Might learn Guitar. (need suggestions)

[Master Link]

I'm probably going to learn guitar soon (electric)

Do any of you have any suggestion on what guitars to start with?
Not too expensive.
I like the fender style a lot.

[Mehplep]

Have you played classical guitar before this? There is essentially no difference in the playing techniqe between a classical and an electrical guitar, it's just that the classical have strings that wont murder your fingers after the first couple of times you play on it. If you have played classical before, and if you like Fender-ish guitars, then there are many possibilities for you. The most famous Stratocaster copy is the Squire one, without doubt, which is a great, standard guitar for a reasonable prize, but it's still more expencive than most begginers guitars. How long have you been playing? 'Cause if you're going to test if you like it you're better off with a cheap guitar to test on, test maybe a half year, and then deicide if you wanna continue or not. Sorry if I'm talking nonsence now, but I am talking with experience that most guitar neuwbs wanna play guitar, buy a somewhat expencive Stratocaster copy, then get bored after a dozen of times and realized that they could've come to the same conclusion with a $90 guitar instead of a $290 guitar.

[kpllk]

What is the price range you want to be in? close to $200.00, or more like $30.00? It all depends on howw much you are willing to spend on it.

[Master Link]

Probably $300 at most. I saw the Squire and loved it. I haven't played guitar before but I am great at reading music and have played a lot of other instuments.

I saw a good Squire pack that I like for $250. It has good reviews too.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Stop-Dreaming--Start-Playing-Affinity-Special-Strat-Pack-With-Fender-Frontman-15G-Amp-104487442-i1175988.gc
Or this strat pack for $350
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-Stop-Dreaming--Start-Playing-Affinity-Strat-HSS-with-G-DEC-Junior-Amp-104500608-i1174774.gc

[kpllk]

With $300.00, you can buy almost anything that is GOOD. You really only need a bigginer one, right? I forget the name of it. Someone at my school told me about an awesome guitter once.

[Mehplep]

Both those guitar packs looks great, question is just which one suits you best. Comparing the guitars is the HSS, the second, better in the way that it have a humbucker pickup together with the single coils. This is the standard setup on a Stratocaster, and the first one lacks the humbucker to pick up more heavy, 'filled' sounds of the strings. They're both 21-frets non-jumbo and both have the crappy Fender whammy bar (I am a big Floyd Rose fan...). Both the second is the better one, but both will absolutley work great.

The amps are really different though. The first one looks like a standard amplifier that will work absolutley great all around. Nothing special, just a good amp with capabilities with some distortion if that's you cup of tea. The second one looks a little bit more experimental though. It looks like it got prebuilt backing tracks and a metronome. Metronome is your best friend when learning music, I hope you know, so that's a great feature, but having backtracks that most possibly have nothing to do with learning actual songs is both good and somewhat of a overkill. They will be great if you wanna just sit down and a quick jam and shred off some solos, but something is telling me that it wont be the first thing you'll do with your guitar. And the other thing they promise is '15 special effect presets'. That 'something' is telling me again that you wont be trixing around with delays and chorus effects right off the bat really, and combining that knowledge with the fact that pretty much every effect prebuilt in an amp is garbage makes me think that those will be those knobs you'll turn on, find out that your guitar sounds spacy, you'll say 'oh, cool', strike some random notes, then turn it off, continue playing the song you were learning and never again touch. They will work to make your guitar sound strange, but not in a good way. If you want a delay effect, I'll say you're better off with buying a real delay pedal instead of amp presets. Otherwise is the amps pretty much the same. They are 15w, which is enough to make your parents angry and get phone calls from the neighbours, and you'll be able to handle your amplifier problems with any of those perfectly with probably your next guitar too. The first one will make you look less like a neuwb though, with less inbuilt metronomes and bad effects :p

Other than that have both the packages, as I can see, a softcase, three picks, a TRS cable, a guitar tuner (i.e. a lifesaver), and some extra strings. All the essential stuff in the box, hooray!

