Guitar Buying Guide

ok there has been a few questions and threads made by people about to buy a new guitar.

here are my recommendations:

Thats my opinions, I'll be honest and say that I know my Fender's more than any other guitar as I knew I was going to buy a Fender since i love Blues and Classic Rock but I did try other guitars such as Ibanez, Yamaha and Gibson before finally deciding that it was a Fender.

i'll post up some info on Fender guitars a little later such as their costs and which brands are available and why they are better than the Fender brand below it etc. Maybe if some of the experienced guitarists here may want to post a little something about their fav brands? Or the approach they recommend in buying their guitar/equipment.

 

Nice guide, especially the electric category. I'll put up something on ibanez soon.

 

Here's the approach I would recommend for a complete beginner to get a guitar:

1. GET AN ACOUSTIC FIRST!
Pretty soon, you could be playing in stage with heavy distortion and making your guitar scream and cry, but you must begin with an acoustic. Its easy for an efficient acoustic player to play electric but its difficult for someone who always plays electric to be able to adjust to acoustic. So, if you start of with an electric, chances are, you might not be able to play an acoustic very well..

Also there are some techniques which must be acquired slowly. And acoustics help these. For example, to get to know the sound of each note, to be able to tune your guitar, strumming. I would say that its better if you start with an acoustic guitar.

2. Your first guitar.
Presuming you take my advice to buy an acoustic, it does not need to be a $800 Gibson, neither should it be a Rs. 500 (approx US$10) second hand givson notice the stress on "v"). You should have a decent model, which need not be very expensive as there is no saying whether you continue playing your guitar or like the majority just learn for a few months, and then play a few songs here and there for a while and then forget about it.

At this point, you should know whether you'd be going for classes at a music school or private lessons from someone or just learning from the net. Most music schools recommend specific guitars. I would suggest you to take their recommendations (or that of your guitar teacher) as they are the ones who will be teaching you.

3. When to buy
Your first visit need not be the one when you purchase the guitar. A few things you need to make sure before you buy a guitar...
a) You wouldn't prefer any other instrument. I've seen many people who buy a guitar first but continue with keyboard or some other instrument. So make sure you've tried out a variety of instruments and only then you have decided on a guitar.
b) Make sure you go to a reputed store to buy it. Most small and little known stores who claim to sell you guitars at "cheaper" rates do not sell quality products. I know this from a personal experience in New Delhi.
c) Make sure you are buying the right guitar. If you want to play western classical, get a classical guitar. If you want to play flamenco music, get a flamenco guitar (preferably an Admira). If you want to play Indian classical music, I would suggest a hawaiin lap guitar.
d) Go with some experienced person, say your music teacher, a friend or anyone who has a basic knowledge of guitars. He will know which guitars are good and which are not.

4. A Small Step
when you feel you are quite used to your guitar and want to progress to the next step, get an electric. Remember, you MUST have a good electric guitar. If you have a big budget, you can first buy a cheaper model until you know what sort of guitar would suit you. If not, then wait until you save enough to buy a really good model. And a good amp, as well. Do not worry about distortion and effects at this point. In fact, I would recommend you to not buy effects at first as most effects tend to drown out any mistaken note which you might play and this may hinder your learning process. Of course, a metronome is very handy. And good strings and picks as well. Picks should be used according to your individual preference.

5. The Giant Leap
If you bought a cheaper beginner's guitar, and now you feel you are a good enough guitarist, you should get a good electric guitar which suits your type of music. Look at rabi's advice about this. Also, get a decent effects processor. There are many processors out there which may suit your needs. Just follow the same pattern of approach as you did before buying your acoustic. And make sure you get it tried in the store before you buy it.

6. A Final Word
Don't forget that no matter how good or bad your guitar is, the quality of sound will always depend on your strings. If you use good strings and change them often, then even a poor quality guitar like Givson (notice the "v" again) will sound quite good with the proper effects. This is also a personal experience of mine. I used Givson GS1000, with ernie ball extra slinky strings, marshall amps and Korg AX100G processor when my school band won a couple of inter school competitions against people who used ibanez and fender (but I guess that was basically due to our good song selection and our opponents poor song selections). And remember to practice hard. It is said that only if you play 4 hours every day, then in ten years you'll become an average guitarist. I guess thats an exaggeration, but only a slight one.

