First electric guitar - suggestions?Music 

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under18carbon

under18carbon

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I'm looking into purchasing an electric guitar soon (well, not that soon), and based on my budget and what guitars are currently available to me locally, I have narrowed down the choices to these 5 :

Samick Malibu MB1 (RM399, about $106 USD)
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SX PGG SC (RM490, about $130 USD)
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User reviews

Ibanez GRX20 (RM550, about $146 USD)
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User reviews

Samick Avion AV3 (RM666, about $177 USD)
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Ibanez GRG170DX (RM750, about $199 USD)
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User reviews

*The prices in USD are direct conversions with the local sale price, so they somewhat cheaper. For example, the Avion AV3 was retailing around $300USD (which is RM1200), but it's being sold pretty cheap for some reason...

**Can't link directly to Ibanez's guitar page, and SX guitars as well.

Lots of variety, different price ranges... yep. Please do keep in mind I'm a beginner when it comes to electrics (I've been playing the acoustic guitar for 2 1/2 years now), and I'd really like to buy something good to start with, not just any cheap electric guitar. The last two guitars are probably a tad too much for a beginner? I'd like to hear everyone's opinion.

If you would like to recommend another guitar, no problems, just try to keep the price below $230USD. I will then need to check with my local guitar store to see if they carry the model, because ordering online is totally out of question.

I intend to play anything from metal (Metallica, Dream Theater, Tool, etc.) to instrumentals to old stuff like Pink Floyd, Eagles, Guns N' Roses, etc. I guess you could say that I'd like a guitar that'll give me a variety of tones?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance people! 👍
 
Go into a music store and play a couple of guitars. Buy whatever guitar feels the most comfortable. You'll enjoy playing guitar a hell of a lot more, which makes learning a lot more easy.

Most all cheap starter guitars sound pretty damn good. Well, compared to how starter guitars sounded when I first learned how to play. Just a few days ago, I played a 150 dollar Squire that felt OK, but sounded pretty damn nice for a cheap starter guitar. If it felt a little better, I'm sure I would have bought it for my son, who seems to enjoy my Danelctro barritone.

Make sure you check OLP Guitars before buying anything. Although, Samick is an excellent choice.

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Thanks for the reply Solid, was expecting something from you ;)

Trouble is, I payed a visit to the guitar shop not too long ago, and almost all of the models they carry are Fenders/Ibanez. The Fender was somewhat out of my price range (I'll have to check again on that!), and from what I gather, only 2 of the models listed in the first post are available there - that being the GRX20 and GRG170DX.

The 3 other guitars are currently on sale on eBay, new.

Guess I will head back to the shop sometime and check things again. :)
 
under18carbon
I intend to play anything from metal (Metallica, Dream Theater, Tool, etc.) to instrumentals to old stuff like Pink Floyd, Eagles, Guns N' Roses, etc. I guess you could say that I'd like a guitar that'll give me a variety of tones?
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You've got a bit of a tricky task if you want to do Floyd/Eagles (more single coil kinda tone) and a great hi-gain humbucker tone in one guitar... However, for the best compromise (short of buying a strat AND and a heavy-metal type guitar) I'd pick the 3 pickup Ibanez (or something with a similar pickup configuration), as it can do a heavy-metal hi-gain tone very well (the majority of the bands you've mentioned - switch positions 1 and 5), and you can coil tap either humbucker and pair them with the middle single coil to get a nice out-of-phase strat-like clean tone (switch positions 2 and 4), or use the middle single coil (switch position 3) by itself for your shimmery eagles/floyd needs...

Plus you have a decent whammy to try out... it's the guitar that limits you the least. Plus Ibanez guitars invariably have terrific necks and great action.

If a really really great old style single-coil tone is more important than I assumed, get a strat type guitar (3 single coils) and just put up with not having humbuckers, as this is more versatile for learning more songs than JUST having humbuckers and no single-coils for nice clean sounds.

