Guitar players -- please help (1 Viewer)

[Chet_F]

By the way Ryan,
All I can say is WOW.
Your father is one of the main reasons I picked up a guitar and one of the reasons I kept playing. I still play today but unfortunately I picked up a Martin acoustic and now have a hard time playing with what I have:frowningEpi Acoustic)
It's like going to surround sound then having to go back to stereo. It just doesn't sound as good.

 

[JonZ]

I say stay away from Ibanez. I cant think of a single nice thing to say about them other than they're cheap (for a reason). I've hated every single one I've ever held.
Although I only usually recommend USA handmade guitars, a friend of mine had a Bronze series Warlock years ago(back in 91) and the thing played awesome and sounded great.(It had Seymour Duncans in it) He recorded a demo with it and a guy who was a USA BC RICH worshipper couldnt believe the sound he got from it.
My brother had a Platinum and the neck on that guitar was very nice.(The pickups REALLY needed to be replaced). The lower cost Import Jacksons are very popular(No I dont like Jackson either)and sound ok.
I say a import BC Rich is better than most other stuff in the same price range. The Bronzes and Plantinums go for under $400.
If u put decent pickups in these lower cost guitars, they should sound ok-but the stock pickups are usually garbage.
The most important thing is to find a guitar that comfortable for him to play. Once he learns more he can fiddle around with exchanging parts,pickups or whatever or get the guitar he's always dreamed of.(I decided to build mine)
Unfortunately, guitars are WAY overpriced at musicstores.While researching to build my own I saw new PRS(NOT handmade no matter what they say) going for $2400 (I laughed in the guys face).I say the smaller stores are more trustworthy than the franchises.
As not to offend I should add all this is IMHO

 

[Stephen L]

Thanks everyone for some good info. After looking around the Squire line seems like a good choice. His friend has one of those Warlock guitars and now my son keeps dropping hints that they are cool.He definitely wants an electric and not acoustic.

 

[MickeS]

Not just teen boys! I drooled over one last year, and my wife bought it for me for Christmas. I'm a "hobby player", I play and record by myself at home on the computer.
I fell in love with this guitar for one reason (OK, two: it looks damn cool!): it feels GREAT to play it, it's like it was custom built for me. It's the perfect fit. The shape of it also makes it perfect for assuming the "classical" position. Mine was $350 I think, has a Floyd Rose tremolo on it, something I also had on my previous guitar, but in retrospect I would not get that if I bought it again, I think (although it's a great tool when playing some solos). It's got nothing to do with the tuning though, this guitar keeps the tune like a champ, I think I've tuned it TWICE in one year (and In play it every day)! It also came with a coffin shaped hard carrying case.
There's only one downside to this guitar IMO, the weight distribution is a little too much to the left, it took a while getting used to. Once I was used to it though, it was no problem, and it's no problem at all if you sit down and play. However, this is WELL compensated for by how nice it is to play, IMO.
I also got an amp, a Marshall, but I returned it and got myself a Korg Toneworks AX1G "guitar amp simulator" instead (around $100). This might be something you want to consider for your son, instead of an amp. The benefit is that it's a lot of pedals in one, it's portable (and can run on batteries), it can be hooked up to a stereo if he wants to play along with prerecorded music, and most important of all for the rest of the family... it can be used with headphones (and the headphone sound, unlike on regular amps, is excellent). It sounds REALLY good, you can create a lot of different sounds with it. it also has a built-in guitar tuner and a metronome. Of course, he might not be as pragmatic as me, and wants an amp instead, but I say check this thing out. It's at http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?A_PROD_NO=AX1G and they have sample files of how it sounds there, and that is exactly how it sounds in my stereo or headphones. It's a great product, IMO. EDIT: It's under "archived products", so maybe it's not in their line-up anymore. Either way they probably have a replacement for it, which I'm sure is even better.
Most important of all though: make sure he can try his guitar out, either at home or at the store, before he commits to it. They're very individual things, and if he doesn't feel comfortable playing it, he won't like it.
Good luck!

 

[Keith Paynter]

I recommend the Squire Start, but the Ibanez beginner models are good for their slim neck radius, which makes the neck easy to play.

 

[Anny Chien]

I would get something with a little more resale value and some that he can keep. My friend got a Spector 38. specialfor $300 on sale which is a very nice electric and retails around $800.