advice sought: guitar for 15 YO beginner?
jane
son wants to learn to play guitar.
co-worker is willing to spend about
$300 on an electric guitar (guitar
alone, not including cost of amp).
co-worker does not play guitar, and
has no guitar playing friends to ask
for advice. i'm a bit concerned
that he might waste his money on a
guitar with bad tone or action, one
that would discourage his son before
he even begins to learn ... any
words of wisdom that anyone can give?
jane
grady
same question?
There are Music Lofts in Durham and Carrboro, and Harry's Guitar Shop &
Indoor Storm in Raleigh. (Fat Sound in Cary is also staffed by smart
local musicians, but I dunno if they sell anything in that pricerange. I
know they give lessons, though, so they probably sell something for
beginners.)
I dunno much about the Carrboro Music Loft (I think I bought some blank
tape there once) but I know for a fact that the other stores I mentioned
are staffed by guitarists (veterans of many fine local bands, most of
'em) who'd be happy to give an honest answer to that question. After
all, if they sell a kid a quality $300 guitar today, and he sticks with
his lessons and/or strikes out on his own & develops his talent, they're
going to be selling him strings and/or new guitars for the rest of his
life. I mean, I've never known a guitarist to be happy with owning just
one guitar. Have you?
Disclaimer: I'm not a guitarist, so there are probably other
locally-owned, musician-staffed stores in the Triangle that I'm not
aware of as well, and no offense to anybody I've left out.
Ross
jane wrote:
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S. Warner
Anything less than that makes learning very difficult.
The old Fender Squiers that were made in Japan from '83-'87 are wonderful
instruments. They can be had for $300 or so. They made both Stratocasters
and Telecasters. But the Teles seem less plentiful these days.
Anyhoo... I suspect that there are many, many folks with more suggestions to
offer.
-scott
Michael Warren
1. Don't buy it at Wal-Mart, Sears, the pawn shop, flea market, or any place whose primary business is church pianos and organs. Go to a real music store such as Music Loft, Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Don's, etc. ( there are others, look in the phone book).
2. Stick to better known brands like Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Hamer, Ovation, Ibanez, Peavey,etc. Many of their guitars are way out of your price range, but most of these companies sell a less expensive line of guitars ( Gibson has Epiphone, Fender has the Squier line, Hamer sells Slammers) It would be good to buy an American- made model, but you probably can't afford that and Asian- made guitars are a lot better generally than they used to be.
3. I recently bought a Slammer guitar really cheap when the store I worked at closed. It is made by the Hamer company and is a copy of a Fender Stratocaster. With proper set-up it's a decent guitar and retails for around $300 and you could surely buy one for less.
4. A crucial point on any guitar is whether the neck is straight or has any warp to it. Look carefully
down the neck from both ends and if it's bad you can see it. Most stores and manufacturers offer some sort of warranty that will cover any problems. Read the warranty! Avoid guitars that have more than a couple of knobs or lots of bells and whistles. These are mostly gimmicks for looks to boost sales and can be trouble.
5. The amplifier is less crucial for a beginner. There are small practice amps available in the $30 - $60 range and some have headphones for quiet practice. You can buy a bigger one later. Remember that teenagers are notorious for gaining and losing interest in everything quickly. You can probably get a good deal on something larger at a pawn shop. Avoid anything with broken or missing knobs, or with signs of mildew on it, meaning it has been stored in a damp place. Make sure it works before you leave the store. This also applies to used guitars. A pro might get a great deal buying something that needs minor repair, but you may wind up with a piece of junk.
6. You can save a lot of money buying on-line from one of several internet based instrument suppliers, but having been in that business myself I can tell you that guitars often do not arrive properly set up and damages in shipment are fairly common. Much of this stuff is drop-shipped directly from the distributor or factory, which can mean somewhere in China.
I'm not a guitar guru and there are probably guys on this list who can offer some more technical suggestions, but I hope this helps.
mw
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Danny Hooley
think Music Loft carries them.
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Kevin Darbro
Squier Tele from Japan (1987), and I still use it today. I replaced the
pickups and had the guys at Harry's Guitars change the jack for me because
it was constantly missing connections, and would fall out from time to time,
but those are minor things that as my needs changed, I could have done
relatively inexpensively.
For amps, I recommend looking for a used Peavy Bandit 65 or so (also 80's).
It was a decent amp in it's day, especially for a beginning guitarist. For
new amps, consider an Orange Crush 15. It's around $100 and I think it has
a headphone out. I bought one in Nashville a couple years ago for $115 or
so, and it's quite usable with onboard overdrive which will save your
friend's son the trouble of buying a distortion pedal. It also sounds
decent at low volumes.
For a tube amp, in case the budding guitarist is more of a bluesy guy than a
heavy sounding guy (or wants to approach it), I highly recommend a Fender
Musicmaster Bass amp. They are long out of production, but can be had on
ebay for $100 or so. I regret selling mine a couple years ago. It's one of
those secret vintage amps that is pretty available and has a great, warm
bluesy sound.
