software

Hi Guys.

In Short:
My friend is 20.
He wants to get an entry level guitar.
He's strapped for cash.
He LOVES Queen.
He doesn't have an amp (needs to get it too).

Will it be better to get one of those cheap starter packs? Or maybe invest in a mexican fender and a small amp?

This quot;Agile LP copyquot; thread got me thinking about it. Even though an agile is not exactly cheap (370 US shipping).

Which guitar would you recommend around 200 dollar range or under, for starting out. (Besides the yamaha pacifica).

Thanks,
FR

mexican strat or tele...or 80's made in japan fender too!!! USED-USED

Don't go with a cheap $99 starter pack. The cheaper the guitar, the more time he will spend fighting with it rather than playing it. Get a good Mexican Strat to begin with, he can start playing without an amp. In fact, I think all beginners should learn by playing unplugged. As a beginner, the tendency is to crank up the distortion, which covers up your mistakes. When you play unplugged, you can hear what you're really doing a bit more easily. When he is ready for an amp, those Peavey Blazers are surprisingly nice for a solid state practice amp. You can get them used for $70 or so.

Ryan

the yamaha pacifica is a good guitar too . .. at least the ones that I have played have been

Mexican Fender or Hamer import. Both are great soundwise and quality-wise

Agile AD-2300 Jr. ABout $200. They were going for a Les Paul Junior look, but I think it looks a lot like Brian May's axe.

a quality used guitar and small amp for learning is best bang for the buck for beginners ... try to find something nice that was previously owned (but rarely played) by someone who thought it would be fun, but didnt really put the time into it ...

cheers
t4d

A lot of those Squier Strats amp; Teles are pretty nice....and I think that Roland Cube amp is fairly inexpensive amp; nice.

from : localhost/the upside of the Squiers, if you he gets better amp; keeps it, you can mod the crap out of them fairly easily amp; not be worried about destroying anything of major value!

also, epiphone makes a nice starter pack. the one i'm talking about has the Les Paul 100 in it (not the special 2's).

I only started playing about 8 months ago. I started on a used Ibanez RG. I would recommend to a beginner to stay away from a Floyd Rose bridge - it makes changing strings and tuning hell on earth and will have trouble resting your picking hand.

I now have a Gamp;L tribute which I LOVE and it only cost me $275 new on eBay. I alos got a Tech 21 amp used for about $175. Since he likes Queen, he might want to go for the Vox modelling amp instead.

A cheap acoustic (about $100 new) helps more than you might expect to strengthen my fretting hand. So if your friend can swing it, get a cheap acoustic also. It makes the electric that much easier to play.


Originally Posted by Frantic_RockThis quot;Agile LP copyquot; thread got me thinking about it. Even though an agile is not exactly cheap (370 US shipping).

Agile Les Paul copies start at $199. I got the goldtop 2500 for $229 and it is tons of bang for the buck. Grover tuners, graphite nut, binding, nice finishes, they're all around solid axes. If he has the money go for one of the higher end models. If not the 2500 is still a great guitar.

Sort lowest to highest in 'electric guitars' on Ebay. Win an auction for something that originally cost $400 for about $200.

Washburn
DeArmond M-72 and M-75
Yamaha
Fender
Agile
Gamp;L Tribute
Epiphone
Ibanez

I've seen some Fender MIJ Strats go for cheap and those are wonderful guitars. The Roland Cube is a great starter amp along with the Tech 21. I've played some killer Washburns before and Yamaha makes very underrated guitars.

The ESP/Ltd M-50 is like $150, and very playable.

Thank you everybody for chiming in! What would I do without you guys?!?!

Hmmm. All this cheap guitar talk. Now I'm tempted to get a mexican fender myself, lol. Hmmm....


Originally Posted by rspst14I think all beginners should learn by playing unplugged. As a beginner, the tendency is to crank up the distortion, which covers up your mistakes. When you play unplugged, you can hear what you're really doing a bit more easily. When he is ready for an amp, those Peavey Blazers are surprisingly nice for a solid state practice amp.

Ryan

That's great advice.
I wish I would have been able to quot;hearquot; that kind of advice when I was starting out. But, I was too cool to play un-plugged.

Thanks for saying that Mr. rspt14.

When is one ready for an amp?

My first guitar was a Yamaha Pacifica 112. It is a HSS strat copy and you can get the older ones for around $125 on ebay. I still have mine and still I pick it up and play it. It has a pretty nice neck and sounds pretty decent with stock pups.

Tyler

1 Yamaha great build quality and cheap. Far superior to a cheap Indonesian Squire

Here's a good one: from : localhost/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

I have one identical to it. Great guitar! Just pop some Duncans in it someday and you'll be amazed. These 80's Japanese Squires are as nice or nicer than most USA Fenders. I have a bid in on this one myself, but go ahead and outbid me...I don't need it! Lew

I would suggest a fat mexican strat, so your friend can get that nice single coil strat sound while also being able to use thick humbuckers.