Buy an Electric Guitar online
Guitar Weights & Tones
Buy an electric guitar is an exciting time whether if your a beginner getting your first or upgrading to a new model. Deciding on what type you want is the first step. It often is down to who your guitar hero is. If your looking for a thick rock sound your looking for a guitar with humbuckers like a Les Paul or PRS (Paul Read Smith) or any Fender Stratocaster with humbuckers.
Looking for something more blues and even country then a single pickup Fender Stratocaster is a great start as well as a Fender Telecaster. These being single coil pickups can be great in rock as Jimmy Hendrix showed us all.
The flexible option if weight of guitars is an issue for you because Gibson and Gibson look alike are normally pretty heavy. If your thinking a lighter guitar then a Fender Strat or Telecaster guitar will be the path for you.
Single & Double Cut Designs
Guitars are also referred to by the access they give to the player by either single cut like the Les Paul style guitars and Stratocaster guitars which offer a double cut design. Mostly ascetic the designs can offer better access to the top end of the guitar for solos but for many there is no real benefit. Its a personal choice.
Gibson Les Paul
The Les Paul by Gibson has been a staple guitar for rock guitarists like Slash and so many more over the years. Eric Clapton used one on the famous Beano Album and is said to be the inventor of the woman tone which is creamy and smooth. You need humbuckers like the pickups on a Les Paul to get this.
The Fender Stratocaster has some amazing sounds of its own. Listen to John Meyer, Steve Ray Vaughan and David Gilmore of Pink Floyd. Its 5 way switch allows you to switch between each single pickup as well combinations of the front and middle as well as the bridge and middle for a wide tonal range.
Super Strat’s
The super strat was invented in the 70/80’s when guitarists wanted the flexibility of single and humbucker pickups on a lighter guitar. The Fender Statocater and then companies like Ibanez came to the party with amazing guitars like the Gem made famous by Steve Vai. These are a great option with their flexibility of tone and weight.
Pickups and Your Choices
Electric guitars get their sound from their pickups as well as the way they are built and the woods they are constructed of. The wood discussion is an ongoing battle of word regarding which woods are the best. Lets leave that for another time.
Guitar pickups come in single coil, humbuckers, noiseless single coils and sensor pickups.
Single Coil Pickup
Single coil pickups are the row of single magnets you see on Fender style guitars. These give you a glassy clear sound especially in a clean amplifier. They have a great crunch and full overdrive as well but they are noisy. They hum often when at high volumes so using the volume control between songs is necessary.
Single Coil pickups are also available in noiseless varieties from some manufacturers.
These have the same qualities as the standard single coils but save you the angst of the hum and noise created by the standard pickups. Clear clean sound is what you get with these pickups.
Humbucker Pickups
Humbucker pickups are a pair of single pickups together and cancel out any electrical noise. These offer a beautiful thick sound and can be used in any form of music from blues to jazz, rock and metal music. In some guitars there can be a coil tap which turns off one pickup so you have the tone of a single coil as an option. There are many different styles from the twin coil pictured
Humbucker With Cover
Humbucker pickups also come with a range of covers. THese do not effect the tone and volume of the pickup. THey can be fond in chrome and gols as well as black. These are simply decoration and do not effect the thick warm tones available from a humbucking pickup.
Sensor Pickups
Lace Sensor pickups are a version of single coil pickups which are noiseless and give a beautiful clear single coil sound.
These work best by being as close to the strings as possible. This is different to normal pickups which require some space as the magnetic field from the pickup can either be to strong or weak so having the correct height set on a normal pickup is important.
Bridge Types
If your buying an electric guitar for the first time there are a number of different bridges that are available.
1) There is a fixed bridge which is stable and easy to manage as a beginner.
2) The next type is a tremolo bridge which is still quite stable and allows the user to loosen the guitar strings making engine noises and a shimmer to notes and chords.
3) The last type is a fully floating style which allows the user to pull back or push forward on the bridge.
Fixed Bridge
Fixed Bridges are found on acoustic and many electric guitars and basses. These do not move and I would certainly recommend this for a beginner guitarist.
Fixed Bridges are the most stable such as the Gibson ABR bridge shown. They are stable and not effected by pushing on them during playing. Its very common for players to rest their palm on a bridge for comfort.
Ensuring the strings do not hit the back edge of the bridge is important because it can rub on the edge and break during playing. In the picture you can see what some guitar players prefer to do and tail wrap the bridge. Normally the strings would simply pass through the stop bar at the back then travel over the bridge pieces. There are many options and different ways of setting up your bridge. Try different setups or just stay with the original setup and speak to your guitar shop if you have issues.
Tremolo Bridge
The tremolo style is still a very very good style bridge for a beginner. These will allow the player to add some additional color to chords and notes by adding pressure to the tremolo arm allowing it to move up and down as needed. Experience will show you the qualities of this type of bridge.
Fender Stratocasters typically come with this type of bridge and it is also copied on other brands of guitars. Its a reliable type of bridge for all players with many actually blocking the bridge so it cannot move.
Guitar players all have their own ideas regarding tone and sustain of a guitar. The placing of a piece of wood in the rear cavity of the tremolo bridge locks it and prevents the arm from being used. This again is a personal preference so again speak to your guitar store regarding options and setups for your guitar.
Floating Bridge
Fully floating guitar bridges are the thing of dreams for many guitarists. Popular with many and especially the metal genre. These types of bridges are difficult to maintain tuning stability and change strings for a beginner.
They are amazing but for a beginner I would certainly consider my options. If your experienced still do your research on using and maintaining a floating bridge. These bridges certainly have their place and guitarists love them or hate them equally.
If you decide to purchase a guitar with this style of bridge you will need some guidance as a new guitar owner on how to set it up. Changing strings is a process with these bridges where once set up you move the screws at the back of the bridge to fine tune strings.
These bridges of which Floyd Rose floating bridges are world renowned come with a locking nut so once the strings are installed the tuners you would normally use become less of a factor with tuning stability.
I would recommend treading carefully If your heart wants the flexibility of a floating bridge. Get some lessons on how to use and maintain it would be my recommendation.
Buy an Electric Guitar – Fender Guitars
Fender guitars made in the USA are for many the pinnacle of guitars. There if you want to buy a guitar with crystal clear tones make them great for many types of music and the ability to dirty up its a great choice. They have been the mainstay in blues and rock for so many years. The Fenders made outside the USA are still fantastic. I personally have a Fender Mexico Power House Strat and loved it since the late 1990’s. Lets check out more guitars that you can think about starting with Epiphone then Gibson and more.
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