I also concur with whoever said Danelectro. Those guitars are awesome for
the price, but the tuning knobs seemed kind of shoddy. I've heard that many
people replace the tuning knobs on 'em, and they work great. It's a great
twangy sound.
What kind of music is he into? I have to also agree not to buy a guitar
online. It's a personal thing. If he plays at all, let him hold and play
whatever he can on potential guitars. It's kind of like dating. When you
know it's right for you, it's right! It's hard to quantify that, but it's
true.
Good luck!
Best,
- Kevin
-----Original Message-----
From: ch-scene...@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:ch-scene...@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of S. Warner
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 3:08 PM
To: RTP-area local music and culture
Subject: Re: advice sought: guitar for 15 YO beginner?
I agree that you must have a playable instrument that will stay in tune.
Anything less than that makes learning very difficult.
The old Fender Squiers that were made in Japan from '83-'87 are wonderful
instruments. They can be had for $300 or so. They made both Stratocasters
and Telecasters. But the Teles seem less plentiful these days.
Anyhoo... I suspect that there are many, many folks with more suggestions to
offer.
-scott
Fiona Morgan
jane
their thoughts on this question.
all replies, and any future ones,
have been, or will be forwarded to
my co-worker. some of them echo,
and lend creedence to what i'd
already told him, but with better
reasons than my memories of things
that my ex- would say when buying
a guitar ... you gave him just the
sort of information that i'd like
to have done, but didn't really
know or remember ...
the kid has discovered Hendrix ...
i dunno what else has gone into it,
but that's where he is at this time.
from what i know of the kid, and/or
kids in general, i expect that he'll
find the whole thing is more like
work than he'll be willing to do,
but on the other hand, he could be
a genius-in-waiting, and having a
playable first guitar could make
all the difference ... who knows?
cheers!
jane
Jeff Hart
in the last year, i've bought two mexican made fenders (a telecaster
and a strat). both were less than $350. they are solid as a rock and
have really beautiful finishes (sunburst and blue agave). both were
set up well at the factory and though i looked around and tried
several and settled on what i thought felt best in my hands and
sounded nice plugged in, i think on the whole mexican "standard"
electric guitars are really well made. i wouldn't think twice to buy
one again. for the price, i'd be hard pressed to beat the quality. the
majority of workers in the factories in southern california since the
early '50s were mexican-americans, so don't let "import" label throw
ya. they're fine instruments. both music lofts have 'em. carrboro and
durham.
fender squier's are good too, maybe half the price. but the quality
varies.
a soft case will cost another $40 to $50. a hard case about $80 to
$100. this is just based on an epiphone casino case i got last year.
jane <wit...@email.unc.edu> wrote in message news:<412E2603...@email.unc.edu>...
Sue S.
single lipstick pickup model a few years back that's served me well
(along with my husband, who borrows it all the time!). It's true that
the tuners are the weak link, but Harry could put on a new set for $50
bucks or so. You're not going to be able to play drop-tuned metal on
it, but it's great for blues, straight-on rock or country.
Mark Simonsen
jane <wit...@email.unc.edu> wrote:big "THANK YOU"s to all who shared
cheers!
jane
Kevin Darbro wrote:
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Mark Simonsen
Mark Simonsen <frac...@yahoo.com> wrote:I am unloading a mess of music gear (mostly vintage) that I have amassed over the years (I have been reading a book on Feng Shui). Some of it might appeal to the 15YO (especially some of my less expensive amplifiers- a couple of old Kalamazoo tube amps and some small Fender solid state). I also have some bigger nicer amps of all sorts (Kustom heads, a Marshall cab, some Fender stuff), some Guild and Gibson acoustics, some Kay and Harmony archtops, a huge collection of vintage and NOS stompboxes (effects), two German fiddles, a Bundy student flute, piano and keyboard accessories (I am a piano technician and repair other instruments as well). I also need to find a home for a turn of the century Square Grand Piano (a beautiful piece of furniture that could also be restored to decent playing condition). Please email me to view any of it. Thanks- Mark frac...@yahoo.com
jane wrote:big "THANK YOU"s to all who shared
cheers!
jane
Kevin Darbro wrote:
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bendylostpla[dot]net , a, a
> jane,
>
> in the last year, i've bought two mexican made fenders (a telecaster
> and a strat). both were less than $350.
If the kid's into Hendrix, I would echo this recommendation for the
Mexicasters. I've got a mid-90s Stratocaster I got new, no case. Used,
something similar could still be had in the same range, and with a $80
case, you've got a rig that he wouldn't have to trade up for. I'd
recommend a strat anyways for a beginner, since it's got a wide range of
tone, and won't lock him into purely crunchy sounds (like the humbucker
guitars I started on...) or twangy (like the incredibly priced
Danelectros...)
Bendy