Getting a guitar

[VerbalPuke]

So I'm looking to get a guitar around the christmas season, just curious if anybody here can offer advice. I'm a beginner, never really played any guitar in my life, and maybe a bit old to start, but what the hell.

My sights have been set on a Jaguar or Marauder. One, both offer a vintage sound, and two they seem to be the most affordable in the Fender family. I'm probably leaning closest to a Squier Jaguar due to cost mostly. I understand some folks steer clear of squier, but youtube videos and reviews suggest their Jaguar has a lovely sound. On top of that, there isn't any sense in going nuts right out of the gate, why spend more than $350 when money is tight and I'm a beginner?

What do you guys suggest? Know of any good deals? What do you play?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

As long as it has four strings then you'll be fine.

[LittleDaniel]

Exactly, Hammy. Just get a ukulele.

[VerbalPuke]

I already have a bass, those are boring.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Boo.

[Quom]

Uke or banjo is where it's at.

[METALMAN]

Jaguar is nice. However, I'd consider getting a telecaster if you're leaning towards a squier model. I genuinely believe squier telecasters are better than their fender equivalent.

[Rich]

I would go in to an actual store and spend an hour or so asking questions and discussing it with the guys, it all depends on what kind of songs you want to play as all guitars have different characteristics.

However I still don't thing you can go wrong with a Les Paul copy, they are a great all round guitar and always feel easy to play. For instance I don't like SGs as I always feel their necks are too thick and it feels uncomfortable because I don't like the position of the strap pegs.

[Gazz]

By all means buy a guitar, but the first time you bring it to a party (especially an acoustic one), kill yourself.

[Summers]

I would go in to an actual store and spend an hour or so asking questions and discussing it with the guys, it all depends on what kind of songs you want to play as all guitars have different characteristics.

However I still don't thing you can go wrong with a Les Paul copy, they are a great all round guitar and always feel easy to play. For instance I don't like SGs as I always feel their necks are too thick and it feels uncomfortable because I don't like the position of the strap pegs.

yeah, this is pretty much right. go talk about a few, hold a few. see what feels comfortable & right for you.

[thatshortguy]

So I'm looking to get a guitar around the christmas season, just curious if anybody here can offer advice. I'm a beginner, never really played any guitar in my life, and maybe a bit old to start, but what the hell.

My sights have been set on a Jaguar or Marauder. One, both offer a vintage sound, and two they seem to be the most affordable in the Fender family. I'm probably leaning closest to a Squier Jaguar due to cost mostly. I understand some folks steer clear of squier, but youtube videos and reviews suggest their Jaguar has a lovely sound. On top of that, there isn't any sense in going nuts right out of the gate, why spend more than $350 when money is tight and I'm a beginner?

What do you guys suggest? Know of any good deals? What do you play?

Two things I always tell people looking to start playing guitar:

1. NEVER break the bank on your first or second guitar. I like your $350 budget. For amps, I highly advise the Fender Mustang 1. 20W (PLENTY for practicing/playing alongside friends), some cool presets, but the real sellers are USB recording and Fender's Fuse software, where you can upload/download/tweak whatever aspects of your sound you want. It's $100-$110 brand new. For guitars, look at Fender's Modern Player series or the Squire Classic Vibes. $399 for your aforementioned Modern Player Jaguar is probably a littler higher than I'd go for, whereas the Mustangs start at $800, way out of range. Don't sleep on the Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster if you're wanting a good vintage/indie sound. If it worked for Thurston Moore & J. Mascis, it can work for you. Plus, it's $50 cheaper than the Jaaaaaaaag. The Maurauder is hilariously fun (we have one in my shop), but a bit overkill on the fuzz, which pigeonholes you into certain types of sound (something I don't advise until you're a bit more experienced and know what sounds good to you).

2. I only within the last year started getting serious about learning the guitar. Since I have a smaller stature (go figure!), I went with the Fender Alkaline Trio Malibu acoustic, Comfort takes precedent over sound for me on acoustics, since it's hard to find a bad new acoustic from Fender, LTD, or Takamine. Electrics are all about tone, budget, and how much gadgetry you want to take on. I went with a Mexican Fender HSS Strat. In short, only get an acoustic if it's comfortable, only get an electric if it sounds good plugged in. Everything else can be modified to your liking later.

If you've got any questions, feel free to ask me. I, apparently, am to guitars as Lukie is to beer...minus the snobbery and blatant disregard for age limits.

Exactly, Hammy. Just get a ukulele.

Word. Bought a concert ukulele on a lark and loved it. Plus, I learned Jay-Z's "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" on it, which is a great party trick. Great instrument for kiddos who want to play, but may not be mature/grown enough to handle a 1/2 or 3/4-size guitar.

