Trauma

Buy a Squier Fender Strat look-alike and a small practice amp.
~$150-$175 I would say.

__________________
A mi no me importa nada
Para mi la vida es un sueño

VEGANGELICA

Hi, Odyshape,

I bought a Fender Fat Strat Pack (guitar, amp, cables, tuner, nylon guitar bag, a few Fender guitar picks) for $299.99 U.S. dollars (with tax it came to $320.99) in Dec. 2008, and have been very satisfied with the electric guitar, small Fender amplifier, and tuner.

I purchased them from a local music store although they were available online for less. I like the people at our local music store here in Iowa, where one of the employees checks over the guitar when it comes in and shows you how to hook it up, as well as basics like "Don't unplug the guitar when the amp is on!" etc. (which I found out the hard way). I also have found the book "Electric Guitar for Dummies" and similar ones very helpful, too.

I enjoy hearing the variety of sounds the Fender Fat Strat electric guitar and amp can make, ranging from harp-like to heavy distortion. When I first figured out (following the directions for the amplifier) how to get distortion, I was quite pleased because lo and behold it actually sounded like an electric guitar!

I like the fact that the guitar has two traditional single pickups and one humbucker pickup which I feel enables a warmer, janglier sound and a greater variety of sounds than one might have if one's guitar just has the single pickups.

The amplifier is small, but I never go beyond the 3 or 4 volume setting (which goes up to 10), because anything beyond volume 4 is extremely loud and would damage one's ears in the home setting. In other words, the amplifier is more than big enough for my current uses.

I am using Elixer Light electric guitar strings to replace strings as they break, and like them as well. I also purchased Schaller security strap locks and buttons in regular nickel to keep the guitar strap from falling off. (This was occuring with the guitar strap as supplied by the company). These Schaller strap locks got good reviews at the online Guitar Center, and cost $24.99. I recommend them. You just need a Philips screw drive to screw them in in place of the knobs that come with the Fender Fat Strat.

My motto is "You can work wonders with mediocrity," and so I was not looking for an expensive guitar. Just as a good photograph with interesting composition and content can be taken with an inexpensive camera, and good music can be enjoyed whether it is played on an old record player or a new CD, I feel expensive gear is unnecessary to make music that one likes.

I have been very satisfied with the Fender Strat Pack and recommend it. I have made one public recording using the guitar with light distortion if you wish to hear how the guitar sounds in my hands at least (you can access our MySpace page through my contact information).

I hope this helps, if you haven't already made your decision!

--Erica
from Vegangelica

cheezyridr

i have nearly the same deal as you. i traded my old beat up ovation for the squier strat with the bridge humbucker, and bought a fender frontman reverb (40W) for $50 off of craig's list. it's just fine for my apt. for what it's worth, this wammy holds tune wayyy better than the floyd rose on my step daughter's jackson, and when i want to tune to a cd or or drop D tune it only takes a second. no matter what anyone claims, you can't do that with a locking trem. the suspension system is too sensitive.

Odyshape

Hey thanks a lot but I have discovered that I will be having cut hours so I will not be making as much money as I would like how ever luckily I found A Ukulele around my house and have been pretty much messing around with that and learning scales and other stuff, I will keep what you said in mind but It will probably be until Christmas before I can get an Electric Guitar and amp. Also I forgot to mention I am left handed so I have been playing upside down, is this going to be an issue for me?

VEGANGELICA

Hi, Odyshape,

In order to play your guitar (or uke!) so that you can strum with your left hand and finger standard chords with your right hand, you will simply need to reverse the order of the strings.

For example, when you get your guitar you would take off the high E string (closest to the floor when the head of the guitar is to the left) and exchange it with the low E string (closest to the ceiling), then do similar top-to-bottom switches with the other 4 strings. Then, when you hold your guitar so that the head is pointing to the right, you will have the standard string order:

high E (near the floor)
B
G
D
A
low E (near the ceiling).

This will allow you to finger chords and read guitar TAB fingering notation just like any right-handed person would.

Mind you, if you are like me, it may not be so easy to string the guitar the first time. It took me several attempts to get the right amount of slack in the string so that when I wound it on the tuning peg there was enough, but not too much, wound-up string. If/when you have troubles with that, hopefully a local music store or guitarist friend will help show you how they string guitars. Also, you can practice by restringing your ukulele so that the highest note string is near the floor and the lowest note string near the ceiling!

--Erica
from Vegangelica

__________________

Sodacake

You really can't go wrong with a Squier.

cheezyridr

not so fast angel mcveggiepants

actually that won't work. the intonation would be completely wrong. if you tune the guitar open, you'll be completely out of tune by the time you get past the 3rd fret. you may also run into trouble with the width of the slots on the nut. the one of the low e will be too wide for the high e and the string will sit low, (maybe too low) and might buzz. i would suspect (but don't actually know) that the wound string would be too wide for the hole and may occasionally pop out of position, and maybe saw their way down through the slot from repeated tunings.

Odyshape

so am i f'ed?

VEGANGELICA

Hi, Cheezyridr,

I doublechecked on the internet (which of course wouldn't lead us astray!) to verify if the book "Electric Guitars for Dummies" had taught me wrong, and the web site I read said that one can string a guitar for left-handed people to use like I wrote, but (like you said) there may be some issues that cause problems.

These potential probems are...

(1) The nut may need to be flipped around (or a new one purchased) if it has slots designed to hold strings of a particular diameter;

(2) The right-handed guitar used for left-handed playing can, but may not necessarily, produce some poor sound quality.

They recommended purchasing a left-handed guitar if one has the option, but apparently switching a right-handed to a left-handed guitar worked fine for Jimi Hendrix and others who copycatted him. I wonder if there is a Fender Squire guitar that is made for left-handers to use and costs the same as the right-handed one? That would be good to check, especially when one is on a limited budget.

Ahh...the epithet "angel mcveggiepants." I'm glad you mentioned this, because it gives me a chance to clarify! The "angel" in vegangelica is deceptive, because actually "angelica" is the scientific name for a genus of tall, stout, fragrant herbs within the carrot family...carrots, of course, being the universal symbol of vegetarianism!

Angelica is also a dessert wine made from grapes (again, a symbol of earth's fecundity and plenty).

Alas, as an atheist I would probably be unlikely to ever be an angel, if most of the traditional (and conflicting) main religions are correct about us "freethinkers" and our post-death death or tortured immortality in a hell. So, instead of using "Angel mcveggiepants" I will have to humbly sign off as...

...Carrot McVeggiePants

(but you may call me Grape McVeggiePants if you prefer, Cheezyridr)

Odyshape

hahahaha