Ya, luckily my wife had watched the neighbor kid for about 5 full days due to his parent's work schedules..... so they bought the Ipod for my son for x-mas..... I saw it coming though.... He wanted the best one which holds like 1000 songs...

unfort, I think he currently has 29 songs in his Ipod.

My kids have done that with many things so it is predictible...... i am trying to reel them back in so that is why they paid for their own PSP's...(they actually play those) and he will be buying this guitar.....

 

I'd be remiss to not chime in:

1. Midcore is on the money. Local stores and professional setup are necessities.

2. In finding any beginner instrument (esp. w/ guitar), find your budget first. If you try to go cheap, you're gonna get a cheap instrument. If you go expensive, you'll invariably pay too much. If you go in with an amount, then you can really get the best-valued instrument for your dollar, and everybody wins (esp. if you get it setup at the shop).

3. There are a lot of value guitars out there. IMOO, the best bang for the buck is still the Art and Lutherie acoustics (the action is as fast, or faster, than a cheap electric). Otherwise, get him La Stratocaster Mexicana.

 

also, what kind of music does he listen to? that would also help decide if it'd be better to get an acoustic or an electric. when i first started (jr. high), i listened to bands like green day, nirvana, etc...so an electric was perfect for me. i had other friends in college that listened to dave matthews and other hippie bands, so an acoustic was the right guitar for them to start with.

 

I still remember the day I started playing guitar. I was in the car with my Dad (who's been playing guitar for 25+ years) and a Social Distortion song came on the radio. He was bitching about how simple and predictable rock music had become and bet me he could figure out the whole song in 30 seconds or less when we got home. That was the day I learned of "the power chord".



I was so excited. I immediately went into my room and figured out a bunch of Nirvana songs. This is the foundation for basically all modern rock music. You can slide that chord up and down the neck and play the basic melody to anything. I don't know about your kids but if he would have put me in lessons, I would have quit within a week. Lessons are boring and I wanted to rock out. If he's anything like I was, just get someone to show him that chord and he'll stick with it for a long time.

As for which guitar to get him, the kind of music he listens to should be the biggest factor. If it's rock music (which I'll assume it is), that Fat Strat Pack would be perfect. It's got a humbucker pickup in the bridge which is generally more suited for rock and a single coil in the middle and the neck for the clean sound.

 

haha! so true. i did pretty much the same thing...green day and nirvana. after you learn the power chord it's real fun because you can play almost any song on the radio...but then you quickly realize how terrible all of the music on the radio is.

my teacher actually never taught me it...i learned full major and minor barre chords before i realized you could just do a power chord. i still don't understand how green day was able to make a career on 3 and 4 chord songs.

 

So, imagine me, the French Horn player (of 15+ years), working "backwards."

I get the guitar, and in about a week, I've got the the barre chord thing down along with most of the 1st position "folk" chords.

"Damn, you're GOOOD. . . how long have you been playing?"
"Ummm, what. . . bought it in June. . . so, ahhh, 2 months?"

 

Go with a Fender Strat

 

I agree with a lot of what has been said. Going cheap is fine and certainly a good idea for a beginner but it is very important to draw the line between cheap and crap. If the guitar is crap it will be hard to play and will not sound well. Electric is where I started way back when. Electric is generally a bit easier to play and if that is what he is after that is probably the best idea. One thing I would suggest when going electric is to get one with a fixed bridge. The 80s are over and fixed bridge is the only way to go (IMHO). Most of those entry level Fender Strats are not fixed bridge so I personally wouldn't recommend them but they are certainly good guitars for the money.

Get input from your son. Check out the music he is listening too and what kind of guitars they are using. I started on a second hand Ibanez EX series. Currently the only electric guitar in my line up is a 94 Gibson Les Paul Studio. That guitar is a gem and I'll have it forever.

Here are a few suggestions for some beginner electrics that won't break your sons bank but will be great guitars he can start ripping on. Your son probably has a certain look in mind and all these guitars will play well and are made by good companies:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Squ...itar?sku=510443

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Was...itar?sku=515390

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epi...luxe?sku=519388

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epi...itar?sku=517239


My first Amp was a Peavy Rage 158 which I still have today and is actually sitting right next to me (along with 3 other amps that dwarf it ). That is still a great beginners amp and its better today than it was when I got mine:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Pea...-Amp?sku=481364

Another little bit better choice and still not too expensive would be this Crate amp (you get a bigger speaker and reverb):

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Cra...erb-?sku=480061

Of course you will need a cord, maybe a spare set of strings and some picks. I love Jim Dunlop Nylon picks (preferably .60mm ):

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Dun...Pick?sku=110020


Anyhoo, there are a few things to get you looking in the right direction. Wish your son luck for us. Playing music is a very rewarding experience and quite possibly one he will enjoy for the rest of his life...

 

thanks again for all the help guys! We may swing past a shop this weekend.

I am damned no matter what.... if we go cheap he will love playing... if we go expensive it will collect dust in a corner......

I guess if we go expensive I can buy it from him and annoy my neighbors with it.

 

yeah, my strat would go out of tune pretty easily and quickly. it was still fun every once in awhile to stick in the whammy bar, though. it had a great clean tone -- better than my sg even. only slightly. but as far as distortion goes, my sg dominates the strat w/emg active pickups. man i haven't played in such a long time...