#1
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What would be a good acoustic musicians first electric guitar?
Fairly vague I know but whats a good starting point for some one who only plays acoustic?
Just for sound playability with out a pick. Looks dont matter. |
#2
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If you’re comfortable with a full size acoustic guitar, a Gibson ES-175 would/could be a showpiece instrument & steeped in history. I myself couldn’t really recommend a Telecaster because although popular, very different from any acoustic guitar I know of. There will be experts with better answers following, but nut width and string spacing will be a consideration worth looking at for your preferences.
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#3
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I made the switch recently. I realized weight matters a lot for me so I try to avoid heavy guitars like les pauls. I actually liked telecasters (w/ humbuckers).
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#4
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What kind of music would you like to play?
Many choose telecasters or strats. Stratocasters gives the biggest pallette of sound on any electric. Telecasters have a wonderful clean tone and honest, acoustic-player friendly strums and fantastic jazz voicings. Epiphones and hollow bodies are more acoustic-like. Gibsons are classic rock guitars, think Santana Then there are rock guitars that are designed just to get a great rock sound, Ibanez, Jackson. So where do you see yourself in all this? |
#5
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After decades of playing fingerstyle on D size flat tops, this was my route:
Godin Kingpin (no cutaway and neck P-90). This one is a good transition to get down the touch and muting needed with an electromagnetic pickup. Work to lighten your attack and let the amp do the work. After a year or so get a MIM standard telecaster. You won't get sent to heck for using pure nickel 12's on it. Amps are another subject. There is good advice to be found here. Go for it. |
#6
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You can play anything on a Tele. There is one to fit any budget.
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#7
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Quote:
An amp will give you about 50% of your tone so make sure you include that in your price. |
#8
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As Davis points out, it depends on the tone you want. The amp is a huge part of the equation as well.
Humbuckers offer thickness and warmth, but bad ones can sound muddy. Single coils can offer great note separation but bad ones can sound thin and overly "jangly". Weight is another consideration. Les Paul's are Iconic but can be VERY heavy. Tele's can be pretty heavy too. Hollow bodies can have wider nuts and react a bit more like an acoustic. ES 335 style guitars can be versatile and cover pop, rock, blues. I think of LP's and SG's as R&R machines for the most part. I would stay away from sub $200 guitars. They can be ok to learn on, but the cheap hardware and pickups on them almost insure a lack of long-term satisfaction with them. IMO, in the under $500 realm I would look at G&L Tribute and PRS. Ibanez and the Squier Classic Vibe series are also worth a look. At/around the $750 mark I would look at used American Strat or Tele, Reverend or used/B-stock American G&L. The world of electrics can be more confusing than acoustics, especially when you consider how they interact with different amps. Good luck and take your time. There is an electric out there w/your name on it.
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Roy Ibanez, Recording King, Gretsch, Martin G&L, Squier, Orange (x 2), Bugera, JBL, Soundcraft Our duo website - UPDATED 7/26/19 |
#9
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Quote:
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) Last edited by Steve DeRosa; 09-22-2018 at 05:29 PM. |
#10
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It sounds like you're looking for something that plays like an acoustic and would seem familiar to you playing with your fingers, and I'm not sure such a beast exists but look to nut and saddle widths and scale as your guides. In that case, you might not like a 1 5/8" classic Strat neck no matter how many people (including me!) think it's great. Really depends what you want, you can learn to adapt to nearly anything but at the end of the day, the electric will feel different, and you'll probably want to play it differently too.
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'17 Tonedevil S-18 harp guitar '16 Tonedevil S-12 harp guitar '79 Fender Stratocaster hardtail with righteous new Warmoth neck '82 Fender Musicmaster bass '15 Breedlove Premier OF mandolin Marshall JVM210c amp plus a bunch of stompboxes and misc. gear |
#11
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You asked about "sound playability" - I'll assume you mean sound & playability.
Some might disagree but IMO the plank of wood is the least important in determining the final sound of an electric guitar. First is the speaker, then the amp, the pickups, then the guitar itself. So, when you choose a guitar, first figure what pickups you want. As mentioned, humbuckers are richer, darker and more compressed. Single coils are brighter, thinner and more dynamic. There's a lot of variation within each type. Pickups with more turns of wire will be darker and more powerful (hence push a tube amp into overdrive quicker). Lower winds will be brighter and more responsive. You can either choose single coils and spend all your time trying to make them sound fatter, or choose humbuckers and spend all your time trying to make them sound brighter I'm a fan of low-wound "vintage" humbuckers - but everything has its place. Pickups, pedals, amp & speaker choices all combine to create the final sound. The art of electric guitar tone is blending them all together. Many of the same playability rules apply to an electric. A good setup: nut slot height, neck relief, bridge height, nicely levelled frets can make a huge difference. There's a very good chance you can improve an off-the-shelf guitar by tweaking the neck relief & bridge height. A proper, professional setup would look at the nut & frets too. You'll find virtually all electric guitars have a narrower nut. Some have flatter fretboards, some more curved. An electric may have six strings and a fretboard but it's a different instrument. Notes sustain more and then there's the snarl and roar of tubes driven hard. It's a whole new world of sound to explore and new ways to play. |
#12
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I spent 30 years avoiding Teles like the plague. Give in now and save yourself a lot of fighting.
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#13
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Quote:
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool" - Sicilian proverb (paraphrased) |
#14
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For me, it's just Strats these days...
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#15
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You can't go wrong with a Squier/Fender Tele as a first electric after playing an acoustic. There is a reason so many country players use them. If you've never worked the electric side of the fence you have no clue about tone, sound, pickups, amps, pedals, so just start basic with the idea that you may want to change once you learn a bit. One outlier electric is the Gibson SG style. It has a waist location and neck installation that makes it play like a really long, big instrument. You may find you like it, it puts your left hand farther away from your body.
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Brian Evans Around 15 archtops, electrics, resonators, a lap steel, a uke, a mandolin, some I made, some I bought, some kinda showed up and wouldn't leave. Tatamagouche Nova Scotia. |