Which Guitar is better for Beginners?

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neither they are terrible

Get a Godin Freeway Classic.

Beats the heck out of those two and only cost 600 bucks! You can find them on Ebay, you won't be disappointed...

Godin is pretty good guitar, I used to have one. However I think that they will want to spend considerably less than $600 new, or $300-$350 for a used one.

Spot on!

Well... The Les Paul sounds like a better guitar, from what I've heard of people playing it, the Les Paul has a much fuller sound compared to the Strat, also... after doing a few searches, it looks like most of the sales going, the Epiphone looks cheaper than the Squier...

HA! I was thinking the same thing! Although I was also thinking you might fill in for him in the meantime
You know your way around guitars.

And right on queue...



My first electric guitar was a Washburn X10 Strat knock-off.
I still have it and it's fine for what I do.
I also have an Ibanez GAX70 which I got used and it's my favorite of the two.

I would also suggest the Epi from the two you were looking at.

You definitely need to try out different sting sets to find which ones you play better with.
This may change with experience.

The amp, then, is the next issue.

I first purchased a Roland mini-cube because it was on sale and the right size for my place at the time.
I knew I'd be getting a bigger and better amp later on.
I found that the amps with all the effects built in are fun, but for serious playing... I'd rather have a straight amp with just reverb and chorus perhaps and leave the rest of the modulation to stomp boxes. I like my toys in multiple packages instead of just one

The really cheap amps just don't seem to be worth the trouble and cost.
My Roland still fills the bill when I just want to plug in and play to occupy some time.
It's small size is also great for guitar shopping.
I took it along (it runs on a 9volt battery!) to try out a guitar someone was selling locally.
The guitar was a known basket-case and I just wanted to know what worked and what didn't as far as the electronics.

Besides the Roland, I have had a CRATE half stack.. which was AWESOME, especially since the head and cab only cost me $150 (plus I got a really nice stereo preamp in the deal).. I sold it though, I still have a Fender Frontman 212, an Epiphone Valve Jr. and cab, and Kustom acoustic amp.

If you don't get an amp with the guitar, and you go shopping for an amp... be sure to take your guitar along.
You want to know how your guitar and the amp match up for sound.

Let us know what you get!

Yeah, I think I'd best get a pretty decent amp that actually works fairly well and is cheap, most of the ones you have suggested are about the cost of the guitar, doubling my price range. I think the Roland looks alot better, it's pretty small, and it looks fairly cheap, so...

If you can, get a Line 6 POD. which isn't an amp per se, but a piece of signal processing gear that emulates the sound of various high dollar amps and speaker cabinet configurations, as well as having additional effects and a built in tuner. -- All you need is a set of decent headphones.

Barring that, cheap amps you should be looking at are the Epiphone Valve Jr, as well as either the Black Heart BH5 or BH15. These are tube amps that are quite inexpensive, and produce very good tone for the price. Also, should you grow tired of playing guitar, if you get one of the amps that I just mentioned, they will hold their value much better than transistor amps in the same price range.

I'm no expert, but IMO it is better to get a young beginner the cheaper of the options as long as it is still a quality beginner instrument. Then, when he gets older he can save up for a nice instrument if he still has interest in it.

This is the way it worked for me for both my viola playing and drumming. My parents bought me a cheap but okay viola when I was 11 for school orchestra. It got me by through 8th grade and when I started taking it more seriously in 11th grade I got a nice semi-pro quality $1000+ one for Christmas which I still have. Also it was an upgrade from a mini size to a full size. I could not have played a full size instrument when I was 11.

Same thing for drums. When I started playing when I was 14 I got a very cheap drumset for Christmas (prob cost no more than $200). I started taking marching drumming more seriously and really forgot about drumset so they were only out $200. If I ever start playing again for real now that I'm an adult I can afford a nicer set that will be acceptable for a venue.

Yeah... I like the look of the Line 6 Pod, and botht reh Epiphone and the Black Heart BH5 and 15 look fairly good for the size of Amp you are getting for that amount of money.. Apparently the Fender Frontman Amp's you get with the Squier starter pack fall apart after about a week, so..

Fretting out means it's not set up properly. I've got three Telecasters with vintage specs.; one I had to get professionally set up, and the others I did myself. No guitar should fret out. If they do, the action is too low and/or the truss rod needs an adjustment.

Gismo, just tell the salesperson at the shop you're just learning and have him or her play the guitar for you and make sure it's top notch.. they should adjust it for you if it needs it. Both are good choices. And then rock on!

OK, cool, So... Is it better going to a guitar shop rather than ordering one? Because I suppose it is with most things..

Yeah, it's best to check out the guitar in person to see which one feels more comfortable for you, plus you can meet some of the guys in the shop who can give you some tips about getting set up with gear.

Unless of course you are completely familiar with the brand/era/model of instrument that you are buying, though even then, you may still want to check the instrument in person. If you're just beginning to play, I would strongly suggest going to a music store to try the instrument(s) out in person, as there is a great differance in the tonality of a Fender style guitar with single coil pickups, and a Gibson style instrument with dual coil pickups.

Yeah, and oh, is there a difference between the Epiphone Gibson Jr, and the Special II?

I'm not sure what the differance is between the Epiphones, but with Gibsons, the differance is that the Les Paul Jr, and the Les Paul Special is that the Jr. has a single P-90 single coil pickup in the bridge position, and volume and tone controls for the single pickup, while a Les Paul Special is much the same guitar as the Jr, with the addition of a neck position P-90 pickup as well as switching for the two pickups, as well as additional volume and tone control for the neck pickup.

Original and Custom shop reissue LP Jr's come from the factory with a single piece bridge, while production reissues come with a standard 2 piece Gibson Tune-o-matic bridge, like those found on all other Les Pauls from 1953 onwards as well as many other Gibsons.

There are also recent issue, (IE from the past 15 years) LP Specials that utilise a pair of dual coil pickups rather than the single coil P-90's.

always wanted a Gibson, but they were the 'if you have to ask, you can't afford it'. Most of the Les Pauls I see around here go from 700-'house price', for the actual 50s models...skip those..

Fenders are usually cheaper, but I'd say get something that's easy to play (if you can grate cheese with the strings, leave it in the kitchen...

Maybe something with good resale value. If you like playing guitar, then you can trade it in towards a better one; if not, you can get a lot of your money back.

It's possible to find some amp heads that have a line out, and you can plug in some headphones, and shred quietly between your eardrums...but be careful, they're the only ones you get...watch out for tinnitus)

Ok... Are you talking about the Gibson Les Paul's, and Fender Strats? Not the Squier and Epiphone Jr?