[Ultimate Garage Band]

Let’s talk about guitar budget. Have you ever purchased a digital camera? If you have then you know if you set a budget of $200 for a camera and SPEND $200 on just a camera, you’ve got about another $100 to spend in STUFF to make the camera do what you want it to do. A camera bag, rechargeable batteries, battery charger, bigger/2nd media storage card, and on and on. The same holds true with guitars. If you budget to spend $200 on your first guitar, don’t forget you’ll need something to carry the guitar around in, a bag or case, a tuner, and quite possibly a stand, an amplifier, chords, pedals, a metronome, a footstool, a music stand, books/dvd’s, picks, strap, and on and on. Often times guitar companies will assemble much of these items into ‘Starter Packs’ and market them as an all inclusive purchase.

Personally, I don’t offer Starter Packs through my retail guitar business because I find them to be a poor value. Let’s look at how the business of guitars and retail sales approaches the new player.

The specific guitar that companies tout as the ‘best’ for a new player is the cheapest and poorest performing guitar in the product line up. Think about that for a moment; if company X offers 45 different guitar models, THE CHEAPEST ONE is the one they say is ‘perfect’ for the new player. This will be the one guitar, out of all 45, that will have the cheapest quality hardware, the cheapest quality wood, the cheapest quality finish, the cheapest quality fretwork. In other words, out of all 45 guitar models, IT’S THE HARDEST GUITAR TO PLAY WELL. So, does this sound like the ‘perfect’ guitar for beginners? The perfect guitar for beginners would be the top of the line, easiest playing, best performing guitar, BUT new players aren’t going to spend that kind of money and companies AND retailers know that. Their solution? To package ‘all in one’ starter packs for a quick and easy sale KNOWING the player has an inferior instrument/gear and will probably never make another guitar related purchase again. Who cares? They got your money for this purchase and there’s another newbie just like you every day.

THERE ARE SOME THAT BUY THESE STARTER KITS AND DO SUCCEED IN LEARNING TO PLAY, HOWEVER, THE MAJORITY FAIL.

This is also not to say that ALL starter kits offer ALL inferior products. I’m a Washburn dealer, for instance, and an electric guitar they currently offer in some their starter kits is the very same model I stock and suggest for a first electric guitar. However, everything else that comes with it will be replaced inside a year if the player keeps playing, so why not go ahead and put that money towards gear that will last more than a year?

So, when thinking about your budget you should plan for accessories and look beyond the starter packs for the best value in performance.

[KCMike]

Thanks for the advice P-90. I've looked at the Dean guitars and like them. The Dean Z-X Electric Guitar isn't too bad at all.

[starsailor]

Good idea to have a look at a few mike, you'll get a guitar that you'll really enjoy and you should have a good time trying out a few, great to have access to the other equipment will make life a lot easier for you, good luck shopping around and look forward to seeing the pics.

Cheers

Chris

[pwgrahamster]

I own a range of cheap and expensive amps and guitars. There is a whole new economy of cheap instruments and amps from Asia that are worth buying if you're prepared to spend some moneyy with aluthier to work on em (or DIY if you know what you're doing). Some of these instruments are amazing. I just finished posting elsewhere about my range of el cheapo squiers. I also own some really expensive electrics and acoustics. It'll be a while before I buy another expensive guitar. The new cheapies are just too good, at least with some new hardware and sometimes only a good setup. There's a range of nice tube amps that are really good and inexpensive. Some are badged "legend" and others "Epiphone". I bought a 5 watt Legend which records great and will go much better once I replace its speaker. The 30 watt one would sound great with a Celestion in it (about 110 US for a CV30). I als have traynor and fender amps (valve). These new cheapies can be great, so don't let the price put you off: if it sounds good and you like it, go for it.

[s1120]

Originally Posted by KCMike

I know the last post is a bit older, however I had the same question and didn't wanna start a new thread.

I'm a complete beginner, have wanted to learn to play the guitar for a while now (my dad has played for years), and wanna get something. I found the following starter pack and thought it looked decent. I don't need to rock the house down so I thought this amp would work. Also, b/c my dad has a studio and plays he has alot better amps available I can use down the road.

• Epiphone Les Paul Special II Electric Guitar and Amp Pack Features:
  
• * Basswood body
• * Bolt-on neck mahogany neck
• * Rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays
• * 2 open-coil humbuckers
• * 24-3/4" scale
• * 1-5/8" nut width
• * Tone, volume, and pickup switch
• * Hardware: chrome (black on wine red finish)
  
• Studio 15R Amp:
• * 8" speaker
• * 15 watts
• * Reverb
• * 2 channels
• * FX loop
• * Headphone jack
  
• Gig bag
• * Quartz digital tuner
• * Premium strap
• * 20' premium cable
• * Headphones

I thought this would be a nice start @ $250.00. The reviews look pretty good.

Thoughts?

I was looking at this same packedge. Not that bad, but it did feel pretty cheap to hold and play[well TRY to play. Im a newbee] Look at the higher up Epi's They feel,look, and sound SOOOOO much nicer then that Special II!!!!!! A little higher then your bujet, but I played [well tryed] a few in the 300-400 range that were AWSOME. I REALY fell HARD for a Les Paul Goldtop for 499!!!!!!!!!! I ended up getting a loan of a MIM strat, and put my money in a VOX ad30vt amp, but if I stick to it, and lern to play well, one of them LP's will follow me home!!!!!