help with buying first electric guitar~ >.<

save up 70% of your budget and get a good beginner guitar and a good amp. practice first. and you will know what you need as time goes by. there's no point listening to advices and not knowing what you need. maybe get a 2nd hand fender and a vox valvetronix or the ac4tv.

heeheee and when you wanna upgrade, you're cash short?
and advice is an uncountable noun :cool:
 
"i collect alot of their stuff, even bootlegs, some songs which you have never even heard before, even before hide was in x japan."
i know it's irrelevant, but darn, don't go on to tell me where you live or i'll be a bulgar tonight.___.

"hide does NOT use a gibson."
i know it's dumb of me, but i tried to research. well i'm not good at it - i went by the assumption he uses gibson seeing the whole first-guitar-when-he-was-15-in-america thing and rumours that lemoned shop are selling a gibson *supposedly* of the same make as the yellow-red heart guitar. thank you so much for clearing it up for me.

the stompboxes part seems really helpful...

ohoh i found - ok not me, a friend, found a website! http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/guitar-pedals/buying-guide.php can i believe it please? i don't know much about pedals.. :D *noob*

"Remember to take into account for the size of your hands, short fingers"
thanks for the reminder, i was thinking of buying my guitar from a local shop anyway, can go in try all i like...muahahahaha. guitar shops around the country, beware.

"A lot of guys here are creepy stalkers."
if you are a guy, to be fair, i would have to be wary of you too you know. *zomg* Stranger Danger!

"save up 70% of your budget and get a good beginner guitar and a good amp. practice first. and you will know what you need as time goes by. there's no point listening to advices and not knowing what you need. maybe get a 2nd hand fender and a vox valvetronix or the ac4tv."

i know it's kind of silly to some, but i'm a proud proud kid and i don't like the thought of a second-hand. i want my guitar to be mine, mine and..MINE!!! *selfish*
i don't recall if i've mentioned it, but i'd rather spend more on a guitar that suits both beginner AND expert, so i can stick to my comrade till the very end. haha. financially unable to spend on a "try" guitar anyway. >:
 
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save up 70% of your budget and get a good beginner guitar and a good amp. practice first.

She says she's serious, so what happens if it ends up she wants to upgrade, and realizes she needs to make that 500 bucks that was poured aimlessly into a mid range guitar that she doesn't really need.
 
"A lot of guys here are creepy stalkers."
if you are a guy, to be fair, i would have to be wary of you too you know. *zomg* Stranger Danger!

You sure you want to simply be wary? You ought to be VERY wary and very afraid of me, because I'm a remorselessly brutal and evil metalhead.
 
Hi,

The best advise I can give you, is to bide your time and hold on to the cash first.

From what I have read, you are rather clueless with regards to guitar-gear. So, do yourself a big favor; read, research and understand as much as humanely possible before plunging in to the purchase.

SOFT is a very good start, the guys here know their stuff and are all very willing to share. You are in good hands.

But that presents a problem too; everybody here has their own views. Some might be more partial to Gibson, and some to Fender, ESP or the other numerous brands available.

Some swear by a good guitar, some by a good amp, some swear by pedals, some swear by none. Some swear by active pickups, some to single-coils and some to humbuckers. Well, you the get idea.

None of them are wrong, but none of them are exactly correct either. The only person with the correct answer is YOU. The eventual decision is yours to make. We can only recommend, approximate and make intelligent recommendations.
And that is why, I advise you to only make that decision when you feel that you are absolutely ready.

You will get a lot of good advise here, so take them all in, digest them, and take more in. Sooner or later, you will come to understand almost everything and be able to make an informed decision. That is the only time you should part with your precious money.

Since you mentioned that you are very serious about this, then all the more you should do your homework. Buy something good, something that you like, something that you will not regret buying later on when you are equipped with more knowledge.

Maybe you can start by asking yourself what kind of music you intend to play. Are you planning to play J-rock? Is that the direction you see yourself going into?

