| Raf 22.09.2006 04:44 |
Hey. I'm gonna buy my first guitar, and I have a question... I found on a brazilian e-shop a kit with a guitar, amp (w/ a pedal to turn on/off the distortion effects) and cables, for a good price. The guitar has a standard tremolo bridge. But yesterday I found on another shop here in my town some better (I think) stuff. I can get a guitar, a better amp and a pedal with 7 or 8 different effects. But just the guitar and the amp together will be more expensive than that other kit. The guitar itself costs a bit more than the pedal and the amp. So, it would cost more than twice the kit I saw on the internet. The kit seems pretty good, and my father apparently thinks it's a good idea to get me that kit for my birthday. So I was wondering if it would be worth all the headache to convince him to get the stuff I found here in my town instead. Should I? Well, and if the answer is "yes", then I have another problem... There are 2 guitars (for the same price) which I liked, and I dunno which I should go for. One of them is a Les Paul, the other is a guitar with Floyd Rose... The Floyd Rose thing is a big temptation, but can it really do that much for me? Or would it be "dispensable" as I would have a good pedal? Well, thanks in advance for listening to a newbie. :-P |
| The Fairy King 22.09.2006 05:04 |
Buy one with strings. Love, Bubu |
| Jjeroen 22.09.2006 05:42 |
There is no way that anybody can advise in the choise between a Les Paul and ANY guitar with a Floyd Rose tremolo. This ALL depends on what YOU find comfortable to play with. Les Pauls are heavy, raw, big... Any guitar with a Floyd Rose is light, smooth, slim. Personally, I dig the light ones... Have a couple of Ibanez-guitars that I cherish a lot, because they have the perfect balance between raw rythm and singing solo-sound... Floy Rose tremoloes in general are genius! YES they will do good for you and it has nothing to do with pedals at all. Floyd Rose tremolo's are the best in their kind and they make you able to wack the living daylights out of your tremolo-arm without getting out of tune AT ALL! For space-age guitarists like me, lol, the best invention since the amplifier ;-) Anyway; all depends on what kind of music you want to play and what kind of guitar you find comfortable. Play around with both of them for a while and then deside. Btw... if you want advice on guitars, pedals, amps, it might be handy if you mention some brandnames! Not much advise one can give on 'a' guitar, 'an' amp and 'a' pedal... A Gibson guitar is good A Rockson guitar is shit A Marshal amp is great A Tiger is shit etc |
| Togg 22.09.2006 06:02 |
Depends on whether it's a real Les Paul or copy. My advice is to buy the best quality instrument of the two, you can always get more pedals later, the guitar and amp are the most improtant parts. And like above, make sure you feel comforable playing it first, humbukers give very different sounds to single coils so check it out with an eye on what type of music you will play. If your dad is willing to shell out for a real Les Paul then you are a luck dude! |
| Jjeroen 22.09.2006 07:41 |
Togg wrote: Depends on whether it's a real Les Paul or copy. My advice is to buy the best quality instrument of the two, you can always get more pedals later, the guitar and amp are the most improtant parts. And like above, make sure you feel comforable playing it first, humbukers give very different sounds to single coils so check it out with an eye on what type of music you will play. If your dad is willing to shell out for a real Les Paul then you are a luck dude!Yup, though it indeed depends! Though I love their sound, I just cannot stand playing a Les Paul! ;-) |
| RETROLOVE 22.09.2006 10:34 |
Killerking840, nice profile pic! Good luck in finding your first guitar! |
| error 22.09.2006 10:49 |
<font color="lime">KillerKing840 wrote: Hey. I'm gonna buy my first guitar, and I have a question...If you're going to buy your first guitar, don't rush and make a mistake of buying some sh*t! Your first guitar don't have to be top notch, but it can't be a poor quality guitar. <font color="lime">KillerKing840 wrote: Hey. I found on a brazilian e-shop a kit with a guitar, amp (w/ a pedal to turn on/off the distortion effects) and cables, for a good price. The guitar has a standard tremolo bridge.Usually I don't like kits [I've bought a kit myself and now I've realised that I should have gathered some more money and buy something better] <font color="lime">KillerKing840 wrote: Hey. But yesterday I found on another shop here in my town some better (I think) stuff. I can get a guitar, a better amp and a pedal with 7 or 8 different effects. But just the guitar and the amp together will be more expensive than that other kit. The guitar itself costs a bit more than the pedal and the amp. So, it would cost more than twice the kit I saw on the internet.A pedal is not really a fundamental item, specially for a beginner! You can buy it later! <font color="lime">KillerKing840 wrote: There are 2 guitars (for the same price) which I liked, and I dunno which I should go for. One of them is a Les Paul, the other is a guitar with Floyd Rose... The Floyd Rose thing is a big temptation, but can it really do that much for me? Or would it be "dispensable" as I would have a good pedal?What is the guitar that have the Floyd Rose sistem? Floyd Rose is pretty cool and useful for guitarists that use a lot of solos and play instrumental rock songs [Steve Vai, Joe Satriani etc...] It has great advantages but also some disavantages. See here: link It's your choice. If the other guitar is a GIBSON Les Paul, then it's one of the best guitars in the market, but it can be unsuitable for your playing... Once again it's up to you. I would prefer a Ibanez RG guitar, but that's me :P |
