Electric Guitar Help

[Anti-Frizz]

Right guys..
Im in need of some help here
Basically...My mum said that because of my good SATs results, she'll let me buy an electric guitar and start having lessons etc.
Thing is... even though I want to have my own and learn to play, I dont know what makes a good electric guitar, so I wouldnt know which ones are good to buy etc.
So.. if you can like.. give me some suggestions of good guitars... Im open to them
Cheers

[-Soph-]

im no master at guitars but JUST DONT BUY ONE OF EBAY!!
my friend did and it was broken when she got it!
and she never got her money back!!!!

w00t w00t 700th post

[Rawr]

Getting good guitar=paying more money.

[PatrickBuddy]

Well as a guitar player myself, I have some suggestions. Many guitars sound differently, and fit different playing styles. The best overall brand is Fender. Fenders are GREAT guitars and I would personally choose one. Another good brand is Yamaha. Some guitars on Ebay aren't so bad. Personally I have purchased my first guitar on Ebay. You must make sure that the seller has a good reputation, followed with good pictures of the guitar.


After buying the guitar some good things are to learn the string names. Here's a good way of remembering them.

E aster <-- This is the string that makes the HIGHEST note(also the thinnest)
B unnies
G et
D runk <-- In guitars HIGH means the highest pitch.
A fter
E aster <-- There is a HIGH E and a LOW E.

A good idea, is to learn how to play songs that you like. This is a fun way to teach yourself. A good website for this is www.mxtabs.net

The things on the site are called Guitar Tabs. The tab should look something like this:

E/---------------
B/---------------
G/--------------- \ These are like the strings before, the high E is on top.
D/--------------- / There will be numbers on the tabs. The numbers are
A/--------------- which fret to hold down.
E/---------------


A fret is the space between the little metal things where your left hand goes. You put your fingers in the spaces NOT on the metal. The string without any frets held down is called an Open String. On the tab, an open string will show up as 0.


It is also good to buy guitar picks. Guitar picks strum the strings. If you don't use a guitar pick, you will eventually get large blisters.


Tuning a guitar can be very tricky. You ALWAYS want your guitar to be in tune before you play. You can download sound clips of tuned guitars, or purchase a guitar method book at your local music store. It is good if the method book comes with a CD so you can listen to the tuned notes.

As a starter, I would advise you to sit down while you play. Standing up and playing (using a guitar strap) can also be pretty hard.

It took me about 3 months of self-teaching to get fairly good at guitar. I can't say that I'm the best, but for a person with NO lessons, I'm pretty good :8


Remember, if you have a hard time learning a song or a part, just keep trying. It may get on your nerves, but you will get it

A key part in songs are things called Power Cords. A power cord is when you have your finger on a desired fret (lets say 2nd fret on the low E string). You will need to put your index finger, holding down the desired fret and with your middle or ring finger (depending on how far you can reach) on two frets ahead of the desired fret, on the next two strings (4th fret on the A and D strings). This will end up like so

D/-----4
A/-----4
E/-----2

Your fingers should look like this ( X means fret held)
-------X(4th fret)
-------X(4th fret)
---X----(2nd fret)


That's all I can think of right now Hope this helps and Happy guitaring

Patrick

[RedStratocas]

Well, it depends on how much your mom is willing to spend. I would go easy on her though and get a fender. Gibsons are great, but are a lot more expensive. Obviously, get a stratocaster :p . I have a mexican stratocaster, which are basicly the same as an american stratocaster... but made in mexico, and are a lot cheaper. The guitar in my sig is a stratocaster, but mine is red. (Thus, RedStratocas)