I'd basically recommend a guitar with a variety of pickups and the most ways of switching them to get different sounds. You could get a guitar with 2 single coils and a humbucker (S-S-H) in the bridge position also, but I'm not sure it would be more versatile than that last Ibanez with the H-S-H pickup config, as personally I really value the ability to do the tones pairing one of the split-coil humbuckers with the middle single coil, I really love that out of phase smooth strat type sound (very early DireStraits :) ).

Basically, the coil-tapping really opens up the tonal possibilities and I'm not sure how many other cheap electrics with humbuckers and single coils let you coil-tap the humbuckers like that Ibanez does.

But the most important thing is to just go with what you feel the most comfortable with, what feels best to you. Don't take anything as gospel and just LISTEN to what sounds best to you.
 
Thanks for the great reply James 👍!

I was sort of expecting that I might need to get 2 different guitars due to the type of sound :O (Of course I won't do that now). I'll try to look into more guitars with the pickup setups you mentioned. Thanks again!
 
As mentioned, buy what sounds best. The salesman won't mind that you're asking to play a relatively cheap guitar on an expensive amp. This ensures that you hear the best features of the guitar and downfalls of the guitar. Play some riffs or parts you know from your acoustic, and just see how it sounds. Play around with the features, make sure that they all work like you want them to, and sound how you want them to.

I remember when I bought my acoustic, I was intially drawn to the very nice looking Fender pieces, but found that for the price of them, the sound just wasn't good enough. I picked up a locally-made guitar (owned by Godin), played some notes and a couple riffs I had picked up over the years and sure enough, it sounded faaar better than the shiny Fenders, but it looked like any other guitar.

I haven't regretted it one bit. Play the guitars, and simply buy the one that sounds the best.

I'd also consider investing in something a little higher up on the price scale. Take a look at how you think you will progress, how much you will commit. Sometimes it'll make more sense, financially, to buy something of higher quality and playability.

That's the basic rundown of how I would go about buying something like this. Others who have more technical knowledge have and will give you their own opinions, but that's how I would do it: simply go with what I think sounds the best.
 
Buy the absolute best guitar you can afford. You'll grow into it if you're gonna be/get serious. You won't get serious about a crappy guitar.
My son has, (and I use) a Cort electric.
Body of a Strat. Flame Maple top, Two big fat Humbuckers and a coil tap. It also has an awsome action.
I believe that it was under $200 USD.
Fender has a "low end" Strat or Tele (Mexican made) for about $320.
All the Fender durability and quality construction.
Even if you love the guitar and despise the pickups, You have about a jillion options for replacements for less than a hundred bucks a set.
Rock on!
 
Gil is right - get the best quality guitar you can justify. You'll be grateful later on... :D
 
James makes an interesting point on whammies.
I have a particular loathing for all whammy set ups.
But, If you are intend to study the styles you mentioned a whammy is a neccessity.
I would prefer a standard Strat style, or Wilkinson whammy. These allow one way action. However, they are easiest to work on.

The Floyd Rose or one of its licensed copies will give you great versatility. However, they are a grand pain in the ass to set up. (and keep set up)
And if you play in any of the "heavier" styles, you will need to change strings fairly often due to wearing them out, and breakage.
I can change the strings on an acoustic in well under 30 minutes. That drops to under 20 minutes for an electric without a whammy.
When you figure in a Floyd, you have to block the whammy, or change the strings one at a time to maintain the proper tension on the whammy. You also have to deal with cutting the ball-ends off the strings so the tailpeice will accept them. etc.
I guess what I'm getting at is you also need to consider maintenance, etc when you choose a guitar.
A guitar with a Floyd, may, in the long run, send you running back to your acoustic.:lol:
 
MIM Fenders are great guitars. Out of the ones you mentioned, I would agree with James on the Ibanez.

However, it's better to save up your money and get something really great instead of a mediocre beginner guitar, if that is what those guitars are (I haven't played them). Seeing as how you have been playing for 2 and a 1/2 years, it is entirely justifiable to save your money for something really good.
 
