Beginner electric guitars - What to look for and expect
Before you buy a beginner electric guitar, or throw your old one away.
I get a little troubled when I read a user review of a beginner electric guitar, and the reviewer badmouths the guitar, when I know for a fact that the guitar in question is a sleeping beauty.
There are quite a few entry level guitars that are actually of comparable quality to the expensive brands they copy. Some of them are actually made by the same company, as a cheaper alternative to their top of the range guitars.
Fender, for instance, has the Squier range, and Gibson has the epiphone range.
Here are a few things that just about any guitar should have done to it before being judged.
1.) The frets should be leveled and crowned before any comment on the playability of the instrument. This process brings all the frets to a uniform height above the fretboard, which eliminates most of the unwanted fret buzz and enables the strings to be set a lot lower. This process is best carried out by a professional luthier (Guitar builder)
2.) The intonation should be set. This is simply setting the bridge saddles on the guitar so that the strings play in tune all the way up the neck. This is quite simple to do, one just has to check that the note at the 12th fret is exactly an octave higher than the open string. I usually check this by playing the harmonic at the 12th fret and compare it to the fretted note.
If the fretted note is higher than the harmonic, I adjust the bridge saddle back, making the string length a bit longer, and vice versa.
Some beginner guitarists buy their first electric guitar and complain that it won’t stay in tune. Admittedly, some beginner electric guitars have cheaper tuning machines, but I’m still of the opinion that with due care and attention, even these can be made to stay in tune.
Here are some tips to help your beginner electric guitar stay in tune.
- When putting new strings on the guitar, try to have no more than 3 windings around the tuning post. This helps the string settle more tightly around the tuners - plus it’s a lot less hassle than turning forever trying to get all the string on.
- New guitar strings need to be stretched in. It’s just something about the metal actually stretching before it reaches the end of its elasticity. You can do this by holding the string down at the 12th fret, and gently tugging inbetween the 12th fret and the bridge - You have to be gentle, but not too gentle. I have broken a string or two like this, but that was from one set of strings a long time ago, and I think they where duds.
- Always tune up to the note, even if the string needs to be loosened to get to the right pitch. It’s better to go down below the desired pitch and tune it back up from there. This means the string tightens around the tuning post again as opposed to just being loosened.
- Make sure the frets are leveled and the intonation is set correctly. If the strings are too high off the neck fretboard, the extra distance when a note is fretted can cause the string to play sharp.
When looking at beginner electric guitars, or any electric guitars I’m interested in, here’s my main criteria before I buy.
- Wood - Of utmost importance. The guitars tone comes mainly from the type of wood used. Everything else on the guitar will either compliment the tone or inhibit it. Don’t be fooled by the acoustic guitar enthusiasts who say that “Good wood equals good tone” doesn’t apply to an electric guitar. It most certainly does. Here are my favorite tone woods - Mahogany, Alder, Maple, and possibly Ash. There are some other tone woods that could be considered good quality, like Basswood, Agathis and Poplar, but they’re not woods I’ve really tried.
- Pickups - The guitar pickups on cheap electric guitars have improved quite a lot in recent years, after all, the parts needed to make a good pickup aren’t expensive. I like to see pickups on a guitar that are made by a well known company, like for instance, Dimarzio pickups or Seymour Duncan pickup. Sometimes they may just be designed by them, which is also cool. If I’m looking at a Top guitar companies products, then I tend to be less worried about the pickups being brand names. Worst case scenario, I can always buy good quality but cheap replacement pickups from Kent Armstrong.
Decide beforehand what kind of music you want to play, then buy the right guitar for the job.
Too often I read reviews by beginner guitarists, who’ve bought a Stratocaster style guitar, and then complain that it sounds lousy, cos they’re into death metal or something, and the guitars not suited to that kind of music.
If you want to play heavy rock, you should buy a guitar with humbucking pickups.
If you want to play blues, then buy a semi-hollow or hollow body guitar.
