My kid wants an electric guitar

[Dweezil]

 

My son has spent a couple months on an acoustic and I think he's pretty good. He's not had any lessons and can hear simple stuff and figure it out without looking up tabs.

 

He plays the thing at least 4 hours a day

 

Huck has heard him play some stuff, so he can give a fairer assessment than I.

 

He can play Kashmir, Closer to the Heart, some of Dazed and Confused, some Alice Cooper ...stuff like that.

He wants an electric, but says he doesn't think he's ready just yet.

 

Here's my dilemma. Since the fooking things cost so much, do I start putting money away for one? What do I buy? I don't want to buy some crap little thing if he's going to be half good with it. Do I go to a pawn shop and buy something there? Pick up some amps?

 

What's a good kind? He says he'd like a Les Paul.

 

I don't have a clue. We looked at those little kits you can buy. You know the dinky little guitar with the tiny amp and cd included? Seems a waste to me? Like buying a budding artist newsprint to draw and paint on, you know?

 

Any advice?

[Slaine mac Roth]

If your sons seems dedicated, on from what you say he is, I'd start putting some money to try and get him the best instrument you can afford. One thing I'd do is go to your local music shop and get some advice. If its a good store, they'll help your son find the right guitar for him, not necessarily the most expensive.

[physics23]

I believe in starting modest and working your way up as you make progress. When I moved from the acoustic to the electric (I think I was younger than your son is, and probably not as skilled as he sounds) I got a piece of crap thing no one had ever heard of - not some Toys R Us garbage, but still under $100 used. Then as I got better my family agreed I deserved something better, and we got a $500 Washburn. Then my life changed because I moved and was in the service for 3 years, so the guitar was pretty neglected. The moral of the story (mine anyway) is that in hindsight it would have been a mistake to pay $1000+ for an instrument that eventually would end up lying in its case most months of year. But! if your intuition tells you your son is the real deal and he wants to perform and get serious, then maybe go with your gut.

Sorry, I probably haven't helped much.

 

[Edited, because lay is a transitive verb.]

Edited May 17, 2005 by physics23

[NeilPeartFan2112]

Tell him to take up drums instead.

[rkd]

Learn from my brother's mistake... get a somewhat cheapy one under about $200-$300 tops with a cheapy amp and if he really is dedicated which it sounds like he is then move up, because my brother got a $400 acoustic for his birthday and he gave up like 2 weeks later.

 

As for specific guitars, a Squire Strat is pretty decent. This is just me, but I don't recomend getting a guitar with a Whammy Bar because it gets out of tune really easy... make sure it's a fixed bridge if you want it to stay in tune.

 

As far as amps go, there are some decent little practice entry level amps that aren't those huge stacks you see behind Alex at concerts. Something like this 10 watt Marshall wouldn't be too bad (I've got 2, they're pretty good).

 

If there's a Guitar Center or Sam Ash or some sort of store specifically specializing in guitars or musical instruments I'd go there and have your son pick out a low cost guitar and low cost amp and try it out. Have one of the salesmen people help you so you don't blow the amp out .

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

If he likes Les Pauls you could get him an Epiphone to start. I have a couple different Epiphone models, and had 2 of their Les Pauls until recently. Epiphone is owned by Gibson but make their guitars in Asia using the same materials as the American models. The Epiphones are considerably less expensive than their Gibson counterparts. These will still be in the $500 range, but you can find them on eBay for less, maybe $300 or $400 depending on the model.

Also Fender (Squire) make nice start up packs for less than $300 that include a Strat or Telecaster, and amp, strap, string winder and various other accessories.

 

Epiphone Les Paul Standard

 

Squire Strat Pack

 

Epiphone LP Special Player pack

 

Squire SE-100 pack CHEAP!

 

The Les Paul Special is a bolt on neck guitar with one pickup, not near as nice as a Standard. The Squire SE-100 is the cheapest of these. I also have an older Squire Strat. They are decent for the money. Fenders were originally made to be inexpensive quality instruments and the Squire line carries this tradition fairly well.

 

These links are from Musician's Friend which is a Guitar Center company. They should have similar packs at your local Guitar Center, where at least your son can play the guitar first before buying.

Edited May 17, 2005 by CygnusX-1Bk2

[Dweezil]

Thanks everybody!

 

Okay, so we pick a guitar. Go buy it--- fun fun fun......

 

I'm real cheap and skint as well; does he need lessons for all the gadgets? IE: WTF is distortion? WTF is the whammy bar for?