Ibanez makes good guitars for the price. My "beginner" guitar, an Ibanez RG, was about $200, but it plays and sounds better than many guitars that cost twice as much. I've had no desire to replace it.
 
I have a MIM Strat that I paid $330 for new a few years back. I'm happy with it aside from the fact I didn't know enough when I bought it, I should have gotten the Humbucker/2 Single Coil model instead of the 3 Single Coil type. But I found it to be the most comfortable for me to play out of all the guitars I tried. I've seen the same guitar used at music shops/pawn shops for around 180 bucks, so that's another option if you can find one that's in nice shape. I'm not serious about playing guitar, I have it just to bash out some simple tunes when I get bored, so take my advice with a grain of salt. I have a friend who has played for 30 plus years and he said my guitar played really well for the price, so I'll take his word for it.:)

Good luck and have fun.👍
 
My first six-string electric was a Samick (their Stratocaster lookalike). Bought it at the same time as my bass, which was a Lyon (Washburn, P-bass lookalike).

Don't have those two anymore, though. Now I've got a Squier Stratocaster (Fender's "budget" line). Haven't touched in quite some time, though.. needs new strings. And an amp.

The plus side of the Squier over the Strat lookalikes is the head.. from more than a few feet away, it looks just like a Fender. :)
 
I bought myself a Fernandes Retorocket X.... fat strat lookalike.... and I have to say I'm really quite impressed with it. Plays wonderfully, stays in tune, and the only problem is some noise in 2 of the pickup selection.... but you expect that with heavy distortion in the single coils.
 
Jedi2016
The plus side of the Squier over the Strat lookalikes is the head.. from more than a few feet away, it looks just like a Fender. :)
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Actually, Squier is a Fender "side-brand".
For all intents and purposes a liscensed copy.

As far as the Samicks are concerned, Most liscensed copies of guitars are made by Samick.
It has been estimated that Samick makes 75% of the guitars in the world.
I know that Washburn, Epiphone, and quite a few other manufacturers rely on Samick to produce their "low-end" to mid level stuff.
There are only a few that I can think of that don't do any "low-end" stuff that would not use Samick.


BTW this is my 5,000th post:cheers:
 
Gil
A guitar with a Floyd, may, in the long run, send you running back to your acoustic.:lol:
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And I was thinking of getting this as my first ever guitar with a whammy. :indiff:
 
Lot's of songs such as Nine Inch Nails and Metallica are pretty simple to start out with. Punk music I don't care for, but it's simple stuff you can build off of. If you have any questions about it, ask me.
 
Shannon
And I was thinking of getting this as my first ever guitar with a whammy. :indiff:
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It's a nice axe.
Just keep in mind, how much of a "techie" you want to be vs. how much of a "player" you want to be.
I find all trems to be a pain. But that is my opinion.
I've yet to find one that doesn't have me breaking the high E string when I use it. I can't begin to tell you how many E Strings I've broken using the trem. This is just in trying to get a feel for the guitar. Not actually playing for an audience. As such, I dislike them.
Of the four guitars in this house, only one has a trem. It's a bastardized Bixby-style trem. And I took the arm off about 2 minutes after I did the first string change on it.
I only keep the guitar because it might someday have some collector value.
But, I've also pulled the stock tuners off, and gone to some that will hold the axe in tune a bit better. I've saved the stock tuners though, in the event someone sees it and wants an old Tiesco Del Ray guitar for their collection.

If you are as much techie as player, you might love the Floyd equipped guitar.
I'm fundamentally lazy when it comes to guitar, and I don't want to learn the technique necessary to play an axe with a Floyd. Remember, the advantage of a Floyd is that you can bend pitches in either direction. But since the bridge "floats" you have to develop a technique that keeps you from leaning on the bridge and lowering the pitch of the guitar.
 
