My First Electric Guitar (suggestions?)

[TYPHY]

Ok, I have very little knowledge when it comes to guitars. I was given an acoustic guitar a few weeks ago and have been trying to learn how to play. I have Guitar Rig 4 and have never used it much. I'm wanting to buy an electric guitar, a decent one that I can grow with. I don't think I will be buying cabinets and amps for it. I'm probably just gonna stick to using GR4 with the guitar plugged directly into my preamp > interface. I've done searches on what's the best starter electric guitar and this one has come up several times:

GuitarCenter

The style of music I like to make is R&B and HipHop. Here are some examples of guitar sounds I am after.




My budget is no more than $400.

Any other suggestions for a guitar noob?

[Silent Sound]

Squire makes some good guitars for the money. But so do lots of companies. Really, when it comes to entry level guitars your biggest issue is going to be quality control. Two "identical" guitars of the same brand, same model, that were made at the same place on the same day can be drastically different. One could sound great and play great, and the other could be barely playable. So your best bet would be to find someone who knows guitars really well and bring them with you to some stores and find ones you like, and check with them to make sure it's a good one. They'll want to check for things like action, intonation, and tone. These things can be hard to discern without lots of experience.

If that's not an option for you, then like I said, Squire makes some good guitars. If you buy one sight unseen, you might get a gem, you might get a dud, but it should at least work.

[dkelley]

just make sure you can count, not like the guy in THIS craigslist posting:

Ibanez 5 string Electric Guitar

"Ibanez 5 string Electric Guitar"

ummmm.... yea, so make sure you can count to 6.

[ryanbfast]

personally on a $400 guitar budget would buy a used guitar off craigslist. you could probably find a Fender not a squire for under 400 bucks that someone originaly paid 5-700 for

for instancehttp://miami.***************/mdc/msg/2793739359.html

or if you insist on buying new the squire classic vibe tele's and strats aren't half bad

Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster '50s Electric Guitar and more Solid Body Electric Guitars at GuitarCenter.com.

[Bad Machinery]

As ryan mentioned, I would take a close look at the Squier Classic Vibe stratocasters.

I'll admit I didn't listen to your clips, but for classic soul + rb guitar sounds, go with a strat, and stay away from "fat strats" (with a bridge humbucker). Just my opinion.

[ryanbfast]

i thought about it a little more and listened to those clips..... save your self a few hundred bucks and buy a$100 squire. if you don't know how to play and you just gonna try to strum some chords. buy something cheap and throw a bunch effects on it. those guitars are so processed anyways. i record all of my guitar clean into a pre and process in the box.

and IMHO i think i can get the same sounds out of a hundred dollar guitar as i can one of my thousand dollar guitars. its all about how you play it and what you do with it.

[Flying_Dutchman]

yamaha pacifica
knock on the guitar body
if it´s sounding like a surfboard go on
if there is a tone it´s better
no kidding
peace

[MarvinDog]

Originally Posted by ryanbfast

and IMHO i think i can get the same sounds out of a hundred dollar guitar as i can one of my thousand dollar guitars. its all about how you play it and what you do with it.

This.

Check out Rondo. I've got an SX that I play more often than my mid 50s Gibson.

[electricity17]

For under $400, I would try to get something quality first and worry about a specific sound second. For R&B, just make sure it sounds good clean.

Epiphone makes very good guitars in that price range, you could check out one of their Les Pauls, like the Standard Plain Top. I like their hollowbody and semi-hollow guitars, the Dot is very nice and can get a range of different sounds.

Also the Squier Classic Vibe Telecasters are supposed to be very good, I'm sure their Stratocaster are cool as well.

The best advice is to play a bunch of different guitars and see what feels good and sounds good to you. Try a bunch, play them until you find something that sucks so that you have a reference for what you don't like. If you can, go to some place like Guitar Center and also a used music store and check out both options before buying from one or the other. Good luck!

[fastlanestoner]

Something with single coils would be great for your style. Epiphone and PRS make damn good budget models.

[awimoe]

try Michael Kelly. nice build quality. best choice a used one although...

[flybeereligion]

I'd look into the Classic Vibe Squier's, played a few that were killer and heard loads of good things. Yamaha Pacifica's are another option, but not as nice as the Squier's in the same price range, IMO.

[hoghog]

epiphone es-335 dot

$50-75 on a setup (please do this)

The rest on a strap, picks, cable, etc

[StratMan2604]

get a proper amp and a mexican strat. good long-term investment

[littlenoises]

I second the recommendations for a Strat. IMO that sound really works well with your styles.
I don't know how common they are in the US but Cort makes some nice stuff for little money. Squier also gets a +1 from me.

[dkelley]

yea, for your level OP, just get an SX (great for VERY cheap, some pros play them for gigging and sound great on them), or a classic vibe tele. I'd definitely avoid a strat - you'll have tuning issues that you may find are frustrating.