| M a t i a s M a y 22.09.2006 11:32 |
Go to the store with your teacher and ask him to play both guitars and tell you which one is the best choice. I would go for the Floyd one, but just because I like fooling around with that kind of things... it's stupid, but it's fun. |
| Raf 22.09.2006 11:57 |
Well, thanks guys. I'll ask to test both guitars (that shop allows us to test some instruments). But from what you all have told me, I think I should go for the one with Floyd Rose (I don't remember the brand and model). Now, I'll just hope my dad will accept to pay twice as much as he would pay on the Internet (Oinkage, I know a beginner might not need a pedal... But it's much easier to convince my dad to buy all the stuff now. He doesn't understand a lot about guitars, so I can just convince him it's something "essential". ;-) Thanks very much for the advices! |
| john bodega 22.09.2006 12:05 |
Don't get a Marshall amp unless you like the sound of mud. Nah, I'm only half joking. It depends on what price range you're after. If you're staying cheap like me, don't go with a Marshall because other brands in the same price range have a nicer sound. But I don't know what you're spending, so who knows. I will say this much; if you're not spending a big amount of money... LANEY TUBE FUSION. If this is your first guitar... anything goes. My first guitar was a hand-me-down, extremely battered Strat with *one knob* by the time I was finished with it (actually I'm renovating it at the moment). Seriously, just pick up anything with a straight neck, 24 frets, and a body that feels sorta nice. If you can learn how to play guitar on just any old piece of shit, then you'll be ready to throw away money on something... finer. Have fun! |
| iGSM 22.09.2006 14:38 |
You know Zebonka, I know you! It may seem odd but I'm fairly certain if I remember you right I went to Leederville TAFE and saw you a couple of dozen times. I was back stage when your band/you played the end of We Will Rock You thinking 'Geez, that guy looks like the Jesus pic of Brian May'. So...yeaaaaaah, just thought I should make mention of that. I happened upon my first guitar at a Salvation Army place. It was a nice classical guitar with 3 working strings. Then I purchased a bass guitar (Ashton, horrible action - got rid of). Bad mistake. I ended up buying myself decent steel string acoustic guitar which lasted me until a couple of months ago when I noticed it had a mother fucker of a crack in the head/neck area. So I decided to purchase a guitar that cost more than a salad at McDonalds and purchased a delicious Art and Lutherie Cedar...variety! I love it! So, so, so rich. Apart from me giving you a history of my guitar purchases I didn't actually give you any tips. So sorry. |
| user name 22.09.2006 14:53 |
1) You get what you pay for. Any guitar that's less than $300 is going to be shit. 2) As it will be your first guitar, shit is what you want. You won't be able to appreciate the difference yet, anyway. A Gibson Les Paul is the same as a Squire start-up kit Stratocaster to the beginning guitar player. Once you learn the ways of the guitar, then you should worry about spending your money for what's right for you. For now, get a piece of shit. |
| Micrówave 22.09.2006 15:10 |
Don't buy a guitar package!!! (One that comes with an amp, a strap, picks, etc) Go to a GOOD guitar shop and buy a used one. A Fender, Gibson, or a Ric is great and will hold value better than any other guitar. You won't get a good NEW guitar for under $300 but you can find some serious stuff USED. |
| Raf 22.09.2006 20:39 |
I guess MusicMan has a point. And considering my dad is afraid of spending too much money (he says in a couple of months I might just get tired of the guitar), maybe a cheap guitar would be a good idea. So, from that point of view maybe that kit on the internet is the best idea. Tomorrow I'll talk to him about it. If he accepts to buy a better equipment, good. If not, I'll just go for that "starter kit" I found on the internet. Thanks everybody for helping! |
| john bodega 22.09.2006 23:16 |
iGSM wrote: You know Zebonka, I know you! It may seem odd but I'm fairly certain if I remember you right I went to Leederville TAFE and saw you a couple of dozen times. I was back stage when your band/you played the end of We Will Rock You thinking 'Geez, that guy looks like the Jesus pic of Brian May'. So...yeaaaaaah, just thought I should make mention of that.TAFE indeed! Haha. I've been ashamed of showing my face there after our last performance actually.... haha. You don't know any unemployed drummers do you? :( |
| iGSM 23.09.2006 01:14 |
Really? What happened? I read you weren't too happy on your little...non-blog-a-majig but you didnt't really say what was the matter. Now I think about it after you'd finished playing We Will Rock You I went on and sang Let It Be (atrociously! That's what happens when you have someone sing that can't!). I used to be in Tavae, woo! The bass player who wasn't particularly good at playing bass - h0h0. I'll probably show my ugly head up there sometime soon. I need to getses my Beatles Anthology back! Aie! Small world though. |
| M a t i a s M a y 23.09.2006 01:53 |
