Guitarists In Here Please

Sonea Fifer · 30 Nov 2008 at 22:20

Hi there

I know there's a few musicians regularly post on the forums, I used to be a drummer a few years ago and now I quite fancy trying the guitar.

I've looked at quite a few websites ref this, I can still read the music no problems but I've never even attempted the guitar. I believe there's a few people in here who play and was wondering if they could recommend a suitable guitar for a beginner please?

Stev · 30 Nov 2008 at 23:20

Fender squire
Yamaha pacifica 112

Two strat based good starter guitars

Ascendancy · 30 Nov 2008 at 23:35

First of all, you won't need your ability to read music. 99% of stuff is written in guitar tab.

Secondly, what type of music are you interested in playing? I ask because if you bought a Squire Strat with the intention of playing rock/metal you'd end up disappointed.

lemonkettaz · 30 Nov 2008 at 23:38

Acoustic, best thing to learn on in my opinion

Ascendancy · 30 Nov 2008 at 23:40

lemonkettaz said:
Acoustic, best thing to learn on in my opinion

Why do you think this out of interest? I learnt on an electric, the strings are a lot easier to fret on an electric.

lemonkettaz · 30 Nov 2008 at 23:42

No specific reason.

Just for me i thought strumming away on an acoustic was amazing. plus when i moved over to electric for the first time it was so easy to play after killing my hands on an acoustic

Robosapien · 1 Dec 2008 at 00:01

Pacifica is good recommendation.

Naffa · 1 Dec 2008 at 02:03

Ascendancy said:
Secondly, what type of music are you interested in playing? I ask because if you bought a Squire Strat with the intention of playing rock/metal you'd end up disappointed.

Errr.. You can't do better than a strat for rock/heavy rock music. Strats are versatile enough to play anything on, and as such, I'd definitely recommend getting one as a first guitar.

And for the record, again:

SQUIER*

Ascendancy · 1 Dec 2008 at 02:10

naffa said:
Errr.. You can't do better than a strat for rock/heavy rock music. Strats are versatile enough to play anything on, and as such, I'd definitely recommend getting one as a first guitar.

You're having a laugh aren't you?

Rock/metal through singlecoils?

I had a SQUIER strat as a first guitar and it was absolutely *****

just Scott · 1 Dec 2008 at 02:12

I started with a Schecter C1 Hellraiser

You pretty much can't go wrong with a Schecter, they're brilliant value for money. My Hellraiser cost £250 and I've never played anything better under £500.

Ascendancy · 1 Dec 2008 at 02:13

H2F Scott said:
I started with a Schecter C1 Hellraiser

You pretty much can't go wrong with a Schecter, they're brilliant value for money. My Hellraiser cost £250 and I've never played anything better under £500.

Yeah I was looking at a 7 string Schecter the other day, they seem to be pretty solid guitars.

Stev · 1 Dec 2008 at 02:30

Ascendancy said:
You're having a laugh aren't you?

Rock/metal through singlecoils?

I had a SQUIER strat as a first guitar and it was absolutely *****

maybe not metal, but rock on a single coil is perfectly fine, and you can get fat pacifica strats with HSS.

Ascendancy · 1 Dec 2008 at 02:36

Stev said:
maybe not metal, but rock on a single coil is perfectly fine, and you can get fat pacifica strats with HSS.

Nothing remotely heavy sounds good on singlecoils, they're just too weak.

The Pacifica strats with the SSH configuration are pretty good entry level guitars though. Definately would recommend those over the Squiers.

Mr Jones · 1 Dec 2008 at 07:32

How about the Ibanez RG321MH? Double H, the sound from it can range from grumpy Breaking Benjamin to clear tones like some of X-Japan's.
I love mine, it's my first Electric after playing on my acoustic for a year - makes playing on the electric so much easier as my fingers are toughen by trying to bend and strum the acoustic.

Sweetloaf · 1 Dec 2008 at 09:11

Budget?

Style?

Amp required?

