Best Guitar for Total Beginner?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Keno53
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Keno53

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OK, a similar situation to Abbot's, except one notch lower. We're talking total beginner, keyboard player with knowledge of a few guitar chords, but needs a real axe to learn more. What's the best "starter" guitar? Any brands to totally avoid?
Speak up, guitar artistans!
 
stay with me here.....

The best guitar for a beginner is a used Taylor 414ce. Here's why.

1. You need to start out on acoustic to develop your chops. Once you learn it, you can think about electric and it will be a snap to play.
2. This guitar is VERY easy to play, easy on the fingers, more playing time and less fatigue.
3. It sounds really good, even to a non guitar player
4. The guitar has electronics built in, if you decide you get to the poing you want to play out, you're set to go.
5. Making an investment will probably give you motivation to play it more.
6. If you decide to give it up, the Taylor has such good resale that you will probably MAKE money selling it, as long as you get a good deal to begin with.

My two experienced cents.

H2H
 
very valuable 2 cents, and excellent advice.....unless he's gonna try out for LimpBizkit, then he may wanna go electric.....

so Keno, do you want acoustic or Electric and how much do you wanna spend?.....
 
Guitar talk

Thanks for the response...Probably looking at electric so as to record tracks easier in the home studio...hoping to find something under $200 that sounds fairly decent. (?)
H2H:
I do like the part about the Taylor being easier on the fingers. It's the one aspect of guitar playing I've never enjoyed: being physically demanding (almost painful) on the fingers, as opposed to the keyboard, which is my main instrument. I guess with time it becomes easier, as with anything.
 
Whether you choose acoustic or electric don't make the mistake of buying a cheap piece of crap 'just to learn on', because if you decide to stick with it you will want a better guitar and the resale value wont be there, the guitar will be unusable except as a doorstop, and cheap instruments with bad setup/action can cause you to develop bad playing habits. It's better to put out a little more and get a decent guitar like the Pacifica or even a Squier.
 
this is the part where i say a $200 Yamaha Pacifica (that you can get for $149 now or less) will smoke the $199 Fender Squiers......
 
And this is the part where a Strat man like myself steps in and say's go fender, go Strat :D

Still aint tried out a Pacifica Gidge, maybe one day i will and agree with you, hehe..one day :)

Fender make good quality guitars, and thats what you want, something that will last you through and through, and Strat's do a perfect job, you can pick up a strat for under $200 i am sure. Just look around, and don't go for any cheap crap just to save a few bucks. Trust me spending the extra $50 can make a lot of difference.

Here's a tip for your fingers, for strength in the muscle, wiggle your fingers under cold (not freezing) water for about a minute at first then gradually upgrade 10 seconds and 10 seconds every week. dont do it for too long though, when it starts to ache, take them out. As for the tips of your fingers, i used to soak a tissue in "turps" (Turpentine) although not too soaked, just a few drops. and Rub them on the tips of your fingers. Be careful though, its dangerous, make sure you only rub the tips and not below, cos it can burn!

regards

aL
 
The best way to toughen your finger tips is to play alot. They will hurt at first but , no pain no gain. I donated blood not too long ago and let the nurse stick my ring finger on my left hand for the type test and no blood would come out....ain't nothing but one big callous. (hehehe...freaked her out). If I was gonna spend 200 bucks on my 1st guitar I would read alot of the guitar threads on this site and see what guitar players have to say about different makes and models...get a musicians friend catalog as a price guide....do a search for "guitar" on e-bay with the price set at $100.00 to 200.00. Go thru the results and look for "gibson" and "fender"(thats what I would look for). Find one you like and decide the most you would pay for it . Lock that in as you "high" bid...the start bidding. Alot of guitars have the "buy now" option and you could do that and wouldn't have to bid (im a cheapskate though...so I bid). You can get a decent axe that way and won't pay too much for it.
 
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I would take the Pacifica over any strat you can buy for 200$.
 
always the black sheep

go for a cheapy ibanez. the neck is usually thinner. it's really easy on the fingers. They're nice and light. you can get one for about 250$ US

.. or you can do like i did and many other people did (including myself)...

as mentioned above, go for the Fender Squire. The neck is tough. .. and hey .. it's a Fender. (Since it's got single coil pickups, you won't get any crunch out of em .. but hey .. malmsteen uses a single coil fender strat.) :-)
 
Listen to Hard2Hear. The man knows his business.

I'd vote for an acoustic to begin with, because (1) you get immediate gratification, (2) the switch to electric is easier than the other way around, and (3) you can play on your girlfriend's back porch until the lights go out (see (1))..
 
Good points made by all. Thanks for the feedback.
I guess the next logical step would be to amble on down to the local Guitar Center and try out a few of the models mentioned. I wanted to a few weeks ago, but when I entered the guitar room, there were several professional cats playing that were so good that I was too ashamed to pick one up. I didn't want to be laughed out of the room, or worse, chased out by a screaming mob.
But soon, I will face my fears and pick up that axe!
 
If you have a Sam Ash near you look at the cheap Ernie Ball..The Eddie VanHalen type of thing...199.00 and they play and sound very nice!I would use it on a session or gig.. nice guitar!Its a {2}humbucker guit with a bolt on neck..single volume and toggle pickup selector..Oh and the "pros" will proboly help you if you ask for opinions!Good luck

Don
 
Don't worry about the "pros"....they're probably shreaders that hang out there all the time and never buy anything. When i go try out a guitar with the intention of buying...I crank it up real loud on a good amp right there in the store. Most of the time people look like they are in shock when i do that. It doesn't matter if you can play or not, you just have to make sure that the pickups can deliver high volume with out squealing. The salemen don't like you to do that....but...you can tell them "im gonna buy a guitar today..i have the money in my pocket. If you won't let me try it out I'll find someone who will and i'll buy it from them....its up to you"
you won't have to worry about them bugging you any more.
Go in there like you own the place....and remember that YOUR the customer and even at 200 bucks your making a major investment.

good luck on your guitar purchase
 
guitar

Keno,
Maybe something to think about. If you are deciding between acoustic and electric and you are on a budget, think of what could happen.
Acoustic...play anywhere, anytime, loud or not, listen to the ring.
Electric...amps, effect boxes, cords, opps, there goes the budget.
Personally I would go for both. Check out Alvarez acoustics. I know if you really research you could find a decent acoustic and a decent electric with a nice practice amp and still keep your budget around 500.00-700.00 and have the best of both worlds.
dtb
 
I agree that the Ibanez's are great learning electrics.

Nice thin well defined fret boards. Decent electronics for the price.

Start off with lighter gauge strings (top E is .08 - .09 low string is in .40's) until you work up finger strength, callouses, concepts, etc.. as you get stronger increase the string diameters.

Once you are used to heavier gauge strings, then maybe you should break into acoustics. An acoustic with super light strings sounds like ass, but if you immediately jump on an acoustic with heavy guage you won't have the finger pressure and sound like you're playing through pillows.
 
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