<font color="lime">KillerKing840 wrote: I guess MusicMan has a point. And considering my dad is afraid of spending too much money (he says in a couple of months I might just get tired of the guitar), maybe a cheap guitar would be a good idea. So, from that point of view maybe that kit on the internet is the best idea. Tomorrow I'll talk to him about it. If he accepts to buy a better equipment, good. If not, I'll just go for that "starter kit" I found on the internet. Thanks everybody for helping!BUT remember, one thing I've learned from all these years... a good guitar, makes a good player. a good, comfortable guitar, with nice sound, nice feel and everything, helps you a lot while learning. of course that if you're great, you'd play great even if you have shit with strings; but a good guitar is the fastest way to get to play good. |
| john bodega 23.09.2006 04:19 |
"Really? What happened? I read you weren't too happy on your little...non-blog-a-majig but you didnt't really say what was the matter." Well it was like this, I felt pretty good on the day, but our singer turned up about 5 minutes before performance time, it put me in a right shitty mood. The first song, I'd never really established what I was playing, so I basically noodled quietly for a while; our singer was pretty shrill sounding and off key. To her credit, our pianist managed to get the end of the sing right (which she'd been worried about in rehearsals). The 2nd song was... hmmm. See the thing was, I'd only actually composed the intro. The rest was just us sitting in D, and usually if I was in a good mood I'd ad-lib something special. I was in a filthy mood though, so I basically just ran through some vaguely eastern sounding finger exercises... Full credit for playing Let it Be by the way, that made me smile. Hehe. "a good guitar, makes a good player." Agreed - it's not a necessity, but it sure helps. "I am saddened by your opinion of Marshall." You know... in general, I don't have *such* a low opinion of Marshall's - I'm talking about the amps you can get in the price range of someone who is only just learning, or just starting out and playing at home. In that range, which I dunno... could be anything from a tiny practise amp to a Valvestate or whatever it is they sell these days... just isn't as pleasant a sound as its competitors. I mean look. I am *very* wary of the Peavey name, straight up. I don't like Peavey amps. But I've got one, purely because it has this ancient sounding creamy tone to it. It took some convincing to get me to spend money on something with Peavey on it, and I imagine if I were properly convinced I'd get behind a Marshall. At the moment, my amp of choice is the Tube Fusion series from Laney, they have this incredible kind of distortion to them when you throw all the settings up as high as they go. "What year is the Strat you are rehabbing?" *Not a clue*.... hand me down from my brother, God knows where he got it from. It's not classic Stratocaster I'm talking about by the way, this would probably be something made in the 80's, it's a much simpler beast than a proper Strat. In it's defence, the wiring is impressive, you can get pleasant tones out of this beasty. I actually miss it, it's been in pieces for months now and I've been relying on the Burns... can't wait to get this thing finished. "Also, DO NOT buy a CRATE amp if you want a good sound" Further up the page, it's said that you're better off with good equipment when you're learning. I'd agree - but I did all of my formative learning (from when I was 12 up till just the start of this year) on a Crate GX-40C. This is *purely* an amp for the bedroom, people... I would never have gone on a stage with it. Having said that, it distorted well enough for me to learn the wonders of feedback, the clean channel did it's job, and the chorus could be coaxed into rotary-cab sounds if you did it right. Yeah... don't get a Crate if you're going to play it in front of other people. And above all, take my opinions with a handful of salt, I'm purely a player.... I don't think a lot about budgets and brand names, I can but comment on what I reckon sounds nice. "Would you possibly sell your Strat?" I... don't think it'd fetch a lot at the moment :P |
| john bodega 23.09.2006 04:57 |
Not any pics on me right this minute, though I took a whole bunch during the renovating. They're peppered about my site, I'll have to find one. |
| john bodega 23.09.2006 05:23 |
It's unlikely I'd part with it, I've been playing it daily since I was 12, it's "my first", if you get my meaning. But I'll certainly track down some foties of it |
| john bodega 23.09.2006 06:21 |
link That's the absolute closest I can find to my guitar anywhere... mine's different, but. Less pickups. And it's in 50 billion pieces at the moment getting painted. |
| deleted user 23.09.2006 08:40 |
I can't give you alot of advice on electrics, but I have an old Gibson acoustic that rocks. Actually, it's my dad's, but he never plays it so he lets me! ;) Also, I have a Martin backpacking guitar (obviously acoustic) that has great noise. I would say it's best to start with good materials, even if it means waiting a little while. That way, if you really do spark a passion, you won't have a crap guitar, and you will also feel more worthy when learning, therefore, increasing you patience. If you are looking for a good instrument, th farthest I can advise you is to get a quality brand name that you like and is recommended at the store. Looks can be deceivig, so get a guitar that you can play. If it looks good, too, awesome. Happy playing, and good luck! |
| john bodega 23.09.2006 08:56 |
In building up finger dexterity and stuff, I found a gradual change from nylon string acoustic to steel string electric was a nice way to easy myself into it. It took a long time for my fingers to get used to the utter pounding I give them on guitar... but these days they're like plastic and I don't feel a thing through 'em. Haha. |