Learning Guitar at 24?!

NeoReloaded

NeoReloaded

NeoReloaded

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Hey guys I have always wanted to learn the guitar, but never got round to it (lazy) and now I really want to start playing! If possible I would like to teach myself and I have a budget of around £500 for my first guitar, obviously need a decent little amp etc!

Any tips welcome :)

Thanks.
 
There are a number of decent starter guitars but really, you simply cannot go wrong with a Yamaha Pacifica. It really is an incredibly good guitar, regardless of the price range it sits in. Importantly, it has a twin pick-up towards the bridge of the guitar called a hum bucker - this will make your guitar sound fatter and more convincing when played with distortion. Combined with the other two single coil pick-ups, this gives you a good range of sound.

In terms of amps there are a number of good ones and I believe that you ideally want something that has in-built effects. Many guitars you hear on CDs have a processed sound that comes from a 'special effect' stomp box. For example, you know that weird 'watery and mysterious' sound that the guitars have at the start of 'Paradise City', 'Come as You Are' and 'Enter Sandman'? That all comes from a chorus pedal. Reverb is probably the most popular and useful beginner effect, because it generally makes your playing sound a thousand times better if you are unaccompanied. I think you would have a lot of fun with the line 6 spider range series.

I imagine you could get the above for under £300 easily.

Any other questions ask away :)
 
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I take it you want to learn electric over acoustic then? :)

I don't think there's a maximum age to learn so don't let that put you off or hold you back, don't expect to pick things up instantly- it can be frustrating when others make things look so easy - just enjoy learning :)

Spending more money doesn't necessarily guarantee a better guitar, and (depending upon the guitars, price gaps and your progression) you might not even benefit from buying the 'better' model for years to come.

I wouldn't order something from the internet personally, there are many who do without any problems, but I like to play the very guitar I might buy - experiment with lots of different guitars, you'll be suprised sometimes at how much you can connect with an object ;)

Once you've purchased, don't be shy about asking for advice - what seems like a potentially silly question will have been thought and asked by thousands before you, and everyone, no matter their level can remember starting to play :)
 
Always, though I suggest you read up on the basics first like chords and simple techniques for fretting (simply google, easy finds)

As for your first guitar, i'd recommend one with jumbo frets since they are a lot easier and comfortable to play on - especially if you're new to guitar.
One guitar i'd recommend is an Epiphone Les Paul Special II (has jumbo frets) - first guitar I learned on and still use today, I think it's around £200-250 but such a fantastic starter guitar for price, playability and versatile sound.

I started off by learning to read tabs and just playing songs that really inspired me (don't start off with complex songs!), so that would be my advice to get started.
Your fingers will be sore as hell to begin with from fretting strings for the first time, though your finger tips will soon harden from it.

As for an amp in the low price range I haven't played many cheap ones (the ones I did sounded horrible) but you can't go wrong with a Fender or Marshall - someone else here will know better :p
 
Oh, I forgot to mention the following, which is incredibly important:

When buying a guitar (which I also suggest you do from a shop), take a friend with you that knows how to play. They will be able to tell you if the guitar is decent or not - there can be problems even between individual versions of the same guitar model that a novice would not notice, such as bad intonation (which although can be avoided, it's better off not buying something you have to fix).

I'm not even going to hear anything from anyone else that disagrees with this - the best way to learn the very basics of a guitar is to buy a three chord song book and learn a few popular jangly chord strummers :)
 
Hurlbag said:
One guitar i'd recommend is an Epiphone Les Paul Special II (has jumbo frets) - first guitar I learned on and still use today, I think it's around £200-250 but such a fantastic starter guitar for price, playability and versatile sound.
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I own one of these too! I completely agree :)

Nitefly said:
Oh, I forgot to mention the following, which is incredibly important:

When buying a guitar (which I also suggest you do from a shop), take a friend with you that knows how to play. They will be able to tell you if the guitar is decent or not - there can be problems even between individual versions of the same guitar model that a novice would not notice, such as bad intonation (which although can be avoided, it's better off not buying something you have to fix).

