Guitar problem
 

Well, I've been playing for a little while now, and I bought a cheapish guitar, 120 pounds, just to practice on, and if I didn't get into it, it wasn't a big investment if I never picked it up.

I love the guitar, 'cos it's my first.

But I'm looking for something better.

I'm torn between a Fender Telecaster, Strat or a Gibson.

I dunno what to get. - I know it's a matter of personal preference and what not but I'm stumped.

What do you all play and like?

I play a Jasmine by Takamine.

How long have you had your guitar?

Do you think you're good enough to spend money on a nicer one?

go to your Music Store as many times as you like and just play it may need to get to know the salesmen and ask him which is set up best for what you are doing.Oh yeah play each Tele Strat and Gibson on the wall in your price range

I got my guitar last September, I haven't been playing for over a year though, probably been playing for about 4 months, but I learnt my first solo the other day and it kind of dawned on me this isn't just a passing fad. I really enjoy it and don't wanna stop, so I think getting a new one is the right thing to do. Nothing too expensive, maybe around £500.

You play an acoustic?
How come?
I tried on an acoustic and didn't really take to it, much prefer electric. But each to their own I guess.

I play an acoustic because I was taught on an acoustic, so I bought the one I liked the the most.

I've never played electric other than playing around with someone else's once or twice.

this. a hundred times over.

don't specifically limit yourself to fender or gibson either. you might be surprised by what the mexican fenders offer at a substantial price drop. same with higher end epiphones as compared to gibson's. you might also want to check out ibanez and higher end LTD models as well.

yea man, thats the truth. My second guitar was an Epiphone Les Paul Studio...I loved it. It was a great guitar.

THIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.


Ok, Ibanez pimp over with.

I've got a couple of fenders (a strat and a tele) and an Ibanez (an RG prestige, one of the special editions). I always pick up the tele. I find it sits better in recordings with less work mixing, I like the neck on it, the pickup positions are all useful, it can sound delicate, or it can sound meaty. The strat's good too, less of an all-rounder in my opinion, but with maybe a more comfortable neck for a beginner. The Ibanez was my first decent guitar, It's ok, I still use it occasionally, but the fenders see by far the most use.

I couldn't really advise you on Gibsons, except don't just buy one over the internet, I've played a few les pauls over the years, and they're each really different. I really love the way 335s sound on recordings, and I have a friend who has a 135 which is beautiful. I fancy an SG myself, I'm just trying to say don't just go for the les paul without considering the others.

The mexican fenders are good, but not as good as the americans. It's not really fair, I'm sure mexicans are just as capable of making good things as americans, if not better, but fender don't use as good components on their mexican guitars. You can't replace some mexican components with american ones either because the mexican guitars are measured metrically and the american ones use imperial measurements. Epiphone guitars are reasonable for the price, but Gibsons are nicer. All pretty obvious really...

I play a lot of styles of music, not much metal, but I'd use the Ibanez for that if I did. Everything else I'd go fender for.

The advice given already by someone else is probably the best. Try as many guitars as you can lay your hands on. Shop assistants really don't care if you spend an hour with one of their guitars, then don't buy it (at least the good ones don't, and the bad ones can't exactly do anything about it). Have fun, I wish I had the money to go guitar shopping ...

I wouldn't buy a good guitar over the internet at all. Playing them before buying them gives you a good feel for what you want.

I agree about the Mexican model Fenders. I have a Mexican strat that I never put down; I use it for everything. I have a $1600 Gibson just collecting dust, whereas my strat, which cost me $500, is like a dream for me. Just play around, and see what you like.

Higher-end mexican Fenders are great guitars both tonally and in terms of playability. The classic series may not sound like their original counterparts, but they still have their own unique usable sound.

you have any sort of evidence or website to back up this claim? as far as i know you can swap just about any fender part on any similar model. being measured using the imperial or metric system shouldn't really matter. a 25.5 inch scale neck length is still the same as a 64.77 centimeter scale neck length.

it's true the instruments assembled in mexico are made with slightly lower quality materials. that's why they cost half the price, but in my experience they are not half the guitar. not sure what you're getting at with the 'fair' comment either, what they're capable of doing and what they're hired to do are not mutually exclusive.

