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  #16  
Old 01-24-2019, 03:17 PM
Whitey#1 Whitey#1 is offline
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Originally Posted by Tele16 View Post
For the money, it's pretty hard to beat the Squire Classic Vibe Telecaster. You didn't say how much you wanted to spend, but that is under 400 bucks. Fender, Squire, Gibson, Epiphone, Ibanez all have good to great offerings in the beginner level.

The most important is how does it feel and sound to you.
I went with an Epiphone. Also decided to splurge a little and got a Fender amp. They had a package where I could have got a Squire and amp for $300 but I didn't like the color of the Squire so I got a blue Epiphone. Since it was only about a $100 more to buy things separate I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

Any way on here that I could post a pic?

r/Mike
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  #17  
Old 01-25-2019, 12:07 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Originally Posted by Whitey#1 View Post
I went with an Epiphone. Also decided to splurge a little and got a Fender amp. They had a package where I could have got a Squire and amp for $300 but I didn't like the color of the Squire so I got a blue Epiphone. Since it was only about a $100 more to buy things separate I went ahead and pulled the trigger.



Any way on here that I could post a pic?



r/Mike


Which Epiphone and which Fender amp?
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  #18  
Old 01-25-2019, 11:01 AM
Whitey#1 Whitey#1 is offline
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Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
Which Epiphone and which Fender amp?
The Epiphone says Special Model and Les Paul Special-II. Its a blue one.


The Fender amp says Mustang I on it. Its 20 watts.


That work?
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  #19  
Old 01-25-2019, 11:12 PM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Originally Posted by Whitey#1 View Post
The Epiphone says Special Model and Les Paul Special-II. Its a blue one.





The Fender amp says Mustang I on it. Its 20 watts.





That work?


Yes. I’m flattered you took my advice and went with it. I really hope you enjoy it.
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  #20  
Old 01-26-2019, 12:52 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitey#1 View Post
The Epiphone says Special Model and Les Paul Special-II. It's a blue one.

The Fender amp says Mustang I on it. It's 20 watts.

That work?
If you're diligent in your practice routine you're going to outgrow this combination very quickly. While a modeling amp can be a handy little toy for home recording/noodling - when you want to sound like Slash or Carlos Santana just by pushing a button (very impressive to the middle-school crowd) - IME the QC on the more-recent Chinese/Indonesian low- to mid-line Epiphones lags behind its direct market competitors, doesn't begin to approach their Korean-made instruments from the '90s/early-2K's, and requires a fairly-substantial investment in a good professional setup job to bring things into the realm of usability (money which, ironically, could have been channeled into a better instrument from the get-go). Speaking as a former teacher with 40+ years' experience I've seen too many students handicap their own progress with a poor-quality guitar bought in haste, sometimes to the point of giving up altogether; if you have return privileges I'd personally recommend you get your money back, be patient, save up a few more bucks, do a bunch of research, and buy right the first time - you'll never regret investing the extra bucks in a better-quality setup...

Best of luck...
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  #21  
Old 01-26-2019, 04:19 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa View Post
If you're diligent in your practice routine you're going to outgrow this combination very quickly. While a modeling amp can be a handy little toy for home recording/noodling - when you want to sound like Slash or Carlos Santana just by pushing a button (very impressive to the middle-school crowd) - IME the QC on the more-recent Chinese/Indonesian low- to mid-line Epiphones lags behind its direct market competitors, doesn't begin to approach their Korean-made instruments from the '90s/early-2K's, and requires a fairly-substantial investment in a good professional setup job to bring things into the realm of usability (money which, ironically, could have been channeled into a better instrument from the get-go). Speaking as a former teacher with 40+ years' experience I've seen too many students handicap their own progress with a poor-quality guitar bought in haste, sometimes to the point of giving up altogether; if you have return privileges I'd personally recommend you get your money back, be patient, save up a few more bucks, do a bunch of research, and buy right the first time - you'll never regret investing the extra bucks in a better-quality setup...



Best of luck...


That’s a bunch of BS. Sorry, I do respect your experience as a musician/teacher, but trashing his decision to be a bit frugal in his first guitar and amp is just cork sniffing at its finest. It’s not like he bought a Starcaster starter pack from Best Buy for $150.