Jaguar is nice. However, I'd consider getting a telecaster if you're leaning towards a squier model. I genuinely believe squier telecasters are better than their fender equivalent.

No doubt, just a few exceptions. Fender made a Telecaster version of the Mexican Strat I own, and it sounds amazing. $500, though, because no Fender electric worth a damn sells for less than that. Absolutely love the Vintange Modified Thinline Tele's sound and feel. I'd recommend that over its much more expensive Fender variant any day.

I would go in to an actual store and spend an hour or so asking questions and discussing it with the guys, it all depends on what kind of songs you want to play as all guitars have different characteristics.

However I still don't thing you can go wrong with a Les Paul copy, they are a great all round guitar and always feel easy to play. For instance I don't like SGs as I always feel their necks are too thick and it feels uncomfortable because I don't like the position of the strap pegs.

To add to Rich's point: SHOP LOCAL. Find a Mom'n'Pop shop that competes with online retailers, find someone there who's willing to talk shop, and pick their brains. Then, find what you want, see if they can get it, and get it from them.

Concerning Gibsons...well, I'm not going to slag them, as I love the heft of a well-made LP and adore their SGs...but their pricing is nuts. If you want a Les Paul, LTD makes a good LP copy for a fraction of the price. If you find yourself wanting the SG style, stick with Epiphone (Gibson's cheaper brand, though unlike Fender/Squier, the quality of Epiphone will almost always be below that of a Gibson-branded axe). Gibson's main problem is that they charge wayyyy too much for their products. Want a double-neck guitar? Go get a Schecter. Want a Thunderbird? Go get an LTD. Ever since Gibson was caught illegally importing certain rosewoods, their prices have steadily increased.

By all means buy a guitar, but the first time you bring it to a party (especially an acoustic one), kill yourself.

This times a one followed by several commas and zeroes mixed together.

[VerbalPuke]

Cheers, I will keep the advice on the telecaster and les paul in mind. I do love the sound of a Les Paul but I will likely hold off until I am actually good enough to justify buying an actual Les Paul.

And Gazz, I would never do that with an acoustic. I've been more inclined to bring a snare drum to parties with me where I would play wipe out with my cock.

[Nick Adams]

Honestly, as a first guitar, I'd recommend getting an acoustic so that you can save money on an amp. The pricing that Midget gave you is pretty accurate for electrics, and it would seem that everything probably goes above your limit. An acoustic lets you learn, and steel string acoustics still let you get the feel for fingering and strumming electrics.

I personally use a Takamine, and it's a good brand.

[thatshortguy]

Honestly, as a first guitar, I'd recommend getting an acoustic so that you can save money on an amp. The pricing that Midget gave you is pretty accurate for electrics, and it would seem that everything probably goes above your limit. An acoustic lets you learn, and steel string acoustics still let you get the feel for fingering and strumming electrics.

I personally use a Takamine, and it's a good brand.

As long as you don't get suckered by the Jasmine series - way too hit-and-miss - and start with a Takamine G Series guitar (starting around $300), you're good. Takamines are becoming more and more renowned for just making damn good guitars. Look at Glen Hansard's "Horse", for instance.

For your budget, though, I'd advise the Fender CD-60 CE. $269 new, acoustic/electric, comes standard with a hardshell case. Damn good bang for the buck, made even better by the fact that the acoustic-only version is $200 new (it also comes with a hardshell case standard).

I don't mean to harp on Fender so much, as there are solid alternatives across the board.

(About that classical: it's what I started learning on. Classical's very good for practicing chords and learning the basics thanks to its wider neck and nylon strings.)

[VerbalPuke]

Great information Midget, if anything it helped confirm that I am looking in the right direction brand and price wise. I initially want to go with the Jaguar due to the suggestion of a friend, I simply asked what the best would be to emulate a twangy surf sound and the Jag was recommended. The Modern Players were the first guitars I had found at a reasonable price, and being straight up Fenders appealed, but then I found the cheaper Squiers and that was probably a better route as a beginner.

The reason I brought up the Marauder is because I've seen it used online for only 20 dollars more than the Squiers. My line of thinking is that I do like the Marauders sound, and maybe it'd be the best bet to grab it used as opposed to going with a Squier.

I am planning on looking into going to a store to dick around even though I wouldn't actually know what I'm doing with the guitar, but getting an idea of how they feel is a grand idea. I'm not sure if there are any mom and pop shops in Las Vegas, probably, makes me wish I lived in Detroit still since i knew exactly where I could go.

