The Instrument Recommendation thread

[lenbone1]

Originally Posted by mr dave

Depends on your location more than anything. Private sale sites like Craigslist are fine, especially if you have a friend who can help you gauge quality. Most shops offer beginner packages with practice amps and carrying bags. The brands you'll likely be seeing the most are Squier, Epiphone, Yamaha, and Peavey. They're all decent enough for what they are. I still have an old Epiphone Special II, they retail around $200 and it's a tank.

As for cost generally $200-$300 (Canadian) for a beginner setup. You might get lucky and find something decent between $100-$200 through a private sale but anything under $100 is likely going to cause far more hassles than its worth.

Don't worry too much about the brand for now, at that level it's pretty irrelevant. There are a few major things you want to ensure with a learner instrument (this is where a friend with -any- experience comes in handy):

- the neck needs to be straight (just hold the body at eye level and look to the headstock)
- it has to stay in tune (play a chord, then bend some strings and play the same chord again - if you can't do it yourself, ask for a demo of chords, then a bluesy solo, then chords again)
- none of the frets should buzz (play every single note on the neck)

A lot of people make the mistake of acting like 'testing' an instrument is akin to auditioning for a band. While it's lame and dorky to sit there and slowly hit every single note on the neck but, really, it's the only way to check every fret.

The same applies to both bass and guitar, acoustic or electric. Also do NOT even consider a guitar with a floating bridge / whammy bar as a learner instrument. It'll will cause FAR too many hassles with tuning. If it's an electric it's also worth checking with and without an amp just to make sure there are no issues with the pickups or wiring.

Also - it has to look cool. Seriously. If you don't look at it and think 'yeah, that's cool' then you're not going to be as inclined to pick it up and practice; which never really feels like 'practice' when you're just playing with your new cool thing.

I'D try your local pawn shop,you woud be suprised with some of the nice old **** you can find,,it works for me.

[lenbone1]

Kazoo is a fun instrument,,,,or is it ??? haaaaa !

[JustJunMC]

I would say a good keyboard controller and a good computer so you can load various sounds and samples to manipulate

a bass guitar

an electric guitar

turntables

saxophone

trumpet

violin

pluck

[A Small Fluffy Animal]

Alright, here's a question: I'm looking for an electric guitar on a $1,000 - $2,000 budget. I want one that is either baritone or semi-hollow with a really good sound (duh), a pretty finish (either red or a natural color), and nice sustain. Any suggestions?

[mr dave]

Originally Posted by A Small Fluffy Animal

Alright, here's a question: I'm looking for an electric guitar on a $1,000 - $2,000 budget. I want one that is either baritone or semi-hollow with a really good sound (duh), a pretty finish (either red or a natural color), and nice sustain. Any suggestions?

Fender used to sell a swanky looking Baritone Jaguar, it's been discontinued since 2006 but I saw one of the guys from Tortoise using one and it was awesome. Can't really comment on a semi-hollow.

Originally Posted by Alex_09797

Hey I've finally decided to pick up electric guitar which has been a dream if mine sense middle school and I need opinions on what my first guitar should be take note that I'm new and am trying to lean to rock and metal no better advice then from someone who knows his stuff much appreciated mate

Honestly, it doesn't matter. Here are the main criteria you need to consider for your first guitar:

1 - Straight neck - Just hold the guitar flat up to eye level so the strap peg at the bottom of the body is around the tip of your nose and eyeball the surface of the neck. As long as you can see straight down to the nut without curvature you're set.

2 - It has to stay in tune - This is kind of hard to check if you don't already know how to play a little. Check to make sure the tuning pegs are solid and there's no wiggle or looseness in the mechanism.

3 - It has to look cool - This seems superficial but for your first instrument the core purpose is learning to play the instrument. If you don't think it's cool when you look at it, you're not going to feel cool when you pick it up, and you're less likely to practice and develop an ability to play.

If you've got a friend who can already play then definitely bring them along when you shop for your first guitar, they can help troubleshoot the first 2 points, #3 is all you. Also, don't spend more than $200-$300 on your first guitar either, give yourself a year to learn the instrument and figure out what sounds and tones you like most so that you can upgrade to a better instrument that will satisfy your playing style the most.

One last thing. DO NOT buy a beginner / learner guitar with a whammy bar. It will cause so many hassles with tuning and action. Just NO! NO NO NO!

[Ashir]

Originally Posted by A Small Fluffy Animal

Alright, here's a question: I'm looking for an electric guitar on a $1,000 - $2,000 budget. I want one that is either baritone or semi-hollow with a really good sound (duh), a pretty finish (either red or a natural color), and nice sustain. Any suggestions?

That's enough for a decent Gibson.

[Alex_09797]

Hey I've finally decided to pick up electric guitar which has been a dream if mine sense middle school and I need opinions on what my first guitar should be take note that I'm new and am trying to lean to rock and metal no better advice then from someone who knows his stuff much appreciated mate

[Ashir]

I'm looking for a fluent acoustic guitar which is extremely cheap (talking around 70 gbp = 110 usd, preferably around 50 gbp = 80 usd), and good for beginners. And by fluent, I mean that it has the sort of sound you hear in most Opeth songs.


So in essence the best acoustics for 50-90ish. I can go no higher than 90.

[Ashir]

I've kept an eye on this 'ahadi786' dude from eBay. Hugely positive reviews (over 97% positive), and the guitars are only around 45 gbp = 72 usd. But then there's the Epiphone's which are like 80 gbp but are awesome. What do you think? Maybe I should go with the cheapest first, just to get used to them.
Other options are A. the F310, B. the Martin Smith W-401E, C. an Epiphone DR-100 or PR-100, or D. Any acoustic under or equal to 100 gbp = 160 usd.

Thanks a lot for your advice.

[Ashir]

Anyone?