Conclusion is that both work great whatsoever, it's more of your personal preferences on for example which genre you wanna play and how the guitar feels, so I would suggesting test both those packages out. Just play some chords, mess around with the sound, and check which one suits you the best.

[Master Link]

Well I want to play classic rock and maybe some modern if that makes a difference between the guitars.

I appreciate you very informative post Mehplep

[Mehplep]

Well, as said is the difference a humbucker pickup between the guitars. The difference with single coil pickups and humbuckers is that single coils pick up more high-ranged sounds and less mid-range, and humbuckers vice verca. It's kinda hard too explain, but I found a good video too understand the main difference between the two pickups.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PG9qZCM_LKE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PG9qZCM_LKE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

He use first the neck pickup with a humbucker, then switch to a single coil, plays around a bit with both, and then switch to bridge pickup and do it over again. Both guitars will be able to handle most sounds great, but the second one will have a deeper range of mid tones.

[Master Link]

OK I got a guiatr pack today for $250 and it isn't one of the packs above. It was a Fender Starcastor i think. (between Stratocaster and Squire) I have no idea how to play it........ I got 2 free lesson with it though. It came with a tuner and 10w Amp. But is didn't come with phones or picks...

[Mehplep]

Oh. I've never personally played a Starcastor, but Fender make pretty much always quality products, so would say you made a great buy with the guitars. Tuner, as I stated, is a lifesaver, and 10w works fine. Which brand and model is the amp? You should be able to use any headphones you have. If the amp have a TRS line for the phones you will need a 3.5 to TRS connector though. They shoudn't be to hard to find in you local music store. Picks is something I didn't start out with, but they are still recommended, since you will probably mostly play with picks when you can master them. Picks are somewhat expencive considering they are just bits of plastic, so if the store have any '5-for-whateverthepriceis', take a couple of them. Picks get very easily lost anyway, so it might be a good idea to have some of em :P But once again, Fender is a great company, and that guitar is a great piece that will work terrific.

Also, I would recommend downloading a software called Power Tab (http://www.power-tab.net/guitar.php), which is a free software that simply plays tabs for you. There is a better software called Guitar Pro 5, but it costs money ($59). Power Tab works great though. Tabs is btw the most easy and probably best way to find sheets on the net. Also, bookmark http://www.911tabs.com, which is without doubt the best search engine for tabs. Both Power Tab and Guitar Pro files can be found there, as well as normal textbased tabs.

If you need any other help with how to play the guitar or how to handle your guitar, feel free to ask. I've been playing guitar for eleven years now and can hopefully answer yiour questions :)

[Master Link]

I think I might just take lessons and it will be easier

[devijones]

It is much easier to learn to play on a decent quality guitar. My first guitar (I've been playing for more than 3 years) was poor quality and had very high action. (What did I know about guitars when I bought? Nothing.) Because of the high action, i.e., the strings are too high above the fretboard, it was tough to form chords properly and barre chords were impossible.

Generally, a $150 guitar should be of decent quality. Before you run out and get a new guitar, take yours to a guitar shop that does repair work, and have them check it out. The place where you originally bought it would be ideal if they have a repair tech. Tell the guy, in detail, the kinds of problems you're having.

Your guitar may need to be properly set up, may may need new tuning machines, or other work. Or maybe you just need new strings; some otherwise good guitars come with poor quality strings when sold. The cost of a little work by a trained tech can give you a better guitar for a lot less than the price of a new one.

You'll also be happier with this guitar, instead of buying a new one but having to look at your old one sitting there unused.

BTW, if you really want the Les Paul, go ahead and get one down the road. But IMHO spend at least $350-$400. The $150 ones are quickly thrown together and don't have all the features the $400 ones have (like only one p'up instead of two, etc..)