If you want to play blues rock or country music, consider buying a stratocaster type guitar.
Here’s the kind of guitar I think offers an all round solution. A stratocaster type guitar with a humbucker pickup in the bridge position. This gives you the nice fat sound of a humbucker for playing rock, and that nice single coil twang in the other positions for playing bluesy stuff.
For the budget conscious, I think one of the best Fat Strats is the Squier.
I took the liberty of borrowing a friends Squier Stratocaster, so I could record some sound samples.
The guitar I borrowed wasn’t the Fat Strat, but the one with three single coil pickups. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the sound of this guitar.
I had always thought - And I still do - that single coil pickups in the bridge are not good for rock.
This guitar proved me wrong.
Here are the sound files.
Squier bridge pickup distorted mp3
Squier bridge pickup Distorted Solo mp3
Squier Clean sounds mp3
Squier neck pickup overdrive mp3
Squier by Fender Affinity Series Fat Strat Electric Guitar Black
Hmm…… Looks like a Fender Stratocaster, sounds like a Fender Stratocaster, it must be a Fender Stratocaster.
Nope - It’s a Squier, and an Affinity series at that. The 2nd cheapest in the range, and it’s made from the same wood as some of the best sounding Stratocasters - Alder wood.
While I found the feel of the guitar neck to be a bit thinner and flatter than most Fenders, it was actually quite a fast action, and I took it down even closer to the fretboard. I hope Martin doesn’t mind.
This is some right on stuff here! I’m amazed at how good the entry level guitars have become. I have both a Squier Affinity Strat (my first guitar) and a Fender American Strat. They have different personalities but both are fun guitars to play.
Hey, I was looking around for a while searching for beginners guitar lessons and I happened upon this site and your post regarding r electric guitars - What to look for and expect | Electric guitar, I will definitely this to my beginners guitar lessons bookmarks!
a) Demand for the guitar - something is not as valuable if it is rare and no one wants it! So be careful there if you are told ‘this is rare’ - find out if there is a demand for that particular guitar.
I want to say that you site is great! I was looking around and found some fabulous articles.
A first electric guitar that I would recommend would be a Fender Lead II if you could get your hands on one.
It has a small neck, to make it easy for fingering for a beginner, and the sound is great! Just make sure that you have the action or intonation set when you get one. The intonation tends to last a while on this thing and I’ve only had it done once since I bought it!
The body is quite light as well.
Thanks for the positive feedback Chris. I’ll have to look into that Lead 2 guitar.
May be just the right thing for some beginner electric guitarists
Correction!
Looks like the Fender lead 2 was discontinued (sad word for guitarists) in 1982. The Mustang looks like the closest thing available nowadays.
It could also be a great guitar for young beginners, seeing as it has a short scale length, only 24 inch scale length as opposed to the Strats 25.5 inch.
I borrowed a beat up old mustang when I was about 14 years old, and it was quite a blast to play.
This is an awesome site, i have been trying sooo hard to learn on a dodgy acoustic for quite a while, and had as good as given up. this article made me realise i need a proper electric (i prefer them anyway). Im going to be looking at this site more often to learn!! Rock on dude
Thanks Siggy, great to hear that you’re getting an electric. If it wasn’t for the fact that I ditched my first acoustic for an electric guitar, I probably wouldn’t be doing half the things I do on guitar.
I do have one acoustic guitar, but I play it like an electric anyway.
Hey.
I am in the process of choosing my very first guitar. I have wanted to play for about 10 years but never had a chance when I was younger due to money issues…
Anyway I was considering the les paul special 2 but this article has made me seriously look at the squier by fender…
I assumed it would be a pretty poor guitar as it is often a bundle guitar but with this article and some further reading it seems it actually has some bite to it for a beginner.
Anyway a bit of a long post sorry but thanks for the detailed info; so hard to start out with something like this especially when there is a money investment needed.
Hi Lepruk.