Modern budget guitars are nothing like those extremely cheap GLTs (guitar looking things) from back in the day. A $200 Epiphone won’t have the greatest pickups or tuning keys, but they do have extremely playable necks. And with the help of a great modeling amp like a Fender Mustang, it can make his early guitar journey an enjoyable one. And the best thing about it is that if things don’t work out, he can sell that gear at minimal loss.
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  #22  
Old 01-26-2019, 05:57 AM
paulp1960 paulp1960 is offline
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I wouldn't advise the OP to return what he has bought but I would advise him to get a decent setup done on the Epiphone guitar.

I owned a Fender Mustang 1 for several years. I used it to break back into playing guitar after a gap of nearly 10 years of not picking up a guitar.
The only way to get the best out of a Mustang 1 or 2 series it to plug it into a computer and run the easy-to-use Fender Fuse software. Otherwise dialling in a sound with just the panel controls is less precise and more tricky.

That's how I used my Mustang for a few years and it did the job for me and I got most of my playing chops back fairly quickly.
When I outgrew the Mustang I found it easy to sell on Ebay.
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  #23  
Old 01-26-2019, 06:54 AM
lgherb lgherb is offline
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Originally Posted by Whitey#1 View Post

Any way on here that I could post a pic?

r/Mike
It's pretty easy to add pics on AGF.

For posting pics, i'd recommend opening an account on imgur.com. It's free and easy to upload a picture from your cell phone if you download their app to your phone.

Once you upload a picture, they have pre-made links for bulletin boards or forums like AGF. Just click on the images link under your account in the upper right hand corner and when you click on the image, you'll see a bunch of "copy images to the right.

One of those says "BBCode"...just click the copy button and paste into your post.

I'd recommend previewing the post before you actually post it just to make sure the picture isn't so large that no one can enjoy it. You might need to resize the image to make it something like 1,000 pixels wide (or less).

All you really need to do once you have the picture online is put the URL to the picture inbetween "[img]" and "[/img]".

If you click the button above that looks like a postcard with mountains, it adds those image tags in your post and all you need to do is past the URL to the image between those tags.

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  #24  
Old 01-26-2019, 07:25 AM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitey#1 View Post
The Epiphone says Special Model and Les Paul Special-II. Its a blue one.


The Fender amp says Mustang I on it. Its 20 watts.


That work?
Congrats! There are a couple of variations I've seen. Does it have both the bridge and tailpiece or is it a wraparound? If you're not sure how to post pics you can send us the link to MF or Guitar Center and someone here will post the stock pic for you.

Have fun with you new gig rig!
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  #25  
Old 01-26-2019, 07:32 AM
Caddy Caddy is offline
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I would always recommend a Tele for a first electric. Simplicity and doesn't have the set-up problems that the Strat does due to the trem. Also very versatile guitar, can do everything from Jazz to rock to country.

A Squire Tele (what model would be based on budget) would be a great place to start. A Classic Vibe would be a great choice if fits the budget.
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  #26  
Old 01-26-2019, 10:08 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
That’s a bunch of BS. Sorry, I do respect your experience as a musician/teacher, but trashing his decision to be a bit frugal in his first guitar and amp is just cork sniffing at its finest. It’s not like he bought a Starcaster starter pack from Best Buy for $150.

