My son is turning 12 and has been playing acoustic and electric for about 2 years, and up until now has been using my Fender Strat Plus (He also has an old Kraemer Focus but it doesn't tune very well). I want my Strat back so I want to get him his own electric - He is more into faster power chord changes and starting to get faster at tremelo/speedpicking. He is really starting to take off, I want some recommendations on guitars in the $250-$450 range. I was thinking of trying to get him a used Fender Tele or Gibson SG because I am at a point where I like guitars that hold value, but not sure at his age if thats what he wants. I was thinking maybe a Ibanez, PRS, Schecter, or Jackson, with a fast neck. it definitely won't be his last guitar but he is serious enough where I know he wont quit and he performs live at our church as well, so I want something quality built that he will use for many years, even after he gets GAS and wants more guitars like we all do. active Pickups might be an option. I am not too concerned about his size - He plays a full size concert acoustic electric, but he has small hands at his age. He even can handle my Gibson Les Paul Standard, although he likes the weight and feel of the strat more for obvious reasons.

Anybody got some recommendations of brands and models - I am even interested in closeouts as long as its a quality guitar. I need to narrow the field

Thanks for your help.

Michael

http://images.piens.be/ibanez/Ibanez_RG-2570_E_VGD.jpg
Ibanez RG 2570, made in Japan, absoluteley wonderful to play at a very good price (I also bought mine on a special sale).

The green colour is also very cool

If you can get the 2570 that would be awesome, but I think it might be a bit expensive.. at least when it's new.

If you live in America you can get guitars a lot cheaper than here in the UK, but from personal experience I would say that if your main focus is speed then try some kind of Ibanez RG. Really well playing, thin necks. Be wary of drop tuning on a floyd rose though if he's into metal etc..

I had an Ibanez RG350DX, and for what I wanted it for, it did it really well. I just got really annoyed with the floyd rose after a while, partly because the Edge III tremolo (no longer being used on that model) was rubbish, partly because of general floyd rose issues.

Also have a look at an ESP Mh-350

Take him out let him play a few different ones, I love my Gibsons to death but I rarely play them anymore since I got a 7 String Schecter.

If you could get a used Fender J5 Tele with the single/humbucker I'd say that he may like that a lot. I never had the chance to play one since they sold out fast and discontinued that model version. But it has the tele feel with a slightly thinner neck.

I see a lot of people talking very high of the PRS SE models, Cosmin uses the Paul Allender SE in purple. That guitar feels great to me, its not super light, great neck, and I hear when setup amazing action. They use to be around $700 new but since the newer model with red and green options it went up almost $200 but you can still find them used at like $450-500.

Schecters I absolutely adore my Jeff Loomis model, neck is thin but work out well with the 7th string. I'm told that the hellraisers 6-strings have a slightly thicker neck. If you look around you can tend to find them under $500

Ibanez is a shred guitar with thin necks so I've been told I have played a few ranging from low-end to a gem. Somewhere in the middle around $500 new they feel pretty good I personally liked the JS100 model was an average neck, guitar was on the lighter side, nice curves.

Jackson I haven't even picked one up in I bet 10 years or so. But people love the Soloist model.

I hope that helps, but personally I would go for a PRS SE great guitar for a good price and still looks great.

Thanks for all the ideas - I actually had been looking at the Ibanez RG models. I am assuming he will get into Drop D at some point - So I should probably have him stay away from the Floyd Rose. What about those bridges/tuning systems that can quickly change to Drop D - Is that just asking for issues or do they work at all.

That's a very spiff axe If he likes playing fast, it's hard to go wrong with the WIZARD neck on ibanez. These are very inexpensive guitars in relation to some other vendors that play about as well. So good bang for buck, playable, good call : )

But than again I'm a bit of an IBANEZ nut so maybe I'm not that objective.

As a learning guitar, the FRETLIGHT GUITARS are cool. They light up on the neck with LEDs to show you chord progressions or solo licks etc. I sometimes use them when teaching. The starter model is about a third the price of the pro model. They work with GUITAR PRO tablature software which is handy. You just get the guitar pro file, and hit play in the software and you hear the song play and see the lights on the frets. It's not for everyone but I really wish I had one starting out!

Click to view attachment

thanks for the info. He will be playing this guitar live so i am not sure the fretlight would be a good option for his only electric -but i could see as learning tool maybe.

The RG2570 is a bit out of budget but what about this model-seems to have great reviews -

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/iba...electric-guitar

anybody have any experience with this model.

mh

All great advice above.

But in addition don't forget the Kramer Focus was a pretty good 80's hot rodded strat style guitar. It probably just needs a decent setup.

This Focus was the later model really cheap guitar - I paid $80 brand new for it in 2004. I did put new tuners on it. It was a decent starter guitar wit ha fast neck but other than that its pretty cheap.

Check the Agile Brand of guitars, mostly LP clones but I've heard nothing but good things about them



lhttp://www.rondomusic.com/electricguitar-ss9.htmll They start here

If I may add this: A lot of places (Sam Ash, etc.) are selling the Jackson JS32R for $249 (down from $369) now. I heard it is because they are discontinuing them. It has two double-coils, 24 frets, a locking tremolo, etc. I traded mine in but only because it did not give the clean tone I wanted. As far as distortion though, it played great! Something worth looking into!

Here's a pic, if you're interested:
Click to view attachment

+1 on Ibanez.
Not sure which model at that price range though. But a second hand prestige would probably be a good buy.

I would love to get him a prestige but even second hand they are a bit out of our price range for him. After looking at everything availalbe in the $300-$400 range this one seems to be the best bang for the buck - All 5 star reviews on MF - 73 - Now I know the ratings can be deceiving, but seems solid enough. My son is not really into metal yet but more into fast Alternative rock(Blink, Pearl Jam, Paramore), with a bit of AC/DC, GNR and Van Halen thrown in there, but he needs a versaitle player.

Do you think this guitar below fits the bill - Looks and quality wise - I am staying away from the tremelo models as I know it can be problematic setup and tuning wise and want to keep it simple for him I am leaning toward the black one, but do you think it looks too metalish for being an all around player (I am not really versed on what is considered metal looking):


Ibanez RG3EXFM1

Body Type: Solid
Body Wood: Basswood
Top Wood: Flamed Maple
Neck Joint: Bolt On
Neck Wood: Maple 3pc
Fretboard: Bound Rosewood
Neck Shape: U
# Frets: 24
Nut Width: 43mm
Fretboard Radius: 400mmr
Bridge: Fixed
Pickup Bridge: Ibz V-8
Pickup Neck: Ibz V-7
Tuners: Die-Cast
Finish: Transparent Gloss
Click to view attachment [attachment=26798:pic_2.jpg


Thanks,
mh

this is my vote if he wants a tremolo( except I would put a Dimarzio super distortion in the bridge with a coil tap)