What would be a good first electric guitar?

[Paleolith54]

Originally Posted by Ican'teven

Sorry, guys. My music style is more hard rock and alt. rock, but I genuinely don't know what to do when buying my first electric. I also have pretty small hands, so would that influence what type of guitar I should get? And do you guys have any ideas for amps? Can I get a really good guitar but a cheaper amp? I want the price of the guitar and the amp together to be no more than 2000. Thanks guys.

In that case, my suggestion above is not very good! I took the $10,000 literally rather than as a mistake. Seemed odd but, hey, some folks have LOTS of money.

I would not worry about the neck vs the size of your hands, I've found its importance to be WAY overrated.

I'd suggest emphasizing the amp more than the guitar.

I'd also look at used stuff with that total budget. You could probably get a rig along the lines of a Mesa Express combo amp, a PRS SE, a boost, delay, and wah pedal for that budget with some patience.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Ican'teven

I want the price of the guitar and the amp together to be no more than 2000. Thanks guys.

I'm even more confused now because you originally mentioned $10,000.

A Vox AC15 just might be the perfect amp for you given the music styles you mentioned.

The following vid shows a few different guitars played through an AC15. The differences in sound are mostly due to the different types of pickups: Strats and Teles have single coils and sound a bit brighter and more dynamic. The humbucker equipped Les Paul has a bit more grind and growl.

[verstft]

Well the OP didn't mention what genre of music he likes to play so it's a bit pointless to try to give a educated recommendation.


That being said, if I had a little extra money in my pocket right now I'd pick up a Nash T52 with a traditional tele bridge and a bucker in the neck.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by verstft

Well the OP didn't mention what genre of music he likes to play so it's a bit pointless to try to give a educated recommendation...

Uh, yeah, he did...

Originally Posted by Ican'teven

...My music style is more hard rock and alt. rock...

[verstft]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

Uh, yeah, he did...

Oops.

I that case.... Les Paul!

Or my original reco...a Nash T52.....wayyyy under 10K

[InvaderBob]

The first electric guitar is really a big thing because unless you already have some experience on other people's guitars, this might be the best way for you to fall in love with the instrument or dislike it forever haha.

If you're into hard rock and alternative, choose a guitar with humbuckers, like a Les Paul, or even superstrats. Lets assume a 6 strings for now ;-)

Then ask your self wether it would be for rythmic, soloing, both ? A Les Paul is a good compromise even though the debate between personality and sound variety is still there. If you want to sound like someone else, then pick his kind of guitar, should it be a Fender, a Gibson or an Ibanez. These guitars have personality in their sounds, that you can recognize. The downside of it is when it comes to creating your own sound because you'll get stuck in this sound panel.

I wanted at first to have a good guitar that would allow me to get close to many different guitar sounds, without getting stuck into one instrument's sounds if i'm clear. Si i decided to get a PRS. Great sound variety, but Gibson and Fender lovers will say (and they're right) that this kind of guitar lacks personality. And this is the price to pay for having a wider sounds options.

[Bob Womack]

Perhaps my little article on choosing an electric guitar could help. Look HERE for more.



And how about a tiny two-minute electric guitar comparison? HERE

Bob

[jp2558]

A beginner with decent resale value? I'd recommend a Reverend.

[s2y]

Nashville Teles with 7 way switching or a nice semi-hollow would be my go to guitars for dang near everything.

[Recce]

Originally Posted by InvaderBob

The first electric guitar is really a big thing because unless you already have some experience on other people's guitars, this might be the best way for you to fall in love with the instrument or dislike it forever haha.

If you're into hard rock and alternative, choose a guitar with humbuckers, like a Les Paul, or even superstrats. Lets assume a 6 strings for now ;-)

Then ask your self wether it would be for rythmic, soloing, both ? A Les Paul is a good compromise even though the debate between personality and sound variety is still there. If you want to sound like someone else, then pick his kind of guitar, should it be a Fender, a Gibson or an Ibanez. These guitars have personality in their sounds, that you can recognize. The downside of it is when it comes to creating your own sound because you'll get stuck in this sound panel.

I wanted at first to have a good guitar that would allow me to get close to many different guitar sounds, without getting stuck into one instrument's sounds if i'm clear. Si i decided to get a PRS. Great sound variety, but Gibson and Fender lovers will say (and they're right) that this kind of guitar lacks personality. And this is the price to pay for having a wider sounds options.

Having just done this and I had only played a couple months I picked a Les Paul. The standard for electric almost by default is a Stratocaster. Some like the Telecaster. So my opinion is to find a Stratocaster or a Les Paul to start.

As a comment I have been told the standards are a Martin D-28 and a Stratocaster. I have a Martin HD-28 and a Les Paul. So that makes me a half bubble off center. I can live with that.

[baimo]

As a guy that fools around with Electric guitars occasionally. I recommend you try and buy a Fender American Standard Stratocaster and a Fender Blues JR will keep you under 2G and give you a huge range of sounds. If you wanted to spend a little extra I would buy a Carr Skylark, particularly if you want hard rock with plenty of feedback ability at less than 1 watt volume. It is the most versatile amp I have ever tried and owned although it is pricey. It has a total of 12 watts that was louder than my Mesa Boogie of 25 watts. I only play electric at home in my duplex so I do not want to bother the neighbors too much.

I keep a LP traditional and a Fender Strat knockoff by Michael Tuttle and a new Fender Elite Strat but only one amp: The Carr.

[C_Becker]

For hard rock I would go with a Gibson Flying V or Explorer. Or maybe a Telecaster with a Humbucker or hot single-coils like Texas Specials.
They are fantastic pups BTW.

Pair it with a Marshall DSL 40, et voila - hard rock sound for under 2k bucks. If you have more money, get a JCM 800+1960 cab, the essential hard rock amp.

[BoneDigger]

For your purpose I would recommend a good modeling amp like the Mustang III. I'd then watch Youtube clips of your favorite musicians to see what they play. Generally, a Les Paul variant or a Stratocaster will be all that you would need.

[roylor4]

I would look hard at the G&L Tribute series.

You want all hard R&R look at something with humbuckers. You want more versatility - you may want to consider something like the Fallout. Humbucker, P90, and a single coil (tapped HB) - a LOT of variety.

My Ascari GT90 w/p90's can handle anything from jazz to R&R. The p90's are punchy and articulate and extremely versatile. PRS is probably worth a look too.

I agree that the amp is a huge part of the equation. I don't care for modeling amps myself. To me, nothing sounds as good as a low-medium wattage tube amp pushed a bit.

[berg]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

What do you want to do with it?

An electric guitar is a system. It will sound like doo doo direct to a mixer or through an acoustic amp. Consider a POD and play through phones or run the pod through a mixer.

Not knowing what you are going to play, my default is buy the best strat you can afford.

that is it, Br1ck is right ... and it could prove useful if you ask yourself why you wanna buy it at all ...

best,

b.



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