 

There's a real nice looking (to me anyway) Fender kit (can't recall the type) at the local music shop whose amp comes with extra gadgets.

Will he need lessons dya think? It comes with a cd, so maybe he can figure it out? He is a bright lad

[Tom Sawyer]

QUOTE (dweezil @ May 17 2005, 01:36 PM)

Thanks everybody! Okay, so we pick a guitar. Go buy it--- fun fun fun...... I'm real cheap and skint as well; does he need lessons for all the gadgets? IE: WTF is distortion? WTF is the whammy bar for? There's a real nice looking (to me anyway) Fender kit (can't recall the type) at the local music shop whose amp comes with extra gadgets. Will he need lessons dya think? It comes with a cd, so maybe he can figure it out? He is a bright lad

That's what I bought my daughter dweez, the "package" was $199.00 separately it would have been $50 more. lessons are a good idea when you'resure they'll stick with it (commitment) I've not seen that in my daughter yet, worst case scenerio I can take it all to a pawn shop if she scraps the idea and recoupe 70-75%.

 

I'm cheap too, nothin' wrong with that, that's how we survive right?

 

 

[Huck]

QUOTE (dweezil @ May 17 2005, 09:36 PM)

Thanks everybody! Okay, so we pick a guitar. Go buy it--- fun fun fun...... I'm real cheap and skint as well; does he need lessons for all the gadgets? IE: WTF is distortion? WTF is the whammy bar for? There's a real nice looking (to me anyway) Fender kit (can't recall the type) at the local music shop whose amp comes with extra gadgets. Will he need lessons dya think? It comes with a cd, so maybe he can figure it out? He is a bright lad

 

Skint Yeah everyone, he's really good considering he's not had any lessons. I don't believe you should go for a cheapo option

 

He's truly dedicated and I'm sure he won't give up, to buy him something sub-standard would be a mistake, you would only have to upgrade sooner rather than later. The Epiphone sounds like a good option, cheaper but like a Les Paul.

 

That Epiphone Les Paul player pack II looks a good buy..with the speaker etc

 

Ask him what he thinks

 

Also that Fender kit sounds good!

Edited May 17, 2005 by Huck

[rkd]

To answer your question about distortion and whammy bar...

 

Distortion is that fuzzy stuff that changed the world of guitars . A good example is in La Villa Strangiato, coming out of the intro to that "heavy" part... he kicks on the distortion there.

 

Whammy bar is a bar that attatches to the bridge (where the strings are held tight at the bottom of the guitar, by where you picK) and you press down on it to loosen the bend the bridge forward to loosen the tension on the strings... basically when you press it down it detunes the guitar making the notes deeper... Alex uses one in his Limelight solo... listen to the first note of the solo, he's whammying the crap out of it .

 

If he's as dedicated as it sounds I'd ask him if he wants lessons or not... I know around here they're like $60 a month for like 4 lessons. I'm self taught and played 4 hours a day too and you can learn an awfull lot on your own (plus it'll force you into having your own style and stuff... but there is some stuff you'll need some sort of lessons for).

 

I still recommend going to a local guitar/instrument store and have him try out some entry-level or maybe medium level setups to find something he likes.

[PuppetKing2112]

QUOTE (NeilPeartFan2112 @ May 17 2005, 09:51 AM)

Tell him to take up drums instead.

Yeah, drums are SO inexpensive...

[NeilPeartFan2112]

QUOTE (PuppetKing2112 @ May 17 2005, 09:29 PM)

QUOTE (NeilPeartFan2112 @ May 17 2005, 09:51 AM) Tell him to take up drums instead.  Yeah, drums are SO inexpensive... My cousin got his set for $250.

[CygnusX-1Bk2]

For guitar distorion is an effect that was discoverd in the late 50s accidentally (as all effects were). Link Wray (considered the original punk) stuck a pencil in the speaker cone of his guitar amp. When he played through it there was a pleasing fuzz to the formerly clean sound. Later, during the 60's guitar players discovered that with humbucker pickups the high output signal drove an amp's input signal to be hotter than the output threshold, clipping the signal and causing it to distort. Again the fuzzy tone was pleasing. Later stomp boxes were made to overdrive an amp's signal and later to just distort the signal before sending it to the amp. Most amplifiers can do this on their own with out the use of a pedal. For cheaper amps though a stomp box is the way to go. A good one can go for over $100, but good ones can be found for much less.