Give us more information, so that we can better help you.

Check out the following link to understand more about guitars and its related terms. It will do you a lot of good. And if you do not understand anything, ask us here. We will be more than glad to help.

Click HERE.
 
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quite impossible for someone who is serious to buy just one guitar... Haha. GAS.

Haha she MIGHT regret? no one knows. and if she spent 3k on the guitar, the loss is bigger than the $500 guitar. imo.
 
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"From what I have read, you are rather clueless with regards to guitar-gear. So, do yourself a big favor; read, research and understand as much as humanely possible before plunging in to the purchase.

SOFT is a very good start, the guys here know their stuff and are all very willing to share. You are in good hands."

thank you very much, thats something like what i am trying to do. >.< i'm bad at the researching, i thought i won't want to waste time finding out on irrelevant stuff, so i said, i'll make a thread here first, see what folks say, and research on the things they say that i don't know. i have around three months minus manymany hours of studying for the evil evil big fat o level boo hoohoo to read up and stuff.
and you are right, everybody's leaning to their own tastes and experiences, what i'd love to see is different people with different opinions with different approaches on advising noobs like me. :D (which, blessed i am, is happening on this thread right now!) i know it seems weird to other people, but personally i find that i learn lots when people come together and toss ideas all over the place on a same issue. oh boy i sound like some shrewd minion coming down to soft to take advantage of you folks.

"Maybe you can start by asking yourself what kind of music you intend to play. Are you planning to play J-rock? Is that the direction you see yourself going into?

Give us more information, so that we can better help you."

j-rock's vague itself isnt it? some people consider, iono, alice9 jrock, and alice9 =/= similar to dir en grey, never.

frankly, i have not anywhere much to start. i am sure i'm heading towards rock, but what specific subgenre..i want to have my guitar with me, and find my own sound together with her. >.<
practically though, i reckon i'd start by practising songs of musicians i like first. (refer to first post i am lazy LOL. :x)
then...from there, someway somehow, i'd find a way out? haha.

oh and that link - i read it before i posted this. i caught half a ball, i guess *haha* see now, i'd love to understand guitars and their anatomy and gear, except i'm short on Guitar Vocabulary - still building up on it, but i am a slow learner. pardon me. >.<

annoying isn't it, having some noob invade soft. \m/

"quite impossible for someone who is serious to buy just one guitar"
of course not, i'll be buying more guitars in the future. but i'll think about that later, when i'm more familiar with playing one...right now i want to get...started.

"You sure you want to simply be wary? You ought to be VERY wary and very afraid of me, because I'm a remorselessly brutal and evil metalhead."
HAHH! i have a...*scans my desktop* pair of scissors lying around! i dare you to come near me, Stranger.
 
best way [to me]
budget :$4500

guitar :epiphone les custom aphine white [$1k-$1.5k]
amp :marshall mg50fx [<$600]
pedals :danelectro coolcat dist [$38]
cables :10m canare cable x2 [<$50]

total:1500
600
40
50
---------------
2190
---------------

round off price :$2.2k
u still have :$2.3k
 
I think she shouldn't blow all of her money just yet. I mean maybe use like 1/2 of it or something. Who knows, she might regret buying a 3k guitar when (IF) she loses interest. IMO
 
firstly, do you know how to play the guitar? if not, spending 4.5k for a starter guitar rig at this point of time is really risky. one really no need so much money to enjoy playing a guitar!

maybe you can also set aside some money for the learning journey and future upgrades.

my take will be
a guitar: epiphones, ibanezes, esp, ltd, even the less well known brands like cort or swing (the prism is cool) at around $1k;
a decent amp at around $500 or up to $700 already got very good de le;
effect pedal is not even a must for now if the amp can already give you the sounds you are looking for, sometimes, tweaking a effect pedal or multi effect pedal is more difficult than playing the guitar, around $500 is really alot of budget to play with le;
misc stuffs like cables, capo, bag or case, stand altogether should not exceed $200 ba.

max here as i described is like just within $2.5k, keep the remaining 2k for the rainy days and future upgrades when you are more sure of where you are heading. or even for LEARNING how to play the guitar

i dun mean to be splashing cold water, but i've got friends who sweared that they wanna learn how to play a guitar, but stopped when calluses grow on their finger tips... being prudent, especially at this point of time, is a nice thing to do.

then again, finding time to play the guitar is yet another problem that we might face, given all our busy schedules with school work, friends, shopping, etc...

