Hey everyone,

I’m looking to get an electric guitar and amp for around $460au. Not much, I know, but I'm only going to be practicing in my bedroom, so here is what I am currently thinking of.

Fender Stratocaster guitar
Marshall MG10CD amp

I thought about getting the Roland Cube 15w amp but it’s a little to expensive, and would not allow a whole lot left over for the guitar.
I’m not, obviously, expecting anything brilliant, just something to practice at home with. I have been playing acoustic guitar now for years and wanted my first electric.

If anyone could give me any feedback or better suggestions for my price range that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

CApRicORnUs

I bought one of these about a year ago for just over $200 (American). That includes the amp...well, you can see from the website what all it includes.

I was (am?) a complete novice - had never owned or played any kind of guitar before - so I can't really tell you how it compares to anything else, but I've been happy with it.

All that said, I have no idea if that particular guitar or package is available down there, but it's my 2 cents, anyway.

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I don't know electric guitars, and I don't know if the Squier is any good, but apparently you can get a Fender Squier Stratocaster for around $80-100us. So you ought to be able to get a little bigger amp, which I would recommend. Maybe 40-60 W. Turn it up to 2.

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Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

Oh, hi, Sean.

Gee, that looks like a good deal for 200 bucks. I guess that little 15W might be enough for home-sized rooms. So they haven't asked you to play at the Bowl yet?


It's weird - there are other stratocasters on ebay for $800 and $3,000 and... the price is all over the place. I guess they don't make 'em like they used to.

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Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.

Yeah, the Fender Strat's I've seen aren't cheap, but they're nice. I've got two Washburn's (Acoustic and an Electric), and I love my Epiphone Studio Dot (hollowbody electric). As for amp, I can't even tell you which one I have. Just got a little $90 practice amp when I got my first guitar. It sucks, and the speaker sounds like it's starting to go, but I've had it for a few years, and it was definately more than adequate to learn to play on.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

I recently found a cheap Roland 15w amp (around $220au all up) and was just wondering it would be possible to get a respectable guitar for $240au?

Unless you, or someone you know, has a garage full of tools, I can't really recommend starting out the way I did. I assembled a Strat knock-off from a kit, and then made a tube practice amp from scratch (it's like an old tweed Champ, but with a tone knob).

If I could afford another guitar right now, I'd love to build an electric one from scratch, or try making my first acoustic from one of these kits.

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“There’s nothing that spells progress in large, friendly letters like trying to combine two totally incompatible technologies.” – David Szondy, Tales of Future Past.

I'd go with a new Mexican Strat....they are about $350 (US) in Canada. One reason for a Strat is that there are so many Youtube videos, and bands, etc, that feature Strats. They are a bit like having MS Windows as your computer OS... maybe not 'the best' at everything but if you are a newbie then easy to get info, help and accessories on.

I'd agree with Fazor and would look for a used practice amp for around $100. These non-tube amps are durable and less finicky than a pricy amp. It will be fine for a year or more and give you a chance to discover the sound you want...then invest in a quality amp 'if' you want to.

Just starting to play. I'm biased but get an accoustic to go along with the electric if at all possible. Put the pick down half the time and play the accoustic with your fingers. You'll reach a level of play far beyond just using the electric with a pick. You'll be able to do so much more when you play the electric if you can finger pick the accoustic. Also, being proficient on an acoustic will give you many more opportunities to jam with friends, perform solo, take your guitar to the beach, etc.

Just a suggestion, check out your local pawn shop.
Always tons of guitars and equipment to be had.

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"The universe is driven by the complex interaction between three ingredients: matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest." - G'Kar

For newbies, there's always that "first amp," which needn't be the one you bring the house down with later on.

Try these.

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If we halt the ISS, all versions of Ares, and transport Orion and Altair aboard DIRECTv3's Jupiter family of Shuttle-Derived Launch Vehicles, we just might make it back to the Moon by 2020.