Good advice. I wouldn't buy over the internet either. There's nothing like playing through a pile of guitars and finding "the one". When I purchased my last guitar, I must have played over twenty before I found an "81 Gibson Epiphone that suited me feel wise.

I've bought my last two guitars from Thomann and haven't had any problem with them. they've been perfectly set up every time and nicely packaged. I've found that if I trust the name on the guitar I'm buying, I don't really need to play it before I buy it. Not to mention the prices for guitars here are ridiculous. I paid €399 for my Parker PM-10 which came with a nice padded gigbag and 2 free leads. The same guitar in the shops where I live is €564.

I suppose it's a matter of opinion that I can't really argue over. Personally, I enjoyed being able to play chords on each and every guitar I wanted to play chords on. I enjoyed seeing the natural looking finish on my guitar, rather than the glossy ones on every other one. I feel a different connection with my guitat that I don't think I would have been able to feel if I had just picked it from a list online.

That special connection comes from playing whether you play it in a shop or play it fresh out of the box.

I meant the decision of choosing mine over all of the other guitars I played. I didn't make that clear.

I'm not telling you that you're wrong. I'm just stating why my guitar is special to me.

That's a pretty broad question. fender and gibson have so many makes and models....some are absolute crap even if they have that name on them.(like my former guitar-the fender jazzmaster.)

here's short and sweet:

telecaster-twangy
Strat-bluesy and kind of twangy
gibson-best for hard rock

..I traded that fender jazzmaster for an eastman guitar that sounds like a buzzsaw. I guess what I'm trying to say is "to each his own" and you should try these guitar out in person if you haven't done so already.

I play a Gibson SG 2001 faded special,a nd i love it. Also, what kind of music do you like? you want a guitar that best fits your interest in music

The right tool for the job.
 

Hi there,

After playing for about 40 years, here's my advice.
First. How much can you afford to spend? Most folks learn to play on a fairly cheap guitar which in most cases don't feel too good and maybe don't sound too good either. Lay out as much as you can afford and you will notice a huge difference in your playing on a better guitar. It's a bit like learning to drive in an old broken down car then when you get your first decent car, WOW, so that's how it's meant to be.

Next. Forget about how you sound now but think about how you want to sound in maybe 2 or three years time, have a target style to aim at roughly. This will then narrow down the type of instrument you will be test driving. When you walk into a music store, you wanna be able to ignore most of the stuff and home in on the narrow area that you need to sound the way or play the style of music you are aiming for. You wouldn't be knocking a nail in with a screw driver and it's real hard to screw with a hammer, (I guess, ha,ha,). You know what I mean.

Narrow the type of guitar down as much as possible, spend as much as you can afford without going over and really, forget about the name on the guitar. Buy the one that plays nice and sounds good, whatever label is stuck on it.

Good luck and all the best with your search, Gordon.:)

It's not the scale length that's the problem, it's the string spacing, that's why the bridge parts aren't interchangeable, which is the really annoying part. The screws and allen bolts are all slightly different too (which means if you lose your american allen key/whammy bar a mexican one won't fit.) It kinda makes you feel like fender don't want you just upgrading their mexis, they want you to shell out for the American version. Check the Callaham website if you don't believe me. (or you could try adjusting an American bridge with a Mexican allen key because you've lost the one that came with your bridge...)

The reason I don't think it's fair is part of the reason the Mexis are cheaper is because mexican labour is cheaper than American, so Fender deliberately limit the quality of their Mexican guitars, so that they can continue to justify charging customers more for an American made guitar. So the customer pays more, and the Mexican labourers are earn less for doing the same job. Fender are basically taking the p*** out of their customers and out of Mexican labourers.

I would go with the strat. If you pick up a good one, you can't really beat it as far as action and playability go in that price range.

I've never been a huge fan of Gibsons. Something about the high bridge, I didn't really like.

By all means get a Telecaster or a Strat. Gibsons are cool bujt EXPENSIVE. There's a cheap Telecaster floating around on the internet that people like Jimmy Page, and Other big names have said is better or equal to their $5000 one. I can't remember the name but if you search you'll find it. I think it's like $400. I would get it myself but I don't have the money.