Need an electric

faithful2you

I need an opinion for the experienced. I'm finally ready to jump into the electric side of playing. I have a nice Fender acoustic. I'd like to get a solid beginers electric guitar. Nothing fancy but good quality at the low end price. What would everyone suggest?

Thanks for any help.

keeponrockin

What exactly is the budget? And remember, a good amp is important too!

sennin

I would suggest a Made in Mexico Strat or Tele...Or an Epiphone Les Paul (depending on your playing style).....with a little Fender Blues Jr. amp....or a Vox 15w Valvetronix amp.

ledhed43

sennin wrote:

I would suggest a Made in Mexico Strat or Tele...Or an Epiphone Les Paul (depending on your playing style).....with a little Fender Blues Jr. amp....or a Vox 15w Valvetronix amp.

agree. i have a blue jr. great amp for any non-gigging guitarist. i got mine from a local music store that is a fender dealer, so i got a 5 year warranty. that came in handy. tube amps are living breathing beings and break down from time to time. except for a loose wire its has been very reliable. i don't own but have played a mexican strat and tele, and an epiphone ES, all very nice for their price. if you cant afford a nice tube amp, then vox makes a nice small solid state that'll get you by for a while, but there isn't anything like tube tone. good luck, take your time and play several guitars before you buy.

lucylespian

I strongly suggest looking at a lot of different guitars in your price range. For top end stuff, everyone comes back to Gibson and Fender, but in the intro market, there is way more brands to choose from.
ESP Ltd do cracking guitars, great pups, well built , good tuners. Schecter Diamond series also good, I banez can be very good value, Peavy as well, excellent guitars for modest prices. Yamaha don't get much airplay here, but the Pacifica series are well regarded. I have an ESP Ltd Viper 301 (SG style)which is a great guitar, and costs around $600 or so in the US.
The usual story of take a friend, and play a bunch is always sound. Find a salesman who knows his products and can be bothered to explan the difference between humbuckers and singles etc. Sales guys who don't know their products really tick me off. I have to know my job, why shouldn't they know theirs ?
And pick one you like. Guitars are friends and ya gotta like it !!

IDgotI

Fernandes Strats and Teles are just great and about half the price of Fenders. (Personally I would *definately* recommend a Fernandes above a Mexican Strat). If you are looking for a Les Paul type axe, check out some of the newer Chinese made Hamers... but be*sure* you try them, and buy the *exact* one that strikes your fancy. The make and finish on these guitars is uniformly good, but the quality of wood and wiring can vary... with some being bad, and some worth way more than their sticker price (In China Guitars today are made the same way "classic" electrics were in this country back in the 1950s... meaning the pick ups are hand wound... which can result is some real duds, and some true "honeys"). Same deal with the Epiphones. There are some great deals out there if you are willing to take a few extra minutes to play the stings up and down the fret board, and make sure there are no dead spots etc. (Less of a concern with Fernandes wihich has more uniform quality control). Oh... and Ibanez... always be willing to check them out as well.

faithful2you

keeponrockin wrote:

What exactly is the budget? And remember, a good amp is important too!

I'd like to stay under $250 on the guitar. I don't need anything large in the amp department.
I'll check into those guitars. thanks for the info!

sennin

lucylespian wrote:

I strongly suggest looking at a lot of different guitars in your price range. For top end stuff, everyone comes back to Gibson and Fender, but in the intro market, there is way more brands to choose from.
ESP Ltd do cracking guitars, great pups, well built , good tuners. Schecter Diamond series also good, I banez can be very good value, Peavy as well, excellent guitars for modest prices. Yamaha don't get much airplay here, but the Pacifica series are well regarded. I have an ESP Ltd Viper 301 (SG style)which is a great guitar, and costs around $600 or so in the US.
The usual story of take a friend, and play a bunch is always sound. Find a salesman who knows his products and can be bothered to explan the difference between humbuckers and singles etc. Sales guys who don't know their products really tick me off. I have to know my job, why shouldn't they know theirs ?
And pick one you like. Guitars are friends and ya gotta like it !!

I'm with you on the Schecters! I have a Tempest Custom that I LOVE! It plays beautifully!

who's_pearljam?

There are so many guitars out there it boggles the mind now!