Lots of good advice, thanks people! 👍 I sure learned some new things. :)

Congrats Gil. ;)
 
under18carbon
I'm looking into purchasing an electric guitar soon (well, not that soon), and based on my budget and what guitars are currently available to me locally, I have narrowed down the choices to these 5 :
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I’d avoid the Korean mega factory stuff. Quality has certainly improved in recent years; though you’re still likely to get non-traditional woods, sandwich construction, thick poly coatings and below average fret work.

A Yamaha Pacifica 112 is in my opinion the highest quality budget guitar. Find a Taiwanese model, and you’ll have a versatile instrument that is on par with lower end Fenders such as the Highway 1 series. You can pull off trad strat tones, or switch to the Humbucker in the bridge for heavier stuff (if that takes your fancy.)

The Pacifica below is fitted with hand-wound duncan pickups that exceed the cost of most medium priced guitars. It’s my fav beater and it goes with me to dodgier gigs. (Bridge APS II being rewound at present)

Go second hand and let somebody else do the depreciating for you.👍

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Gil
It's a nice axe.
Just keep in mind, how much of a "techie" you want to be vs. how much of a "player" you want to be.
I find all trems to be a pain. But that is my opinion.
I've yet to find one that doesn't have me breaking the high E string when I use it. I can't begin to tell you how many E Strings I've broken using the trem. This is just in trying to get a feel for the guitar. Not actually playing for an audience. As such, I dislike them.
Of the four guitars in this house, only one has a trem. It's a bastardized Bixby-style trem. And I took the arm off about 2 minutes after I did the first string change on it.
I only keep the guitar because it might someday have some collector value.
But, I've also pulled the stock tuners off, and gone to some that will hold the axe in tune a bit better. I've saved the stock tuners though, in the event someone sees it and wants an old Tiesco Del Ray guitar for their collection.

If you are as much techie as player, you might love the Floyd equipped guitar.
I'm fundamentally lazy when it comes to guitar, and I don't want to learn the technique necessary to play an axe with a Floyd. Remember, the advantage of a Floyd is that you can bend pitches in either direction. But since the bridge "floats" you have to develop a technique that keeps you from leaning on the bridge and lowering the pitch of the guitar.
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There's a reason why you don't like whammy guitars. You're doing it wrong. Well, right and wrong is subjective, now isn't it. I've found a way that works for me, but right or wrong matters not.

Don't neuter your strings. Keep the balls on. Get rid of the tremolo lock blocks from the lock boxes, and use the saddle lock screws to pinch down on the ball end of the strings. This allows the wound ends of the strings to rest in the tremolo bridge saddles. This will slightly alter the tone of the guitar. It makes it sound warmer, and sweeter, but not by much of a difference that it can't be tolerated if you don't like the tone difference. Doing this will dramatically increase the life of the strings. Although, some strings have "messy cut" wound ends that have sharp edges that can irritate you when resting your palm near the tremolo. I've found that D'Addario strings are the best sounding, best lasting and best cut wound ends for this type of setup.

Setting up a tremolo is easy. The trick is, remove one string at a time, when replacing strings, and then replace the string you removed before removing another string. The rear of the guitar will have the tremolo springs. They are connected to the spring claw which is connected to the guitar by two spring claw screws that alter the tension of the tremolo springs. Use these screws to adjust your tremolo.

Floating tremolos need more attention than blocked or non floating tremolos. But, it's only one more attention to detail of the tension, and therefore adjustment, of the spring claw screws. Simply adjust them until the floating tremolo is flush with the body of the guitar. With non floating, the spring claw screws, more or less, adjust the tension of the tremolo springs. I adjust mine so severe bends wont alter the pitch of the strings. If they do, it's a sign that the tremolo springs tension are too loose. I test the tension by playing some severe string bends. If the pitch changes, I simply adjust the spring tension tighter. I stop adjusting until all pitch changes are gone. It keeps the tremolo spring tension as loose as possible which helps with string life.

