Playing Guitar

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Does anyone here play the guitar??? Im only asking as i want to start playing again, although it was 11 when i last played. I want an electric one, and i aint expecting to be a rock star, in fact its a hobbie im after. I love the idea of playing songs like american idiot or franz ferdinand stuff. Think of it as guitar hero, but with a bit of skill involved.

Ive seen deal from argos where you get all the starter gear, heres one link
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5450105/Trail/searchtext>ELECTRIC+GUITARS.htm

This is not the cheapest, the cheapest ive found is on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ELECTRIC-GUIT...al_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item2c52e9650d

Id also look into getting back up cds, if these exist, where a song is played as normal but with the guitar bit removed, like karaoke, spose you could call it guitaraoke lol??

Any one know where i should start??

Ed

 

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I would not buy a guitar that i had never held and played.. they may look great in the pictures but they could have the action of a cheese grater and sound awful. Go to a dedicated music shop and speak to the guys there. In my experience they are usually knowledgeable and not the hard sell types.

I would also spend a little more money and buy a second-hand decent guitar. I have never regretted buying guitars such as Gibsons, Fenders, Rickenbackers etc, they are investments and will reward you with the hours of fun you are seeking.

 

Do you think i should go for an acoustic one berfore i get into the electric side of things??

Ed

 

I wanted to start learning to playing the guitar and knew very little. After some research and recommendations i bought the Yamaha Pacifica. I have had it since about Nov last year.

http://www.reidys.com/index.pl?SubD...acifica+012+Guitar+Pack,+Black+&submit=Search

As this is my first guitar i have nothing to compare it to and the fact that i cant really play it yet kinda narrows down my personal views of it Hope will get some more time this year to start really learning to play it.

 

There are a few advantages to starting with an acoustic:
1. They generally tend to be set up for a thicker gauge of string and have higher action than a properly set up electric so it will improve your finger strength.
2. If you have a tune knocking about in your head it's easy to forget it while you dig out the electric and amp, plug it all in, remember that it's 11 pm so you need headphone, find your headphones and plug them in ....err, how did that tune go again??
3. If you find you don't have the time or inclination to continue you've wasted less money.

I'd second Bluerinse's advice on looking for something local that you can try out first.

 

I played guitar a little bit in high school but I was never very good. I have an acoustic leaning against the wall but it just sits there. I haven't played it in ages but once in a while after a couple pints at a more musically inclined buddie's house I'll pick up one of his guitars and play a few chords. I wish I had the time and motivation to practice on a regular basis. Maybe in a couple years I'll pick it back up and really try to learn.

 

I did and i still have an acoustic, which i play all the time, much more often than the electric guitars. It is a Guild and it sounds amazing.

 

Those guitars will be ok for starters but you will find the amp very sadly lacking in sound quality. It will be good to see if you want to properly get back into it again though. I would save up a little more and go for a starter pack in your nearest music shop (normally around the 200 markish) probably get a squire strat and maybe a park practice amp for that. Backing tracks are available everywhere (look on guitar mags they normally have them for the "in" songs of the month). I think licklibrary still do them as well (check them out online).

I've go ta marshall (old vavlestate 100w) and teh KH signature lespaul and also an epiphone les paul (its getting on a bit now but the sound from it is amazing in dropped D tuning). Used to play alot in bands but children etc put pay to that.

 

Theres a few sections on here with good advice

http://www.justinguitar.com/

Personally id echo the above, go to a cash converters or somewhere like that, and have a go before you buy, but i would probably go for an electric one to start with, depends what kind of music you want to learn.

 

Been playing for 20 years. Got a Jackson warrior, an Ibanez 7-string strat (drop A) and a beautiful Jackson dinky in translucent blue. Play through a Marshall JCM800 and a Pod Live XT. I couldn't possibly give you advice about starting to play again - anything I play on or through costs a damn sight more than you'd get with 'starter' packs. The only thing I'd say is if you have the extra money, spend it on the amp/combo. the sh1ttiest guitar sounds a whole lot better through a decent amp - and you can always upgrade it by putting better pickups in there.

 

I recently took up guitar as a hobby - I would recommend not going for the absolute cheapest options or 'starter packs'. For electric its very important to have a decent amp. The one I got was the Roland Cube 20X - based on YouTube reviews :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB4xyJxFL3o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3BJrjtA-dk&feature=related

This model is I believe now discontinued, so it may be available as a very good bargain for a starter home amp.

Even though I have the amp, at the moment I just have an acoustic guitar to start with - I went for the Epiphone AJ200S at £170 from my local music store. This guitar has a solid spruce top, and I am very happy with it overall in terms of its sound quality and construction. (However you may indeed find cheaper ones than this which sound quite good also). I think Epiphone is quite a good brand. YouTube is very useful for actually hearing any models you are considering. I also got a gig bag for £15, and two stands for £8/10, as well as a set of picks. Note the thinner guage pick is easiest to strum with for the beginner.

Don't know what you're level of knowledge is, but a very useful book on guitar is Guitar for Dummies - I have found this very helpful (though of course I am a newbie!). There is also the companion title 'Rock Guitar for Dummies' - though I've not got that far yet.

Now you have all you need to annoy/impress your friends!

 

I am surprised BosonJosh hasn't responded to this thread...

 

Do you want to play acoustic or electric music? That should dictate what type of guitar you start with. You mention that you want to play electric, so I'd recommend just going ahead and getting an electric. Going acoustic may be a little less expensive since you wouldn't need to buy an amp and cables to go with the guitar. I play mostly electric music, so I play mostly electric guitars.

Buying a second-hand guitar will net you a better guitar for your money, but you do have risks associated with that, especially if you're buying from an individual. You have no idea what that person has done to the guitar. I'd also recommend against buying a guitar that you haven't seen. You need to make sure whatever you buy is comfortable for you.

I've heard a lot of good things about the Squier (by Fender) Classic Vibe series of guitars. I used to have a Classic Vibe Squier Telecaster that was a really nice guitar for the money as they are fairly reasonably priced. The only reason I sold it is because it was a little heavier than I like (I have back problems and am very sensitive to weight). You could get a new Classic Vibe Tele and one of the newer Fender Mustang amps for less than $500US. I should note that I have had much more expensive guitars, but I found the Squier a lot of fun to play.

As with anything else, you get what you pay for with guitar equipment. You can find some really nice gear for fairly cheap, but you can also find a lot of crappy gear that's cheap.