Guitar recommendation please

Timothy Tickles

I haven't ever played the guitar before but I'm hoping to buy a new one for Christmas or early in the new year.

Could any of musicians recommend a good basic electric guitar for a beginner costing between 150euro and 250euro and which are the best music shops to buy guitars in Dublin?

feylya

What sort of stuff do you play?

Tbh, look at second hand stuff.

It wasn't me!

Buy international and go for something like a Squier Affinity Strat. Good enough for a beginner.

feylya

No, don't do the usual mistake of getting a piece of crap guitar. Get a decent second hand one. Like a second hand Epiphone Custom, about €300 I reckon but ****ing fantastic to play.

pyure

i cant recommend the yamaha pacifica 112 highly enough. really cheap, great quality, perfect setup straight out of the box (im told, mine was 2nd hand) and the finest neck you'll get for anywhere near the price.

not sure of price in ireland, but thomann.de is currently listing em at 205 euro, fantastic value imo.

-=al=-

yamaha make half decent guitars for the nice price, cant say anything decent about the squire, or get a decent second hand one, but if u try some new guitars in town and really like them, look at buying them on the net for a better price...

sroberts82

Cant agree more with the pacifica. Was my first guitar and for the price you simply wont get a better guitar, lovely to play. Wouldnt recomend epiphones. I since have had a les paul and it aint great. They are a really inconsistent manufacturer, i.e. 2 supposedly identical guitars aint identical. in my experience anyway.

It wasn't me!

I was thinking of Epiphone Customs for a while but remember, he'll need an amp too. You won't get a Custom and an amp for 250. You might get a Squier and an amp if you look hard enough.

feylya

sroberts82 wrote:

for the price you simply wont get a better guitar, lovely to play..

I'm sorry but that's crap. If you trust eBay, you'll get a far superior guitar.

As for the Epiphone, what model was it? At this stage, they're getting better than Gibson.

pyure

feylya wrote:

I'm sorry but that's crap. If you trust eBay, you'll get a far superior guitar.

fair enough, but if you're talking new guitars only then id say he's spot on. personally i'd have to wonder about buying a 2nd hand guitar before playing it, or having someone who knows about guitar check it over.

feylya

Like I said, you just have to trust eBay.

Personally, I don't.

pyure

feylya wrote:

Personally, I don't.

ahh, slight misunderstanding there
not a big fan of em myself

Burke

buy an acoustic first. harden up ur fingers and cheaper if u decide not to follow through with learning it. i wouldn't buy an electric till i'm commmitted.

feylya

Nope. Completely disagree there. IMO, acoustics are harder to learn. IF somethings hard to learn, you'll give up sooner tbh.

Burke

how r they harder?? but when u learn on an acoustic, or even a spanish, u'll find the electric easier. acoustic sounds so much better.

Dave

If you're serious about playing guitar, I'd also recommend that you get an acoustic first. Slightly harder to learn with I'd imagine, just because the strings are harder to push down, but in the long run you won't regret it.

If you are looking to buy you're first electric new, I'd whole heartily recommend a washburn, I tried out alot of similar and more expensive ones when I was looking for my first electric and it came out tops for me. I've moved beyond that now, even though I've only had it 4 months, but that's because I started out on my acoustic 2 years before. Also you do realise you're going to have to buy an amp aswell?

-=al=-

im with the acoustic too, but if u really want an electric go for it, i started on gauge 13 steel string acoustic and done wonders for the fingers, and when u get an electric it plays alot easier, and comfy, + i play the electric alot more and its nice to have the acoustic lyin around....

Doctor J

feylya wrote:

As for the Epiphone, what model was it? At this stage, they're getting better than Gibson.

Man that's way off the mark. Epiphone use cheap wood, cheap hardware and cheap electronics, they are far from being good guitars. Gibson's build quality is questionable at times, but any recently made Gibson LP Standard I've played beat seven shades of **** out of anything I've played made by Epiphone.

sroberts82

You must be havin a laugh sayin epiphones are close to Gibson. Epiphones are very poor imitations, they sound nothing like the Gibson so dont even try to argue they do. The price gap isnt there for the craic.