 

As for a whammy bar: Stratocasters come with a what is called a floating bridge or tailpiece. Even tension is kept by a combination of the strings and springs in the guitar body. When moving the connecting bar the player can alter the pitch of the strings by dipping and pulling. When done quickly and smoothly this creates a nice vibrato (as opposed to tremolo, which is an oscillating amplitude effect) despite it being called a tremolo bar sometimes. More severe cases, like Eddie Van Halen and Alex Lifeson do "dive bombs" which are rapidly descending tones from very high to very low, sounding like a bomb being dropped, making the strings go completely slacked.

 

Fun stuff. Welcome to the wonderful world of electric guitars!

Edited May 18, 2005 by CygnusX-1Bk2

[Indica]

Dont rule out the trading post. I'm not sure if you have one where you live, I'm pretty sure you prolly do. I always got the best deals from people selling in the trading post because a lot of times its people who is hurting for some cash and they sell their guitars for a fair price. If you are patient it will pay off too, I bought a 1964 gibson SG for $100 one time. This was in the 80's but it was still a bargin, I seen the same guitar for $3000 at a music store. S0me scumbag broke in the house and stole it though $^%^^&&@^&............... Now I have a reissue of the same guitar but it's still not the same as a vintage original but oh well, it plays great and sounds sweet so thats all that matters.

 

My advice is, take your time and find the right deal, theres a lot of guitars out there and theres someone needing money and ready to sell their guitar for a good price. The guys at the music store will rake ya unless you seem like you know everything about guitars, it's what they do. If he's playing 4 hours a day now then waiting for a good deal on the right guitar wont hurt him too bad since hes getting plenty of practice in.. But I do remember what its like wanting a new guitar, I WANT IT NOW MOM!!!! lol

[Dweezil]

Thanks everybody. At least I know a little bit more when I go out, instead of saying huh? Do we want the what now?

 

And Indica, yes, he's starting to want that electric more everyday At least he knows we're skint and he's looking for a job to help pay for it. He's getting to want to make more and different sounds from his acoustic. I've staved off some of the "hunger" by getting him a slide and he's piddling around with that and mucking around with the strings tension as he experiments.

 

[D-13]

My first guitar was an ibenez and it was really really good for a starter guitar...that was 300 and the amp was 75...cord and strap and picks were like 25 bucks together....

 

In guitar works by my house...the cheapest les Paul was for 700 bucks

 

another thing....there are starter kits that include EVERYTHING like the amp, guitar, strap, picks and cord. I personally think thats a good way to start....cheap and realible. It's usually Fender I see that does that. Some other companies do that as well....Oh and if he's looking for tone....be sure he has played like EVERY guitar in the store...thats what i'm doing right now...My friend told me to do this, even with the cheap models as well...because she found a no name brand that suited her needs for tone and it was cheap...and she still loves it to this day

 

Your son sounds dedicated to playing so I think you should get a guitar for him....electric does wonders, well it changed my playing and does create more fun

 

Have fun!!! buying for a new guitar has to be one of my favourite things to do and I hope you and your son is the same way!

[Rand]

My advice is to buy a quality name brand used guitar. This will cost more than some cheap korean knock off but it's worth it for a couple reasons.

 

1. it's easier to play and sound good on a good guitar.

 

2. A quality used guitar will hold it's value much better than a cheap no-name.

 

You can go out and get a brand new korean guitar for 200 bucks but if your kid loses interest you will have a hard time selling the thing except maybe at a garage sale.

 

If you find a good price on a quality used instrument chances are you can get most of your investment back when it comes time to sell it.

 

My .02

 

Rand

[patjnev]

My first guitar was a Hondo Les Paul copy that I bought with a Kay amp for about 75 bucks. The Hondo was good for learning because the action was so high it helped with developing finger strength. The next one I bought was a Westone Strat Copy that had great action compared to the Hondo. After that I got a Fender 1975 Japanese model, Kramer,Charvel and finally a Ibanez model 9 I found in a pawn shop that I still have.

 

Today there are far better cheap guitars than compared to when I started in '82, Ibanez makes a few great ones and Yamaha too.

 

 

[defrushfan01]

What I did was I got my first guitar, amp, strap, picks, book for $325.00, its best to start inexpensive then get them better stuff later when they developed the hobby.

[Dr.Gomez]

Edited June 9, 2005 by Dr.Gomez

[Dweezil]

Thanks to all for the advice.

