Electric Guitar for Beginners
Electric Guitar for Beginners is all about the basics of guitar playing. Making your first little steps with your guitaring journey easy.
There is no reason an electric guitar for beginners cannot be a great one. There are a lot of great brands like Gibson, Fender, Yamaha and Epiphone to name a few. The guitar you chose must be suitable in size and weight so as to be comfortable. If the learner is a smaller person they may struggle with the weight of some of the Gibson and Epiphone guitars.
They are heavy so considering one of the double cutout types is often a lighter option. The style of the guitar and its ascetics is always something that catches our eye along with colors. All of these things have to be considered.
It’s true that electric guitar for beginners or a professional are as good as the sum of their parts. It is a true statement. The amplifier they are played through is the often the difference between OK and great sound.
A cheap guitar through a good amplifier will always sound better than a high end guitar through a cheap amp. It has to be said there are some amazing options out there to counter this like the Harley Benton brands speaker cabinet with the always good Vintage 30’s speakers from Celestion. It sounds amazing for the price.
The Single Cut – Gibson/Epiphone/PRS
Single cut guitars are made by some of the most iconic guitar brands. Gibson Guitars, Paul Read Smith or PRS and some even by Fender all have amazing single cut guitars.
These guitars are my personal favorites and are iconic with the 1959 Les Paul Sunburst finish fetching anything from $400,000 to well into a million dollars. This really depending on who owned it as well as its condition.
These guitars come in less expensive versions fortunately and brands like Epiphone and Harley Benton and others. The Japanese and now the Chinese produce some great but not so wallet burning guitars. There are lots of options out these but I recommend keeping to the well known brands.
Double Cut Guitars
Double Cut Guitar
The double cut guitar has always been the prize for Fender Stratocaster created by Leo Fender back in the 50’s. Solid body guitars came of age in the 50’s and although at the time acoustics were the most common, it was about to change. The Stratocaster was probably the first solid body electric guitar. The guitar came of age with the strat and the Les Paul. The world was changed forever when the iconic guitar players of the time like muddy waters and others played them. They came with three single coil pickups, a tremolo bridge that allowed even more to be done with the guitar and new sounds were created.
There are other double cut out guitars created by Gibson like the venerable SG made famous by Angus of ACDC. Paul Read Smith created fantastic double cut guitars as well. These are amazing and made famous by Santana. They are a real joy to play. The quality as well as the price of these is high guitars is beautiful but there are budget versions. These are made by the original brands and others which have all the looks but not the price of the high end models.
Pickup Configurations
There are a number of pickup configurations available on guitars with very different tonal qualities.
Single coil pickups are generally found on the double cut guitars. The Fender Staratocaster (Strat) has these pickups normally are very clean and clear sounding. If that’s the tone you are after then the stat is the guitar for you. The only real negative is the noise the guitar can make with high power amplifiers. It makes a hum which can be an issue but its been around since the beginning so it must be ok. There are literally millions of Strats out there in the world and copies galore..
HumBucker Pickups
Humbucker pickups are actual a pair of pickups that ring a rich fuller sound than the single coil variety. As the name suggests they stop or buck the hum often heard in hi volume, high power amplifiers. This makes them ideal in heavy rock and metal applications but does not rule them out from soft ballad and blues music.
If you want great flexibility then there is another option through the switching of the pickups. It is possible to mix the pickups such as the rear or bridge and the front together or the middle pickup with either front or rear. Lots of options and tonal options available. It is possible also to coil split with a humbucker which essentially turns one pickup of the pair off and then you get the single coil tone.
Electric Guitar Starter packs – Quality for piece of mind – Click for best prices!
It includes a genuine Les Paul Special-II LTD guitar featuring two classic humbucker pickups and a 10-watt Electra guitar amp with a 10ft guitar cable. Epiphone also includes a clip-on headstock chromatic tuner, a guitar strap, medium picks, and an easy-to-carry gig bag and downloadable online lessons.
This very popular guitar was the starting point for many friends of mine. Great quality and versatility.
Transparent Blue Bundle with Frontman 10G Amp, Cable, Tuner, Strap, Picks, Fender Play Online Lessons, and Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD. Everything you need to get started
Epiphone’s Les Paul Player Pack has everything you need to start playing guitar right away. It includes a genuine Les Paul Special-II LTD guitar featuring two classic hum bucker pickups and a 10-watt Electra guitar amp with a 10ft guitar cable. Epiphone also includes a clip-on head stock chromatic tuner, a guitar strap, medium picks, and an easy-to-carry gig bag.
This is another great package from a really great guitar maker. I have had a few friends start their guitar journey on Yamaha guitars. This PAC012 Old violin sunburst guitar comes in a range of colors. You will pack a good punch with this 15-watt Yamaha amp plus a Quick start DVD to get you started and picks, strap, strings and to keep you in tune a guitar tuner.
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