I'm not even going to hear anything from anyone else that disagrees with this - the best way to learn the very basics of a guitar is to buy a three chord song book and learn a few popular jangly chord strummers :)
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Superb advice right here :)

Try to learn songs you like too ;)
 
Jingo... said:
Try to learn songs you like too ;)
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I tend to find that a novice will be very content learning to play songs they simply know as opposed to their favourites. There is no harm in trying something more complicated than chord strumming at first, but since it's so fundamental, useful and relatively easy to sound really good, it's by far the best place to start. Simply playing the individual strings via chords is really satisfying - who can forget the glory playing 'Everybody Hurts' for the first time :D

I think someone on here once said the first song they tried to learn was 'Master of Puppets', talk about jumping in at the deep end :o
 
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As previously mentioned, Yamaha Pacifica is a great place to start. As for the rest, a great starting amp is the Line 6 Spider IV 15W which can be picked up for around £80 if your willing to fork out for it. Playing guitar is very rewarding when you starting being able to play things you love! Good Luck!
 
just my thoughts

If you can play it on an acoustic, you can play it on anything (within reason). I find my acoustic guitar far more satisfying to play than my electric bass/guitar.

Better to train your skills and finger strength too on an acoustic. You are just spoilt on electric guitars, they are comparatively 'easy' to play well - easier action, lighter strings and what with all of that distortion and noise etc hides a multitude of bad technique for the novice.
I'll contradict that with the fact there are different techniques involved with playing both electric and acoustic guitar, but a good foundation in the acoustic will transfer over to electric better than the reverse imho.

Plus you can play an acoustic guitar anywhere without all the faffing about with amps, leads, pedals, fuzz boxes and all of that shiny expensive kit you will end up wanting and probably never really use to its fullest.

If you think an acoustic is going to be dull and boring and 'classical', ewan is here to show you what is possible http://youtu.be/A7E-PEv7cl8?hd=1

Don't let me put you off if you've got it set on an electric though ;) just have a go with both if you can before you shell out your paper.

Nitefly said:
I think someone on here once said the first song they tried to learn was 'Master of Puppets', talk about jumping in at the deep end
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lol that was the first riff I learned to play on my bass :p
 
Always always always put the cost of Guitar Pro into your learning and get Guitar Pro tabs from Ultimate Guitar.
There is also a free program called TuxGuitar which will play Guitar Pro files.
 
Many learners will swear by the Yamaha Pacifica, and it's a damn good shout.

For that money, grab a Pacifica and a Line 6 Spider amp. It gives a good number of built-in tones and effects that you can play with, and that kind of salvo goes a long way towards keeping you interested in the more difficult early stages.
 
On stage I use a Marshall TSL602 but because I'm deaf I can't hear it behind me.
Last year I bought a Line 6 Spider 15 that piggy backs off my effects unit and faces up at me from the floor like a monitor and it is very loud.
In fact the other two in the band keep giving me dirty looks.

Everybody harks on about the Yamaha Pacifica and it is a great well setup guitar but to be honest you have a budget so go and try guitars around the £400 mark.
I know you can't play yet but just holding them and putting your fingers on the neck will give you an idea.

There are loads of tutorial video's on You Tube and other sites like Justin.
Don't forget the best program EVER wrote which is Guitar Pro and this is a nice site if you want to play along to real backing tracks - http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/
 
I just started playing in January. I was also going to get a Pacifica, but when I tried it compared to an Epiphone Les Paul, it felt really cheap and twangy, like the kind of guitar you would play some old rock 'n roll songs on. The Epiphone is nice and beefy and of course the bands I like play on Les Pauls. Now I can play Stinkfist (Tool), Change in the house of flies, 46 & 2 (Tool) and Sonne (Rammstein). I am currently learning March of the fire ants (Mastodon), which is quite difficult on the solo part.

I also bought a Digitech RP155 to play through headphones/PC, and it has all the effects you need (like £80).

Dimple, do you think Guitar Pro is worth it over Tux Guitar? I use Tux since it's free and does the job, but maybe there is some benefit in GP?
 
RationalGaze said:
Dimple, do you think Guitar Pro is worth it over Tux Guitar? I use Tux since it's free and does the job, but maybe there is some benefit in GP?
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Goes off to try it again ..................

No not really, the advantage of Guitar Pro is that it also has a keyboard layout.
Tux Guitar is fine.
 
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