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I am thinking of finally picking up a guitar. I took a semester of classes in high school almost 2 years ago and loved it. I was pretty good, but did not continue learning after the class ended so now I forgot everything. Now with new Guitar Hero game, I decided to get an actual guitar. What do you recommend as a good beginner's guitar?
Should I get an acoustic or electric? I would like to possibly spend under $300 for guitar and amp or just guitar if I get acoustic... that should include any extras that I might need.
Thanks.
Martin makes excellent guitars. Under $300 I am not sure of. Ovation is another good choice. Tacoma is another good choice.
__________________
Current Amps: SOHA and NO AMP AT ALL
Current Headphones: Grado 225,KSC 75,PX 100,YUIN PK2
Future projects:Cavelli jones(with 5687 upgrade)
Source: 4G 20G ipod, Dell computer with SB Live card,Phillips 953 dvd/cd player
Work source: Dell optiplex GX620,IPOD
Previously owned headphones: er6i,sr80,HD580 with hd650 cable,PX100,sr225,YUIN PK3,sr325i,igrados
Previously owned amps: Millett Hybrid with diamond buffer bd,Sr-71
Well, I'm not much of a guitarist, but I'd suggest an acoustic for your first guitar. If you plan to spend $300, you'll get a pretty decent instrument...for example a new Seagull can be had for that price range. This is a highly recommended beginner guitar.
With electric + amp, you are into $500-600 just for a half-decent setup. Check out the Eastwood Guitars site for an idea.
I just bought a Takamine acoustic. Set out looking to buy a Martin but after playing dozens of different guitars a salesman at Guitar Center actually talked me down from the $700 Martin that I was looking at into a $300 Takamine. I asked him if he thought that the Martin that I was leaning towards was the best sounding guitar in my price range. He pondered a minute and then he pulled down this Takamine. I played it before he told me the price and I was instantly sold. I got out the door with the guitar, six sets of Martin 'Marquis' strings, a humidifier, and a really nice hard case for just under $400.
Takamine GS330S
**EDIT** It's actually a cedar top
-Solid cedar top/laminate back and sides
__________________ "So I jump ship in Hong Kong, and I make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over there in the Himalayas. (a looper?) A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper,..a jock. So I tell 'em I'm a pro jock and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama himself. The Twelfth son of the Lama; the flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So i'm on the first tee with him, I give him the driver; he hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long...into a ten thousand foot crevasse right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says: (pause) 'Gunga Galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga.' So we finish the 18th and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, 'Hey, Lama, hey. How about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know?' And he says, 'Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.' So i've got THAT going for me. Which is nice."
Watch: The Office (US), Scrubs reruns up to season 5, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Looks good, Ingo... The sub-$500 category is booming with good acoustics like those.
I had no idea. I used to think that you could get good tone out of an electric for cheaper than an acoustic, but I don't think so anymore.
I have an early 80's Jap. Strat. with a stationary Khaler bridge and EMG golds that sounds magnificient. Still, it won't compete with a nicely set-up older American Strat (for pure Strat. tone).
My stepmoms D-15 Custom Spruce is an excellent sounding guitar. For years I thought that I wouldn't be satisfied with anything below that level, but I like the tone of my Takamine just as much as I like hers. There's a still a little jealousy that she has Martin written on hers, though.
__________________ "So I jump ship in Hong Kong, and I make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over there in the Himalayas. (a looper?) A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper,..a jock. So I tell 'em I'm a pro jock and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama himself. The Twelfth son of the Lama; the flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So i'm on the first tee with him, I give him the driver; he hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long...into a ten thousand foot crevasse right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says: (pause) 'Gunga Galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga.' So we finish the 18th and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, 'Hey, Lama, hey. How about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know?' And he says, 'Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.' So i've got THAT going for me. Which is nice."
Watch: The Office (US), Scrubs reruns up to season 5, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien
I have an early 80's Jap. Strat. with a stationary Khaler bridge and EMG golds that sounds magnificient. Still, it won't compete with a nicely set-up older American Strat (for pure Strat. tone).
Kahler bridge and EMG 85s? That's about as far from typical Strat tone as you can get! One of my previous guitar instructors had a handful of mid-'80s Jackson Soloists, all with Kahler tremelos (Floyd Rose-type, though) and EMG 85s, and they were killer shredding guitars.
Originally Posted by Ingo
My stepmoms D-15 Custom Spruce is an excellent sounding guitar. For years I thought that I wouldn't be satisfied with anything below that level, but I like the tone of my Takamine just as much as I like hers. There's a still a little jealousy that she has Martin written on hers, though.
Expensive guitars are like expensive audio equipment in that way. The higher you go, the more subtle the differences become. When you play your Takamine, ask yourself how much better a $7,500 Taylor would be. 19 times better? Probably not.
When I was shopping around for a classical guitar, I had figured that $2,500 would be the minimum for a decent guitar. I spent a few months playing guitars here and there, including a $4,000+ Hauser model, and while it was my favorite of the guitars I'd tried until then, it just didn't sound like me. My guitar instructor had a distributor friend who had found a new line of guitars from a team of luthiers in Mexico, so he paid to have a guitar shipped in order to see if it was worth recommending to his students. He gave me the first audition; I took the guitar to a practice room, and within a few minutes, I was sold. Final price, $500.
So x3 for those who have recommended that the OP play some guitars before deciding.
Kahler bridge and EMG 85s? That's about as far from typical Strat tone as you can get! One of my previous guitar instructors had a handful of mid-'80s Jackson Soloists, all with Kahler tremelos (Floyd Rose-type, though) and EMG 85s, and they were killer shredding guitars.
No, no. I have EMG SA single coils. No humbuckers for me. And the Khaler is a stationary bridge not a tremelo bridge. The reason the Khaler is on there is because of it's adjustability. It's one of the tightest playing electric guitars I've ever played. Complex bending is a dream on it.
Originally Posted by infinitesymphony
Expensive guitars are like expensive audio equipment in that way. The higher you go, the more subtle the differences become. When you play your Takamine, ask yourself how much better a $7,500 Taylor would be. 19 times better? Probably not.
Good call. That new Takamine I've got is like a KSC-75 equivalent. Since I'm more of a Martin guy we'll change the Taylor to a D-28 and call it equivalent to an Orpheus .
__________________ "So I jump ship in Hong Kong, and I make my way over to Tibet, and I get on as a looper at a course over there in the Himalayas. (a looper?) A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper,..a jock. So I tell 'em I'm a pro jock and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama himself. The Twelfth son of the Lama; the flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So i'm on the first tee with him, I give him the driver; he hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long...into a ten thousand foot crevasse right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says: (pause) 'Gunga Galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga.' So we finish the 18th and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, 'Hey, Lama, hey. How about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know?' And he says, 'Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.' So i've got THAT going for me. Which is nice."
Watch: The Office (US), Scrubs reruns up to season 5, and Late Night With Conan O'Brien
yes I have to agree with all the statements above. and Ovation is definitely a good choice. Its a great starting guitar but the takamine that was posted above should be better, having played both
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