 

We are off today to shop. He has read all the posts and researched the different suggestions and tried out a few guitars that friends own.

 

He says he knows what kind of sound he wants. (that means diddly to me, but whatever )

 

He is keenly interested in the Epiphone, but he will play each guitar that he looks at before buying.

 

Damn, I don't look forward to the neighbors complaints of the noise!!

 

 

[Freedom_Fighter]

QUOTE (dweezil @ May 17 2005, 10:55 AM)

My son has spent a couple months on an acoustic and I think he's pretty good. He's not had any lessons and can hear simple stuff and figure it out without looking up tabs. He plays the thing at least 4 hours a day Huck has heard him play some stuff, so he can give a fairer assessment than I. He can play Kashmir, Closer to the Heart, some of Dazed and Confused, some Alice Cooper ...stuff like that. He wants an electric, but says he doesn't think he's ready just yet. Here's my dilemma. Since the fooking things cost so much, do I start putting money away for one? What do I buy? I don't want to buy some crap little thing if he's going to be half good with it. Do I go to a pawn shop and buy something there? Pick up some amps? What's a good kind? He says he'd like a Les Paul. I don't have a clue. We looked at those little kits you can buy. You know the dinky little guitar with the tiny amp and cd included? Seems a waste to me? Like buying a budding artist newsprint to draw and paint on, you know? Any advice?

holy crap dude you kid sounds like he's doin really good for only playin a couple months. i've been playing a year and a half and still can't figure out songs by ear very easily.

[Dweezil]

QUOTE (Freedom_Fighter @ Jul 29 2005, 11:30 AM)

QUOTE (dweezil @ May 17 2005, 10:55 AM) My son has spent a couple months on an acoustic and I think he's pretty good. He's not had any lessons and can hear simple stuff and figure it out without looking up tabs. He plays the thing at least 4 hours a day Huck has heard him play some stuff, so he can give a fairer assessment than I. He can play Kashmir, Closer to the Heart, some of Dazed and Confused, some Alice Cooper ...stuff like that. He wants an electric, but says he doesn't think he's ready just yet. Here's my dilemma. Since the fooking things cost so much, do I start putting money away for one? What do I buy? I don't want to buy some crap little thing if he's going to be half good with it. Do I go to a pawn shop and buy something there? Pick up some amps? What's a good kind? He says he'd like a Les Paul. I don't have a clue. We looked at those little kits you can buy. You know the dinky little guitar with the tiny amp and cd included? Seems a waste to me? Like buying a budding artist newsprint to draw and paint on, you know? Any advice? holy crap dude you kid sounds like he's doin really good for only playin a couple months. i've been playing a year and a half and still can't figure out songs by ear very easily. He loves his guitar He hears commercial jingles and next thing you know he's playing them He says he want's his guitar to talk.   As far as price. He's saved up $600.00 to go shopping

[Huck]

QUOTE (dweezil @ Jul 29 2005, 06:35 PM)

QUOTE (Freedom_Fighter @ Jul 29 2005, 11:30 AM) QUOTE (dweezil @ May 17 2005, 10:55 AM) My son has spent a couple months on an acoustic and I think he's pretty good. He's not had any lessons and can hear simple stuff and figure it out without looking up tabs. He plays the thing at least 4 hours a day Huck has heard him play some stuff, so he can give a fairer assessment than I. He can play Kashmir, Closer to the Heart, some of Dazed and Confused, some Alice Cooper ...stuff like that. He wants an electric, but says he doesn't think he's ready just yet. Here's my dilemma. Since the fooking things cost so much, do I start putting money away for one? What do I buy? I don't want to buy some crap little thing if he's going to be half good with it. Do I go to a pawn shop and buy something there? Pick up some amps? What's a good kind? He says he'd like a Les Paul. I don't have a clue. We looked at those little kits you can buy. You know the dinky little guitar with the tiny amp and cd included? Seems a waste to me? Like buying a budding artist newsprint to draw and paint on, you know? Any advice? holy crap dude you kid sounds like he's doin really good for only playin a couple months. i've been playing a year and a half and still can't figure out songs by ear very easily. He loves his guitar He hears commercial jingles and next thing you know he's playing them He says he want's his guitar to talk.   As far as price. He's saved up $600.00 to go shopping He has an excellent ear for music and a natural talent

[Freedom_Fighter]

i can tell ya right now that kid's gonna go far.