Guitar players, a question...

[TAS]

My 14 yr old's taking guitar in band this year and I need to get him something. Looking for recommendations on a good solid beginner, preferably an elec./acoustic, in the $500 and below range. I don't mind spending a little to get him something good enough to keep him motivated, I just don't wanna wind up with junk that sounds like crap and discourages him. I got nothing against used as long as it's not beat to hell. Thanks for any help on this.

 

[audioshooter]

I am a huge fan of ibanez guitars. i think that they are hard to beat for the price. Its also nice that they now have a balanced output on their a/e guitars. I play this one:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...ood-series-zebrawood-acoustic-electric-guitar

Depending on where you are in South la i would look at The perfect guitar in BR, or C&M in metarie/lafayette/houma

 

[gonepecan]

I, too, can attest to Ibanez guitars. Great prices and excellent build quality. Not to mention, they sound beautiful.

 

[Bayoupiper]

I went in for this:

And came out with this:

It cost a little more, but I had a coupon and it was during the tax free weekend.



.

 

[Gatorbug]

I have an Ibanez Talman I need to get rid of, Its just sitting around. If this will work for you let me know. It comes with a gig bag that also is a backpack. It need new strings, but its in mint condition.

 

[CUJOHUNTER]

Whatever you get make sure it is solid wood and not laminate. Try to avoid dreadnaught body style. Go with auditorium or grand auditorium body style.

 

[dydog4566]

I know this may sound silly, but cheap guitars ( especially acoustic) are very difficult to play and will discourage a beginner trying to learn chord formations. The Ibanez is a good suggestion in your price range.......I'm a Taylor man myself but an entry level one is going to cost you more like 800 to a grand. But they hold their resale value real well and if he decides its not for him, you should be able to get your money back fairly easy. They come standard with a lot of features you'd pay extra for in another line.....they sound great and are fairly easy for a novice to learn on. Also I echo Cujohunte on the grand or auditorium size.

 

[doc ace]

I'm a huge fan of Taylor. There's a 110ce on ZZounds for 669 or so. I just got rid of my 114ce and it sounded great. They make great guitars.

 

[drpc]

I haven't looked at Guitar prices laterly but Taylor is a great guitar. If he wanted to upgrade it wouldn't be hard to sell a beginner TAYLOR.
There was a Canadian guitar "Seagull" that I liked a lot too. Takamine was a good Japaneese model. Solid spruce top is the way to go instead of a laminate top. A few years back we bought my daughter an acoustic guitar. I lost a fight with my wife over which model. I wanted to buy a Seagull with a solid Spruce top, she wanted a Martin with alaminate one. She wanted the Martin name but the Seagull sounded better.

 

[CUJOHUNTER]

Also, whatever you get (especially the cheaper models), make sure you find a good luthier and lower that action down. Get the strings down low enough without causing any fret buzz. Acoustic guitars require more patience to master and are harder to pay than electrics guitars because of the typically high action and overall size of the guitar. Lowering the action will feel better in his hands and won't discourage him from practicing. I used to teach guitar back in the day and I still work as a full time professional bassist in NOLA, so if you need any good sound advice, just PM me with your number and I can help you out.

 

[Gus McCrae]

Play guitar in band? Like the school band? Honestly, that doesn't sound like a good place to learn to play guitar. There is a good bit of muscle memory work that goes into developing a beginning guitar player. Add the other complications like tuning and callouses and it may discourage learning. You child will need to put in a good deal of work to get started. Getting through that chord/scale learning muscle while learning to read sheet music might be tough. Once through the muscle memory part, guitar playing can be quite fun.

That being said, get an electric guitar. Playing in a band, an amplifier will be used anyways. Electrics are easier on the fingers than an acoustic (they are easier to play). They are usually smaller in size which may or may not be an issue depending on how big your kid is. You want something like:

1. Fender Standard Telecaster or better (Mexican Made or American)
2. Fender Standard Stratocaster or better (Mexican Made or American)
3. Epiphone Les Paul Standard or better.
4. Epiphone Dot
5. Ibanez Artcore Semi-hollow of any type

The cheaper guitars above are great playing instruments and will work great for a beginner. The electronics are mush, but they work. Later, if you child becomes serious, about the only thing they need is good electronics installed.

It'd be good to have a guitar player actually shop with you and maybe your child to ensure that the guitar fits.

 

[TAS]

Band as in, school band.

The more I reasearch, the more I lean towards Ibanez or Epiphone. I've seen plenty of higher end guitars but, for now, I'm not looking at dropping that much. School requires an acoustic but, he wants an elect. later on. I'll let ya know where I land on this. Thanks for all the help. Gatorbug, I'll PM ya.

 

[bassicpackrat]

As far as acoustic guitars, its hard to beat a Yamaha or a Seagull for best bang for the buck.

 

[Nutz275]

Epiphone Les Paul is a great beginner electric and it sounds good.

 

[pulpsmack]

One thing that hasn't been brought up yet... Musical gear has sat in a 5 year slump now and it is a complete buyer's market for used gear. If you take your time and do a little homework, that $500 (or less) can go a LONG way for you in the used market and you won't lose much if anything re-selling it, should your boy lose interest.

My house now looks like Wembley Stadium because there were so many good deals that I bought guitar after guitar and amp after amp.

 

[sonanth]

I 2nd Taylor as well. I don't own any, but have played 4 different ones. Ibanez also makes a nice one. It might be Ibanez, I'm not sure, but they also make acoustic guitars that have electric guitar necks on them. That means, it feels as if you're playing an electric (i.e. slimness, width, action, and string spacing).

 

[TAS]

I wanted to go the used route but the wife talked me into a new one since we have three in high school. Her thought is, with all three, we'll get plenty of use outta it....I can't really argue with that. I went to Guitar Center to get an Ibanez and walked out w/ a Yamaha. I just thought it sounded better. I got him the black one in the link.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha-...coustic-Electric-Guitar-108584673-i1987203.gc

 

[bassicpackrat]

Good score on the Yammy APX series, as I said its hard to best Yamaha ( new or used) for good quality and value together.