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GMC Forum _ GEAR & PRODUCTION _ My First Electric Guitar

Posted by: Fusar Jul 12 2009, 01:31 PM

Hi!
At the moment I'm playing on a cheap acoustic guitar, which suits for the first steps, but... I wanna play electric guitar laugh.gif
I read a lot on the I-net, looking not to spend more than 400 dollars.
I found the Ibanez GRG170DX-WH and a Line Spider 6 III 15
Is this a good combination to start? What are your experiences with them?
I don't want to focus on a specific music genre, I want to learn a lot of styles wink.gif
Or do you have any other recommandations in this price range?
Do I need other things to start?

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 12 2009, 01:46 PM

I would strongly advise against the Ibanez GRG170DX, as I have it. I can't comment on the amp since I've never tried it.

Anyway about the Ibanez. It will go out of tune every 5 minutes or whenever you use the whammy bar, which gets very annoying. I don't really think you can get a whammy bar that doesn't send the guitar out of tune at that price, so I would go for something with a fixed bridge. I know you may really want a tremolo, but think of it this way. It will go out of tune so much when you use it that you won't actually be able to use it, if you see what I mean.

Obviously its your choice but I just thought I'd warn you that this guitar has very bad tuning problems. I don't know if there is a guitar at that price witha tremolo that stays in tune, but from what I've heard there isnt. If you are going to buy a guitar with a trem then i strongly advise playing it before you buy and seeing if the whammy bar sends it out of tune, or if it goes out of tune without the whammy bar.

Also want to add, that Ibanez's are generally thought of as metal guitars, so if you want to play a lot of styles they might not be the right make for you. I haven't tried a lot of guitars so I don't know how their sound comapres to other guitars, but its just something you might want to think about.

For amp if you're not going to be gigging I recommend the http://www.roland.co.uk/products/productdetails.aspx?p=594. It goes way louder than the right volume for bedroom use (i have mine below 9 o'clock), has 6 amps, and variable delay, reverb, chorus, flanger, phaser and tremolo, and a bass/treble control.

The Line6 amp could be better though, but I haven't ever tried it.

Posted by: kaznie_NL Jul 12 2009, 01:47 PM

Where do you live? I know here in Holland we have a very good, cheap electric brand called Richwood. www.musicstore.com features some Jack and Danny guitars, which are good for beginners. Also Epiphone if you have some money, or a Yamaha Pacifica (cool wink.gif )

Posted by: Santiago Diaz Garces Jul 12 2009, 04:14 PM

I'm agree with Kaznie. You should check to the Yamaha Pacifica. They're very good guitars and for low price. Maybe, you should take some second hand stuff. Maybe, you could find something better for a lower price.

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Jul 12 2009, 04:51 PM

since you are still new,


id spend about $300-350 on the guitar alone, then use the left over money to buy a line 6 toneport for your amp....(you use it to play through the computer, very simple, good for recording, and sounds great)


as for the guitar, if you like ibanez, they make a lot of mid range guitars for that price that are good bangs for your buck.


anothr great company of guitars are agile guitars. www.rondomusic.net

they are amazing playing and feeling guitars and their prices cant be beat


good luck!

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 12 2009, 07:43 PM

I just read some reviews of my guitar (GRG170DX) and they say nothing about tuning so maybe I just had bad luck.

Posted by: Fusar Jul 12 2009, 09:57 PM

Thanks guys, nice posts, especially from Matt smile.gif
I've read some articles as well, and now I think the Microcube is a better (even if the difference is little) amp than the Spider Line...The Line 6 toneport is also cool, will be on my wishlist smile.gif That's about the amp...
The guitar seems a far more difficult topic! I'm aware that guitars in this price range aren't the best, I want to have a solid beginner guitar, for a year or so. As well as Matt, I've read nothing bad about the Ibanez, maybe one of the other users has got this Ibanez and can give us another point of view smile.gif?
Then there would be the Yamaha Pacifica 112 and the Epiphone Les Paul II in the race!? Hopefully some of you play one of the three guitars and can give me more advice!

Posted by: Fran Jul 12 2009, 10:16 PM

Pacifica 112 is a solid beginner guitar, if you like strats. The epi should be a decent guitar too if you like LP shaped axes. You should try them yourself in a local store if you have the chance, see which one seems more comfortable, sound, etc.

Posted by: Fusar Jul 13 2009, 12:39 AM

Hmm, I think a Les Paul would be nice smile.gif only thinking about Special II or 100...
btw, thanks for all your advice !

Posted by: Jmguitar64 Jul 13 2009, 12:59 AM

I had both of those actually. I still have the amp but wasnt very impressed with the guitar especially since the plastic on the back was deformed. The neck was a bit wide and the wammy bar would put it out of tune easily.. If your looking to get a 100$ ibanez guitar I would advise to go for one with a fixed bridge.

Posted by: TreyDeschamp Jul 13 2009, 01:15 AM

Nice choice for the amp, I have a spider series amp head and it serves me well, I would say a fender strat though... Best guitars to not only start out with but continue to play on. You can get the Fender squires in a package with a cheap but okay amp with it. Its all together around 250 dollars or so. The guy at the store told me and my friend(my friend was buying the whole packaged deal) that they make the squire heads fat like the strat so they sound much better. Strats are great!!!!! guitars for any musical genre and great guitars all around. I hope that helped.

Posted by: sted Jul 13 2009, 09:21 AM

I agree with trey, strats are very versatile, easy to play, high quality for the money, loads of dealer networks and best of all the are hugely upgradeable. A good 2nd hand MIM strat would be only around 200-250 euro and in future you can upgrade the pickups, hardware, wiring etc.
Just a word of warning, they are not metal guitars, even if you get some extreme pups in there they will still be more of a blues/rock type guitar, on the plus side they do this better than virtually every guitar out there. I just got rid of a strat but intend on getting another nice one (Or a G&L!)

