Members Edward Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by bcjames I was damn lucky and my dad got me a US BCRich for my first, which I stupidly sold on a couple of years back.With regard to your question, expensive gear is quite an investment. I guess people dont want to drop over a grand on some stuff they don't know yet if they will use/enjoy/take to. That's it in a nutshell - why spend a fortune on something you don't know whether you will keep up? Of course, for those who have a little knowledge or know someone who does, there's no reason to be landed with unplayable crap nowadays... the folks who end up with the worst stuff that does still exist tend to be, in my experience, folks on a low income who don't have access to better information... but hey ho, compared to even late 1991 when i first took up guitar, the stuff that is available cheaply at beginner level now is incredible.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by Welladjusted budget guitars are a hell of a lot better now than they were even 5 years ago when i started.budget amps, on the other hand... You have to spend more to get a decent amp than a decent guitar, it's true.... but again, there are great deals to be had for the money in amp world too, with stuff like the Cube series and the Vox Valvetronix amps around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by LouRed Well... Because it pisses off most of the people that CAN actually play to have a "Friend" who has a Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster V-Neck, a PRS custom 22 and a Fender Blues Deluxe and only can play 3 chords...{censored}ING BERNARD!!!!! Jealousy is never classy.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by Diggsy I think a welcome addition for another sticky would be;"So You Want To Play The Guitar;Advice From The HC Community For Newbies Of All Ages".There's a chance some clashes are bound to happen on this one,but I'd love to see the overall direction from the players here......if there's a universal set of points that keep re-appearing. I think mostly there is.... I've very very rarely encountered out and out gear snobs on here that won't touch anything "cheap" - most folks on here are happy to recognise that at a price point there can be great guitars. Hell, even (gasp) Gibson fans will agree that Agiles are great for the money.... Specific brands aside, there are a lot of very experienced folks on here who could provide invaluable advice on how to buy your first electric.... there are lots of articles out there on the net with great information, but not always worded the best for a total beginner - e.g. talk about sighting the neck and so on. "Guitar buying for dummies" would be a big bonus... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by L6Sguy this should be a very reappearing point: Prince performs at the 19th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, on a $200 Hohner tele copy he's been gigging and recording with for 20+yrs wax on, wax off. Good point..... especially when we're looking at somebody as aware of image as Prince.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darylb23 Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by cfgsteak After playing for at least an hour a day for 8 months, my wife was really cool about me spending some serious cash (for me anyway) on a good guitar. I played the crap out of my cheap acoustic and my cheap electric. We are lucky that we live in a time that a cheap guitar does not necessarily equal a crappy guitar. My wife is actually the one telling me to get lessons. Not because she thinks I stink but because she sees that I like it so much and she knows I will drive myself crazy until I get it right. We are indeed lucky.And dont think I didnt notice that reference to the light ash tele my friend. Actually I probably wouldnt buy another electric until I played well enough to appreciate the differences. But still, a guy can want stuff right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Space coyote Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by bcjames I was damn lucky and my dad got me a US BCRich for my first, which I stupidly sold on a couple of years back.With regard to your question, expensive gear is quite an investment. I guess people dont want to drop over a grand on some stuff they don't know yet if they will use/enjoy/take to. JEEzzzz...I thought I was spoiled as a kid;) The good thing is that nowaDays even cheap guitars are very playable, I mean for less than $200 you can get a guitar that you can work with. When i was starting out in the mid 80's cheap guitars were really {censored}ty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bcjames Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by Tom LP Beginner guitars are a damn site better now than they were 35 years ago. We would have killed for a Strat Pac back then. Beginners today don't know how good they have it. Totally. With the Yamaha pacifica line, you can get a (what I consider) pro level, giggable guitar for like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LaXu Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 A big part is that in many cases the beginning guitarists doens't know ANYTHING about playing. I remember when I went to buy my first guitar, all I knew was that I wanted an electric guitar. I had no idea what my favorite artists played, in fact I barely knew anything about guitars for that matter. None of my friends played either. Went to a little mom&pop type store with my father (who knew just as little about guitars as I did but had promised to buy me one, but obviously didn't want to invest a ton of money) and the shopkeep showed me a couple of strat copies and gave me one to try and plugged me into a little solid-state Crate. I didn't know how to play a single chord, it was a very embarassing situation. I had no idea how to evaluate if the guitar and amp were good, all I knew is that I liked the color of one guitar more than the other. In the end we walked out with an Ibanez Stagestar, which had a very loud acoustic tone, a baseball bat neck and a B-string tuner that almost required a wrench to turn. The amp was the afore-mentioned Crate. Thankfully my second amp and guitar were good stuff that I still own and use, despite having purchased more amps and guitars that I use more. Years later my father admitted that he didn't believe I'd stick with guitar playing but was glad I did. And so am I. If I were to start as a beginner today I'd propably get a lot better gear than that because even the cheapest guitars and amps have been getting better. A Vox AD-series amp and a Yamaha Pacifica goes a long way and is something that even many pros could happily use. If in the future my kids want to learn to play an instrument and don't want to use my gear then I'll be sure to get them something that will serve them for years. It's also great that we have these kind of forums, the only problem being that often the beginner can be a bit afraid to ask when not knowing anything about the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 Originally posted by bcjames Totally. With the Yamaha pacifica line, you can get a (what I consider) pro level, giggable guitar for like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted March 7, 2006 Members Share Posted March 7, 2006 There is a long and venerable history of packaging marginal cheap anything and calling it "beginner's":camping gearfishing equipmentbicyclessporting goodsall sorts of musical stuff: harmonicas, recorders, stringed instrumentscookwareyou name it...A world of disappointment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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