 

sssiiiigggggghhhh......... ...... wish sumone had told me these things wen i had bought my first guitar (yes ... its a givson...i mean its ok ... for a beginner like me...)but still compared to the tone of sum other guitars it def. is a let down....
but me will definitely keep these things in mind wen i buy me next guitar..... thnxxxx essi n rabi....i'm sure this post will help loaaddssssaaaaa ppl..... keep up the gud work,,,,, :rock: :rock: .........

 

truly a great guide. thx rabi & essi.

:beer:

 

EDIT: Added information regarding Cyclone2 and Mustang

ok i'll run down some of the Fenders. but before I start I'll add that Fender have an excellent club where there are lessons etc available https://www.fenderplayersclub.com/

(im going to state the obvious here ) Fender is a guitar manufacturing company (well ok they make violins and amps as well but its basically guitars) that produces both acoustic, electric and bass guitars. Lets ignore their acoustic range and their bass range and concentrate on the electric guitars.

Available are these following guitar models:
Cyclone
Jag-Stang
Jaguar
Jazzmaster
Mustang * may not be produced anymore
Showmaster
Stratocaster
Telecaster
Tornado

bascially for more information check out Fender but I will list what I know about these models. But before I do lets consider the grades available within these models.

These grades are basically:
Custom Shop
Artist Series
USA Special
USA Vintage/Deluxe
USA Series
(Californian) Highway 1
Mexican Classic/Deluxe
Mexican Standard

now you may have heard of the Fender Squire, lets put things straight here. The Squire is a company located in Korea that builds under license from Fender, this means that the guitar is built on a Fender spec but not of Fender quality!! In regards to Fender Japan they build their own guitars and are basically slightly better than the Mexican versions from what I have heard, I myself have no experience on the Japanese guitars.

Lets start reviewing the models

 

Great stuff guys.. I would love to add to thuis.. But i have addressed this in a Tips to buy new stuff guide..

 

yo people..am almost sure abt getting an american epiphone Les Paul standard ebony finish..in which i am most probly gonna get erny ball slinkies...and hopefully SD Alnico II pros( hopefully coz u dont get those suckers in furtados...and they cost $80 a piece).....i play mostly GNR and basically anything under the sun which i like..from oasis to U2 to beatles..so ur comments people....abt the korean LP it stays...

 

GNR and Les Pauls.. .Cool combination i must say,, Are you gonna sell your ole LP.. I'll buy it ..

 

Gibsons/Eipiphone's are the best for Hard Rock and Brit Rock and Indy music.

 

thanx...peeps
@jay LP stays....was a gift

 

Ok Cool.. I would only suggest JACKSON for MEtal.. (I own one)..

 

wot about Ibanez for Metal? I thought they would be good for that?

 

Ibanez is kind of all rounder.. Not a pure Metal.. We at Jackson Users prefer a guitar meant for METAL.. Check out any good band they use Jackson.. Dimmu Borgir, Megadeth, For Some time Metallica, COB, Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith, Ozzy's Randy Rhoads, etc etc ..

 

Ibanez is excellent for lead playing in most metal genres, especially melodic, speed and power metal. But not all Ibanez are good. If you are going to buy an Ibanez, better buy a top quality one.

 

hetfield plays a LP and an explorer at times....kirk on the other hand plays ESP...slash is a stauch fan of LPs so are izzy and gilby, most rock players ive seen atleast have oneof there gutiarists on a LP..slash does have a BC Rich, and one strat...among his 100+ guitars:rock: i guess whn iu think of Ibanez i think vai, and satriani.......bryan adams on the other hand plays a strat, if am not wrong townshed had a lp, so did frank zappa, ive seeen fripp on lp too.....and then there was lucille....and bb king...

 

Kirk plays LTd which is now a part of ESP.. Ibanez is used by shred guitarists.. Yangwie used Fender.

 

Mark Knopfler uses a strat would be a better illustration. Bryan Adams' guitar skills are not exactly noteworthy.

 

Bryan Adams plays Guitar, I though he always Synced??

 

bryan adams played on unplugged.

i love the hatred u have of strats drsaburah it makes me laugh..."oh bryan adams also plays a strat" lets just ignore the fact that some of the best guitraists play a strat lol.