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Which electric guitar should I buy under a budget of 400$? Is buying a guitar with a tremolo a good choice for a beginner?


Rahul Pulidindi

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This will be my first guitar. I can't try out guitars as there are no shops around my area, so I'll have to order online. I would play rock and metal. I'll be using the Fender Mustang i Amp. Cort X-11 or Fender Squier Vintage Modified '70s strat? I like the Cort but everyone prefers the Strat. Please help.

 

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It's always a good idea to get a trem on Any Guitar! If you don't want to use it right off, block it. It's easier to remove the block later, rather than have to retro one on later, or buy a new guitar, though that may be a good excuse. That said - you're wanting to play metal - so I say Hit the Cort. It's already passive EMG equipped, and you'll Love the Floyd style double locking trem later, if you plan on squealing/dive-bombing/etc down the road. Again, probably block for now. There are plenty of videos to show the easy ways and tricks to stringing a Floyd style trem. Biggest thing - keep it level (floating) and change one string at a time.

The single coils in the squier are not going to perform well with metal. Typically, for metal you want to go humbucker. And the trem on Strats is more subtle, used for mostly vibrato rather than as a Whammy bar. Plus, every Strat I've ever played has to be retuned after trem use. Double locking is the best way to go for extensive trem use without tuning problems.

Anyway - welcome to the forum!

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It's always a good idea to get a trem on Any Guitar! . . .

I respectfully disagree. I'm not a fan of trems and I wouldn't recommend one on a first guitar. My first electric had a trem and I'm glad I got rid of it. Cort makes excellent guitars and if you like the Strat body style maybe look at the KX1Q (http://www.cortguitars.com/en/product/kx1q) or KX5 (http://www.cortguitars.com/en/product/kx5-1).

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Rock and metal? No one suggested the Epiphone SG?....I hear my friend play metal on it all of the time. Though I feel like the SG was the answer to the strat(or the epi SG to the squire). Both are cheap, and in my own opinion, both are very versatile.

You can't go wrong with either one, and both are fairly safe bets for that kind of music. Though the SG IMO takes the cake if you want to dip your feet in "arena" style rock. But both can be used for jazz/blues etc etc. So pick one you like best, roll with it, you'll upgrade in a few years anyways if you like the guitar, so in all honesty, it doesn't matter, you'll be happy either way.

 

 

Personally, I'd pick the SG over the squire, squire is nice and all, but it's too boring, everyone has one, it's twangy as all hell. It's THE beginner guitar..But that doesn't necessarily make it the best.

Cherry red SG looks more rock and metalish than a squire.

SG's were also popular with metal bands in the 80's, if I'm not mistaken.

 

The Epiphone SG pro is 199(startingish price for mid level), the squire is about 100-110 bucks. The SG just sounds better, to me anyways than a squire. And you have room to upgrade with left over dough to make it even better...It looks better too.

 

Just my $0.02

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I agree with Deep. For a beginner, a trem is a bad idea. Lots of moving parts, a pain to tune (for a beginner) and a pain to set up. A fixed bridge is a much more beginner friendly guitars.

Cort is an excellent company, and many good Ibanez's are made by Cort. The Cort KX series, has some in your price range. Ibanez makes the GIO series, which would be perfect for a beginner into metal. Another alternative would be Samick. The Concord series, quite nice guitars.

Yes, you do also do Epiphone, the faded SG, wonderful guitars. The Paul Studios, quite nice. There re a lot of possibilities, do some homework, spend time looking at videos at your guitar heros, seeing what style of guitar they play, and read reviews.

Good luck!

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I disagree with those saying you shouldn't get a trem.

 

If the music you want to play is trem heavy and you want that in your playing then just go for it. There are plenty of youtube vids out there explaining trem set up and you'll get the experience by doing it.

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THANK YOU. Finally someone suggested the Epiphone SG. I really like the Cort body style, I don't like the Les Paul body style. The SG seemed to look good, and an okay price range. Are you very sure it'll be versatile? Cause I'm just a beginner and I'm looking to play as many genres as possible. Thanks anyway!

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Of the 2 you originally listed I think the Squier (as long as it's the vintage modified & not an affinity or bullet) is the better choice for ease of use. I Wasn't aware you were considering others as well.

My recommendation for a first electric would be something with humbuckers & a stopbar tailpiece. If SG's appeal to you aesthetically, that would be a good choice.

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Ok the Cort X11 has a trem, a variation on the Floyd rose. Not a fan of variations, since they might have some little quirks, that a beginner may not know how to deal with, Secondly, it's 24 fret, again, not a personal fav.

The Epiphone SG's are great guitars over all, very versatile, able to cover all types of musical styles. BUT a few models have a thicker neck, then most into metal and shredding, don't prefer.

My recommendation would be one of the Ibanez RG3EX series. Hardtail, with a 24 fret neck, and a nice neck for metal and other genres. AND reasonably priced.

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I disagree with those saying you shouldn't get a trem.

 

If the music you want to play is trem heavy and you want that in your playing then just go for it. There are plenty of youtube vids out there explaining trem set up and you'll get the experience by doing it.

If by "experience" you mean frustration then yeah. A while back I was in a local pawn shop and a guy asked me to tune a Strat copy for him. I have a guitar tuning .mp3 on my phone and I started in tuning. Ten minutes later I was still fooling with it. I'd have been playing my Schecter--or any non-trem guitar--long before. To me--and I emphasize to me--a trem simply isn't worth the hassle.

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