Lol, I know this probably isn't the best forum to post this in, buuuuttttt.....

I'm looking into buying an electric guitar. Sorta... But anyway, I'm still pretty much a begginner, so I don't need/want anything really fancy. Any suggestions that would be good, cheap, and not like break at the slightest bump? (That last one, is uh, kinda needed with what happened to me a little bit ago..  ) So yeah, basically anything that you would suggest for a begginer who bashes his face up with acoustic guitars...

Thanks 

Begginner's electrics?  Well, what are you willing to spend?  Possible choices that have beginner's guitars are:

Squier
Epiphone
Ibanez
ESP - LTD

What styles do you enjoy?  Different guitars do better in different genres.  If you want a basic all-around guitar, maybe a Squier Strat will fit the bill.  But if you enjoy metal, notwithstanding Yingwie and Iron Maden, avoid the strat at all costs!   

Here ya go.  It's got the humbucker pickup in the bridge position, so it'll do metal.  Most strats have all single coil pu's.  BTW, I've seen one of these baby's in person.  It's a very good looking guitar!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squier-Black-and-Chrome-Fat-Strat-Electri...

The danger of being a guitar noob trying to buy a beginner guitar off ebay is you might be buying a guitar that someone bought and lost interest and was sitting in the closet for a couple of years getting banged up.  caviot emptor (let the buyer beware).  Heck I even bought a guitar off ebay that I regret buying ***and I should have known better***.

Anyway a short discussion of pickups.  These are the little thingys that sit under the strings and turns the vibrations of the strings into electrical signal that the amplifier makes louder, often times, much louder.  If you look at the pic of the strat, you'll see 3 of them.  Two pickups, or pu's as you'll often see typed on musicians message boards have a row of 6 silver circles.  Those are magnets.  There is a coil of wire that wraps around those magnets.  That's a single coil pu.  It is known for a bright, thin sound.  It's often used in funk, blues and country.  The other pu has 2 rows of magnets.  That is called a humbucker.  Reason why is single coil pu's have a side effect of a hum being heard.  humbuckers put 2 single coil pu's side by side, but have the winding of the wire reversed and that kills the hum.  'buckers sound thicker and deeper.  read: METAL!!!!!  \m/

But you can get amps off ebay, but beware, if the amp is heavy, you're gonna get stung with shipping.

If I were to recommend an as-cheap-as-i-can-get guitar, that won't be a hunk of wood, I would take a look at these:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Dean-Vendetta-XM-Electric-Guitar?sku=5121...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Ibanez-GRX40Z-2001-Electric-Guitar?sku=51...

Already posted, but these ARE the main beginner brands...

ESP-LTD: Cheap but solid and fast playing guitars, usually have EMG humbucker knockoffs with a coil tap (humbucker to single coil)
Squier: The poor man's Fender. Asian (Tiawan, Korea, China) built, decent quality, low prices, decent sound.

Epiphone: Gibson's version of Squier guitars, somewhat higher quality, heavier though. Les Pauls, SGs, and the Zeppelin-esque Double Necked SG, made by these guys.
Ibanez: Their low end is pretty cheap, while their high end is very good. All around fast and pretty reliable guitars, comparable to an ESP-LTD in design and basic feel.

First Act:.......WAL-MART!!!!!!!!!

G&L Legacy: Leo Fender made G&L after he quit Fender and got pissed at Musicman. Excellent guitars, their Legacy's are like Epiphones (in quality), except, IMO, smoother and more comfortable, they also make Strats and Teles.

Jackson: Yet another ESP or Ibanez. Same designs, Same bodies, basically, all of these brands are wannabe shredder brands, not to say that their work is bad, just too impersonal.

Fender, Made in Mexico: Most newbs don't realize this, but these Fenders are made only 20 minutes south of the American Fender headquarters, and have alot of the same quality (minus the shielding) for a fraction of the price of an American Fender. They usually run about the same price as an ESP-LTD, or any of the others on this list (minus Squier, their Bullet is about $300 for a beginner's pack). I own one of these and can attest to it's smoothness and sound. A well set-up Mexican Strat is comparable to a G&L Legacy Strat (S-500).

Fender, Made in Korea: Even cheaper than a MIM Fender, usually comparable to a very nice Squier, except these can come with some cool features such as two-point tremolos and Seymour Duncan pickups Also prettier than Squiers.

Fender, Made in China: Even rarer, a few of Fender's guitars are made in China, such as the Stratocoustic and Telecoustic, off the top of my head. Even cheaper still, but, it does have the Fender logo. Comparable with an average Squier. (P.S. The Stratocoustic and Telecoustic were discontinued a few years ago, I have a Telecoustic, and can say that while it is not a good sounding guitar, it is highly durable and fun for camping trips, and does have a pickup for amplification)

Fender, Made in Japan: Usually priced about the same as an MIM Fender, but much higher quality. The Aerodyne series is mostly built here, as well as many of their basses and, my favorite, a version of the Jaguar. In the Japanese factory, from what I hear, the workers are paid not on their quantity, but on the quality of each piece, thus rendering quality equal to or superior to American Fenders. The only thing holding these back is the slightly lower quality equipment used (again, lack of shielding, as on almost all instruments of the below $1K price range) A well set up one is easily comparable to an American Fender, prices run about parallel to Mexican Fenders, maybe slightly higher.

This is just a sampling of my favorites that cost under $1K. Most will run you $400-$750, depending on the model, other than the Squiers. My recomendation: an MIM Strat, an MIJ strat, an Epiphone, or a G&L Legacy, though these will run in about the $500-650 range, they are guitars that will bring you from a newb to a pro without the need for an upgrade, a lot of pros even play them. If you wanna go cheaper, get an ESP-LTD. They run $450 and are very fast if soulless guitars. If you wanna go even cheaper, I recommend a Squier Fat Strat (on which I learned), or a Squier beginner's pack (on which my brother learned), which includes an amp, a cord, and a Squier Bullet. You can also find MANY extraordinarily good deals on eBay, as many mothers tend to sell their kid's extra stuff while they're at college, without ever knowing it's real value.
      Wow, this post is way, way too long.
                             -Spades

dcunning30 wrote on Jun 28^th, 2007 at 1:40pm:


Ding ding!

But I looked at the links you gave, and I like the black one and the blue one. Er, that would be... the Squier and the Ibanez one... Yeah. The bla- Squier one is obviously better, but all the reviews say that there's problems with it staying in tune... And I absolutly stink at anything to do with tuning. They said something about getting new strings and it would be fine, but I don't know how to do that either... 

Also, I looked around that site a little more, and found this. Let me know what you think about that... Thanks

Ok, another thing. I feel really stupid asking this, but... Electric guitars have a dial thingy on them that can change their tone, right? Like that black one wouldnt be just metel, right? Thanks again...

Ok thanks. Most likly I'll go with that packege I found... That Squier one looks really nice, but I'd have to end up buying a lot more, and it would get expensive... And besides I like the blue color you can get with the Ibanez 

Thanks for all your help.