upgrading

lucybeth · #1 January 24th, 2008

Hi I wonder if you could give me some advice. I have been learning to play on a Crafter guitar. I have learnt quite a few chords and can play some riffs etc so I think I am doing ok with that.
What I was wondering was if it would be a good idea to upgrade my guitar? If so what kind should I think about going for?
The amp came as part of the set with the guitar, would I do better swapping my amp or both!
On a totally different note, I have been reading some of the comments that some new guitar players have been posting and I realised that I was having some of their problems, but I dont anymore! I guess this means I am improving, yea me

lol

allthumbs · #2 January 24th, 2008

Need more info. What kind of money do you have to spend on an amp and axe. What kind of sound are you after. Do you have access to a wide variety of amps and guitars where you live.

lucybeth · #3 January 24th, 2008

I dont have a lot to spend. I guess somewhere around the £300 mark. We have music shops by us, but they dont have a huge amount of guitars. I would probably be looking to buy on line. As for the sound, I have no preference yet, although I do feel I am being pulled towards Blues.

allthumbs · #4 January 24th, 2008

Give us the names of some of your choices and we will give you our experience of opinion of them.

Ben_Sir_Amos · #5 January 24th, 2008

I think we should diagnose your current set up before recommending anything. You might just be suffering from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), which everyone on this site suffers from to some extent.

Which Crafter guitar do you currently own? What is wrong with it?
Which amp do you own? What do you think is wrong with it?

lucybeth · #6 January 24th, 2008

Er I think Ben-sir-amos has hit the nail on the head! I dont think there is anything wrong with my current guitar. It was one of the Crafter complete kits you can get for around £120 and it still works perfectly.
I am definately suffering from GAS! I guess I was thinking that maybe upgrading would make my playing sound better? I think it maybe a good idea to stick with what I have until I can really play it!
Thanks for you replies
lucybeth

GotDeeBlues · #7 January 25th, 2008

First go to a shop and get a sense for what's out there. For blues, start with a Tele, Strat, LP or Epi Dot type. See what feels good to you. A better guitar set up properly will help you play better, and make playing much more enjoyable. For The budget you have a nice Mexican Fender or an Epiphone and a small Roland cube. But what ever you go with have it set up by a good tech.

krissovo · #8 January 25th, 2008

From the info so far you could go down a couple of routes.

1, Treat your self to a decent amp like a Vox Ad30, Cube 30 etc. That would eat about £180 or your budget VOX AD30VT BUNDLE - U.K. International Cyberstore or ROLAND CUBE30X - U.K. International Cyberstore

2, Treat yourself to a new guitar and then buy a cheap effects unit so have distortion, overdrive, delay etc available. Digitech rp 50 , zoom g series etc

3, Try and get both so say a roland micro cube will set you back £70 and then you have £230 for a guitar which will take into the Epiphone sort of price range

We do need more information

s1120 · #9 January 25th, 2008

Do you have a place near you that lets you play the amps? If so try your guitar on diferent amps. If you like the way your current guitar plays, you will get the most benafit from a nice amp.

Nutty · #10 January 25th, 2008

I was guitar shopping the other day and I had a hard time putting the Crafter down. I don't what model it was, but it was about $409.00 CAD (about 275 EUR). The playability was the attraction. It sounded nice too, but very easy to play for me. So, I would suggest to go to your local shop and see what they have. Try then all out. That's what I did. You may be happy with the Crafter. Of course, it's always nice to get another guitar!

Good luck and enjoy the journey.

Nutty

P-90 · #11 January 25th, 2008

Assuming what you have is something like this...

Amazon.co.uk: Crafter Cruiser ST120 Guitar + 10 Watt Amplifier - Electric Guitar Starter Package - Blue: Electronics & Photo

...I think you'll want to upgrade both eventually, but that the amp may be the higher priority. Finding a decent guitar in a starter pack is not too unusual, but I've yet to find a starter pack amp which got a better reaction from me than "Well, at least I can hear it now."

So, by all means, try out various things, and see what appeals to you personally, but do not overlook the amps!

Stratrat · #12 January 28th, 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-90

...I think you'll want to upgrade both eventually, but that the amp may be the higher priority. Finding a decent guitar in a starter pack is not too unusual, but I've yet to find a starter pack amp which got a better reaction from me than "Well, at least I can hear it now."

So, by all means, try out various things, and see what appeals to you personally, but do not overlook the amps!

I strongly agree with P-90. The amps that come with starter packs are utter junk in most cases. While I always enjoy getting a new guitar, amps make much more difference in your tone IMO. If the guitar you have plays satisfactorily and all the controls/electronics work well, you'd be much better served spending $200-$300 on an amp such as the Roland Micro-Cube / Cube 30X, Vox AD30VT, or even the new Fender Cyber-Champ (I haven't played one of those yet but they seem to be getting pretty good reviews). Any of those will sound much better than your current amp, and will also give you different amp models and effects to play with.

If you stick with the guitar you'll end up upgrading at some point in the future anyway - GAS is like a sickness for which there's no known cure!