Guitar/amp combo for a beginner

[Jerjo]

So, I'm thinking of picking up the guitar again after a 30 year absence. I think I remember one chord. But what do I get? I don't want to spend a lot on something that has a 50/50 chance of success. I just want to bash out chords while sitting on the deck; there's no desire to be Jeff Beck. After all, I'm 55 and my fingers aren't exactly nimble. I need a new electric guitar, amp, one of those tuning gizmos, and something to give me some distortion. I understand some new axes have that built into them. So any ideas where I should start?

[trurl]

Well, I'm not really a guitar guy so you may wind up with far better advice than this, but: As a totally amateur guitar player myself, I find Epiphone guitars fit the bill. Good sound, good playability and you can get one for $250, $300 as opposed to $1,800 for an actual Les Paul or something. Or if you like a Fender, look at a Squire. Also: pawn shops are your friend! Especially for an amp. Always offer about 2/3 of what they price anything at and haggle up to 3/4.

[Robbue]

You really cant go wrong with an Agile guitars from Rondo Music. Great quality and very reasonable prices.

[Pangolin]

I'd agree with the Rondo recommendation; I'd take my 2006 Agile over an Epiphone any day. They also have regular B-stock offers if you want to keep the price down. And they have a fair selection if - like me - you're a lefty.

[Duncan Glenday]

Well, I'm not really a guitar guy so you may wind up with far better advice than this, but: As a totally amateur guitar player myself, I find Epiphone guitars fit the bill. Good sound, good playability and you can get one for $250, $300 as opposed to $1,800 for an actual Les Paul or something. Or if you like a Fender, look at a Squire. Also: pawn shops are your friend! Especially for an amp. Always offer about 2/3 of what they price anything at and haggle up to 3/4.

I agree with both of these statements:

1). Squier with a baby Marshall amp - about $150 to $250.

2). Pawn shops - they seem to have more guitars than anything else - though the quality and selection are a crap shoot.

[everythingtoexcess]

For the simplest solution, Squier offers a beginner package that comes with everything you need to get going. Before I say another word, let me say GET THE MORE EXPENSIVE ONE. I think it's just shy of $300. There are two cheaper packages that are simply awful. The more expensive one comes with a Squier Affinity strat which is a surprisingly good, durable, playable guitar. The amp isn't the greatest sounding thing in the world, but it's a good place to start. The package also comes with a tuner, strap, picks, instructional DVD, headphones and a case.
What everyone else has said is also good advice. The low-end guitar market has improved vastly in the last fifteen years or so, and used stuff is always fun.

[Yodelgoat]

Can I say, I'm impressed by you taking up an instrument. Its the best therapy there is IMO. I've re-picked up the drums in the past 5 years after not playing since High school, And its been a blast.

I might suggest you start with an acoustic rather than an electric guitar. You can get a better acoustic if you dont have to buy an amp, and I think its easier to learn. People around you will be less offended by the sounds, and you wont appear to totally suck. You'll just sound like a beginner.

[everythingtoexcess]

I might suggest you start with an acoustic rather than an electric guitar. You can get a better acoustic if you dont have to buy an amp, and I think its easier to learn. People around you will be less offended by the sounds, and you wont appear to totally suck. You'll just sound like a beginner.

That's good advice. An acoustic is simpler and you can get a way nicer one for the same money as an electric and an amp. The acoustic also forces you to play better because it doesn't hide mistakes. BUT...If the music you want to play is primarily done on an electric, the acoustic is never going to sound right. I started out on a pretty nice Fender acoustic, which I still have (It's halfway though a refret...been that way for three years.) but I never went anywhere with it. Once I got my 6 string electric rock and roll guitar, my playing had a purpose...learn Rush songs. It's not that I couldn't learn them on acoustic, but Finding My Way and Working Man just don't sound right without distortion.
So, Give that some thought...if all you want to play is death metal, an acoustic might not be the right choice. But if you want to be able to take your axe camping and entertain at parties, the acoustic is the way.

[nosebone]

Fender Squier's are a crap shoot.

It seems like one out of every dozen are playable.

Buy from a reputable shop , so you'll leave with a "good one"...., if you go the Squier route.


My advice would be to spend more get a Mexican strat.

It would make your sessions so much more enjoyable.

As for amps, I have a Roland Microcube that's pretty great for the price ( $130.00) and it can run on AA batteries .

[Jerjo]

I just had a friend tell me over email suggest an acoustic as well. Cheaper and it forces you to work harder on chords and fingerings. Hmmm.

[Plasmatopia]

I'd go with whichever one (acoustic or electric) that's going to get you most excited about actually learning some tunes.