Modern budget guitars are nothing like those extremely cheap GLTs (guitar looking things) from back in the day. A $200 Epiphone won’t have the greatest pickups or tuning keys, but they do have extremely playable necks. And with the help of a great modeling amp like a Fender Mustang, it can make his early guitar journey an enjoyable one. And the best thing about it is that if things don’t work out, he can sell that gear at minimal loss.
In order:
  • Ad hominem comments aside, I've seen the "if-I-had-only-bought-X/Y/Z-brand" down-the-line buyers' remorse far too many times to count; if you've been reading the OP's running comments carefully the guy knows little to nothing about guitars in general and electrics in particular - and my advice is nothing I wouldn't say/haven't said to my own students...
  • There's a big difference between inexpensive and cheap, as anyone who owns a Godin product (Seagull, Simon & Patrick, Norman, et al.) Yamaha, G&L Tribute, certain Ibanez models (among others) can attest - and having started in the early-60's I'll be the first to agree that the general quality level has increased exponentially; heck, I own/have owned a few low-price gems myself, and still keep my '82 Yamaha SSC-500 and '86 MIJ Fender Squier ($199 each brand-new) in the rotation. Cork-sniffing - hardly...
  • Everything you said about tuning gears and pickups (not to mention hardware and setup) is spot on; again, since the OP doesn't know the difference (yet), a little bit of direction can save some frustration down the line ("why won't my guitar stay in tune/how come I still get string buzz even though the action is high/why do some notes sound dead but not others" - among the other newbie questions I've seen here on the AGF as well as in the real world). A few bucks can go a long way - and you can either spend it now on a better-quality instrument, or later to have a tech correct/repair any flaws (if possible)...
  • As far as playable necks in the low-end market are concerned I've seen too many twists (the "kiln-dried low-priced wood/fast-production syndrome" - not exclusive to the entry-level market, BTW), such that you'd need to cherry-pick a good one out of a dozen or two; while you or I could spot this immediately, we can both agree that it takes years of experience to do so reliably - one reason I often advise beginners to not only take a knowledgeable friend along on a first-time shopping trip but avoid the absolute bottom-end stuff...
  • Our bass player is also a trained chef, and one of our running jokes when the band goes out to eat after a gig is that enough (name your preferred condiment here) can make anything taste good - from a musical standpoint that's pretty much what a modeling amp does, and that's precisely why I'd never recommend one to a raw beginner; the OP needs to develop some technical skills first - we both know that electric is a very different animal than acoustic - and if technical deficiencies are being masked by a load of layered effects, regardless of how "enjoyable" the experience this guy's going to lose out musically over the long haul. Just for the record I firmly believe amps of this type do have their place - I've seen local cover bands use them extensively, they're an integral part of several friends' home-recording setups, and a few years ago I worked with a studio guy/computer genius who used to do some amazing stuff with his obsolete Line 6 rack rig - but I also firmly believe that you need to crawl before you can run, and the OP has yet to make his first steps...
Peace out...
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  #27  
Old 01-26-2019, 10:39 AM
numb fingertips numb fingertips is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa View Post
Check out the Korean-made Gretsch Electromatics (skip over the low-buck Indonesian/Chinese stuff) - you'll pay a little more but you'll get a lifetime-keeper guitar in the bargain...
So, are you saying the new ones made today are not as good as the older ones made in korea? Or did you mean get the electromatics and avoid the streamliner?

Last edited by numb fingertips; 01-26-2019 at 11:28 AM.
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  #28  
Old 01-26-2019, 10:40 AM
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Livingston Livingston is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitey#1 View Post
I went with an Epiphone. Also decided to splurge a little and got a Fender amp. They had a package where I could have got a Squire and amp for $300 but I didn't like the color of the Squire so I got a blue Epiphone. Since it was only about a $100 more to buy things separate I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

Any way on here that I could post a pic?

r/Mike
Congratulations! Sounds like a great guitar/amp combo. Hope you will enjoy your new axe (and amp). Only risk that I can see, is the possibility of contracting GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome).

Enjoy your new axe!
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  #29  
Old 01-26-2019, 11:51 AM
Whitey#1 Whitey#1 is offline
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Remember guys:

1) I am a complete beginner
2) Almost two years ago I bought an acoustic and lost interest
3) I am hoping this electric guitar and amp help me maintain the desire to learn
4) This Epiphone and Fender Mustang amp are the purchase that helps me get my feet wet

r/Mike
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  #30  
Old 01-26-2019, 12:15 PM
Tahitijack Tahitijack is offline
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Mike,
Don't worry, just play. While I suggested a strat, the Mustang I is an excellent choice. You will have a blast exploring all the tones it can produce. I have a Mustang III as my daily practice amp and love the thing. I even play gigs with it from time to time. Some folks don't understand that a budget is a budget. You'd probably love to pick up a PRS McCarty... but we need to start some where. In time you may be able to move up to a nicer guitar...the little Mustang amp will do when that happens. So enjoy what you have and keep playing! Aloha!
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