All About Guitar (http://video.about.com/guitar/Basic-Guitar-Chords.htm)
Video Lesson Link (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=ADBD7F28D90C404B&playnext=1&v=Rndv9_EX3rU)
Why Learn Guitar (http://guitarlessonsreviews.net/Introduction.php/)

[Len]

i learn by my own, (not allways because sometimes i whant to play someone,s song) so i do really have great fast freting, have no problems with that exept when doing it with closed eyes... ps if you whant to be a master fret you have to start practising into moving your fingers in a line secuency through the fretboard and when you get it you will be a master freter, if you whant to be a pro strumming what do you have to do is remember the notes and its positions on the fretboar "you will remember each possition of the fingers when you get it", and if you whant to shred "for heavy metal master freters only" you have to learn by speeding up your freting, (rock its quite easy...but metal is for people who have best and faster freting)...if you need more suggestions pm me, and i,ll send you what you need

[Atsuma]

Guitar, yeah. I have always wanted to learn how to play it, too bad I don't have for one, and too bad I don't the wealth to hire someone who can teach me. *Kicks a can and goes away.*

[Killswitch]

Many music stores carry Squire beginner packs, which comes with a Fender styled strat guitar, strap, amp, picks and usually a cord and some books. They are usually between $100 and $200, in that range.

Some general tips from an 8 or 9 year player...

Start off by learning on your own. Lessons can be expensive and you won't be able to do much in the beginning months. Learn to read and play tablature ( check out PowerTab editor ) and mess around with fingering, chords and scales. Don't try to play fast ( trust me, it will come in the future ).

Work on accuracy above all else. Play pieces through slowly, get your fingers used to moving around the neck of the guitar, and don't forget to use the pinky as needed. That was my mistake, and now I can't use it very well ( not to mention I broke my pinky years ago and never fixed it, so it locks sometimes ).

Over time you will feel more confortable on the guitar and can eventually hit notes without looking every single time. You will also get faster and more accurate at sliding your hands down greater distances on the neck ( like if you are playing near the headstock and have to quickly get down to 13th fret or so ).

One more thing, work on your picking. As you practice, try skipping strings and doing a shuffle. Do it slow and slowly build up speed. Don't think you're gonna play it 100 times and then shred it, you won't.

I have been playing for about 8 or 9 years now and am fairly comfortable with speed. I am working on sweep picking, but could have built speed and shredding technique years ago. I've known many people to play fast and solo after a couple years.

Just don't worry about being the fastest. It's not about speed, it's about what you and others are hearing and feeling from the music.

Check out some good guitarists like Stevie Ray Vaughan or David Gilmore. Neither are considerably fast, both as I've been told, what VanHalen can say in 200 notes on the guitar, David Gilmore could say in 20.

[Guitarguy01]

I am learning guitar online (http://www.greenguitarguy.com) till yet it is a nice exprience and the site I am using is quiet parctical.

[xXJuggernautXx]

For beginners even looking to play on an electric, I recommend starting with an acoustic. It's harder because the frets are spaced further apart, but it will teach you good fundamentals and stretch your fingers out for more advanced playing later. Start with one with Nylon strings, especially if you haven't played a guitar-like instrument before. Steel strings will shred your finders on an acoustic should you got that route.

If you want to skip that step entirely, then Stratocastors are excellent beginner level guitars. There sound is extremely adaptable and can handle some pretty heavy stuff as far as metal is concerned, but their stock neck pickups can give you a nice, bluesy feeling as well. I used a St. Blues Stratocaster (same guitar build, different company), and it got me through a good three years of playing and learning, so they should last you a while. Later I moved on to a ESP M100-FM because it came with a Floyd-Rose tremolo system, but you don't have to worry about that now. Just worry about finding a guitar that's comfortable and fun to play.

As far as amplifiers are concerned, anything simple by Fender is the way to go. You won't need ones with multiple Amplifier Models, Effects, or Drum Loops for a while, and having an amp like that will just frustrate you when you don't know what you're doing. Just find one with a simple Distortion/Clean setting, and you'll be set.