So, if you have problems with high E strings breaking, it could be your tremolo setup. Try mine, and your high E will last longer than a week. My high Es last a least several months before they need replacing. Which, my EBMMEVH needs right now, BTW. Heh.
 
DeLoreanBrown
@Carbon, would u really be able to get anIbanez GRG170DX for under $200?

it would be clean for an emergency plug ax
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Well, technically yes, because I'm converting the local sale price directly into USD. The real price should be around the region of $220 something USD.

What is "it would be clean for an emergency plug ax" supposed to mean? :dunce:
 
I started with the 1st Samick you posted and it really is a good beginner guitar, imo, as I learned the basics and everything pretty fast with it.

However, I have neglected mine and I'm not even sure if I can play mine anymore.:indiff:
 
It's like riding a bike.
Get yourself back to the "woodshed" and get some pratice material to study.
You'll be playing better than you were in a few weeks.
 
I love floating bridges... Once you know how to set them up it's just another thing you do automatically...

But thats coming from a guy who adjusts his non-floyd strat trem to be able to bend 2 semitones sharp before hitting the body - Jeff Beck style :D. Plus I can do those awesome little indian style ghost notes like Steve Vai (with the bar pointing out the back end of the guitar). :)

Please don't be put off by a whammy-equipped guitar... Its a bit of a pain initially (I rarely used the whammy on the guitar I started on - an old Squire strat), but nowadays I wouldn't buy a guitar without a good whammy. (The problem was getting my strat to work reliably with the whammy without going out of tune... notoriously tricky on a strat type system). They can be a pain to set up, but I love the extra dimension of expression whammies allow... the pain is worth it IMO. :)

The Ibanez with a locking nut would work very nicely... I've got an Ibanez RG2550E and you can whammy it all day long, crazy divebombs etc - all the while staying perfectly in tune. I would put a locking nut and floyd rose on my strat but it would ruin the nice vintage look (and maybe destroy the lovely tone)!
 
James2097
I love floating bridges... Once you know how to set them up it's just another thing you do automatically...

But thats coming from a guy who adjusts his non-floyd strat trem to be able to bend 2 semitones sharp before hitting the body - Jeff Beck style :D. Plus I can do those awesome little indian style ghost notes like Steve Vai (with the bar pointing out the back end of the guitar). :)

Please don't be put off by a whammy-equipped guitar... Its a bit of a pain initially (I rarely used the whammy on the guitar I started on - an old Squire strat), but nowadays I wouldn't buy a guitar without a good whammy. (The problem was getting my strat to work reliably with the whammy without going out of tune... notoriously tricky on a strat type system). They can be a pain to set up, but I love the extra dimension of expression whammies allow... the pain is worth it IMO. :)

The Ibanez with a locking nut would work very nicely... I've got an Ibanez RG2550E and you can whammy it all day long, crazy divebombs etc - all the while staying perfectly in tune. I would put a locking nut and floyd rose on my strat but it would ruin the nice vintage look (and maybe destroy the lovely tone)!
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See, it is possible to love trem systems, and live in harmony with them (couldn't resist the pun).
I just happen to be among that group that prefers guitars without them.
I've learned to bend, and do finger trem effects on acoustic.
That technique carries over nicely to electric.
But then, I play predominately blues, classic rock, and country. I have no real need of a whammy bar.
 
under18carbon
What is "it would be clean for an emergency plug ax" supposed to mean? :dunce:
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A 1st Electric, swiftly to hand, good price, clean looks, no problems through the compressor.:nervous:
 
Gil
I've yet to find one that doesn't have me breaking the high E string when I use it. I can't begin to tell you how many E Strings I've broken using the trem.
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That's interesting, Gil. I own 2 guitars with tremolo bars, and not once have I broken a string because of them. Do you raise the pitch a lot when you use it? I've never used a Bigsby-style trem so that may be the cause.

under18carbon: Have you bought your guitar yet?


edit: somehow I completely missed SL's post. :dunce:
 
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