Hey Aaron, fellow beginner here. The biggest things I can suggest are: be sure to play a guitar before you buy it, and be patient. If you canāt play the exact guitar, at least try to play one with the same body type, and one with the same neck shape. I live in an area where the guitars I was interested in arenāt readily available. I wonāt bore you with the details, but I thought Iād done my due diligence trying out guitars from a friendās collection. When my guitar arrived I realized the neck shape is different than the one I played, and doesnāt feel good in my hand. Iām getting used to it, but it has taken a while. There was a different guitar I did play and loved, but couldnāt find in a color I liked. Itās available now, and I wish Iād waited!
When I started looking, people asked what music I like and/or what guitarists I respect. That helped, but not as much as Iād have thought.
Hi Aaron, I would definitely echo the recommendation of others to sit down with the different types you are considering to see if you like the feel. My first guitar was a Fender Player HSS strat. I bought it online sight unseen on the recommendation of a musician family member. While I got lucky that I loved it, when I went to buy guitar number 2, I went to the store. I tried several different brands and I was able to hone in on what I liked and didnāt like about different guitars.
What type of music will you be playing? While most guitars now are pretty versatile, I definitely gravitate towards my different guitars for different genres. I have a Les Paul as well, which I like to use for heavier stuff, since it tends to have more āgrowlā.
Overall, I think a guitar with an HSS configuration is good place to start since you will have versatility. You can find good ones in a variety of price ranges. Good luck with the hunt!
I got that pack as my first guitar, and it is only ok. Had I been a member here I would have gone with their advice. None of the accessories was worth having, the amp had an annoying buzz, which I got a replacement for.
As you have an acoustic I would shop for the right thing as a better deal.
Yes, definitely. @DarrellW has given some options.
I would suggest go a step up in guitar quality - a Squier Affinity as opposed to a Bullet) and opt for the Katana mini as opposed to the LT25 amp.
Or, Yamaha Pacifica and Blackstar ID:Core 10 amp if you can find a stockist.
I pointed out the Bullet because itās a hard tail no trem to worry about and the pickups are the same as the Affinity, you donāt get better pickups and tuners until you go further up the range. The best of the Bullet series is the Mustang but the Strat and the Telecaster are nowhere near as bad as they used to be, for the price range weāre looking at Harley Benton is the best by far but you donāt get the choice of trying them out.
For grunge a Squier Bullet Mustang is the best choice in your price bracket with the Katana mini, you would definitely not be disappointed, but you really do need to go try some and go with an open mind plus a bit of flexibility with your budget.
I always thought of a Les Paul of being my dream guitar but I found it heavy when I got one and eventually sold it. You can definitely do a lot worse than a Yamaha Pacifica or a Squier Telecaster. If you can find a bit more money to spend on an amp then do so because thereās a lot of small, cheap amps and many of them will be really disappointing
I just bought one of these Eastcoast L1 (les Paul type) as my first guitar . and absolutely love it Seems lovely quality and no rough bits. For Ā£200 canāt go wrong
Confession - i bought one of those electric starter packs (Fender) mainly because i read so much that it might be easier for a beginner and i was struggling a bit with my acoustic. BUT i was so confused/overwhelmed/intimidated by the amp - no clue what all different knobs did , then there were other things on guitar you could change - it was just too much!! LOL So i returned it. But what that did - was simply give me more appreciation for my acoustic. I apologized profusely to him and have a renewed focus and love for the little guy. So thats MY short story of the electric guitar.
I think itās certainly true that even with a beginner setup you can get lost in a world of settings and dials searching for a sound that you want to hear, and particularly with a cheap amp, it simply might not be possible to get the sound youāre hoping to hear. With my acoustic guitar I pick it up, maybe tune it, then play. With my electric guitar I can easily waste half of my practice time just turning dials!
That was exactly the issue!! my friend said āexperiment. have fun with itā - and my thought was āi am struggling to strumā¦i donāt have time to play with an amp!ā lol
The thing is, you donāt need to play with it (much). You could probably sit down and figure out how to get 3 different reasonable tones (say, clean, crunch and distorted) in 1 hour. Note down the settings (or store them in memory, if your amp does that) and just punch in the one you need, when you need it. Itās really not that hard.
If you want to replicate some specific tone you heard, then thatās different, that might take longer. Or forever! But, if you are āstruggling to strumā, replicating a specific tone isnāt important.
+1
On my boss katana I have 3 presets that I keep on there: An acoustic (clean), an AC/DC (Crunch), and a Metallica (distorted) sound.
Iāve found that most songs sound pretty good in one of those presets. Itās when I actually start recording a specific song that I start playing around and look for a sound that matches the song.
Right now, Iām practicing sunshine of your love by cream with the AC/DC sound for example. After I get it good enough to record Iāll try and find a tone that matches even better. I have to say that it sounds pretty good with this crunch tone too though.
