Beginner electric guitar

[dsmith]

What do you recommend for a good first electric guitar in the $200-$300 range

[neilca]

I like hollow body electrics and find good deals on Ibanez guitars on the used market. For a new Telecaster or Stratocaster Squier makes good ones.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Squier Tele.

[SCVJ]

I had a Harley Benton for a while, and was very pleased with it. They have a big selection, copies of all the popular styles with several choices of pickups.

I know someone who works on electrics, and he says they are definitely worth the money. Note that shipping adds to the cost, but they are still inexpensive.

If you have a friend who wants one, I think the cost of shipping two is the same as for one. Or at least there's a big cost break for two.

The other obvious choice is Squier, I currently own one of those, and like it. Be aware there are different quality levels within the brand.

Used is always cheaper, and usually a good option, if you know what to look for. As a beginner, you may not! I know from experience.

Good luck!

[Dru Edwards]

There are lots of options but to simplify things a Squier Strat or Tele or an Epiphone Les Paul or SG.

Do you know if you'll prefer humbuckers or single coils? That's where I would start. Knowing what kind of music you want to play will help.

[Highroller]

Keep in mind that with an electric guitar, the guitar is only half the equation.

How they sound depends an enormous amount on what type of amplification you use. The choices there run the gamut from phone apps and headphone amps to Marshall stacks, but probably a little practice amp designed for home use would be a good starting point.

You can pick up a Fender Mustang LT25 for $150 that'll make a fine bedroom/starter amp regardless of which guitar you buy. Built-in digital effects that actually don't sound cheesy make it a fairly versatile amp.

What I'd recommend guitar-wise depends on what style of music you want to play. Try to learn as much as you can about pickups - THE primary factor in determining what an electric's gonna sound like. Some are designed for one thing, others for something else.

And there's certainly nothing wrong with a Squier Tele or Strat - assuming you're ok with a sort of generic rock-n-roll type sound .. but steer clear of those "starter pack" things they like to sell at the big-box music stores. They load those things up with the cheapest junk they make to hit a price point parents can live with if their kid flunks out! LoL!

You can do a lot better than those!

[Horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Highroller

Keep in mind that with an electric guitar, the guitar is only half the equation.

This is such an important point. Don't be like me and buy an electric guitar without anything to plug it in to!

Well, I wasn't totally ignorant: I knew I needed amplification, and I have a PA with a guitar jack on it. But that produces a very clean sound, not at all what you imagine when you think "electric guitar." Turns out my PA is more intended for bass (which can be OK with neutral tone) or acoustic instruments.

The Fender Mustang that @highroller recommended is good but OP, tell us more about what you want to accomplish, and what kind of sound you are chasing.

And, tell us if using headphones instead of a speaker is an option for you. There are some very nice and affordable headphone gadgets with decent amp models and effects built in. The Nux Mighty Plug is one and it is currently $74.

https://smile.amazon.com/MP-2-Modeli.../dp/B084JB519R

The Fender Mustang Micro is the same kind of thing, seems well liked, but is more expensive at $120.

https://smile.amazon.com/Fender-2311.../dp/B08TRQS1TX

Anyway Squier guitars are solid. Bullets are the low end, Affinity is the middle, and Classic Vibe is higher.

From what I have read, even Bullets are OK but in Squiers I think Affinity is the sweet spot for value. I have an Affinity Telecaster and it's worthy.

Unfortunately prices keep going up and a new Affinity Tele is like $260. They used to be $190 and sale prices could be even lower.

Yamaha electrics, like their acoustics are also very high quality for the money.

Ibanez is solid. Their stuff is more associated with genres like metal than classic rock, but ... They're still guitars, man.

Those are not the only good choices, just ones I am more familiar with.

What kind of guitar to get is baffling at first, as was said the pickups matter. But so does all the other stuff in the chain. It's actually super complicated... but fun to figure out.

I favor getting a flexible instrument, and a Stratocaster-style guitar which has a combination of humbuckers and single-coil pickups is like that.

Here's a sample pic. The humbucker is down by the bridge. This configuration is called an "HSS" strat. There are lots of guitars like this.



