Start Up Electric Guitar

[beaublack]

.... yea another daughter thread ..

this one has got into band music this last six months - got a little group going and is getting more and more enthusiastic. Is playing the old acoustic guitar we've had around for ages. Now wants an electric guitar for Xmas / 14th Birthday (Xmas Eve). Has mentioned start up strat kit with case small amp etc - have spotted these for £130 ish.

Could do with advice really. Are these little start up kits OK? Web or local shop? Anything to absolutely mind out for?

[Rob S]

You cna buy a lot of start up kits but IMO, if shes serious then would it not be better to get a junior Epi LP Std for like £200 and a small amp rather than some cheapo that youll no doubt have to replace if she gets more serous?

[beaublack]

Rob S said:

You cna buy a lot of start up kits but IMO, if shes serious then would it not be better to get a junior Epi LP Std for like £200 and a small amp rather than some cheapo that youll no doubt have to replace if she gets more serous?

Rob - is that a junior or a standard? What is the selection criteria between either girl / boy? age? height? ability?

[gingerpaul]

I may get flamed for this, so first I shall put on a flame suit.....





Depending on the girl of course, would one of these fit the bill? They're about £140. (I honestly never thought there'd be a situation where I'd actually recommend one of these! ) They're a perfectly good beginners guitar as they're just a Squire Stratocaster. I'd be a little wary of Les Paul type guitars unless she has her heart set on one as they weigh quite a lot. Ibanez do some quite good starter guitars, as do Yamaha with the Pacifica 112.



Meow.

[beaublack]

Ummm no don't think that's going to do it - but the squire stratocaster is more like it.

[smiller]

beaublack said:

.... yea another daughter thread ..

this one has got into band music this last six months - got a little group going and is getting more and more enthusiastic. Is playing the old acoustic guitar we've had around for ages. Now wants an electric guitar for Xmas / 14th Birthday (Xmas Eve). Has mentioned start up strat kit with case small amp etc - have spotted these for £130 ish.

Could do with advice really. Are these little start up kits OK? Web or local shop? Anything to absolutely mind out for?

Nothing wrong with a Squier (I assume it's a Squier Stratocaster we're on about here??) starter kit and amp. Nothing at all.

Buy with confidence from a music shop.

[beaublack]

.. yes - seems to be what she has come up with - I think from her peers ... good call on the local shop as there is a new one in town - and it looks quiet! Can I expect competitive pricing?

[gingerpaul]

Local music shops seem to be a bit hit and miss whenever I've been in them. Once you find a good one then you'll keep going back, so it's worth trying to find a good one before parting with any money. Their attitude, amount of stock, knowledge and pricing are all important factors for me, as with any shop i suppose. I think it's worth paying a little extra on something like this so that you know you've got the support of someone who can tweek it for you as and when it's needed. I guess most important of all is getting a recommendation of a shop if possible.

You're the wrong end of the country so I can't help with anywhere near you, but if you were from near here I'd recommend Guitar Village. Their website is pretty good for browsing though, it might give you some ideas and they do mail order if you're struggling finding anywhere decent (I'd still get it from a shop near you if at all possible though).

Not sure I've been terribly helpful there reading it back, but what the hell. I've typed it so I'll let you decide.

[catmartin]

another vote here for the squier

[paulmurr]

Yamaha Pacifica 112 - The Best beginners guitar. Similar looks to the Squire but superior in every way.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_pacifica_112_lpb.htm?partner_id=59917 

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews53763.html 


IMHO obviously

[JaymzDead]

I started with a Squier Strat, just make sure if you buy a starter pack you get a half decent amp, the one I had, if you wanted anything but a completely clean sound was bloody hopeless!

[Rob S]

beaublack said:

Rob S said:

You cna buy a lot of start up kits but IMO, if shes serious then would it not be better to get a junior Epi LP Std for like £200 and a small amp rather than some cheapo that youll no doubt have to replace if she gets more serous?

Rob - is that a junior or a standard? What is the selection criteria between either girl / boy? age? height? ability?

Have a look on http://www.gak.co.uk at the juniors... bit more info there

[Yoda954]

I'm currently starting on a Squier Strat (the g/f bought it for £50 inc the 'Fender' amp)...I've nothing to compare it with as at £50 2nd hand & available 'now' I wasn't going to bother finding anything else
The amp has a 'drive select' button which (I have no idea what the correct term is) distorts the sound & can be messed around with by switching between pick-ups or plucking the string further away from the fret board....gives a good 'rock' sound
The only problem is the 'B' string doesn't stay in tune as long as the others do, but that's probably due to the g/f's nephew being rough with it at some time.
So it gets a thumbs up from me as a 2nd hand buy (@ £50 anyway)...if I was buying new I would get the Yamaha.