By the way, that Jazzmaster definitely has me intrigued, I watched a demo on youtube and loved the sound, enough that I am going to have a tough time deciding now. Thanks Midget . Honestly, don't be surprised if I do ultimately lean toward that now, I really dug that guitar (plus the color schemes are cool).

And from the sounds of it, you work in a music shop? Have you seen one of these guys around? It's another lovely squier remake, and another one under consideration for me because as I said, I adore that surf twang sound.

Glad you're around if you know guitars like lukie knows beer, although I did teach lukie everything he knows about beer.

Edit - Oh and I'm pretty well covered on an amp and effects, my old man has a small practice amp (a Marshall, so a nice little amp) and this cool effects pedal he is going to donate to me. I love the effects pedal, I used to plug it into my bass when I played regularly, and got some neat distorted, space agey shit out of my bass. Makes me sad that though that my fucking bass amp is apparently only worth like 35 bucks on a trade in, it's a 100 watt fender rumbler, and in fantastic shape...

Edited September 25, 2012 by VerbalPuke

[LittleDaniel]

UKULELE SAVE THE PEOPLE.

[Quom]

I like that according to Stephin Merritt the German's don't have ukes so any song with ukulele they think is a really mistuned guitar.

[thatshortguy]

Great information Midget, if anything it helped confirm that I am looking in the right direction brand and price wise. I initially want to go with the Jaguar due to the suggestion of a friend, I simply asked what the best would be to emulate a twangy surf sound and the Jag was recommended. The Modern Players were the first guitars I had found at a reasonable price, and being straight up Fenders appealed, but then I found the cheaper Squiers and that was probably a better route as a beginner.

The reason I brought up the Marauder is because I've seen it used online for only 20 dollars more than the Squiers. My line of thinking is that I do like the Marauders sound, and maybe it'd be the best bet to grab it used as opposed to going with a Squier.

I am planning on looking into going to a store to dick around even though I wouldn't actually know what I'm doing with the guitar, but getting an idea of how they feel is a grand idea. I'm not sure if there are any mom and pop shops in Las Vegas, probably, makes me wish I lived in Detroit still since i knew exactly where I could go.

By the way, that Jazzmaster definitely has me intrigued, I watched a demo on youtube and loved the sound, enough that I am going to have a tough time deciding now. Thanks Midget . Honestly, don't be surprised if I do ultimately lean toward that now, I really dug that guitar (plus the color schemes are cool).

And from the sounds of it, you work in a music shop? Have you seen one of these guys around? It's another lovely squier remake, and another one under consideration for me because as I said, I adore that surf twang sound.

I love the feel of the Jazzmasters, and the pickups allow for anything from Dick Dale to The Pixies, but the Modified Surf Strat you linked will probably give you the sound you want immediately. We've got two in our shops right now (Surf Green & Sonic Blue), and it's a solid guitar. Neck is smooth, action is almost always great right out of the box. You could do a lot worse for a beginner...but the Jazzmaster is a very unique guitar, despite having two signature models. We had a Mascis signature in one shop and it sold within a week of us receiving it.

I do work in a local music shop that's in the process of expanding. I run one store, while the owner runs the other store. We're a dealer for everything that's not Gibson (wayyyy too expensive to carry), so if you're intrigued, just ask, as I've probably played it.

[VerbalPuke]

So yeah, a year and a half later. This is the rig I finally settled on, though it was mostly with help from my old man. At the end of the day, I went with the Marauder because it just sounded really good, and I'm so fucking happy I chose this guitar. It is incredibly versatile in the different range of sounds it can produce (probably helps that it had a Jazzmaster neck pickup), and the odd ball triple bucker actually produces a brilliant sound clean or dirty.

The amp is great as well. I'd assume most folks are familiar with orange amps, and know that they are pretty bad ass amps. This guy is pretty bad ass, it's a 60 W solid state amp, which might put some folks off, but this thing has a fucking beautiful clean sound, and a three position reverb switch that gets me that surf sound I was looking for.

I'm glad I decided to start playing because I love it. I've only been playing for a few months and I'm still a total novice, but I have so much fun with it. Next on my list is an effect pedal, I'm eyeing a electro harmonix metal muff, although I've also liked the sound of the modtone extreme metal pedal, and also (strangely) the digitech grunge pedal. The reviews on those grunge pedals are so weird, it's such a polarizing pedal, some people think it's complete fucking junk, and others love it. I thought the tone it produced was pretty cool, and it's affordable, though I'm not a huge digitech fan either. Maybe I'll pick one up in the future if I can find it cheap.

Hoping Midget stumbles in here since he has some experience in a music store.

[Nerf]

Honestly, Zoom are pretty good for beginner's pedals.