If you let us know your city we can look at Craigslist to see if there are any decent deals. Someone who bought a decent guitar, gave up, and needs to get rid of it is what you want to find!

[warfrat73]

It would depend a bit on what kind of music you want to play... but stratocaster style guitars are amongst the most versatile and playable, thus their enduring popularity.

From a lot of what I've seen, the QC on Squires tends to be on the spotty side compared to their competition... try to check them out in person with somebody that knows a few things.

In fact, all inexpensive guitars tend to have spotty QC, it's one of the places where they seem to cut costs.

Harley Benton gets good reviews for inexpensive guitars, but unless buying used, you have to buy them from Thomann in Germany, and having to send one back could be a hassle (and possibly expensive). I do have one of their basses, and it's quite good for the cost.

Lower end Ibanez and Yamaha tend to be pretty good and consistent.

At the high-end of your budget (if you stretch a little) you're in striking distance of a G&L tribute, which would be a decent step up in hardware from a lot of the other options in the range.

Cort is also making some really good stuff at reasonable prices right now.

I actually just logged on to do a NGD. Last week, on a whim, I ordered an Indio Classic strat knock off... these are sold by Monoprice. It was on sale for $83 (yes, eighty three) marked down from $110, with a gig bag and free shipping.

It got here today, and it's very good in almost every way. The QC is good, the setup out of the box is decent (intonation off a touch in a couple places), the fretwork is good, the pickups sound decent (a bit thin, but not bad), the gigbag is better than some I've seen, the neck feels good... I mean, it's very sold and playable. The tuners are absolute garbage though... they seem to be holding tune alright, but they're grindy and herky jerky.

Maybe not the BEST option, but I've played much worse.

[Horseflesh]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

At the high-end of your budget (if you stretch a little) you're in striking distance of a G&L tribute, which would be a decent step up in hardware from a lot of the other options in the range.

Good idea, but I am biased, as I have a Tribute Comanche.

You may be able to find used Tributes under $400, I did in my area. (though I ended up buying new in the end.)

While my Tribute is nicer than my Affinity, I found the difference to be less than I expected. The Tribute is the better product all around but an Affinity for say $200 or less would be a better value.

[YamahaGuy]

Yamaha 311 Pacifica.

[CarolD]

Before you buy one, I'd look at some of Phil McKnight's YouTube video reviews of guitars in your price range. He recently reviewed two EART guitars that he got from Amazon. One (I think the single cut) he really, really liked. You won't get a more honest opinion about a potential purchase.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by CarolD

Before you buy one, I'd look at some of Phil McKnight's YouTube video reviews of guitars in your price range. He recently reviewed two EART guitars that he got from Amazon. One (I think the single cut) he really, really liked. You won't get a more honest opinion about a potential purchase.

+1.

Hi Carol, I subscribe to Phil's channel and listen to every Friday Q&A as a podcast in my car (sometimes a few weeks behind the live date). Phil's one of my favorite YouTubers and the first channel I ever subscribed to a few years ago.

[Chickee]

Any solid body Jazzmaster, Jaguar, Stratocaster and Telecaster, or a Starcaster and the semi hollow telecasters they offer(if you like that semi hollow vibe).

In this day and age, Squier’s lineup from least to most expensive, is light years ahead of the gear we had available to us back then at those price points. The world is your oyster!

[Bain]

Just my opinion I just bought my first electric after years of accoustic playing unplugged I may add , I bought a Gretsch 2622 simi hollow I have no idea of what I’m doing but it fits and plays well and I’m loving it................
Cheers

[JackC1]

Check out the Jackson JS32 HT. I have one, and it's my favorite electric.

The compound radius neck is very comfortable up and down. For electric guitar, you'll likely play both lead and rhythm on it, so need to be high up for lead guitar as well as low for rhythm.

I had to upgrade its tuners and pickups, but the stock works just fine (just a bit crude; e.g. the tuners had some play in them but they hold tune well).

From just the spec sheet, the JS22 looks just like the JS32; so maybe you can save money with a JS22.

BTW, if your JS32 has too much hum, check the bridge grounding; mine had this issue.