BTW - can anyone tell me which effects pedals do what soundwise...yeah yeah, I know I probably shouldn't at an early stage...but I just want to have fun

[danger mouse]

Yoda954 said:

BTW - can anyone tell me which effects pedals do what soundwise...yeah yeah, I know I probably shouldn't at an early stage...but I just want to have fun

Sounds like an intresting thread in itself.

to the OP, when I was at the "been playing acoustic for a while now I want an elecrtic stage" I went to a recomended local music shop as suggested above. Definately the way to go, especially before you find your feet.

I came away with a £130 starter kit which was a 10Watt Silvertone amp', soft case, 3M lead and of course the Guitar: A Washburn X series Think Strat'a'like with two singles and a double coil pick up.

Of this original kit, a year and half later, I now only use the Guitar, which everyone who plays it says it is shockingly good for what it is.

First to go was the cheapo lead. Get a decent one (C£20 3M should be OK) straight off as other wise there can be horrible interference buzz from anything else (especially dimmer swithes if the guitar is switched to twin coils!) in the room.

Secondly, I have used the soft case maybe twice. Young'ns might like rucksacky gig bags but give me a nice tweed hard case everytime. If your daughter is worried about travelling to band practice, there are loads of hard cases on fleaBay from about £40. They'll be more at a shop, but they do offer a lot more protection than a gig bag.

Third, I got bored of the diddy Clean channel+drive amp pretty quickly and ended up putting a bladdy great speaker from a fast car in the cabinet. Sounded cool, but very loud due to the wrong impedence.
If your little lady is in a band she'll bore of a basic amp even more quickly as I only play at home to annoy my housemates/neighbours etc. To cover all bases Get her a VOX DA-5. It is small, has loads of effects and voices, switchable from 0.5W to 5W and is batterey/mains powered so she can plug-in at home/practice or use it as a busking stool (it's just the right size to sit on too).
C£100 you really can't do better.
I would still be using mine had I not blown it up by running an audio feed into the line level intput...
...stupid.
The little VOX is otherwise very robust and looks cool and is availible in loads of colour schemes.
I now have one of it's awesome Valve powered AD15vt bigger brothers, but am seriously considering backing it up with another DA-5! They really are that great.

Most importantly though, the Electric will never replace the acoustic.
Make sure that gets restrung and set-up. I go through phases where I don't pick-up the electric for ages because I rediscover the acoustic and vice versa. That doen't mean that money spent on the Electric is wasted though!


HTH
DM

[Nimbus]

beaublack said:

.... yea another daughter thread ..

this one has got into band music this last six months - got a little group going and is getting more and more enthusiastic. Is playing the old acoustic guitar we've had around for ages. Now wants an electric guitar for Xmas / 14th Birthday (Xmas Eve). Has mentioned start up strat kit with case small amp etc - have spotted these for £130 ish.

Could do with advice really. Are these little start up kits OK? Web or local shop? Anything to absolutely mind out for?

I've found these guys ( Regent Guitars )to be excellent.. well worth a poke around their site and a phone call.

http://tinyurl.com/yo8dng

Couldn't be more helpful when I was shopping for a new acoustic, and they do a good range of 'starter' kit too.

Tho if you were putting it together yourself I'd go for a Yamaha Pacifica for the guitar, top instrument for the price

[beaublack]

.. cheers for all of this ...

Am going into Crosshills to try the new store in the morning, I don't think they have much stock as they are new in town. I am going to feel a bit of a t*t to begin with - but armed with the advice you have given I have much more of an idea now - at least to see if I get sound advice.

Right off to revise the thread now ...ummm ....G-String ....ummm

Found the website for the shop ...

http://www.angelsoundltd.co.uk/

Edited by beaublack on Friday 30th November 21:59

[RobM77]

I don't think there's a 'best' guitar or amp - it comes down to the type of music she wants to play and her own personal preference. For instance, a strat and a fender amp is a pretty poor choice if you're into metal, and an Ibanez and a marshall amp is a pretty poor choice if you're into cleaner stuff and blues! Horses for courses.

It's also down to design, as you've got to want to pick an instrument up and play it.

Edited by RobM77 on Wednesday 5th December 09:57

[ih8thisname]

I too would recommend an Epiphone Les Paul. If you begin to get serious on a pretty nice guitar, chances are you are not going to pack it in eh?

As far as Amp's go i think a little Marshall 15W wouldn't hurt the wallet too much

[ganglandboss]

paulmurr said:

Yamaha Pacifica 112 - The Best beginners guitar. Similar looks to the Squire but superior in every way.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_pacifica_112_lpb.htm?partner_id=59917 

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews53763.html 


IMHO obviously

Another vote for the Pacifica!

I started with a Squier Stratocaster and it is pretty good. Many of the early Japanese ones used genuine American Fender parts as a lot of the machinery at the factory wasn't set up in time so they had to export parts to Japan.

The new ones which are badged as 'Strat' are shite! They are made in China and are apparently the same as the Sunn Mustang (shit Strat copy).

I think Yamahas are brilliant. You get plenty of guitar for your money.

Remember, the better the guitar, the easier it will be to play and the more likely she will be to stick with it.

[collateral]

Epi LP (it's worth getting someone to set it up right)

Vox AD15VT