And as someone who always bought cheap guitars I say - don't go TOO cheap. A guitar that doesn't feel right and with strings a mile off the neck isn't going to help in the motivation department.

[fictionmusic]

I'd go with whichever one (acoustic or electric) that's going to get you most excited about actually learning some tunes.

And as someone who always bought cheap guitars I say - don't go TOO cheap. A guitar that doesn't feel right and with strings a mile off the neck isn't going to help in the motivation department.

I taught guitar for years and I always advised parents to buy a decent electric guitar. There is nothing worse than getting somebody an acoustic guitar that hurts to play and no matter how hard you press, always buzzes. A decent squier, ibanez, epiphone gtr is well worth the money because it isn't a finger breaker to play and you can always get a chunk of the money back if you decide to bail. A crappy acoustic will never be fun to play and will never fetch a good re-sale price.

I bought my god son a zoom multi-effects unit with amp models in it and he uses that all the time with headphones on. I also gave him my 1972 Gibson L6S which is by far the easiest gtr to play so plugged into the zoom it was instantly gratifiable. The gtr is worth close to 2 grand these days so that was a bit of overkill, but I have seen so many people give up playing after their parents buy them some cheapo gtr becuase they don't want to throw money away buying an instrument for a kid who might not keep at it.

These days you can get a good amo for a few hundred dollars. A professional buddy of mine just bought a Traynor tube amp at a pawn shop for two hundred bucks and the thing sounds amazing (ugly as fuck though). A little shopping around will yield great results.

[Vic2012]

I've been wanting to get back to playing electric guitar for a few years now too. No desire to play in a band or really "accomplish" anything, I just feel like playing a goddamned electric guitar and bash out some chords and shit. Guitar Center has sales all the time on low end Epiphones and some low end Gibsons. A few years ago I almost bought a Les Paul Jr. It said Gibson, not Epiphone on the headstock. They wanted 300 for it. I almost bought it. Best Buy sells a lot of Epiphones and consumer brands too.

[YeSFan Reese]

Do you want a tube amp?

[Jerjo]

I don't know. Should I have a tube amp?

[nosebone]

I don't know. Should I have a tube amp?

Tube amp

You don't need one to get started.

Roland micro cube is a great little starter amp imo.

[Mikhael]

I don't know. Should I have a tube amp?

Not necessary. As was mentioned above, one of the modeler thingies is good for practicing on headphones (gratifying for the parents or spouse), and there's a lot of little practice amps that do fine for beginning players; I still use a little Gorilla amp that I've had for 20 years for just hacking around (and testing instruments after I've modified them). I went through the "must have a tube amp" phase for several years, until I found the Pearce, and I still use it to this day because of its wonderful tone and response (it's solid state).

[davis]

Can I say, I'm impressed by you taking up an instrument...

I am too. And it's nice to know I'm not alone, though I've never really played before other than trying to work out a few melodies.
Can I ask a couple of questions here or should I start another thread?

[nosebone]

fire away,,,,,.I teach guitar all day, every day.

[davis]

^ what happens if you plug a 6-string electric into a bass amp?

[Plasmatopia]

It sounds a little weird just straight in sometimes. The guitar player in my band uses an old Ampeg bass head into his Marshal 4x12 cabinet. But most all of the tone is coming from his guitar processor.

I've plugged my acoustic (with built in pickup) into my solid state Ampeg bass rig and it doesn't sound too bad.

[davis]

So it wouldn't kill anybody. I have an electric bass & practice amp. Considering going with 6-string and wondered if I'd need a different amp.

[nosebone]

^ what happens if you plug a 6-string electric into a bass amp?

Sounds bad, not advisable.

[everythingtoexcess]

^ what happens if you plug a 6-string electric into a bass amp?

It makes your clean tones extremely flat and muddy, but if you have a distortion pedal you can get some nice fat tones because of the heavier speaker. It's probably not something you'd use forever, but the 6 string certainly won't hurt the bass amp and it'll sound at least passable. When I needed to be louder in my band in college I went out of a stereo chorus pedal into a Peavey Bandit stacked on top of a Peavey Basic 60 bass amp. For a low budget rig, it thought it sounded really good. Can't say the same for the band.

[trurl]

Oddly, enough, our guitar player has been playing at practice (he will kill me for telling this) through an Ampeg SVT (via a Line 6 PodHD). He hates it because it's, well, bass-y (go figure) but I honestly didn't think it sounded all that bad. He couldn't take it and brought over his Line 6 amp. There's a reason guitar amps and bass amps are designed the way they are and you'll always get the best sounds from the right amp, but nowadays so much of the sound comes from the outboard gear that if you need to improvise you can usually do ok.