Thanks for stopping by to comment. If I had a choice to make between the Les Paul special 2 and a Squier Stratocaster, I would take the Squier any day, but I would make sure it’s the Squier Fat Strat.
You can get a far wider range of guitar tones out of a Fat Strat.
I would stay away from using the tremelo system on a strat though, cos mostly they just make the guitar go out of tune.
It’s also good to keep in mind that a lot of the guitar tone comes from the amplifier. Hmm, I think I should write a little post about that.
Hi again admin;
Thanks for the prompt response;
Well I can get the squier fat strat with all the starting stuff for about £170 ($250)(i’m in the UK you see and things are a bit more pricey here):
Link: http://www.reidys.com/index.pl?submit=View_PLU&PLU=5377
it’s actually about £50 ($75) more than the 3 single coil version… would you still say that it is worth the extra boost in price for the marginally better amp and the HSS layout?
Link: http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/shop/flypage/product_id/21350
(sorry if the links aren’t allowed here; just easier to show rather than explain)…
thanks for your guidence.
Hi Lepruk, I know it says Admin, but my name’s Andrew.
I had a good look at the two resources you listed and it appears that they are totally different packages as well as being two different strats.
The one with the Fat Strat looks like it has a much better amplifier with the package as well as a few other things.
I haven’t seen any of their newer Stop dreaming and start playing stratocaster packages, but it looks like the dolphin music one is an older package.
It is possible to buy a humbucking pickup that fits into a single coil spacing and replace the bridge pickup with that later, but I’ve often found that the guitar companies fit the most compatible pickups.
So, I’d still go for the Fat Strat, even though the demos I did where with a 3 single coil guitar.
The guitar amp plays a big part in the sound you get out of a guitar. I think you’d appreciate the extra cash spend later on.
Single coils have a tendency to pick up electromagnetic interference, especially from computer screens and fluorescent lighting.
That might not hassle you that much, but for myself, I do a lot of recording in front of the computer. I love the sound of single coils in the other two positions but nothing beats a good humbucker in the bridge for great rock tone.
You could use tin foil to create an interference free chamber underneath the pickguard so all the electronics are isolated. It seems to work quite well.
I hope this helps.
I also need to mention that the Squier affinity strats in the stop dreaming and start playing packages have a body that’s made from Agathis wood whereas the stand alone affinity strats are made with Alder wood.
Agathis is in fact not a bad choice for a tonewood. A friend of mine who is an experienced luthier (Guitar builder), tells me that one of his best sounding electric guitars actually had a body made from pine.
Agathis is a conifer (same family as pine) and a lot of people really like the sound.
There are some other woods that no-one uses yet which also sound great, but I’m keeping those secrets for now.
- Cheers
Oops, looks like I need to correct myself again.
That cheaper squier stop dreaming guitar pack with the three single coils has a squier SE special strat. Not an affinity series.
Sorry Lepruk. Even more reason to go for the Fat Strat.
Thanks a lot Andrew for taking the time to help out some random guitar newb!.
Decided to go to a local guitar shop today and have a mess about even though I only currently know 4 chords and 1 of the basic scales (the salesman rolled his eyes a few times)…
Anyway LOVED the feel of the fat strat (couldn’t tell you if it is the exact same one I linked you)…
Btw I actually managed to pick up a very cheap squier bullet strat for £50 with a cheap amp / case / handful of picks.
I am definitely going to buy that fat strat i think though in about a month’s time. Was incredibly comfortable to hold; on an odd note I actually really didn’t like the epi les paul in the end…
I think fender has just gained a new strat fan ^.^…
thanks again for all the advice.
Luke
EDIT:
I do keep hovering over the Buy now button for that fat strat pack heh; probably buy it tomorrow knowing my impulse… just looks like such a nice guitar + amp that you could keep with you for a good couple of years.
Hi Lepruk,
You’re welcome. It was great to have you on my site.
Best of luck to you.