Hey - looking for some advice. Recently fished my old acoustic out of the attic and have been really enjoying strumming around on it. It's kind of got me thinking I'd like to pick up an electric too, historically I've always liked the look of Teles, Les Paul's and Jazz masters but my intention is to just go an visit a shop and try a few out and see what fits.
The bit I'm in the dark about is amps. Where do I start?! I need something small'ish as it's simply for noodling about in the house. I'm more into a blues / Indie sound. Budget wise ideally I'd like to spend no more than 1k all in, my preference would be for the guitar to be brand new but dont mind a second hand amp.
Any suggestions on where to start or recommendations? Both on amps and guitars?
It sounds like you know the score with deciding a few thngs before you go shopping. The main thing is what you're going to play/learn.
Rather than bamboozle with jargon, I'll point a few things based when I learnt at home starting off:
1. Before you go to the store measure up the space you have for the amp.. it's easy to think "it's not to big" then find it's too large for the room/house/car!
2. With a house/room noodling, unless you have a tinnitus wish, or looking for a specific cranked amp sound (attenuators etc) then don't be put off with 1W to 20W range. I learnt on a 12W marshal solid state combi for Iron Maiden. It was loud enough that I would use the headphone socket quite a bit. Don't neglect the headphone socket!
Solid state and tube amps "wattage" is different. A 50W solid state is good for a pub but only 18W of tube power is needed. Tube wattage is measured differently. It gets complex but in general a 20W tube amp is way more than enough for a house - my amp is 2W and I run it attenuated!
Budget may not allow a modeller amp or a modeller pedal bench which can then just go straight into a small headphone amp and headphones. It may be attractive for a second hand tube amp, but there's plenty of dogs out there with damaged electronics which can get costly. If you do stick with the more well known brands as replacement modern components are available but as I've said will cost quite a bit. Tubes cost.. and they're more expensive now with the trade mess. Tube amps realistically start towards the top of your budget, vintage/handwired even more.
A 10" speaker will probably do you well, 12" is great but the amps start getting large.
3. A clean amp can be made dirty/bluesy but a dirty amp can't be made clean. It's possible to add effects pedals or other devices.
Listen to the guitar and amp if you can as they will sound very different as you swap between them.
Boss Katana - they offer a practice amps and modelling amps starting at £250. The 10W practice is good, the 50W would be very loud (although modelling and clean headroom in buckets) so you'd never be operating it at full volume.
Fenders 'sound' is a clean sound with breakup later. the cheaper end is probably passed by the Katana and then you're looking at your budget for a new tube amp..
If you want American blues and smooth then a Fender tube amp running a Jensen speaker is pretty hard to beat, they also give the American rock sound, work well for Jazz too but just suck at the brit-blues/rock (Clapton/oasis etc).
Marshall 'sound' is a 'brit blues/bit rock/rock' harder sound but offering clean (not as quite as clean as the fenders) but then ramping into more overdrive blues/distortion sound. Practice amps 1W and 5W (tube!) and the louder still 20W tube combo has a Celestion 12" speaker (the combi is £500) but you can switch out the speaker later for better and the 20W will be very loud etc.
Orange - for your budget Orange do practice amps as combos and mini-head for cabs. Don't let the 'mini' of the head put you off.. people have gigged with mini heads! Well respected and used by a ton of artists.
Vox - think Brian May for their normal AC-series sound. They've been around for years and are respected.
Blackstar - are a known brand, although I don't know their sound.
In general the <£1K amp territory you're looking at solid state or hybrid (with a tube in) with corners cut on the component costs, the cab make or the speaker. This is why it's important to listen to the sound with the guitars. You'll find a full tube amp >1K.
Guitars.
Scale lengths (the distance from nut to bridge) - 25.5" is common with the tele and strat. The Les Pauls are usually a fractionally smaller 24.5" or there abouts. This gives the Les Paul a thicker sound with more harmonics when you play (it sounds warmer and softer). It also makes the LP string tension slightly less (easier bends) but the difference is minimal and changes of string gauges can change that sound/feel anyway but the LP will sound warmer.
String spacing on the tele/strat is different to the LP. The LP IIRC is closer.
Neck feel - this is very difficult to explain. Several neck profiles exist for Teles and Strats, and they very between Squire, Fender or any other manufacturer. I have a Fender MIJ strat from 1988 where the fashion was really really thin necks and so although it's easy to play it's never been comfortable for me.
My DIY guitar has far thicker neck and wider too - a flatter C than the Strat's more cresent moon slither (the terms V, C, asymmetric, compound, all describe the neck profile). Most acoustics are chunkier and are similar to a thicker C profile that you may find on a LP.
This is can make or break the guitar for you.
Pickups
* single coils - these are like the stereotypical strat, give a thinner airy sound but don't have noise cancelling so will hum.
* hum buckers - these have two sets of coils next to each other and sound thicker, less airy and the two coils are set to cancel out hum. P90s were the original LP pickup.
The pickups can be closer to the bridge "the bridge pickup" (more treble/thinner sounding due to the position), closer to the neck "the neck pickup" (thicker sounding, more harmonics), and the middle (sort of the barsteward step son of the bridge and neck). Guitars with more selector positions can change between but then simply merge the two such as the bridge and mid. Each gives a different sound.
Some guitars have coil separation (ie switching a humbucker into a single coil) and random stuff like "out of phase" at which point it gets so complicated.. in short for your first electric don't worry about this.
Tone knobs simply can bleed off treble, bass or mids (depending on the guitar).
Now it doesn't stop from changing pickups at a later date (you can improve the same type). However aftermarket pickups are expensive (my two black Seymour Duncan humbuckers are over £200 for both).
I wouldn't worry about this too much but just ensure you play a guitar with each type of pickup so you hear the sound. The important point here is listen with that guitar and amp..
Woods - wood affects electric guitars less than an accoustic but it will make them lighter or heavier. Fancy woods = fancy prices and at this price range I wouldn't worry too much on construction other than does it sound good with the amp you're using?
Teles - twangers. Needs no introduction. It has a higher treble end (ashtray bridge with pickup promotes this) but there's many variants.
Strats - pretty a treble ended, slightly scooped mid sound if it's a fender.
Squire is a cheaper mark of Fender but some Squire models have a reputation for being close to Fender! Yamaha Pacifica strats are known as a good copy of a strat.
Les Paul - A warmer sound and a larger guitar.
Things to not forget:
* guitar-amp cable
* guitar case
* strap
* pectrum as you're going to play differently perhaps.
* tuner (if you have one that can acoustically tune that's good, better if it can take the guitar plugged in).
I would say that you're looking for a guitar+amp combo for home playing, that your style of music is indie etc. Go to a number of shops and have a play listen and FEEL (going back to the neck discussion). I would try a larger speaker amp as well as the practice amps. This is so you know the difference in sound.
Take your headphones along too to test the sound out of those through the amps.
It sounds like most practice amps will give you want you want cheaply and offer the option for cash towards the guitar but it's worth listening to the same guitar you're interested in through a large amp so you're not hamstringing yourself later.
Lastly.. guitars and amps breed. I'm pretty sure they do..