If i'm your mother, i think that even $1k i already gek sim, unless you really showed your mum how passionate you are towards music and playing the guitar. for now as a beginning, no need to spend all your money.

Or maybe invest a little on your listening rig, like better headphones, earphones, music players, and somehow i believe, better hearing can translate to better playing!

ok a bit longwinded...
 
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hi ThreadStarter

honestly if i were you, i would concentrate on my Olevels first. 4.5k of your savings is nothing small to think about aside your exams.

but if you were to ignore the above paragraph, u can start to do something about your researching.

you can start by:
- identifying the different shapes of guitars (shapes ie. explorer, flying v, les paul, stratocaster, telecaster etc)
- identifying the different brands of guitars (fender, gibson, esp, ibanez etc)
- identifying the different brands of amplifiers (marshall, vox, randall, roland etc)
- knowing the different effects and their uses and sounds (distortion, overdrive, delay, phaser, flanger etc)
- knowing the difference of single coils and humbuckers
- knowing the difference between solid state and tube amps

only by knowing all this then u can decide on what you want in your guitar gear (especially so in the case where u spend 4500dollars)

it is best that you know what you want, rather than having someone decide for you. there's yahoo/google and youtube. consider our generation lucky.
 
wow, 4.5k for a first electric.
first you should know what pickups you want, single coils or humbuckers.
i use single coils, cos i'm into blues. i traded my sg for a strat cos i liked the tone.
humbuckers produce sort of a fatter tone, like les pauls, it's for rock and stuff.
if you like humbuckers, i suggest gibson.
single coils, fender <3
if you want to play stuff like steve vai, get his custom made guitar, or joe satriani's. ( ibanez) they're awesome.
of course, you must like the feel of the neck, make sure you feel comfortable with the guitar, dont go for looks, just tone.

to buy a pedal, you must first know what genre you want to play, heavy metal, blues, jazz, etc.
you can get a multi effects pedal tho, it helps a lot. it'll cost more, but it's within your budget.

for amps, you can get a guitar, then try the amps, like fender, vox etc.
 
to clear things up: 4.5k BUDGET means, i can spend a max. of 4.5k; NOT I MUST SPEND ALL 4.5K. (how would i know that's already too much! i stalked out davis and i saw guitars going for 2k, i thought that's considered normal. i never asked the staff though, whoops. my bad.)

if i can get high quality at a lower price, heck, why not? half of this sum was literally the sweat of a cashier at a fast food joint (damn it was traumatising, i swore never to indulge in fast food again), i'm not letting a single cent go to waste, which is one of the reasons why i set up a thread here - to see what people think. when i go in a shop and say "hi i iz noob want to buy new guitar" what are the chances the shop'll try to pick me more expensive gear to take advantage of my ignorance? they are earning a living after all. i want to reduce the chances of myself being conned - so that's one thing, i'd like to see what people say so i know what to look out for.

i'm not buying a guitar NOW, i'm buying it in 3 months, which is after the end of the evilevil O. i know i'll need time to think through what suggestions people have made, so i decided i'll start opening my stinking mouth and ask people soon. no way am i making a thread today and heading down to swee lee to splurge tomorrow, that's mad.