[TYPHY]

Can someone explain to me what he is doing at 1:22? Is he just playing the root note of each chord in the 6 chord progression? And what brand guitar is that? Is it a tele or a strat?

[MarvinDog]

He's playing the root of each chord. Sounds slightly palm muted with either a slapback or tremolo. At least that's what it sounds like listening on my phone.

And that's a Stratocaster.

[Bad Machinery]

Originally Posted by TYPHY

Can someone explain to me what he is doing at 1:22? Is he just playing the root note of each chord in the 6 chord progression? And what brand guitar is that? Is it a tele or a strat?

It's a strat, and you've got it exactly right. Not sure what's so amazing about it?

You may be reacting to the tremolo effect on the guitar, which gives the sound a bit of extra movement.

edit: it's actually kind of silly--he pulls up his pants like "now, I'm fittin' to play something!" and then--plink, plink, plink! plunk, plunk, plunk! And everybody acts like he really made a statement!

[TYPHY]

Originally Posted by Bad Machinery

It's a strat, and you've got it exactly right. Not sure what's so amazing about it?

You may be reacting to the tremolo effect on the guitar, which gives the sound a bit of extra movement.

edit: it's actually kind of silly--he pulls up his pants like "now, I'm fittin' to play something!" and then--plink, plink, plink! plunk, plunk, plunk! And everybody acts like he really made a statement!

Haha, yeah I know it's nothing spectacular. I'm a noobie so I just wanted to know what he was doing (I have VERY LITTLE knowledge about guitar playing). It's a very nice tone tho. So if he's just playing the root note of the chord, does that mean he could use only his index finger to fret whatever string it is he's plucking?

That's pretty cool to me because it is only 1 string being plucked but the guitar gives off such a nice full tone that it is strong enough to carry the song at that point with only the drums.

On a piano, if I were to just play the root note of my chord progression with the drums.. it would sound very boring, not full and warm like the guitar. I'm getting very excited to buy my first electric and start learning.

[ProfessorNick]

You can't go wrong with a Fender Mexican strat. I've had mine about 15 years. Good investment, reasonable tuning stability. Try a few out, you may find one that is better than the others. Avoid cheap guitars. When you strum hard they waiver in pitch. They kinda go bwoow, when you want a nice bell like bom tone which doesn't settle in pitch after the attack.

[Jose]

Try as much as you can and buy the one that feels better for you.

[StratMan2604]

Originally Posted by ProfessorNick

You can't go wrong with a Fender Mexican strat. I've had mine about 15 years. Good investment, reasonable tuning stability. Try a few out, you may find one that is better than the others. Avoid cheap guitars. When you strum hard they waiver in pitch. They kinda go bwoow, when you want a nice bell like bom tone which doesn't settle in pitch after the attack.

precisely, and I would make sure to play the guitar before you buy it because I found a real sweet Mex Strat. Once I lowered the bridge and adjusted the action it sounded wayyy better than my friends American. I really dislike the bridge pickup though, when I play clean sounds its almost jagged. Might upgrade pickups soon

[JWF]

I can only speak for the Les Paul and Fender Strat personally.

I would suggest the Fender Strat for hip hop and R&B based of my experience. A nice bright tone which really goes well with those styles.

[Michael E]

If you want a guitar just for learning - get any chep like Squier.

But if you want to record it... well... better to find a used standard Fender strat.

Yes, you can use Squier for recording, but you have to modify it: better pickups, shielding and grounding, better tremolo and tuners for more stable tuning.

[dasoundjunkie]

I've got 2 Les Pauls and an ES-335, You would not believe how good these areAgile AL-3010 Black (Feb 2012) at RondoMusic.com

[Aaron Miller]

I'd try to get a used Fender Strat. They sound great for clean RnB tones and will be a good investment if you find a decent one.

[SquashPile]

Squier Classic Vibe.. Picked up the tele not long ago because I never had a tele. I'm impressed with quality, feel and sound for the money. Strat may be better starter than tele though.

[rksguit]

The Fender Squire is an excellent value guitar,their dimensions are mostly identical to a real Stratocaster.

Starting out, Strat type guitars have the widest range of tones,although I always liked the darker sounds of Humbucker pickups and Les Pauls[Gibson].

My first reasonable electric was an Ibanez RS135, that I hacked a Les Paul Humbucker[pickup] and a genuine Floyd Rose locking trem,back when it was next to impossible to get a LEFT HANDED Anything,for under a thousand dollars.

That guitar,was the ONLY thing I used for 25 years, until getting my first real Left Handed Gibson Les Paul[complete with Right Handed vol/tone]

Anyway,for the money you can't go wrong with the Squire.....BUT:Make Sure You Put NEW STRINGS on it and Pay a Repairman to SET IT UP-Very Important.

New guitars come with CRAP strings new,and MUST be changed,as well as the action and intonation which NEEDS setting,then youre set!