As raptorthang said, a MIM (Made in Mexico) Strat (or Tele) would be a good way to go. There are many very well made guitars these days for $2-300 American (not sure what the exchange rate is.). Epiphone (owned by Gibson) makes some very nice low priced guitars. What kind of music will you be playing? This may well determine what style guitar would be best for you, hollowbody vs. solidbody, single coil vs. humbuckers or P90s, etc. If at all possible, go to a music store and try out all the guitars in your price range. You'll know the right one for you when you play it. Also, don't discount the importance of the amp. A lot of players recommend buying a better amp than guitar. Here again, it all depends on what features you want: modeling, effects etc. A two channel amp would generally be most desirable, one clean and one dirty (distorted or crunchy) channel. An inexpensive solid state amp makes a good starter, better bang for the buck compared to tube amps.
If you can't get to a music store to try the guitars out, there are a lot of good deals on Ebay and Craigslist for used instruments. You can usually get better instruments in your price range; the only drawback is that you can't try them out before you buy.
Good luck and have fun in your search!

I’ve been playing acoustic now for about four years, so wanted to get an electric practice guitar.
I'm going to have to get a guitar and amp that are in Australia, as converting US products into au dollars is an almost double and a half price increase.


@Fendercaster - I would like to get at least a few effects with the amp, thats why I was after a Roland Cube 15w. It has some built in effects ad seems like a pretty good amp for the price. As for styles, I would preffer something probably not as thick sounding as humbuckers seem to produce but more towards a slightly lighter sound, but I cant really afford to be too picky

Has to be a Marshall or a Vox AC30 (WHat I use at the moment)

Not a fan of the Strat, I like a Les Paul or Yamaha YSG, If you put a 'coil tap' onto the pickups you can get the strat sound)

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Thanks for the advice everyone,

Ive actually been looking into the SG Special Epiphone guitars and from reviews they seem quite good.

The best advice I can give you is not to read reviews about guitars but to go to a shop and play ones in your price range. You might find a cheap Squire plays well enough that you can spend some more cash on a really nice amp that you can grow into a bit. And keep in mind also that most people buy an amp that is about twice the size they really *need*. Its a bit like televisions.

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Listen to Lotus, you need to play the guitar and listen to the amp. What suits one may not suit another. Plus you can pick up tow nomilany 'identical' guitars and they will be like chalk and cheese.
I have gone through about 20 guitars over the years, the one I have now is the best sounding but not the most expensive one I have owned. I have had the action set up the frets stoned and polished and the pickups changed, it's spot on now.

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I have had the action set up the frets stoned and polished and the pickups changed, it's spot on now.
One day when I have some extra money laying around, I want to have my Jag knock-off professionally set up and it needs the pickups and jack replaced.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

I am lucky that I was working in the music industry for years, I have friends who are guitar techs for some famous guitarists

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Once again thanks for the advice everyone.

I've pretty much decided to go for a Roland Cube 15w amp and a SG Special Epiphone, but I'll be going to a second hand music shop to see if they have any other guitars that I can try out.

Thanks again

Epiphone are decent guitars for the price. They are part of Gibson now, like Squire are part of Fender.

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It's one of those things; if you get an Epi SG, it won't be as nice as a Gibson SG, but can you realistically expect a $400 guitar to be as good as a $1,300+ one? But for $400 you're still getting a helluva instrument. (I can't speak specifically for the Epi SG personally; never played one. The reviews I've heard from those who have have all been great.)

My bro has a hollowbody Ibanez that sounds absolutely beautiful, and he just ordered an Ibanez something-or-other that's modeled after a Les Paul. Hasn't come in yet, so we'll see how that sounds in a few weeks.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Epiphone are good quality woodwor, nice neck and fretboard. Where you can make a big improvement later is in the pickups and bridge, you can get them replaced, that will improve it no end. Also get it set up properly, the action will be quite high and you can make a big difference to the playability by getting the neck set back and the frets stoned, that will let you get the strings closer to the frets.