Giblet

Epiphones are still rubbish, I'd hardly say they are close to Gibson quality.

Anyway, buying new, I'd definatly go for the Yamaha Pacifica, sound great definatly more than the sum of it's parts.

Personally, I'd learn on an acoustic. Thats just the way I did it, and I see guitarists who just can't play on both guitars. They definitely need a different approach, but you will benefit as a guitar player overall by getting a good grounding in acoustic playing.
That said, it's really up to you.

feylya

What I of course meant to say was that the High end Epiphones are better than the low end Gibsons.

TBH, a Epiphone Custom is far better playing and feeling than a Gibson Les Paul for instance, you're just taking the piss. I've played both and the Epiphone has a far nicer neck and pickups. The Gibson neck is like someone got a block of wood and ran a planer down it to take the corners off.

Doctor J

You've only played **** Les Pauls then. I've know two people with Epi Customs and two people with Gibson Standards and the Epi Customs aren't fit to be burned to keep the room warm for the Gibsons.

feylya

Gibson Standard isn't low end Gibson though. My point is that if you go out with €600 and buy a new Epiphone and a new Gibson, the Epiphone will more than likely beat it.

Doctor J

Ah I see, I was confused by your appalling grammar in the sentence "TBH, a Epiphone Custom is far better playing and feeling than a Gibson Les Paul for instance, you're just taking the piss."

Dutch Gold, eh?

feylya

Exams and Cherry Coke tbh

I needy some Dutchy to calm my nerves...

So, you understand that I'm comparing the two companies' products that are at the same price range?

I still believe you're paying for the name.

Doctor J

No doubt, but anyone who pays €600 for a new Gibson and expects a good guitar is going to lose. Start off at €2000 for a new one and work your way up.

Of course, the smart money goes second hand, eh?

feylya

Or to Japan

I'm almost tempted to get a job from January to Easter just to get some of those Ibanezs. Maybe sell them on here. I reckon I'll get at least cost, probably more

Anyone know how much a RG2770 retails for on these shores?

Doctor J

Give Musician a ring, just make sure you're sitting comfortably

feylya

Ring? That involves using the phone though. I'm a nerd, I can't use the phone. I even order my pizzas by email

Doctor J

Go on, reach out... communicate...

The job thing is actually quite a good idea. The exchange rates are really quite favourable at the moment, so make hay while the sun shines, etc.

feylya

Yeah. It's pretty good timing too I reckon. **** it, a weekend job in the guitar shop would be nice. They don't like me in there though. I ask them hard questions and make them confused. Questions like "Hello, how are you?"...

-=al=-

some high end epi's are better than the low end gibsons, - gibsons are overpriced but they are alot better quallity and sound.... so yea my 2 cents

Johnny Storm

feylya wrote:

.... Get a decent second hand one. Like a second hand Epiphone Custom, ....

Could anyone recommend any music shops in the Dublin area that sell second-hand electric guitars?

-=al=-

waltons have loads of lp, perfect pitch, Musicmaker might... musician inc might to.. instrumental usually have a fw second hand stuff but i wudnt be so sure about buying anything in there...

...might have left a few places out...

dpmasunder

Check out OLP guitars www.olpguitars.com/
Exceptional quality for the price.
Those and Yamaha's Pacifica models.
Epiphone are pretty bad, so is Gibson recently.
If you are new to guitar don't buy secand hand unless you can get it assessed by someone who knows about such things. Certainly don't use ebay unless you really know what you're after and are still willing to take a risk.

Johnny Storm

-=al=- wrote:

waltons have loads of lp, perfect pitch, Musicmaker might... musician inc might to.. instrumental usually have a fw second hand stuff but i wudnt be so sure about buying anything in there...

...might have left a few places out...

Thanks dude.
Sorry for the stupid question - what do you mean "lp"?
I phoned Waltons and they dont sell second-hand - probably I misunderstood what you are saying.

feylya

lp = Les Paul