Which Guitar is better for Beginners?

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I'm just wondering which guitar I should get for my next birthday... I have never played any guitar before, but I can play Harmonica, and the drums...

The main ones I was thinking of getting are either a:
Fender Squier Stratocaster
Epiphone Les Paul Special II

Okay, that's not enough information to say one or the other.

What kind of music are you looking to play?
Do you have an amplifier?
What's your price range?
What kind of sound are you looking for (do you have any artists whose sound you like)?

Fender invented the Electric Guitar so it may be a good Idea to get Fender I suppose. I have a Squire and it is doing me good.

But yes it does depend on the type of music. Humbuckers have 2 pickup coils, and the switch allows you to select which one to use. So in a way, humbuckers are more flexible than strats. But JohnHopkins is right in the sense that it depends on the type of music you want to play. Have a look at music videos from the genre of your choice and see what guitars the bands use.

The pickup selector only lets you choose which of your two humbuckers you can use. It doesn't split the humbuckers unless you have a coil tap.

John's got a point. If you purchase an electric guitar you'll need an amplifier too. That could double your costs
and it will amplify all your learning to play guitar mistakes (which might make the situation a bit rough for your family even after you get good.

An acoustic guitar is what a lot of guitarists keep around for their quite time learning the craft and art form.

I see you're 10 years old.

Popular acoustic guitars for smaller guitarists and guitarists who travel a lot for nonmusic related business but want to keep up their practice are the Baby Taylor and the Little Martin.
They have a full sized fret board but a smaller body
and both come with a gig bag.

I have a Little Martin. People are envious when I take it to class. At first they laugh about its size, 7/8, but then they agree that since I'm 5 foot one it fits me perfectly. Once they try it and discover how comfortable it is and easy to play they want one themselves.

Rock/Indie
No
£0-£230
Weezer, The Fratellis, The Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers... Ect ect...

Both the fender squier and the epiphone les paul are very good guitars in their price class.

Generally the Les Paul is better for creamy distorted sound, like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Guns'n'roses and so on.
While the Squier has softer sound, if you want the sugar sweet John Frusciante tone, you should get this one, but both guitars can still do the other nicely as well.

Then you need to look for a nice amplifier as well, it's not wrong to spend as much on the amp as you spend on the guitar imho.

True... I'm not sure, they both sound pretty good, the Strat looks cooler, and most of the people on Youtube are saying that the Les Paul is the better guitar...

Value for money wise, I would go with the Squier (why do they spell it differently?). They're good starter guitars for a bit less money than the Epiphone range, and around the Christmas period you can normally get those cool little starter kits with the awful amplifier you'll want to replace the moment your ears start to tune themselves, so to speak.
Quality wise, the Epiphone is probably a much better gutiar, but in my experience, a little costly compared to the Squiers. Another make that may be worth keeping an eye out for though is Korean manufacturers Cort, who produce good guitars for not an awful lot of money. http://www.cort-guitars.co.uk/ Plust, it turns out there's a smokin' hot girl on their web-page at the minute. Sweet!
I currently own a Cort M600, about 2 years old, but a very nice tone with the right amp settings (and that's just through my rubbish 16 Watt BASS practise amp!).


EDIT: Hope that helps.

Ok, Cool... Thanks for that info... I reckon if I save up I'll get the Epiphone...

Fender did NOT invent the electric guitar.

The hollow body electric was invented by Adolph Rickenbacker. The solid body electric guitar was invented by Les Paul.

What Fender DID do, was make a streight headstock. Before then, all the headstocks had to be bent backwards or the top strings would pop out of the nut. This is why fender style headstocks have to have string trees. I associate fender with mass production, but they do have some models which I like. (I personally have a fender fretless j-bass)

I STRONGLY suggest getting a cheap guitar for your first. You most likely won't treat it well, even if you intend to. Your paint may be scratchless, but what about your truss rod? The electronics? The bridge? Theres tons of things on the guitar that are very easy to screw up, and until you know how to manage all of those little things, or keep them from getting screwed up, I strongly suggest you get a cheap guitar.

From there, pick something like Epiphone, Squier, etc. Try out several of them, and go with the one whose tone you like the most. Really, you're just learning on this instrument. Once you can play, and know you won't trash the instrument, it would be a good time (as long as you are ready financially :b), to get a new and more expensive guitar =D.

You're also going to want to have lots of extra sets of strings, as they tend to break a lot. Depending on the sound you want, you're going to want to get a certain size of strings.

I know all about this. I recently bought a beginner electric. Here is a website that will help http://www.justinguitar.com/en/RE-020-G ... oducts.php

You can't go wrong with a yahama pacifica 112. The squire is also good choice. Both are very inexpensive. Since squier's vary in quality, you'll have to try a few first at a store to get a good one. A fender Mexican Stratocaster is the way to go if you can drop $400. Those suggestions are the easiest and the least risk. I've heard great things about www.rondomusic.com They have guitars for under $100. It may be a risk to order off the internet but the reviews say it pays off. Jay Turser is a decent company as well but my ultimate recommendation is either a yahama pacifica 112 or an agile or SX from www.rondomusic.com

As far as amps. Roland cubes are prefect practice amps. If you don't plan to preform for mid size or large audiences I would not reccommend anything else. They come in 15, 20 and 30 watts. For bedroom practicing you won't need more than 15 or 20 watts. http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/prod ... sku=487030

Where is Fogman when we need him?

Based on the kind of music you like, I'd say the squier. It's a solid learner guitar. it'll do you good.

Most people on YouTube are apes at keyboards. I wouldn't listen to them about anything.

Right here. If you're beginning, I would strongly suggest the Epiphone over the Fender. The Epiphone will have a 24.75" neck scale and an 11" fretboard radius. The 24.75" scale length translates to less string tension and strings that are easier to bend.

The Fender, OTOH has a 25.5" scale length, and a 7.5" fretboard radius. This translates to slightly easier barre chording, and greater string tension, as well as more difficulty bending strings. Furthermore, the 7.5" fretboard radius will cause aggro string bends to 'fret out', which is the string hitting the next higher fret due to the fretboard curvature.


Here's the definition of the terms that I'm using here:

Scale length. --The length of the string from where it leaves the nut at the top of the fretboard on your guitar's headstock, to where the playing area terminates at the bridge.

Fretboard Radius. -- If you down the neck of your guitar like you were checking the neck for warpage, you will notice that the top of the fretboard has a slight curvature to it. The fretboard radius on classic Fender necks follow's a 7.5" turn. A classic Gibson style fretboard follows an 11" turn. Other manufacturers often use a greater radius. --Jackson, for example uses a 14" neck radius, and I've played a custom made Jackson that had an 18" fretboard radius.

Last edited by Fogman on 10 Dec 2008, 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.