cherry.htm

You can look around the website for other suggestions too.

[Bigtimmy]

That is a bass guitar, FYI. Totally different from a regular guitar. Based on what you said, you didn't sound like you were interested in playing bass, so make sure you don't order the wrong thing.

[Velky]

Oh. Shows how much I know about guitars!

I'm sick today and posted that in haste. I'll keep looking.

---------- Post added 2013-01-02 at 03:57 PM ----------

What about this?

http://www.long-mcquade.com/products...mance_Pack.htm

[Bigtimmy]

Yes, that is the correct one. If you just like the style of the SG body more (which is the body style of the bass package you linked before), you should be able to find that too, but I looked and that merchant doesn't seem to have an SG package other than the bass.

(I personally like the Les Paul's aesthetics and ergonomics more, but soundwise the difference honestly isn't going to be massive between the 2).