I am not a big fan of the Gibson SG, the Les Paul is a better guitar. If I was going for anything 'SG' like I would shell out for a Yamaha 'YSG' Unfortunatley you are shelling out a lot of money if you do that. The YSG models are built like the Les Paul and have a steel 'spine' that gives amazing sustain, it was designed with the help fo Carlos Santana many years ago. I used to own one, a '2000' with the Abalone fret markers and banding around the body.

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I need a nice Amp, but I think my next purchase will be a decent PA. Need something for vocals. Not that I should really amplify mine, but still when we're jamming it'd be nice to have.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

If I was in the market for a guitar atthe moment I wouldn't hesitate in buying one of These.

About £450.

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Purdy. I'm not a huge fan of that shape (I like a little thinner in the "butt", though my Epi is fat-bottomed ). I love the white with red (tortise? forget what they call that) pick-guards; those are the colors I wanted on the Jag that I never ended up getting.

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Well, it's a 'gibson' style shape. more importantly Brian May himself plays them, his original 'home made' guitar is too precious for every day use.

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Thanks again.

Yeah, I wouldn’t be expecting the Epi SG to be as nice as a Gibson but I think it is going to be good for just practicing in my bedroom.

Personally my favourite style of guitar would have to be a Stratocaster, but unfortunately the Fender Stratocaster American or Standards are a little to pricy for my budget. Also I’ve decided to go with humbucker pickups and the Stratocasters don’t have them.

Twin Coils are good, you can add a 'coil tap' switch to let you play around with putting them in and out of phase or just using one of the coils to get a 'strat' type sound. I have a Roland guitar processor box. You just tell it what type of guitar sound or Amp set up you want and off you go, it lets you set up a series of 'presets' that you can step through with the foot pedal. It does away with having 3 or 4 pedals on the floor as it has reverb, compression, phae, distortion etc all in one box

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Those loke nice, but I'm leary of having a wah-wah bar as constantly retuning can be a problem, or is this not still a problem? [I did just buy his new astronomy book (co-authored with Chris Lintott), so how rare is that to have a PhDer pro guitarist? ]

I bought a used Gibson Les Paul originally, then bought a new Fender Strat. Both have a nice sound, but I tend to play the Les Paul more often. Unfortunately, my Gibson has a quirk with the intonation on the g string. I have to tune it a little flat every time to get the chords to be right. It seems this is not uncommon for this guitar. I don't have this problem with the Fender.

Capricornus, the Les Paul, however, is a heavy guitar, so if you get into a band, which is the best way to get motivated to learn, this could be minor problem for some.

Be sure to make sure the fret board is not warped or something. Others might be able to give you good tips on what to check out before you shell out the bucks. If the strings are close to the fret board and you find that they do not rattle against any fret bars as you play each string up and down the board, you shoudl be ok. [Better quality strings can make a difference here, I have discovered.] But, if the strings are high off the board, you may, or may not, have a potential problem. Also, it is hard to play any guitar when the strings are high.

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Lighten up! This is a stellar board! Author: duh.

"The mean of five measures each of which is not worth a dang (sinc), has a maximum value of only five dangs (sinc)". Heber Curtis

"(sinc)" - spelling is not correct (in its orginal form) :)

Tremelo bridges can be stable if they are good quality. I use a Khaler 'Locking' trm, there is a bar across the strings just behind the Topnut that clamps the strings once the yare in tune. Fine adjustemnts are made on the bridge itself to keep things from drifting out of tune.
If you have a string with bad intonation try adjusting the saddle on the bridge. Fret the string at the 12th fret it should still show in tune. If it's sharp or flat adjust the saddle in or out until the string is in tune open and fretted both.

If you think a LesPaul is heavy play a Telecaster. My Brother in Law has one it's a neck breaker.

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