What to look for on an electric guitar.

JMW77

Hope this is right section to post i need to buy an electric guitar for my daughter i dont want a beginners guitar as she has been learning for 5 years on a classical guitar, but its a mine field what should i be looking for on a guitar that will last her years ,i basically dont want to buy one that lasts her 6 months and she wants a better one.
Any ideas ?

gonzo127

well yes it is a mine field i can remember when i got mine, anyways what i would suggest

look at amp's first - if you pick the amp you want then you can test all the guitars on that single amp to see how they sound, this is important (in my eyes) as some of the less helpful stores will onyl let you test the guitars on their 'test' amp which generally happens to be a top quality one which will alter the sound slight from what it would be like on the amp you would be buying, which can cause disappointment - remember an amp is what you actually hear through so getting the cheapest one can be a bad investment

since it is a girl remember looks will be important see which style she prefers - fender strat/tele, les paul, jackson etc just remember each style does have a slightly different 'default' sound

plectrums - try the different hardness's of them, i personally like softer ones however some people love the think hard ones - its all personal choice but make sure you try them

[Deleted User]

I'd say you need to try and establish what kind of music she wants to play as that will play a key role in deciding what you want to be looking at and at what budget.

If you're looking for a 'jack of all trades' guitar then the Yamaha Pacifica range are nice guitars for the price, I know people who've had one for years and are more than happy with it. Generally, I'd avoid looking at low end Squire or Epiphone guitars as they tend to attract a premium for the names behind them at the sacrifice of quality.

You'll probably want to take her to a music store that's got a good range of instruments and let her try a wide variety of them and find out what characteristics of electric guitars she likes as she might find a thinner and flatter neck a bit too uncomfortable if she's coming from an Acoustic one.

JMW77

Ok thank you we will go to a music store and get her to try some ,i will bear in mind about the amp too!

googler

JMW77 wrote: »

Hope this is right section to post i need to buy an electric guitar for my daughter i dont want a beginners guitar as she has been learning for 5 years on a classical guitar, but its a mine field what should i be looking for on a guitar that will last her years ,i basically dont want to buy one that lasts her 6 months and she wants a better one.
Any ideas ?

What's the budget, and what, generally, is she looking for from it?

'Electric Guitar' styles can range from the semi-classical stylings of John Williams and Kevin Peek when they were in Sky, jazz playing, which would normally require a semi-acoustic with a clean tone, or a variety of rock and pop stylings, from the clean 60s sounds of The Shadows, through rock, heavy rock and metal taking in early Deep Purple, Zeppelin, etc through to Van Halen, Metallica, and the like.......

You don't want to buy a semi-acoustic ES-175 for instance, which is ideal for mainstream jazz, when she wants to play heavy metal.