", do you know how to play the guitar?"
yes and no. i have a classical TGM guitar, but hardly anytime for her. ): i've signed up for lessons at christofori before...i left after two terms. all i can say it wasn't worth my money. i never had the cheek to approach mummy dearest and get her hire a new coach for me - money dearest, money dearest...the rest of my short guitaring lifespan consisted mostly of trying to self-teach from the internet. and failing miserably.
i don't claim to be a noob for nothing. i love playing my guitar like crazy but i admit i don't do it often - i have newtonian mechanics to master! (imagine my joy. i love you MOE.) right now i haven't even passed barre chords. >_> bleah.

i've had calluses before. they disappeared though ): i miss them...


rant aside...

now guys d'you think it's advisable to pick up an amp, guitar, strap and etc, but not a pedal first? seems to me pedals, though important, can be done without - or purchased later. would that be sound to do?
 
Hi there,

pedal are but tools to achieve your sound. There are many pedals out there, the main categories being drive pedals and modulation pedals.

If you can already achieve your desired sound through your amp and guitar alone, then there are no need for pedals.

However, most guys here, including me, use pedals. You'd see that a majority of us have drive pedals, because majority of us do not have the luxury of being able to crank an amp until it reaches saturation. Furthermore, in a HDB setting, it is almost not practical to crank your amp.

Also, there are a ton of different pedals out there for you to choose. Just a simple overdrive alone, you'll find that there are at least a 100 different brands/types/varieties to choose from.

So yes, concentrate on getting a suitable guitar and amplifier first. And move on from there. If you decide then that you need pedals to achieve that sound in your head, it's still not too late to purchase them then.

Read: What are guitar effects pedals
 
Most guitarists here are self thought.

A budget of 4.5k can get you a variety of things. Ask yourself, are you going to continue guitar all the way or stop halfway as you said u hardly have any time for ur classical.

Know yourself and what you are looking for. Are you buying a guitar for its looks? Shape? Ur guitar hero uses it? Or because you love the sound you can achieve from it? Etc..

Will buying a high end guitar inspire you to play more? Etc..

Your amp. Consider the factors. What sort of house do u stay in. Flat? Condo? Estate? Private Property? Apartment etc.. Will buying a too loud but good amp kill your neighbours?

Pedals. This is one area you have to be very very careful about. Before buying anything for that matter do your research. Different pedals give you different tonal options.

What is the purpose of a pedal? To shape your tone. To give you an array of sounds. For a start there are overdrive pedals, distortions, delays, choruses, flangers, tremolos, phasers, loopers, fuzzes, wah wahs, volume pedals, equalizers, compressors, pedal tuners, etc etc.

From each category i listed above, they can branch out into many subtopics such as low gain overdrive high gain ones etc..

If i were you, i would spend the 4.5k lets say.. $1.5-2k on a very decent amp and about $1-2k on the guitar. that would leave u with enough money for pedals in the future.

Do note there is no MUST HAVE for guitarists. There is no rule stating that everyone must own a gibson or a distortion pedal or something of that sort.

Finally, do make comparisons and as much as keeping an open mind do not always trust what others say is good because opinions are very subjective.
Above all : Trust your own ears.

Most importantly. 1) Do research 2) Dont be swayed by other's opinions. 3) Do not buy things on impulse. 4) weigh the pros and cons before getting anything.

:D
 
hey get an Edwards Les Paul!! You wont regret it!! With $1250 you will get that awesome awesome guitar!! Go to youtube and check what the pros has to say about edwards. For amp, Just get a 1k amp is good enough already. probably a marshall.
 
1.5k-2k on a decent guitar like perhaps an MIJ/MIA strat.

1.5k-2k on a Marshall/Fender Amp.

500 to play with basic boss pedals.
 
Woot! a fan of X japan, The GazettE and miyavi too~ and a newbie too

Hide uses a fernandes mocking bird. Think yamaha at PS sells those at around 1-2K. And get a valve amp to go for the guitar. Amps are more important than the guitar imo. and ppl tend to buy more guitars than amps i believe. But $4.5 is alot.... i just wish i had 1/4 of that to get me started :(
 
still biding my time till november. thanks for all comments so far, i'm reading them all, taking note of everything everybody's been saying. thanks millions. ^^
 
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