Think about your playing style, too. If you're a hard rocker, you might want a two humbucker guitar, but if you like blues and varied styles, a Strat style with single coils doesn't have that Jimmy Page style, bone rattlin drive, but you can get a lot more sounds out of one.

One I just saw in a shop was pretty decent:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Yamaha-PAC112J-Electric-Guitar?sku=511077

Yamaha, Alder body which is nice guitar wood. Neck a single coil, Middle Pickup single, and the bridge pickup a humbucker. Having a humbucker in the bridge gives you a little more uumpf for a lead tone.
For $200 bucks, it was built pretty well, although the switch seemed like a weak point on it. All those electronics, switches and pickups are upgradable as time goes by and you define your style and fairly cheap to buy. If you're handy with a soldering gun, you can learn that stuff pretty easily.


Then amp. Those little Fender Blues Jr amps are pretty cool.

If you want something cheap and fun, for like $100 - $125 try a Roland Microcube. It's tiny and it has a few different amp simulators on it and some effects.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Roland-Micro-Cube-Battery-Powered-Amp-with-COSM-and-Effects?sku=480196
I have amps all over my house and I always seem go to that one for just a quick practice, and you can take it anywhere.
That amp will get you in the game until you find out HOW big your Marshall Stacks are gonna be!

That gets you in the game for $300 to $400 for usable stuff.


Those Fernandes up there ^ are nice guitars, too.


Like everyone rightly says above, if you have a music store with a decent selection, sit down and try them. Pay attention to how your hand feels on the neck, and the quality of the neck and body and frets. All other things can be replaced and fixed or upgraded, but it has to feel good in your hands for you to rock this world.

seanw1010

a used MIM tele and a blues JR....

faithful2you

Alright, what's everyone's opinion on the Squier Strat and/or the Squier II Strat?
One of the shops I was at this weekend has a used Squier II Strat for sale (with case) for $165.

xtremehardy388

My friend is selling his Ibanez. It's a nice guitar and asking 180 for it. Just an idea. PM me if you're interested.

Sleight-Of-Hand

faithful2you wrote:

Alright, what's everyone's opinion on the Squier Strat and/or the Squier II Strat?
One of the shops I was at this weekend has a used Squier II Strat for sale (with case) for $165.

Sounds good to me. squier are pretty decent quality from what i've heard and seem to be cheaper than Fender.

xtremehardy388

My Squier is the best guitar I have. I love it so much because it's so reliable. I've played VINAGE, '62 strats that don't compare to mine. Keep in mind though, I put work into it. I have to change the electronics around and it had to be 'broken' in.They're great though.

faithful2you

Sleight-Of-Hand wrote:

Sounds good to me. squier are pretty decent quality from what i've heard and seem to be cheaper than Fender.

I ended up with a Squier II. And I like it a lot so far. Wish I would have gotten into an electric so much sooner. It came down to an Ibenez and the Squier II. I liked the Ibanez a lot but the Squier just felt better to me.

One question though. The neck head says Squier II Stratocaster with the Fender logo....isn't it made by Fender? I know it's made in China or wherever but they just put the Fender stamp on it?

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. I can't put the thing down now...and that sucks becasue I have so much other stuff I need to be doing. I can easily see this being an expensive habit now. I played a lot of great guitars and wanted to go home with several of them.

xtremehardy388

It's a Fender. Made by the company but not made with the same specs or materials as say, an American Strat.

lucylespian

faithful2you wrote:

I ended up with a Squier II. And I like it a lot so far. Wish I would have gotten into an electric so much sooner. It came down to an Ibenez and the Squier II. I liked the Ibanez a lot but the Squier just felt better to me.

One question though. The neck head says Squier II Stratocaster with the Fender logo....isn't it made by Fender? I know it's made in China or wherever but they just put the Fender stamp on it?

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. I can't put the thing down now...and that sucks becasue I have so much other stuff I need to be doing. I can easily see this being an expensive habit now. I played a lot of great guitars and wanted to go home with several of them.

Hahahahhahahahahahahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boy has got gas !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, even why you go mental with guitars and amps, it is still the cheapest habit a boy can have. Go racing anything and see how much cash you burn ???

xtremehardy388

lucylespian wrote:

Seriously, even why you go mental with guitars and amps, it is still the cheapest habit a boy can have. Go racing anything and see how much cash you burn ???

+1,000,000,000,000,000,000