Assuming, cheapish, amp required and as many styles as possible:

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/squier-telecaster-custom/10514

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/75540

Or for a slightly more versatile, cheaper (non valve) amp:

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/70527

With either of the above combinations you will cover most things from mellow blues to metal. The Cube has the edge over the Fender for the heavier side of thing but sounds more sterile, the Fender is far better at blues/ bluesy rock than the cube and sounds a lot more organic.

Dave · 1 Dec 2008 at 09:16

Ascendancy said:
Secondly, what type of music are you interested in playing? I ask because if you bought a Squire Strat with the intention of playing rock/metal you'd end up disappointed.

Err . . . a Strat is pretty much the definition of a classic rock guitar? Squier's tend to be a bit inconsistant, but they're definately not bad guitars. I started out with a Squier Strat and the best thing I did for it was buy a new amp. I replaced the pickups in it with Fender Lace pickups and it's a great-sounding guitar now. (although my main guitar is a Fender Tele now)

I made the move from drums to guitars about 3 years ago now - I'd maybe start on a cheap acoustic first. Builds up your finger strength a lot quicker!

Ascendancy · 1 Dec 2008 at 09:21

Dave said:
Err . . . a Strat is pretty much the definition of a classic rock guitar? Squier's tend to be a bit inconsistant, but they're definately not bad guitars. I started out with a Squier Strat and the best thing I did for it was buy a new amp. I replaced the pickups in it with Fender Lace pickups and it's a great-sounding guitar now. (although my main guitar is a Fender Tele now)

I made the move from drums to guitars about 3 years ago now - I'd maybe start on a cheap acoustic first. Builds up your finger strength a lot quicker!

You're missing the point here. I don't care about the body shape of the guitar, hell Dave Murray from Iron Maiden plays a Strat. The point is for anything heavier than Coldplay, singlecoil pickups aren't going to cut it. If he can grab a SSH Strat then all well and good.

But he hasn't replied yet, for all we know he could just be a die hard Hendrix fan or something.

Also, the build quality of my Squier was atrocious.

Sweetloaf · 1 Dec 2008 at 09:42

Ascendancy said:
Also, the build quality of my Squier was atrocious.

I realise that this has been said again and again but the quality of guitars varies a lot even from the same manufacturer. Pick it up and try it is the only way to be sure.

My Squier Tele (P90 version of the one mentioned above) is superb in fit and finish but that doesn't mean that they all will be. 90% of the time though a good setup will cure most guitars woes.

A friend of mine bought a £99 strat copy which to me was unplayable, he gave it to his dad (part time Luthier) and now it play brilliantly.

Ascendancy · 1 Dec 2008 at 09:46

I still think he'd be better off paying the extra £50-100 and getting a decent entry level guitar from Ibanez or similar. If he buys a Squier he'll end up buying another guitar once he's got to grips with it. They sound weak, and more often than not (I've seen a few of them) they build quality sucks. Even if he finds playing the guitar isn't for him, reselling an Ibanez'll be a lot easier than trying to palm off a Squier to someone.

Sweetloaf · 1 Dec 2008 at 09:56

Ascendancy said:
I still think he'd be better off paying the extra £50-100 and getting a decent entry level guitar from Ibanez or similar. If he buys a Squier he'll end up buying another guitar once he's got to grips with it. They sound weak, and more often than not (I've seen a few of them) they build quality sucks. Even if he finds playing the guitar isn't for him, reselling an Ibanez'll be a lot easier than trying to palm off a Squier to someone.

You may be right but I bought my Squier Tele after my US Strat and there is no way I would have payed more for a US Tele after seeing this one, maybe I got lucky.

He could spend an extra £50-£100 safely knowing that he may get an extra £50-£100 second hand but if he bought that Tele, he wouldn't want to part with it

We still don't know what style he's interested in really so it's difficult to say that he should definately get any one particular guitar. That Squier Tele is a very versatile and cheap guitar. I'd take it over a slightly more expensive Ibanez any day of the week but then that's because I'm not you

Remember, some people will think that this looks cool:

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/77621 :confused:

As long as you can try it, I'd also consider second hand, I got a mint one of these for £299:

http://www.dv247.com/invt/46989/product.htm?gdftrk=gdfV2356_a_7c416_a_7c1181_a_7c46989

Depends again on what you want to pay.