Posted by: Fusar Jul 13 2009, 09:54 AM

So you would prefer a Fender Squier Standard Strat to an Epiphone Les Paul 100?

Posted by: sted Jul 13 2009, 10:25 AM

No mate, A made in mexico strat is a fender, not a squier, totally different thing! That would be my choice all day. Look for a decent used one and you wont go far wrong.

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 13 2009, 11:06 AM

Personally I would just go into your nearest guitar store, try lots of guitars/amps out, and buy what you like. I would advise buying one without a tremolo but if it stays in tune when you use it in the store then I see no reason not to get it.

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 13 2009, 11:34 AM

Fusar, have you got any specific things that you're looking for in a guitar?

Posted by: Fusar Jul 13 2009, 12:14 PM

Hmm, probably it will be the best to go into a store smile.gif
I'll look out for the Yamaha Pacifica, Epiphone Les Paul and the Fender Squier (@sted: I found this name on the I-net...Fender Squier Standard Strat?!) biggrin.gif

Posted by: Fusar Jul 13 2009, 01:01 PM

QUOTE (Matt23 @ Jul 13 2009, 12:34 PM) *
Fusar, have you got any specific things that you're looking for in a guitar?

No, I don't, I simply want a good beginner guitar which I can play for a year or two to find my style smile.gif I like listening to blues but also to metal, so I don't know yet what I want to play rolleyes.gif

Posted by: kaznie_NL Jul 13 2009, 01:13 PM

QUOTE (Fusar @ Jul 13 2009, 02:01 PM) *
No, I don't, I simply want a good beginner guitar which I can play for a year or two to find my style smile.gif I like listening to blues but also to metal, so I don't know yet what I want to play rolleyes.gif

If you want it really simple..
Yamaha pacifica
Epiphone LP

now pick one tongue.gif if you want to get better value for money, either go second hand, or les famous brands. When you buy an epiphone, you pay for the word epiphone, so a les known brand might be ok as well wink.gif

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 13 2009, 01:20 PM

When I was looking for my first guitar the guy at the music store said the Yamaha Pacifica was very good for beginners so that could be a good buy.

Posted by: Fusar Jul 13 2009, 04:09 PM

Thanks guys laugh.gif
Now I've got an idea what I should/could buy, I'll test them, buy one and have fun smile.gif

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 13 2009, 04:13 PM

Let us know what you get in the end. smile.gif

Posted by: TreyDeschamp Jul 13 2009, 05:13 PM

QUOTE (Fusar @ Jul 13 2009, 03:54 AM) *
So you would prefer a Fender Squier Standard Strat to an Epiphone Les Paul 100?


YES! Epiphone Les Paul's....eh not the best. Sold mine yesterday actually for 100 dollars just because I hated it so much haha.


QUOTE (Matt23 @ Jul 13 2009, 05:06 AM) *
Personally I w


Agreed.

Posted by: Fusar Jul 15 2009, 11:23 AM

I'll do so! Thanks for all you help guys, you're great wink.gif !

Posted by: djohnneay Jul 15 2009, 04:33 PM

If it's a beginners guitar you are looking for, you might consider a Silvertone SIK1. It looks kinda shreddy, but it is REALLY (around €100) cheap and very solid. The guy at the music store says he recommends them to everyone, and I looked also at some reviews online and they were all very positive. Also, the tremolo stays in tune nicely, if you don't overuse it.

Posted by: Tyson Jul 16 2009, 07:43 PM

Hi guys!
Reading all the posts, can I assume that a Fender Squier BulletStrat is out of the question?
Cost me around 100€ and I can't complaint very much yet. But I'm just a begginer. biggrin.gif
Any other suggestion around that price?
Thanks!

Posted by: Fusar Jul 24 2009, 06:17 PM

Taaadaaa laugh.gif bought a guitar yesterday...a Yamaha Pacifica 112J and I've fallen in love with it cool.gif Been playing all day long wink.gif
amp is also great, bought Spider Line 6 III 15
I wanna thank you for all your help! smile.gif

Posted by: Matt23 Jul 24 2009, 06:45 PM

QUOTE (Fusar @ Jul 24 2009, 06:17 PM) *
Taaadaaa laugh.gif bought a guitar yesterday...a Yamaha Pacifica 112J and I've fallen in love with it cool.gif Been playing all day long wink.gif
amp is also great, bought Spider Line 6 III 15
I wanna thank you for all your help! smile.gif


Congrats. smile.gif

Posted by: sted Jul 25 2009, 08:56 AM

gratz mate, I think thats a good choice!!

Posted by: Ivan Zecic Jul 25 2009, 03:36 PM

There's a pretty good guitar with a double locking tremolo system in that price range, I had it quite recently.

I only had to set it up properly (it took me a couple of days to get more familiar with it and too see what exactly caused the tuning problems), put a little shim under the nut, to correct the angle, and it worked, believe it or not!!! Almost as good as OFR on my Jackson Soloist!

It was a new Kramer Striker FR424, this one here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNM1bwKlW44

Just take it to a good guitar tech, tell him to pay some attention to the nut (because it causes problems if you don't put a shim under it, it's at the wrong angle and it doesn't clamp the strings 100%) and you'll have the best guitar for the money, believe me!

Posted by: Fusar Aug 3 2009, 11:04 AM

Oh, I'm sorry Ivan, didn't see your post sad.gif but when you gave me your advice, I had already bought my Yamaha Pacifica (which I'm very satisfied with!) But I can imagine that your advice would be a great beginner guitar, so don't stop giving advices, this will be good advice for all guitar beginners here smile.gif

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